LITTLE RED RECORD

This is the lesser of the two Matching Mole albums IMO. That being said, this is still quite an enjoyable album. The two studio releases only differ by a half star as far as I'm concerned. If I remember correctly, Fripp and Eno both appeared on this album, with Fripp taking the seat as the Producer.

The album opens with "Starting in the Middle of the Day, We Can Drink Our Politics Away," a song just as good as "O Caroline" from the first album. This track bridges into "Marchides," a Mole classic as far as I'm concerned. Among the rest of the album, I also enjoy "Gloria Gloom" and "Smoke Signals," another classic. The longer tracks on this album are for the most part, more enjoyable than the shorter ones. However, I can't say that there is one particularly bad or weak part on the album. I just don't feel that this album deserves more than four stars, since the first and more importamt of the two, gets 4.5.

Great effort from Wyatt's post-Soft Machine group, and definitely worth checking out by all Canterbury fans, although I still say start with the first. 4 stars, excellent sophomore album.