awrc@lfcs.edinburgh.ac.uk (Al Crawford) (06/14/91)
Some Of The Interesting Things You'll See On A Long-Distance Flight Various Artists Les Disques Du Crepuscule TWI 082-2 22 Tracks Total Running Length : 76 min 49 sec SOTITYSOALDF was originally a cassette only release on Crepuscule back in 1982. It later reappeared on vinyl in Japan and has now appeared, with a number of changes, on compact disc. The album is an aural record of a varied cabaret/music/drama/revue of Crepuscule artists that dotted around France, Belgium and the Netherlands (with a token stop in London) in the February of 1982. The artists involved with the tour (which had a rotating running order) were centred around the core of Durutti Column, Richard Jobson, The Names and Paul Haig. Others who appeared included Antena, Marine, several members of Tuxedomoon and Wally Van Middendorp. Van Middendorp acts as a compere and master of ceremonies for the show, separating the various artists with a bizarre mix of blank verse and general spoken word weirdness. He also has to cope with what appear to be hecklers although, given the thick Scottish brogue of the heckling voices it's quite possible that it's just Jobson mucking about. The Richard Jobson contribution to the show is from his "I am a serious artist" period which came between his time with new wave Big Country precursors The Skids and his move into TV and radio as a presenter, model and occasional solo artist. Jobson speaks, nay, orates his poems over a musical backdrop provided by, amongst others, Blaine Reininger and Steven Brown of Tuxedomoon. And, um, it's certainly different. You can almost see him standing in heroic pose and emoting. Shame that most of the audience couldn't understand a word he was saying :) Next up are three Durutti Column tracks, "Danny", "Madness" and "For Friends In Belgium". I've not heard a great deal of DC but these came across as rather pleasant, relaxed instrumental pieces. They're also one of the few places on the disc where the poor (pseudo-bootleg) sound quality isn't too apparent. Following another spot of Middendorp weirdness we move into four tracks by what was seen as the centrepiece of the show, Paul Haig and RoL. This show was in 1982, just after Haig's critically acclaimed group Josef K had split and at a time when Haig was very much the indie golden boy of the music papers. Given all the hype, the RoL set is rather disappointing. It includes the Jo K track "Chance" and three of his early solo compositions, the strongest of which is probably "Justice". The sound quality lets them down a bit, since the vocals are occasionally inaudible and the keyboards sound cheap, tinkly and intrusive. Still, the material is good enough and there's even a nice moment where they screw up the intro to "Justice" and have to start again. Next up are a couple of tracks by Antena. Slightly out-of-tune female vocals over shlocky synths. Maybe they sound better when they aren't trying to fit into a cabaret style. I certainly hope so. The tracks, FYI, are "The Boy From Ipanema" and "Silly Things". Last up (after more Wally weirdness) are five tracks by The Names from Belgium. I'd never heard anything by them before (never heard of them before, actually) but I was rather impressed by this. Dark guitar, bass and synths more than a little reminiscent of Joy Division. Rather good, but the sound quality is dodgy in places. The track listing differs from that of the original cassette. Due to the poor sound quality, a number of tracks have been dropped. And believe me, if they were worse than some of the tracks on this disc, they must have sounded terrible. They've replaced them with other tracks though, and the Durutti Column, Names and Antena tracks on this disc have never been released before. In the case of the Antena tracks this is probably a mixed blessing. The inlay booklet is excellent, containing a miniaturised reproduction of the original programme, an reproduction of an article from Sounds magazine describing the show plus a few additional comments. So is it worth buying? Well, unless you are a fan of one of the artists involved, not really. Some of the material is quite frankly awful and they know it - the booklet thanks the artists "for allowing this potentially embarrassing material to re-appear". ErlandRating :- +2 if you are completist fan of one of the artists involved. 0 (for the curiosity value) otherwise. -- Al Crawford - Al_Crawford@edinburgh.ac.uk "Click Click Drone"