In Praise of Hatfield and the North and ‘The Canterbury Sound’
In this month’s Prog there is a great feature on the bands, old and new, from Canterbury (alongside a lovely double feature on Camel – so worth checking out).
It has always struck me that of all the various musical styles that we’ve seen over the decades the Canterbury Scene is probably the most overlooked and dismissed by the knowing cognoscenti. It never really has been in vogue even back in it’s heyday, and whenever mentioned the focus tends to be on either Caravan or Soft Machine (both mighty fine bands). Whilst there is a magic ingredient that links the artists together it still encompasses a broad sweep of music. Over there the Softs – serious boffins – Mike Ratledge surely the coolest musician to wear shades on this side of the Atlantic with that strange crablike scuttling style on the organ. And then there’s Kevin Ayers, the dapper gent with a voice like wild honey – if he’d been a footballer he’d have been Dimitar Berbatov – full of talent but never going to chase the long pass, much preferring to be cosying up to a blonde and long drink in Monte Carlo. Let’s not forget Mike Oldfield the … Continue reading In Praise of Hatfield and the North and ‘The Canterbury Sound’
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