CANTERBURY SCENE

A Progressive Rock Sub-genre


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Canterbury Scene definition

With many other types of English progressive music developing mostly in London, it may at first seem strange that the old pilgrimage centre and relatively quiet cathedral city of Canterbury, became the centre of this very English form of progressive music and jazz fusion. Originally the Wilde Flowers, a teenage band of members living in and around Canterbury, playing a mix of pop, R'n'B and band members with a developing love of jazz, was formed in the 60's and became the seedling from which the Canterbury Scene grew. Australian beatnik Daevid Allen during a long stop-over at Robert Wyatt's parent's home, a refuge for many left field artists, was to catalyse the evolution of the Wilde Flowers into the fledging Soft Machine and the development of some avant music during the English psychedelic and underground period. From 1963 to 1969, the Wilde Flowers included most of the figures who later formed Canterbury's two best known bands, (The) Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hugh Hopper) and Caravan (Pye Hastings, David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Richard Coughlan).

Canterbury was then to be the cradle for several of the more freewheeling British bands of the post-psychedelic era. While fans would suggest this is the home of an English musical quirkiness tempered with quite a bit of whimsy, within the Canterbury Scene's musical spectrum any similarities between Canterbury's major bands, (e.g. Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hatfield & the North, Egg, National Health), are not immediately obvious*. Most bands will be found employing a clever fusion of rock rhythms and jazz improvisation with intellectual song-writing and varying strengths of psychedelia - some would too include folk elements (e.g. Spirogyra), others blues (e.g. Carol Grimes and Delivery). In addition, a number of bands employed various elements from classical music, for instance those bands with Dave Stewart playing keyboards. Whilst there have been a handful of excellent and distinctly different guitarists to play with Canterbury bands (e.g. Andy Summers, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Steve Hillage, Phil Miller), the lead instrument of choice has been keyboards. One English peculiarity of Canterbury is what the late John Peel called the 'School of Anti-song' because of particular Wyatt, Ayers and Richard Sinclair's approaches to vocals and perhaps the whimsy. More recently Richard Sinclair's vocal style has perhaps accurately been labelled as 'English jazz singing' by Jazzwise (i.e. singing jazz with an English rather than the usual American accent). In addition Canterbury musicians have experimented as avant garde, free jazz players, e.g. instance Elton Dean, Lol Coxhill, Steve Miller.

(*However, once you've heard some Canterbury bands the commonality becomes more obvious - chord sequencing e.g. Caveman Hughscore's electric piano opening on the tune 'More Than Nothing', the vocals, the lyrics etc.)

Both the Soft Machine and Caravan were popular in England's psychedelic/ underground scene before releasing their first albums in 1968, with Machine completing on level footing with Pink Floyd. However, by the early 70's a series of fragmenting changes of bands' line-ups, (Soft Machine went through about 30) and the subsequent formation of new bands, rapidly broadened Canterbury's range, with many newer musicians with only loose and in fact, no previous Canterbury connections. Early Soft Machine member Daevid Allen formed Gong in Paris. Both Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt left the Softs because of musical developments they did not like, to begin their own solo careers. By the mid-70's, most the old and new Canterbury bands had progressed away from psychedelia, developing their distinct forms of progressive rock some embracing jazz fusion, many playing extended jams with now limited lyrical input (e.g. Hatfield and The Norths, National Health, Gilgamesh). Caravan became more folky. However, as the 70's progressed several Canterbury bands would lose most of the rock element from their music. Gong retained their psychedelic side longest, but with the departure of Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage in the mid 70's, the band evolved into the percussion-oriented, jazz rock group Gong, which eventually became the modern day Gongzilla. Daevid Allen regained Gong's name in the 90's and through his solo work and with his University of Errors, is still evidently producing psychedelia. Steve Hillage's form of psychedelia evolved into the glissando rock of his own band and then into electronica, by the end of the 70's. In particular, Hillage through his work as a successful record producer of new bands from the 80's, develop his form of electronica through other bands. This music lost much of its complexity e.g. few riffs played over and over, rather than dozens per tune that previously had often typified prog, into a very popular form that is the antithesis of prog, i.e. the various forms of house music, with associated remixing/turntablism. For instance, Gong's "You" got the remix treatment in the 90's - but then to reflect his range of activities, Hillage has also produced and played guitar for Algerian Rai singer, Rachid Taha for over 20 years.

