HATFIELD AND THE NORTH

It's comparatively rare to find progressive rock that's virtuosic, jazzy, poetic, delicately melodious, homely, humorous, unpretentious, unflashy, neo-classical, pastoral and absurdist at the same time - but Hatfield and the North managed to be all those things, and more.

If you're American and you've never heard these musicians, imagine a good-humoured, non-misanthropic Zappa using only British vocalists, and you're coming close.

From time to time, I have my doubts about Hatfield and the North or other Canterbury bands from the same period, because my favourite Dutch novelist (Geerten Meijsing), a keen jazz lover, once described their style as 'puppet show music'. To be honest, parts of this album sound a bit like that, and it's not just because of the march-like melodies, or Dave Stewart's electric piano; I guess it also has something to do with the influence of Igor Stravinsky - after all, he wrote his most charming ballet score (PETRUSHKA) about a farcical puppet show.

But any fleeting doubts I still may have when playing this album, are soon dispersed, because the music keeps moving constantly. It's a delightful mixture of styles: in a brief period of time you are taken from chirpy music-hall style singing, to crisp electric guitar solos, delicate flute salads and angelic girl choirs. A marvellous concoction!