Matching mole

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Matching Mole were a British rock band from the Canterbury scene .

Emergence

Matching Mole was founded in October 1971 by former Soft Machine drummer and singer Robert Wyatt . Other founding members were Phil Miller (guitar), Dave Sinclair (keyboards, previously with the group Caravan ) and Bill MacCormick (bass, previously with the group Quiet Sun ). The name “Matching Mole” is a reference to Wyatt's previous band - “Soft Machine” means “Machine Molle” in French.

Music and career

The band moved musically between rock and jazz. The first album varied between sung, mostly ballad-like pop songs like “O Caroline” and spacious instrumental pieces that left plenty of room for improvisation and instrumental interaction. Characteristic of this music are introductory keyboard arrangements with a pronounced melancholy mood, which then develop into rock-based improvisations, such as in the pieces "Instant Kitten" or "Part of the Dance". Both the rock line-up with electric guitar and the lack of complicated harmonies and odd time signatures made the first album appear musically more conventional than the previous Soft Machine albums.

The use of the Mellotron in the piece "Immediate Curtain" deserves special mention . Through the use of cluster techniques, Robert Wyatt creates dissonant sounds of dark atmospheric intensity on this instrument, such as those found in many late Romantic and Expressionist pieces at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Keyboardist Dave MacRae , who finally became a permanent member of the band in February 1972, played some tracks on the first album . Shortly afterwards David Sinclair left the band. In the following six months, Matching Mole played numerous concerts in England and on the continent and recorded several BBC sessions. In August they finally recorded their second album, Matching Mole's Little Red Record , a less Wyatt-centric group work. In contrast to the first album, the band broke away from conventional pop patterns. Matching Mole expanded their musical spectrum into areas such as minimal music , experimental electronics and avant-garde e-music. But some titles also show an affinity for rapid, fast-paced rock Jazz -Spielweisen as they were very common mid-seventies.

A short time later, Wyatt broke up the band. Plans to reorganize Matching Mole (with keyboardist Francis Monkman , previously with Curved Air , and saxophonist Gary Windo ) failed in the summer of 1973 because of a serious accident when Wyatt became paraplegic .

Further career of the individual musicians

  • David Sinclair and Phil Miller founded Hatfield and the North in October 1972 . Sinclair left the group before their first album, returned to Caravan in 1973 and also belonged temporarily to Camel and his cousin Richard Sinclair's band .
  • After Hatfield and the North broke up in 1975, Phil Miller played in National Health in the late 1970s , in In Cahoots from the 1980s and in Short Wave in the 1990s , in a duo with Fred T. Baker and in a trio with Mark Hewins and his Brother, keyboardist Steve Miller (not to be confused with the American guitarist of the same name). Phil Miller still performs live with Hatfield and the North, see z. B. [1] .
  • Dave McRae worked on Ian Carrs Nucleus and on the Walker Brothers LP Nite Flights .
  • Bill MacCormick played in 1976 with Phil Manzanera , with whom he had also worked in the band Quiet Sun , and Brian Eno in the band 801 . In the late seventies he founded the band Random Hold with guitarist David Rhodes (who later played for Peter Gabriel ) , after which he withdrew from the music business in 1980.
  • Robert Wyatt became a renowned solo artist as a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.

Discography

  • Matching Mole (1972)
  1. O Caroline (Wyatt / Sinclair)
  2. Instant Pussy (Wyatt)
  3. Signed Curtain (Wyatt)
  4. Part of the Dance (Miller)
  5. Instant Kitten (Wyatt)
  6. Dedicated to Hugh, but You Weren't Listening (Wyatt)
  7. Beer as in Braindeer (Wyatt)
  8. Immediate Curtain (Wyatt)


  • Little Red Record (1972)
  1. Starting in the Middle of the Day, We Can Drink Our Politics Away (MacRae / Wyatt)
  2. Marchides (MacRae)
  3. Nan True's Hole (Miller / Wyatt)
  4. Righteous Rhumba (Miller / Wyatt)
  5. Brandy as in Benj (MacRae)
  6. Gloria Gloom (MacCormick / Wyatt)
  7. God Song (Miller / Wyatt)
  8. Flora Fidgit (MacCormick)
  9. Smoke Signal (MacRae)


  • BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1994)
  1. Instant pussy
  2. Lything and Gracing
  3. Marchides
  4. Part of the dance
  5. Brandy as in Benj
Recorded live on July 27, 1972


  • Smoke Signals (2001)
  1. Spoken Introduction
  2. March Ides I.
  3. Smoke rings
  4. Nan True's Hole
  5. Brandy as in Benj
  6. Electric piano solo
  7. March Ides II
  8. Instant pussy
  9. Smoke signal
  10. Lything and Gracing
BBC and live recordings from 1972


  • March (2002)
  1. March
  2. Instant pussy
  3. Smoke signal
  4. Part of the dance
  5. No 'Alf Measures
  6. Lything and Gracing
  7. Waterloo Lily
Live recording from March 25, 1972

Filmography

Web links