Matching Mole were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene.
Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left
Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album "The End of an Ear" (4 December 1970).
Their first, eponymous album was released in April 1972, the bulk of which was composed by Wyatt himself, with the exception of "O Caroline" (a Dave Sinclair composition with lyrics by Wyatt about his recent breakup with girlfriend Caroline Coon) and Phil Miller's "Part of the Dance".
Sinclair soon dropped out of the group and was replaced by New Zealand-born keyboard player and composer
Dave MacRae who had already played a guest role on the first album. Their second album, Matching Mole's " Little Red Record " produced by
Robert Fripp of King Crimson was released in November 1972. This album was more of a team effort, with Wyatt concentrating on lyrics and vocal melodies and leaving the composing to his bandmates.
The opening track, "O Caroline," is indicative of Wyatt at his best: art rock with a human face, a playful vocal, and soul. Much of the record is instrumental improvisation, though, with the humor largely confined to the song titles ("Instant Pussy," "Dedicated to Hugh, But You Weren't Listening").
For every nifty passage (the extended melancholy Mellotron solo on "Immediate Curtain," the goofy scat vocals on "Signed Curtain"), there's equal or greater instrumental patter. Some art rock devotees really get behind this album, but it doesn't count among the more enduring statements by the Canterbury crowd.
Matching Mole disbanded in late September 1972 immediately upon completion of a European tour supporting Soft Machine, with Sinclair and Miller going on to form the more successful Hatfield and the North.
A new lineup – consisting of Wyatt, MacCormick, ex-Curved Air keyboardist Francis Monkman and jazz saxophonist Gary Windo – was due to record a third album in 1973. This was cancelled when Wyatt fell from a window in June 1973, and was paralysed from the waist down, and therefore unable to continue drumming.
Personnel
Phil Miller – guitar
David Sinclair – piano, organ
Bill MacCormick – bass
Robert Wyatt – drums, voice, mellotron, piano
Additional musicians
Dave MacRae – electric piano
Label : Esoteric Recordings – ECLEC 22311
Format : 2 CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Expanded Edition
Country : UK
Released : 2012
Genre : Jazz, Rock
Style : Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock, Experimental
ROBERT WYATT
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945[1][2]) is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine.
In 1966, the Wilde Flowers disintegrated, and Wyatt, along with Mike Ratledge, was invited to join Soft Machine by Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. Wyatt both drummed and shared vocals with Ayers, an unusual combination for a stage rock band. In 1970, after chaotic touring, three albums and increasing internal conflicts in Soft Machine, Wyatt released his first solo album, The End of an Ear, which combined his vocal and multi-instrumental talents with tape effects. A year later, Wyatt left Soft Machine and, besides participating in the fusion bigband Centipede and drumming at the JazzFest Berlin's New Violin Summit, a live concert with violinists Jean-Luc Ponty, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Michal Urbaniak and Nipso Brantner, guitarist Terje Rypdal, keyboardist Wolfgang Dauner and bassist Neville Whitehead,[9] formed his own band Matching Mole (a pun, "machine molle" being French for 'Soft Machine'), a largely instrumental outfit that recorded two albums.
Accident
Matching Mole were about to record their third album when, on 1 June 1973, during a birthday party for Gong's Gilli Smyth and June Campbell Cramer (also known as Lady June) at the latter's Maida Vale home, an inebriated Wyatt fell from a fourth-floor window.
He was paralysed from the waist down and has used a wheelchair for mobility ever since. On 4 November that year, Pink Floyd performed two benefit concerts, in one day, at London's Rainbow Theatre, supported by Soft Machine, and compered by John Peel. The concerts raised a reported £10,000 for Wyatt.
PHIL MILLER
Philip Paul Miller (22 January 1949 – 18 October 2017) was an English progressive rock/jazz guitarist who was part of the Canterbury scene.
