Search - Mick Karn :: Collector's Edition

Good overview of Karn's CMP years.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 04/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation collects materail from Karn's tenure on CMP. one track from "Bestial Cluster", three from "The Tooth Mother", two from "Polytown", and one each from the Lonely Universe project and Andy Rinehart's superb "Jason's Chord". In addition, there's three unreleased tracks, "Bestial Cluster" without the edited in crowd noise, a new mix of "Liver and Lungs" (from "Bestial Cluster"), and a leftover from "The Tooth Mother" sessions, "Drawings We Have Lived".



Of the new material-- the "Bestial Cluster" edit isn't particularly interesting, but the "Liver and Lungs" mix is bizarre-- drums and sax way up front, with Liebman wailing away on soprano in a way that wasn't nearly as distinct on the original release. "Drawings We Have Lived" is an interesting track, similar in feel to the Polytown material, with Torn just all over the place, but it feels the emphasis isn't really on Karn on this one-- his bass is superb, but Torn steals the show.



As a compilation, this is certainly a great overview of this period of Karn's career, we get some jaw dropping bass playing, a view of Karn as a composer or setting up atmosphere, and even some playing where he's not the main focus, courtesy of other songs. And while I'd recommend seeking out the original records, there's a lot of great stuff on here that might help this serve as a fantastic introduction to Karn's work."