Search - Matching Mole :: Matching Mole

Excellent

John M. Baker Jr. | New Hampshire Seacoast | 04/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Found this to my great surprise. I had the vinyl in '77 and loved it then too. I have a lot of RW and agree, not all of this LP 'Wyatt-wise' is premium. However the rest of the band are 'all that' so it matters little.



I liked 'Rock Bottom' too, and also 'Ruth is Stranger than Richard' but this LP is higher on my list than either."

Extremely loose Canterbury rock with a lot of charm

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 02/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I only just recently listened to this 1972 album in spite of my long-standing familiarity with the band members from their work with the great Canterbury bands (e.g. National Health, Caravan, Quiet Sun, Hatfield and the North, Soft Machine etc.). Given the lineup, and the high quality of their work in the other groups mentioned, I expected great things from Matching Mole. Unfortunately, this record seems a bit on the "haphazardly slapped together" side of things; notwithstanding, this debut has a great deal of charm and the Canterbury wit (both endearing qualities in my book).



The players on this album include Robert Wyatt (mellotron; piano; drums; percussion; and lead vocals); David Sinclair (Piano; organ); Phil Miller (electric guitar); and Bill MacCormick (electric bass guitar). The guest musician includes Dave McRae (electric piano). Overall, the playing is OK, with Robert Wyatt shining on the mellotron dominated O Caroline and especially the drums - he is really an excellent drummer.



The eight pieces on the album more or less flow together into one large "meta-composition" and are dominated by Robert Wyatt tracks with a single lengthy instrumental jam written by Phil Miller (Part of the Dance). In large part, the album consists of a few shorter vocal pieces and instrumental jams that revolve around a few pre-composed themes - the instrumental passages get very spacey at times. The vocal pieces contain lyrics on the order of "this is the first verse, and this is the chorus (or perhaps it's a bridge), or just another part of the song I am singing". The instrumental sections exhibit the same level of detail and at times sound no more involved than the jam sessions that you could have held with your friends in the basement.



I know that all of this sounds like I am complaining; to their credit however, the "loosey-goosey" approach to composition seems to hold together somewhat and there are a few pieces that work very well. For example, O Caroline is a very nice Robert Wyatt piece, along with his Instant Kitten and Dedicated to Hugh, but you weren't Listening, both of which feature spacey sections and a few loose riffs.



This 2001 remaster by Columbia is not too bad and has pretty good sound quality, but does not feature any liner notes or other extras.



All in all, I would recommend this album to Canterbury "completists" and hardcore proggers (like me). For those folks that are new to the Canterbury scene, I would personally recommend the following Canterbury albums before exploring Matching Mole: In the Land of Grey and Pink (Caravan, 1971); Hatfield and the North (eponymous 1973 debut and The Rotters Club, 1975); Robert Wyatt (Rock Bottom, 1974); and National Health (eponymous 1977 debut)."