Miller was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. He was a member of the bands Delivery,Caravan, Matching Mole, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Short Wave (with Hugh Hopper(†), Pip Pyle(†) and Didier Malherbe), and worked in solo projects and in his band In Cahoots, which he founded in 1982 with Richard Sinclair, Elton Dean(†), Peter Lemer, and Pip Pyle.
In 2005 and 2006, Miller toured with the re-united Hatfield and the North.
DAVID SINCLAIRE
David (Dave) Sinclair (born 24 November 1947 in Herne Bay, Kent, England), is a keyboardist (organ, pianos, synthesizer) who has been strongly associated with the progressive rock Canterbury Scene since the late 1960s. He became famous with the band Caravan and was responsible as a songwriter for creating some of their best-known tracks: "For Richard", "Nine Feet Underground", "The Dabsong Conshirtoe", "Proper Job/Back To Front".
In between his stints with Caravan, he was a member of Matching Mole (1971–72), Hatfield and the North (1972–73), Polite Force (1976–77) and Camel (1978-1979).
BILL Mac CORMICK
Bill MacCormick (born 15 April 1951, London) is an English bassist and vocalist. After attending primary schools in Brixton they were both awarded free places at Dulwich College. There Bill met Phil Targett-Adams (now better known as Phil Manzanera) and they developed an interest in playing music. In 1966 Bill's mother worked with Honor Wyatt, the mother of drummer Robert Wyatt, and Bill saw his band Soft Machine play their first gig in August 1966 at Coombe Springs in Kingston and, thereafter, became a regular visitor at Honor Wyatt's house in Dalmore Road, West Dulwich, where the band lived and rehearsed. In 1968 Phil Targett-Adams and Bill formed a band at Dulwich College with a floating membership except for drummer Charles Hayward, two years their junior. Under the name Pooh and the Ostrich Feather they played gigs around the school and at parties. Bill and Phil both left Dulwich College in 1969 and they reunited with Charles Hayward the following year to form a band called Quiet Sun.
One of the band's last gigs was supporting Symbiosis at Portsmouth Polytechnic. This band featured Robert Wyatt who was about to leave Soft Machine and, when he did, he contacted Bill asking him to play bass in a new band to be called Matching Mole. They were joined in the band by the late Phil Miller and Caravan's keyboard player Dave Sinclair.
DAVE MAC RAE
Dave MacRae (born 2 April 1940, Auckland, New Zealand) is a keyboardist from New Zealand, noted for his contributions in jazz and his collaborations with people from the Canterbury scene.
He relocated to London in 1971, working that year with jazz musicians Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Jon Hendricks, and Gil Evans.
He continued working with Canterbury musicians such as Robert Wyatt, Mike Gibbs, and Richard Sinclair through the 1970s.
In the 1980s MacRae worked briefly with False Alarm and then played in a reconstituted version of Soft Machine in 1984. He returned to Australia later that year, and played in the Sydney area with Bernie McGann and Ronnie Scott.
TRACKS
Album Remastered
01. O Caroline
Written By : David Sinclair, Robert Wyatt 5:06
02. Instant Pussy
Electric Piano : Dave McRea , Written By : Robert Wyatt 3:02
03. Signed Curtain
Written-By – Robert Wyatt 3:03
04. Part Of The Dance
Electric Piano : Dave McRea , Written By : Phil Miller 9:14
05. Instant Kitten
Written-By – Robert Wyatt 4:59
06. Dedicated To Hugh, But You Weren't Listening
Electric Piano : Dave McRea , Written By : Robert Wyatt 4:40
07. Beer As In Braindeer
Electric Piano : Dave McRea , Written By : Robert Wyatt 4:02
08. Immediate Curtain
Written By : Robert Wyatt 5:58
Bonus Tracks
09. O Caroline (Single Version)
Written By : David Sinclair, Robert Wyatt 3:33
10. Signed Curtain (Single Edit)
Written By : Robert Wyatt 3:05
11. Part Of The Dance Jam
MP3 Size : 158 MB
Flac Size : 399 MB