Many of Britain's better known avant-garde and fusion musicians of the 70's and 80's - including Fred Frith (Henry Cow), Allan Holdsworth (Gong, Soft Machine, UK, Bruford) and Peter Blegvad - were involved during their early careers playing in Canterbury bands. And still new musicians join the Canterbury Scene's ranks, Theo Travis being perhaps the most notable recently (Gong, The Soft Machine Legacy). The Canterbury scene was to have a major influence on musicians in Europe, especially France (e.g. Gong, Moving Gelatine Plates), the Netherlands (Super Sister)and Italy (Daedalus), and more belatedly in the USA (Hughscore). Caravan reformed in the mid 90's, while ex-members of Soft Machine could be found in various avant jazz and straight jazz fusion groups, e.g. Just Us, Soft Heap, Soft Works and most recently The Soft Machine Legacy. From the Canterbury Scene, RIO it its various forms has developed.

FOOTNOTE: As indicated above, many Canterbury Scene bands are acknowledged as having played/are playing jazz rock fusion. However, because of their strong Canterbury affliations are listed under "Canterbury Scene" in Prog Archives.

Dick Heath
Based loosely in part on the source: http://www.allmusic.com
(Edition 3, Aug 2009)

Canterbury Scene Top Albums


Showing only studios | Based on members ratings & PA algorithm | Show Top 100 Canterbury Scene | More Top Prog lists and filters


4.31 | 305 ratings
IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK
Caravan

4.38 | 127 ratings
ROCK BOTTOM
Wyatt, Robert

4.35 | 132 ratings
RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 3 - YOU
Gong

4.35 | 101 ratings
SPACE SHANTY
Khan

4.19 | 159 ratings
THIRD
Soft Machine, The

4.25 | 97 ratings
HATFIELD AND THE NORTH
Hatfield And The North

4.21 | 115 ratings
RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 2 - ANGEL'S EGG
Gong

4.19 | 124 ratings
IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, I'D DO IT ALL OVER YOU
Caravan

4.17 | 104 ratings
THE ROTTERS' CLUB
Hatfield And The North

4.17 | 101 ratings
FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT
Caravan

4.22 | 64 ratings
THE POLITE FORCE
Egg

4.14 | 69 ratings
FISH RISING
Hillage, Steve

4.08 | 80 ratings
THE SOFT MACHINE
Soft Machine, The

4.14 | 58 ratings
OF QUEUES AND CURES
National Health

4.11 | 59 ratings
GAZEUSE
Gong

4.15 | 47 ratings
BUNDLES
Soft Machine, The

4.09 | 58 ratings
NATIONAL HEALTH
National Health

4.08 | 56 ratings
PICCHIO DAL POZZO
Picchio Dal Pozzo

3.95 | 82 ratings
RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 1 - FLYING TEAPOT
Gong

3.97 | 68 ratings
VOLUME TWO
Soft Machine, The

Canterbury Scene overlooked and obscure gems albums new


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THE WORLD OF GENIUS HANS
Moving Gelatine Plates
SPLIT SECONDS
Miller, Phil
THE BRUISED ROMANTIC GLEE CLUB
Jakszyk, Jakko M.
NATIONAL HEALTH
National Health

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Latest Canterbury Scene Music Reviews


 Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 3 - You by GONG album cover Studio Album, 1974
4.35 | 132 ratings

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Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 3 - You
Gong Canterbury Scene

Review by Sinusoid

4 stars I might have considered YOU a masterpiece had I discovered it around the same time as the first two RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE albums. Instead, I got this almost a year after those two Gong albums; not good for the RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE continuity.

