Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

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The Modernist
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby The Modernist » 12 Jan 2015, 19:26

CUNT wrote:
The G Experience! wrote:Did he ever write a decent song?


:D

'Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes' is the one you want, G.
.


That was pretty shit. There must be a better song to put up than that.

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby clive gash » 12 Jan 2015, 19:35

I don't think he's very overburdened in the "tunes yer dog can whistle" dept. There's a (deceptively) easy swinging feel, a louche breeze to his best, did you not like "Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)"? A fucking cosmic round mate.
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby toomanyhatz » 12 Jan 2015, 19:37

If nothing posted so far is getting you, G, he just might not be for you. It happens.

To me, his talent is in how unfiltered his songwriting is - it feels like you're connecting directly with his muse without concern for how it's received. This can be problematic for even fans - once others took control over his music, he didn't seem to have much interest in wresting it back - so if it doesn't hit you directly, it likely never will.

More Kevin for us, then.
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Snarfyguy » 12 Jan 2015, 19:44

I always thought Rainbow Takeaway was something of a dud, but next time I clean off all the junk that's accumulated on top of the turntable, I'll give it another shot.
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby harvey k-tel » 12 Jan 2015, 20:26

The G Experience! wrote:Did he ever write a decent song?


This one's a fave of mine (although I think it deserves to be heard on a half-decent system):

Tempora mutatur et nos mutamur in illis

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby The