These days we offer platitudes to a lot of musicians who come out of the woodwork to make a new stand on wobbly legs, or have genuinely brilliant work heard and recognized by more arduous music fans who missed it the first time around in passing, or younger folks who never had the chance in the first place. And rightfully so. It seems odd to place Kevin Ayers in this category, but he is perhaps the most enigmatic of all. Ayers, who along with Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge founded Soft Machine, left after its second album ...
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These days we offer platitudes to a lot of musicians who come out of the woodwork to make a new stand on wobbly legs, or have genuinely brilliant work heard and recognized by more arduous music fans who missed it the first time around in passing, or younger folks who never had the chance in the first place. And rightfully so. It seems odd to place Kevin Ayers in this category, but he is perhaps the most enigmatic of all. Ayers, who along with Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge founded Soft Machine, left after its second album to pursue a career as a solo artist, releasing seminal psychedelic classics like Joy of a Toy, Shooting at the Moon, and Bananamour, to name just three. He's recorded and performed with everybody from Syd Barrett (who appeared as a sideman on Ayers' first platter) to Phil Manzanera, Eno, John Cale, Nico, and Elton John. He influenced David Bowie, and was the musical companion of stalwart jazzmen like Lol Coxhill and prog rockers like Mike Oldfield, Steve Hillage (speaking of enigmas) and the late guitarist Ollie Halsall (a dear friend of Ayers, who was truly shaken at his untimely death). Odd, but fitting. Throughout the '80s due to rather bacchanalian circumstances, Ayers' final record for Virgin was not promoted; he began to retreat from the life and music he'd created: from England, then from touring, then from recording, too. He surfaced briefly with an acoustic album recorded in France with Fairground Attraction, did a bit of collaboration with Ultramarine, and the Wizard of Twiddly, and then poof...gone. Unfairground, issued in Great Britain on Lo-Max recordings (the same label that gave us back the Go-Betweens until Grant McLennan's death) marks Ayers welcome return to recording. Ayers befriended an American artist named Timothy Shepard, who heard tape recordings of Ayers new songs (made mostly on a cassette recorder at his kitchen table), and solicited younger players he knew were fans of Ayers' work to get involved: Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, Gary Olson, Bill Wells, Ladybug Transistor, Frank Reader from Trash Can Sinatras, and Candie Payne and Euros Childs from Gorky's Zygotic Minci were all part of these wondrous sessions that took place in New York Tucson, London, and Glasgow. Old friends Phil Manzanera, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, and Bridget Saint John also lent their talents as well. The truly honorable Bernard MacMahon of Lo-Max -- also an Ayers fan -- signed him, and the rest is ready for your ears.Unfairground contains ten songs that run a tad over 33 minutes. Simply put, it is prime Ayers. His approach hasn't changed: he's still humorous, bright, witty, and ironic, but there is great emotional and poetic depth in these songs. They're adorned with strings, wonderfully spare keyboard work, acoustic and electric guitars, and unobtrusive drums and percussion with other sundry shadings and textures. They all serve Ayers' trademark wry yet emotionally expressive baritone voice, which is no worse for the wear of the years. The songs, like the double-edged opener "Only Heaven Knows," with its mariachi brass and female backing chorus, are polished, fully realized, and gorgeously executed -- by Ayers as much as his counterparts. They are positively inspired. The melody and arrangement in this song are cheery, but the lyrics belie something else: a vulnerability that dares to look ambiguity in the face and not flinch. Wyatt's voice on "Cold Shoulder," underscores a contradiction: Wyatt is an old shoulder, but is far from cold. His backing vocal lies in stark contrast to the emotions in Ayers' lyric. As the strings highlight the plight of the protagonist who is now a man on an island, he is wrapped in warmth and support,. This creates a split of course: how can a man be so alone in the middle of such beauty? Ayers' irony and raw confessionalism serve the purpose these questions hang on very well. It is followed by "Walk on Water," is a meditation on falsity and the wearing of masks for show....
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Add this copy of The Unfairground to cart. $19.38, poor condition, Sold by Movie Surplus rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Mobile, AL, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Gigantic Music.
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Seller's Description:
Ayers. Poor. Used-Acceptable, DISC ONLY, Withdrawn library disc(s). Includes a case. Artwork and liner notes not included. Disc(s) should play great, without any playback issues. Disc may include library markings, like writing, sticker, and protective label covers.