YOU is much more of an instrumental album than the two that came before it. Very little of this album other than the overall sound, the first two cuts and ''Perfect Mystery'' remind me of the ANGEL'S EGG album, and this is both good and bad in a way. Gong gets the chance to stretch out their psychadelic sounds into well developed jams that at times (like on ''Isle of Everywhere'') sound like precursors to hip-hop. The downside is that tracks like ''A Sprinkling of Clouds'' take quite a bit of time to build up before the payoff theme comes in.

''You Never Blow Your Trip Forever'' deserves a special mention as it is THE piece of the album (possibly the trilogy, but I can't definitively say so to avoid hyperbole). It picks up right where ''Isle of Everywhere'' leaves off with a funky riff until the band needs to space out. This doesn't last long as the band comes back in at blistering volume with one of Howlett's best lines underpinning everything beautifully. This leads into a jazzy thing that keeps building in intensity until Daevid announces the close of the trilogy, and the piece dissolves gradually then.

Get this alongside the other two RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE parts to hear how all three match up. This has plenty of spacey instrumental passages for those that are interested, but general goofiness that originally attracted me to the group is not as prevalent here, and I'm marginally disappointed by that.

Last words: I is ready.

 Fish Rising by HILLAGE, STEVE album cover Studio Album, 1975
4.14 | 69 ratings

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Fish Rising
Steve Hillage Canterbury Scene

Review by kingfriso

3 stars Steve Hilllage - Fish Rising (1975)

Gong's You, part two! (I'm such a great poet)

I was very excited about this album. Steve Hillage plays both on my favourite Gong albums and one of my all-time favourite records: Space Shanty of Kahn. His playing style is very recognisable with the jazz rock solo's and spacey delay soundscapes. If you like this style, this album might be your cup of tea! This is pure space-rock with some Canterbury style positive atmospheres and crazyness. The addition of Dave Steward is nice, but most of the band consists of former Gong members: Pierre Moerlen, Gilly Smith, Mike Howlett and Dedier Malherbe.

In a real sense this record isn't that progressive, but it does sound progressive. It sounds so much like Gong's You that I would never call this very essential. Very often we hear guitar delays, very much synthesizors going up and down and up and down in arpeggio's and things like that. I like this sound, but from minute I got the feeling I already heard this record. Like there's nothing new on it. The vocal parts with the heavy guitars are my favourite parts on the record, at least there's some emotional content on this record.

Conclusion. This album lacks some innovation that would have helped Hillage to show why he earns his solo career. Still this is magical Canterbury style space rock with some nice vocal parts and some enjoyable crazy melodies. I just gives me the feeling I have when I can't wake up at morning... it has this slowness, this repetitive sound, like your in a bath of space-rock. This is a formula that has been used to much, some variation (like on Steve Hackett's debut) would have made this a four star recording, for now it's just three stars.

 National Health  by NATIONAL HEALTH album cover Studio Album, 1977
4.09 | 58 ratings

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National Health
National Health Canterbury Scene

Review by kingfriso

3 stars National Health - st (1977)

One of those records that make Kahn's Space Shanty sound so good.

Such a strange year (1977) for such and sophisticated prog-record. Well, this is a true Canterbury record with a recognisable sound with certain organ sounds, certain compositional styles, jazz influences and a positive atmosphere. One highlight is the key-playing of Dave Steward (Egg, Kahn and others), one of my favourite Canterbury musicians.

This album is mainly instrumental, except from some passages with beautiful female vocals of Amanda Parsons. Even the vocal parts are highly sophisticated with an abstract (not so emotional) spacey vibe that reminds me a bit of the seriousness of Magma. Though all parts are composed very very intelligent, no part seems to touch me that much. It's just very interesting.

The instrumental passages might be the best of the whole scene, but as mentioned before, the lead to nothing. There seems to be no purpose, no structure and above all: no vision. You could describe this as a soulless masterpiece. It gave me the same feeling as the second Finch album: highly technical an proggy, but never theatrical and touchy.

Conclusion. I will not give the final conclusion for this review. This is not my cup of tea, it lacks an important ingredient. On the other hand it compensates with being one of the most technical records of the scene. Some song like tracks would have made this way more interesting for me, some Kahn like vocals would have really cheered this up. As said, no conclusion here: try this if can get satisfaction out of the pure genius compositions, but stay away if you'll miss some human emotions along the way. For me this is just three stars.

