UNIVERSITY OF ERRORS

On this album, Daevid Allen and his University of Errors band decide to re-record covers of the demo songs from his previous/original band Soft Machine that were released on the 'Jet Propelled Photographs' compilation that was released well after the Softs were no more. (That compilation released the demos that the Softs made back in 1966/7 to try and win a record contract, which included Daevid Allen at the time). Even more strange, they don't interpret them very much, and so record them pretty straight in line with those demos, and even more bizarre, in the exact same order as that compilation! (but with a few extra songs added at the end). If you weren't going to interpret these songs and make them different, why re-record them? Not that they sound exactly the same. These versions have more distorted guitars and guitar solos, and no organ (guitar solos largely take the place of the organ solos on the original compilation). So, now that we have these, did we need these new versions? This album has produced an interesting response for me. Usually I find that after multiple listens either that tracks I liked on first listen interest me less and less over time, OR tracks that I didn't love at first listen grew on me. This album had a different effect. The first (and second) time I listened to it, I really disliked it. But after a 4 or 5 listens, I started to like it. But...strangely...a few more listens after that and I am back to disliking it. Not sure why, but now that I have gone through this, I am back to wondering just why we needed this album to be made. Now don't get me wrong, the music is not bad (I love the Softs), and the guitar solos are definitely better than on the originals. But other than that, I like the original demos a lot more, and find no reason to listen to these remakes any longer. I will stick to the original demos. How to rate such a strange album? Well, combining musicality and (lack of) originality, I give this album 4.2 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to lower 2 PA stars. Not terrible, but really only for completionists.

And what about the music? Well, those who are familiar with the original record won´t find many novelties, but the original psychedelic spirit is still there 40 years later. The main difference, beside the lyrics, is the energetic guitar playing by Josh Pollock, that gives a different approach to the songs and make them sound very modern. In fact, those who hadn´t listened to the original songs wouldn´t think they were composed so many years before. Songs like "Save Yourself", "I Should Have Known", "Feelin´ Reelin´ Squeelin´" and "Hope for Happiness", that I consider the best efforts of the whole record, gain such energy that they seem to be conceived on the 2000´s, and confirm Josh pollock´s abilities as player and composer. Although the overall result is quite good, I don´t think it makes this record a must have piece, and it will mainly satisfy Daevid Allen and Soft Machine hardcore fans. For the rest, I reccommend starting with the original record and leave this as a secondary option and, as Professor Paradox notes, do the homework, think about the origins and compare it with the new form.

From the funny "Money Doesn´t Make It", with its interesting hypnotic intro and a superb work on guitars, you know you are going to listen something very different of what you expected. The improvised nature of the record is clearer in songs like "Prince of the Sidewak Scooter", almost recitative at the beginning, but that turns into a jammy spacey song full of the typical guitar gliss, and "False Teacher", a delicate but really mysterious track, in which Erik Pearson´s flute gives it an eastern sound that will appear again in "Mullumbimby Mother", that reminds me some of the raga-like music they had previously played in their respective bands.

Unfortunately, from this time the rest of the songs seem to be only short sketches of what they had been playing in the studio (in a similar vein as Fred Frith´s "Speechless"). Although these are not obviously the best tracks of the record, they can give you an idea of what they had been playing and how they would sound like when pushing their music to the limit ("Cunning Style Construct", which really sounds like a free improvisation, and the joke of "Wedding Music", are great examples of their out-of-limits performance). The most remarkable songs are "Prof. Improbable´s Preambule", very experimental and with an acid flavour that sticks it hard in your mind, specially by the metronomic percussive sounds, and the crazy reprise of the first song, "Burn Your Money", which could be the perfect final for the record.

Despite not being a perfect record and having some flaws, the overall result is at a high level and I think it deserves a listen, noy only for the great musicianship displayed, but also because you can discover another side of this versatyle artist named Daevid Allen. I rate it with 4 stars.