The Canterbury Appreciation Thread

OK, my search-and-destroy mission of today was largely fruitful, seen as I got home not only with Jakko Jakszyk's aforementioned album (which will make all of you green with envy ), but also with Khan's Space Shanty (which I had been looking for in vain for some time now), and Egg's The Civil Surface. Since FNAC is a French chain, I suppose the abundance of Canterbury-related material is due to the popularity of the subgenre in France - wonderful thing for those who live in close proximity to such stores (they also have a nice selection of RPI and Krautrock stuff).

That said, the Jakko album is indeed superb, and he deserves addition in PA immediately. The only thing is, where are we going to put it? Besides Canterbury, on the strength of this album I think Xover (or even eclectic) could be a good placement for him. I'm quite willing to do the addition myself, and will talk to Micky and Dean about it.

Poser wrote: Hi! I have $20 to spend on iTunes and I'm wondering which National Health album to get (to start). Probably Of Queues and Cures, right? Might be an obvious answer. Then what? I have In the Land of Grey and Pink, The Polite Force, You, Fourth and The Rotter's Club. Obviously I really like Caravan, Hatfield and Gong (so far). Should I expand on those or should I trial different bands? And yes, I'll trust a stranger's decision more than my own.

We've been over this before, you. Of Queues And Cures will basically change your life. If it doesn't, your copy is obviously faulty and pirated.

Poser wrote: Hi! I have $20 to spend on iTunes and I'm wondering which National Health album to get (to start). Probably Of Queues and Cures, right? Might be an obvious answer. Then what? I have In the Land of Grey and Pink, The Polite Force, You, Fourth and The Rotter's Club. Obviously I really like Caravan, Hatfield and Gong (so far). Should I expand on those or should I trial different bands? And yes, I'll trust a stranger's decision more than my own.

Get Soft Machine's Third.  Immediately. 

Plus, it's a mere 4 bucks on iTunes!

Update:  the Jakko album can be obtained in mp3 form through Amazon or emusic.  Obviously not a preferred format for a lot of people, but looks like it's the only game in town right now.

Dick Heath wrote: NaturalScience wrote: [QUOTE=Ghost Rider]  Jakko Jakszyk's The Bruised Romantic Glee Club, which I saw the other day at a very good price. Does anyone know the album? If so, would you recommend it?  Maybe Dick Heath can provide input if he sees these posts.   Excellent album - and but for Jakko's non-inclusion on this site you could have an interview I did with Jakko January 2007, which includes talks about the making of Bruised Romantic and it would have been my nomination as the prog album of 2006 - I was priviledged that Jakko sent me a pre-release copy in April 2006. It is a great double album, CD 1 is made up of  Jakko's compositions, CD 2 largely includes a number of his favoured tunes as covers.   Line-up includes Gavin Harrison on many tracks, Robert Fripp, Dave Stewart (Jakko's colleague from Rapid Eye Movement), Hugh Hopper, Mel Collin (I also think - without the CD notes in front of me -) Ian McDonald, Danny Thompson, etc. - who indicate the Canterbury come Krimson flavour of the album. If you know Jakko's previous releases - especially those done in the company of former Japan members e.g. Kingdom Of Dust - that will give you a hint the musical style of CD 1. CD 2 (i.e. largely covers) brings Soft Machine, Henry Cow and King Crimson tunes on to one side of CD. Jakko provides vocals, the sometimes Holdsworthian guitar, and the less occasional flute.   However, it may be more difficult to get hold of the album, since I've just read Iceni Records has gone into receivership, although Jakko is trying to recover remaining CD stock. Also recommend Jakko fronting 21st Century Schizoid Band's Live In New York - although that too was released on Iceni Records and obviously has a strong Krimson flavour with the band's other members and the tunes covered.

Dick, I'm absolutely drooling over this description - sad to hear that the album may be difficult to obtain, but I shall be on the hunt for it.

NaturalScience wrote: MisterProg2112 wrote: I'm really listening to a lot of different genres of prog now, considering I only came to this site listening to a limited amount of prog metal, and some 70s prog. Now I've been listening to a lot of Caravan, just the first band I've listened to from the Cantebury scene, and it's really good. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should try next? Three key albums to start: Hatfield and the North - s/t debut (The Rotters' Club is also excellent, but I have a slight preference for this one) Gong - You Soft Machine - Third Absolutely come back and let us know what you think - we'll feed your addiction further be happy to make some more recommendations.

MisterProg2112 wrote: I'm really listening to a lot of different genres of prog now, considering I only came to this site listening to a limited amount of prog metal, and some 70s prog. Now I've been listening to a lot of Caravan, just the first band I've listened to from the Cantebury scene, and it's really good. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should try next?

Three key albums to start:

Hatfield and the North - s/t debut (The Rotters' Club is also excellent, but I have a slight preference for this one)
Gong - You
Soft Machine - Third

Absolutely come back and let us know what you think - we'll feed your addiction further be happy to make some more recommendations. 

If you like Caravan, the logical next step would be Hatfield and the North - the band featuring Caravan founding member, bassist and vocalist extraordinaire Richard Sinclair. Anyway, if you want tons of advice on Canterbury bands and anything related to them, you could do much worse than browse through the 13 pages of this thread. You'll get plenty of expert advice on this utterly fascinating, addictive branch of prog!

Hello again, fellow Canterburians! After a longish hiatus (you all know about my current situation), I've come back to posting on a regular basis - reaching the milestone of 10k posts (though I'll never be able to catch Micky now...). So, what better opportunity to visit this thread once again - especially since these days I'm reading an Italian book on the Canterbury scene, called Swingin' Canterbury. The author is very much biased toward Soft Machine rather than Caravan, but he's very well-informed, his research and sources are impeccable, and he seems to know quite a lot about musical composition. Besides, the discography at the end of the book is invaluable for anyone with an interest in the original Canterbury scene.

As for CD purchases, I recently got Egg's The Polite Force (which I already had, though not in CD format), and am planning to get other stuff. There is a store belonging to the French chain FNAC here in Rome where they have quite a good selection of Canterbury-related records, including something that still has to find a place here on PA - Jakko Jakszyk's The Bruised Romantic Glee Club, which I saw the other day at a very good price. Does anyone know the album? If so, would you recommend it?

Exactly. Just been started on Canterbury myself
I recently picked up:

Space Shanty - Khan (actually, had this one for a while) [Good blues-based album. It's a bit unfortunate that the vocals are awkward at times and I occasionally feel the material is a bit predictable]
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - Caravan [Great music, I remember liking the organ particularly. I didn't enjoy Pye Hastings vocals as much as the next album's ones]
In The Land Of Grey And Pink - Caravan [ Disassociation is absolutely wonderful, and the album as a whole is great]
The Rotters' Club - Hatfield And The North [did love it, but need to give it more listens to make a reasonable comment]
Third - Soft Machine [A surprise, definitely. Very enjoyable jazz-psychy chaos all round. Not bad.]
Also got to hear Matching Mole's debut [felt it was a bit light at times, and Robert Wyatt's vocals are too weak to suit the romantic material that well. Still, the jazzier parts were superb, especially Part Of The Dance]

I'm hooked -
Where to go next?