 The Soft Machine by SOFT MACHINE, THE album cover Studio Album, 1968
4.08 | 80 ratings

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The Soft Machine
The Soft Machine Canterbury Scene

Review by psarros
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Legendary Canterbury band and one of the first progressive groups along with countrymen Caravan.They were formed in 1966 by former ''Wilde flowers'' members drummer Robert Wyatt and bassist/vocalist Kevin Ayers along with Mike Ratledge on keys and Daevid Allen on guitars.Soon the band had an intense live activity even outside UK, costing their shortness to a trio,as Daevid Allen was Australian and was refused reentry on English ground due to expiration of his visa.The band had to carry on and in 1968 they recorded their first self-titled album for Probe Records (and for Barclay in France),an album which succeeded several re- issues through the years to come.

We are talking about 1968 here and as expected the sound is very dated,having lost much of his freshness nowadays.However the talent of the band is certainly there.What I can absorb from this album is actually a band deeply rooted in a typical 60's psychedelic sound but with a tendency for improvisational structures.Vocal harmonies follow also the path of somewhat ''sweet'' vocal lines, sometimes they are good,sometimes they sound rather hilarious.Fortunately ''Soft machine'' was given a lot of space for instrumental music,where the band uses the improvisational mood of jazz music without sounding jazzy at all.Wyatt is always linked with his drum kit,offering strong,tight yet schizophenic drumming with Ayers contributing with heavy bass lines.Ratledge works often on his own,adding a personal sound,which alternates between familiar psychedelic organs and experimental, almost jamming passages.Yet I'm not exactly sure if this combination of pleasant psych with experimental rock is very well balanced.

Nevertheless this is generally a good debut with the band trying to find their own identity,twisting from psych/rock to hints of what was going to come in the future.However it will propably please more fans of late 60's psych,but it would be nice if anyone tried to seek for this legendary band's early roots.

 Blind Dog at St. Dunstans by CARAVAN album cover Studio Album, 1976
3.44 | 34 ratings

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Blind Dog at St. Dunstans
Caravan Canterbury Scene

Review by progrules
Prog Reviewer

4 stars I owe this album for quite a long time by now and it's a bit of an odd one in my collection. Well, it was for many years because it was my only Canterbury album. By now I bought their masterpiece as well and one of the Hatfield albums. So I'm getting more and more into this peculiar style of prog. How to define Canterbury ? Maybe not the official definition but how I experience it that it's symphonic prog with jazzy undertones played by English intellectuals mainly.

But since I absolutely love both symphonic prog and jazz it should fit me perfectly. Well. it certainly does as long as it can be called melodic music. As soon as it gets too profound and the musicians prefer the more challenging and out of the ordinary (eclectic) stuff I tend to call it a day. Here we have an example of how I like it best. Slightly accessible music creating a delicious atmosphere. Especially the first six songs of this album are delightful to me. Both strong rocking moments and very jazzy elements determine the style here.

Last three songs the band changes the direction in an obvious way. Jack and Jill almost sounds like a funky pop song, the violin and a short organ solo and a bit of flute make it at least a bit special but that's about it. Can you hear me ? is more or less the same story where accessibility is concerned. Less funky but also here with prominent Hammond organ and violin. Both songs are still enjoyable by the way but the jazzy aspect is suddenly gone or at least strongly diminished. The real disappointment is last track All the Way. First half of the song is ok but second half is extremely repetitive for several minutes. What a shame since it almost ruins a very good feeling I have about this release.

Let's call it 42 minutes of great music and 4 extremely poor and annoying ones. So the outcome where the rating is concerned is not difficult here. It's simply an excellent album. Maybe an album in the declining phase of their career for the real fans but it doesn't bother me that their peak days are gone at this point. This album suits me much better than their magnum opus In the Land of Grey and Pink. This is Canterbury how I like it best. Four strong stars for Blind Dog !

