Difficult Music

Twenty Per Cent Off
I ventured down to A&B on the weekend and bought a couple things. I was actually looking for the new Spock’s Beard, but I was denied. Probably just as well because it’s a double album, and those can be a chore to get through even when they’re by a band as light and frothy as the Beard. I probably wouldn’t be able to listen to it straight through before the Christmas holidays.

Instead I got the first Caravan album, which is a true museum piece. Recorded in ’68, it sounds like a semi-botched attempt at getting a state-of-the-art “trippy” atmosphere—drenched in reverb, reedy organ swirling around, and drums struggling to punch through the murk. The songs have the naïve melodicism of The Pink Floyd garnished with occasional psycho-terror vocalizations à la Comus. I’m liking it.

I also picked up Shleep, that Robert Wyatt album I heard at Super Robertson’s party a while back. I listened to it in the background last night while I was copyediting, but a quick leaf through the hefty CD booklet made me pledge to give it proper listen (and read) soon.

Shleep… It’s been a while since I went to sleep with music on, mainly due to the change in my living arrangements. I used to do it nearly every weekend after a night out. Have one last drink of damnation, slap something scary into the blaster and drift off. I don’t dream after I’ve had alcohol, so maybe I was trying to provoke nightmares. I favoured Present, Univers Zero, and anything Italian. Darkthrone, too, very quietly, to provide soothing white noise. I’d only last a song or two; the rest of the album would play out while I slept. Sometimes I’d wake up to silence and the green LED glow of the blaster at 4 a.m. I’d sit up, reach over to turn the power off and quickly pass out again. Other times I’d sleep in properly, wake up, and notice that the blaster was still on…little hangover indication lights at the foot of my bed.