WHATEVERSHEBRINGSWESING

Another ragged solo album from Kevin Ayers; like most of his albums, it's a bit patchy and inconsistent and the musical style is all over the place, but for some reason this just *works*. The music, in fact, is much like Ayers' public persona of a shabby but loveable posh hippy who's had a bit too much to drink. Unlike the previous album, this one is much more skewed towards catchy pop numbers like the upbeat piano-led drinking story Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes, the sleepy Champagne Cowboy Blues (which sounds like Noel Coward's take on a country ballad), and the gentle Margaret, but there are some more progressive and experimental tracks like the title track, the opening There Is Loving/Among Us/There Is Loving, and especially the simultaneously whimsical and frightening Song From the Bottom of a Well. It's a real mixed bag, but that's what you get with Ayers and you just have to take it or leave it. For my part, I'm happy to take it.