 The Rotters' Club by HATFIELD AND THE NORTH album cover Studio Album, 1975
4.17 | 104 ratings

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The Rotters' Club
Hatfield And The North Canterbury Scene

Review by Evolver

5 stars I thought Hatfield And The North's first, eponymous album was great. But they expanded on that and created an even more fantastic collection of songs with this album. Not content to just play the usual Canterbury style, this group broadens the sound with jazz fusion, and even some rock in opposition (with the help of Henry Cow's Lindsay Cooper and Tim Hodgkinson).

Like the first album, many of the songs flow together, again giving them an epic feeling. Guitarist Phil Miller and keyboardist Dave Stewart are even better on this album than the first. My favorite track (and most RIO) would have to be The Yes No Interlude, with one of the best Miller solos I've ever heard.

The last five tracks were not on the original LP, coming from the odds and ends collection Afters. The best part of these songs is the heavy Oh, Len's Nature! (perhaps the heaviest this band ever played.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

 Live Floating Anarchy 1977 by GONG album cover Live, 1978
3.77 | 14 ratings

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Live Floating Anarchy 1977
Gong Canterbury Scene

Review by fuxi
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Not to be missed if you like any of the incarnations of Gong featuring Daevid Allen!

Not only does LIVE FLOATING ANARCHY contain loads of wild and bubbly space-rock, most notably the majestic fifteen-minute "Allez Ali Baba Black Sheep" which still carries me away every time I hear it (and which must have been a major influence on Ozric Tentacles); it also contains Daevid's triumphant attempt to outsnarl Johnny Rotten, in a thoroughly enjoyable Sex Pistols parody called "Opium for the People". (Just why did you think this album was called "Live Floating ANARCHY"? It seems Allen was more than prepared to show those young upstarts who the true anarchists were!)

I can't imagine anyone who likes BANANAMOON, CAMEMBERT ELECTRIQUE or even YOU would fail to appreciate this album. Just don't expect subtle soloing as provided by the likes of Pierre Moerlen or Didier Malherbe. What you get here is wild and spontaneous, but still rich, thanks to (among other things) esctatic drumming, oodles of whizzing synths and yes: that dratted space whisper!

N.B. Contrary to what certain reviewers have stated, Steve Hillage did not take part in this concert, as far as I'm aware. But professor Sharpstrings, whoever he is (I always suspected him of being Daevid Allen himself, but I must be wrong), does an excellent job at reminding you of the master.

 Live Herald by HILLAGE, STEVE album cover Live, 1978
3.84 | 18 ratings

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Live Herald
Steve Hillage Canterbury Scene

Review by fuxi
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Enjoyable live album from Steve Hillage, which shows you what an energetic guitarist he really is. It opens with a couple of pieces from FISH RISING, his first solo album, and while some of that album's special touches (e.g. Lindsay Cooper's bassoon, Dave Sinclair's fuzz organ, Pierre Moerlen's drumming) are inevitably missing, the live performances sound just as "full", thanks to the presence of no less than THREE synthesizer players, the great Clive Bunker (ex-Jethro Tull) on drums, and Hillage himself in blistering good form.

I suppose you could consider those opening pieces some kind of jazz-rock if you wanted to, but it struck me that "Searching for the Spark", the fifth album track (more than eleven minutes long) is unadulterated space-rock, similar in mood to Gong's YOU and even more similar to the manic instrumentals on Daevid Allen's and Planet Gong's LIVE FLOATING ANARCHY, an album that was recorded at around the same time as this. Daevid and Steve may have been touring different parts of the world, with different bands, but their aims were still the same, it seems. Of course Steve happened to be the flashiest guitarist on the entire Canterbury Scene - which made a difference.

Some of the lighter pieces here (e.g. "Light in the Sky" and "Electric Gipsies") remind me why I could never really take Hillage seriously as a vocalist or lyricist, but boy do his solos make up for this! The nearly fifteen minute "Lunar Music Suite" (somewhat expanded from the original on Hillage's second studio album, L) sounds clean and neat; regrettably, the great Don Cherry wasn't present to repeat his dreamily nocturnal trumpet solo live on stage.

