Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Matching Mole - Little Red Record CD (album) cover

LITTLE RED RECORD

Matching Mole

 

Canterbury Scene

3.91 | 238 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

fuxi
Prog Reviewer
4 stars "How long can I pretend that music's more relevant than fighting for a socialist world?" (Gloria Gloom)

In spite of all of Robert Wyatt's ideological doubts, LITTLE RED RECORD sounds far better than its predecessor. This time it's obvious that Matching Mole deeply care about what they play. On 'Marchides' and 'Flora Fidgit', for example, Phil Miller shines on electric guitar, and Dave McRae produces some memorable phrases on electric piano. 'Righteous Rhumba' equally features a superb guitar solo, accompanied on organ. On 'Brandy as in Benj' McRae gets another chance to shine on piano; his playing is far more subtle than David Sinclair's was on the band's first album, and Miller accompanies him by strumming jazzy chords on guitar: premonitions of Hatfield and the North!

Judging from the album's cover, Matching Mole were firmly in thrall to Maoist ideology. I assume they were blissfully unaware that, had they lived in China, their music and lifestyle would have landed them in a re-education camp, somewhere far away in the countryside. Maybe all that Maoist posturing was meant as a joke? I really don't know what to make of lyrics such as: "My radical cheek is soft and meek / but I'll kill if I must. / I'd rather have the Chinese here than Europe on me thrust"... And then there's the fact that, in the early 1980s, Wyatt started recording songs in praise of father Stalin... Oh well, to tell you the truth, I never bothered with Matching Mole's lyrics until I found them on the Calyx website. (With the exception of 'God Song', Phil Miller's anti-religious diatribe, which always made me think!) The band's playing, at least, is first-rate. Recommended!

fuxi | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this MATCHING MOLE review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.