THE ASMOTO RUNNING BAND

The second and final album from the “Magic Theatre” version of Principal Edwards is much less ambitious and quite a bit shorter than their first release. Vivienne McAuliffe is still around on vocals, but less pronounced than before. The band was already in the last throes of their existence, and would break up completely shortly after this release. The times they were a’changing, and this sort of theatrical, pretentious and self-indulgent dinner theater sort of music was becoming pretty passé by the early seventies.

This is a sort of theme album, telling the disjointed tale of a pseudo-mythical Asmoto Running Band and some dude named McAlpine’s interactions with them – sort of a poor man’s Sgt Pepper, I suppose. Kind of hard to follow – there’s a booklet with lyrics in the CD version but they aren’t all that illuminating without some sort of herbal inspiration.

The guitar work is more prevalent here, but nothing spectacular for sure, and many of the tracks seem to be nothing more than musical props for the troupe’s live theater sketches, most notably “Asmoto Celebration” (followed immediately by “Further Asmoto Celebration”); the pompously named “Total Glycerol Esther”; and the anti-climactic finale “Weirdsong of Breaking Through at Last”.

A remnant of the group would reform as simply “Principal Edwards” following the breakup and would continue on as a slightly more conventional art rock act for a couple of years before their bass player would marry pianist/violinist Belinda Bourquin and leave for the Climax Blues Band along with band manager Miles Copeland. The smaller group did manage to record a set of studio tracks known as “The Devon Tapes” that has been discovered and will supposedly be released some time soon, but beyond that there’s not much to report on the band after the mid-seventies.

This is a mildly interesting curio of history, but not a very serious piece of progressive folk music. I hesitate to give it only two stars because I think it suffers mostly from having not stood the test of time all that well, but it is what it is so two stars is the right call. Not particularly recommended but might provide a bit of amusement to nostalgic prog folk fans.

peace

Where's the autumn dancing lady?

Principal Edward Magic Theatre (PEMT) may have been born in an uprising of love and peace, but they only actually managed to record two studio albums together. With so many fingers in the communal pie (no less than 140 assuming each band member was fully endowed) it is perhaps not surprising that they decided the project had run its course a mere 2 years after it began.

"The Asmoto Running band" is the second and final album released in the band name. Pink Floyd's Nick Mason steps in as producer, PEMT having supported the Floyd on numerous occasions. It is even suggested in the sleeve notes for the See for Miles reissue (but not substantiated), that Mason was involved with lead singer Vivienne McAuliffe at the time. The legendary Alexis Korner also appears to be around, taking credit for the overall production and as the publisher of the music. His precise roll beyond that though (if any) is less clear.

Inevitably for a band whose line up reads more like a class register, there are a few line up changes here, but most of those involved on "Soundtrack", including thankfully the gifted lead vocalist Vivienne McAuliffe, are still at their desks.

The tracks are generally a bit briefer and more focused this time, than on the "Soundtrack" debut, the superior production being immediately apparent. "McAlpine's dream", which opens the album, is a sort of blending of Pentangle, The Incredible String Band and Curved Air. As with the songs on the first album, the arrangement is complex and ambitious. From here, we merge straight into "McAlpine versus the Asmoto", the two tracks combined forming a 12+minute suite. The latter part is a pounding instrumental, at times sounding rather Genesis like, but featuring violin as the lead instrument.

The "Asmoto" theme runs through much of the album, although what that theme is actually about is not something I can shed any light on. It is likely that the accompanying live show (and bearing in mind that several group members do not actually play or sing on the album) brought the story to life, but even then this would probably have been in abstract format. As the album progresses, the tracks get noticeably shorter and more frivolous. The music remains pleasant, but the indications are that the inspiration is drying up rapidly. The final three tracks are somewhat less inspired than anything which has gone before, reaching a low point on "The Kettering song" which appears to be little more than an improvisation around that town's name.

The version I have of the album is included in a 2 on 1 single CD release by See for Miles Records (1994, SEECD412) which contains both the albums recorded by PEMT. In order to fit the albums onto a single disc, "Autumn dancing lady" is dropped altogether. We are helpfully reassured in the sleeve notes that "we are sure this will not detract from your listening enjoyment".

In all, another enjoyable album by PEMT. The group's ambitious may have been over-challenging for their combined talents, but there is a refreshing naivety here which endears us to the music.

PEMT's second album was released some two years after their debut album, but the 14- human project was in its final death throes and wouldn't survive the Asmoto release by long, therefore the album sank without a trace. But let's not anticipate and look at this weirdly-titled second opus, produced by Floyd's Nick Mason (apparently interested in the beautiful Vivienne McAuliffe), and Alexis Korner. Indeed, ARB suffers from a much better production, but apparently Floyd and PEMT also shared their light show on tour. Another Floyd link would be the Hypgnosis artwork, featuring a strange light bulb picture.

The album starts outstandingly enough on a couple of fairly-lengthy McAlpine tracks (both making together roughly 12 minutes), which tends to show the band's enhanced musical capacities, but the effort is cut after Asmoto wins over McAlpine. Indeed the songs get much shorter, but also sometimes much weirder (the cringe-inducing Kettering Song or the Further Celebrations), and the strange Asmato feud with McAlpine is quite incomprehensible, unless being initiated by the Edwardian gods.

While Bourquin's multi-instrumentalist virtues (Kb, flute, violin) were already a strength on the previous Soundtrack release, his violin playing is much more prominent on Asmato (sometimes taking on unwanted fiddle sonorities, like in Glycerol Esther), also reminiscent of Curved Air's Daryl Way. Another difference is the replacement of Edwards' percussions with swallow's drumming, giving the band a generally heavier sound. McAuliffe's vocal presence is also reduced and often embedded in the production. Of the second half of the album, only the gentle Freefall is bringing you back to the band's earlier folk, and thankfully, it's the longer track (by a margin) of the flipside - well I haven't heard the missing Autumn Lady Dancing Song, which ios absent on the 2on1 reissue from the See For Miles label.

The group would then implode soon afterwards (their University sabbatical was over), although three members would go on for a couple years and a third album (on the Deram label) under the reduced Principal Edwards moniker. Only the superb Vivienne McAuliffe would pursue with a long studio session career, even singing with Patrick Moraz. ARB is a fairly different album than the debut, and dare I say it, much less successful, despite an even greater musical madness.