By the final track ("It's All Too Much") Hillage's ultra-busy way of guitar playing has become just a little too much, so perhaps it's for the better that I still own Virgin's 1990 edition of this CD (only 64 minutes long) and not the recently remastered version, which has added the "Solar Music Suite". (But then again, I love the studio original of that suite. What might a live version be like...?)

 Grides by SOFT MACHINE, THE album cover Live, 2006
4.35 | 15 ratings

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Grides
The Soft Machine Canterbury Scene

Review by toroddfuglesteg

4 stars Another excellent posthumous live album from Soft Machine.

This album starts with the barking of Hugh Hopper's bass and we are into Hazard Part 1. The sound is superb. The playing is flawless throughout from this, the classic Hopper/ Wyatt/Dean/Ratledge setup of Soft Machine. The songs are taken from Third/Fourth and the Fifth album. There is also a couple of other gems here.

From this period, I think Live At Henie Onstad Centre is the best live album. But Grides is an excellent album too and comes in a very good packaging with a lot of extra stuff. Stuff that makes this album almost essential if you are into this band. The sound is superb, but not excellent. The music is.

4 stars

 Hatfield and the North Live T.V. 1990 by HATFIELD AND THE NORTH album cover Live, 1991
2.91 | 12 ratings

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Hatfield and the North Live T.V. 1990
Hatfield And The North Canterbury Scene

Review by Evolver

3 stars One one hand, it is great to have a live performance from this excellent, but short lived band. On the other hand, to me it doesn't really sound like Hatfield And The North without keyboardist Dave Stewart. Replacement keyboardist Sophia Domancich is talented, but leans a bit too far to the jazz side, and takes the rest of the band with her. Her style is more like a somewhat less nimble Chick Corea.

For those expecting mostly live versions of the old Hatfield material, only four of the nine songs, Share It, Underdub, Halfway Between Heaven And Earth and It Didn't Matter Anyway, all from The Rotter's Club, fullfill this, and of the new songs, onlyy Going For A Song sounds like the original material. The rest is all straight jazz fusion. Not bad fusion, certainly listenable and competant, but not what you might expect from this band.

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Canterbury Scene bands/artists list

Bands/Artists Country
DAEVID ALLEN Australia
ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS United Kingdom
KEVIN AYERS United Kingdom
BRAINVILLE United Kingdom
CARAVAN United Kingdom
CLEAR FRAME United Kingdom
COS Belgium
DELIVERY United Kingdom
EGG United Kingdom
MICHAEL GILES United Kingdom
GILGAMESH United Kingdom
GONG Multi-National
MILLER, SINCLAIR, TOMKINS GOWEN United Kingdom
JOHN GREAVES United Kingdom
NICHOLAS GREENWOOD United Kingdom
GRINGO United Kingdom
HATFIELD AND THE NORTH United Kingdom
STEVE HILLAGE United Kingdom
HOPPER DEAN TIPPETT GALLIVAN United Kingdom
HUGH HOPPER United Kingdom
JAKKO M. JAKSZYK United Kingdom
KHAN United Kingdom
THE LODGE United States
MATCHING MOLE United Kingdom
PHIL MILLER United Kingdom
MOVING GELATINE PLATES France
MR. SIRIUS Japan
THE MUFFINS United States
NATIONAL HEALTH United Kingdom
PANTHEON Netherlands
PAZOP Belgium
JOHN G. PERRY United Kingdom
PICCHIO DAL POZZO Italy
PIP PYLE United Kingdom
QUANTUM JUMP United Kingdom
QUIET SUN United Kingdom
RICHARD SINCLAIR United Kingdom
SOFT HEAP United Kingdom
SOFT MACHINE LEGACY United Kingdom
THE SOFT MACHINE United Kingdom
SOFT MOUNTAIN Multi-National
SOFT WORKS United Kingdom
SUPERSISTER Netherlands
TORTILLA FLAT Germany
TRAVELLING France
VOLARÉ United States
THE WILDE FLOWERS United Kingdom
ROBERT WYATT United Kingdom
ZYMA Germany

Canterbury Scene Specialists


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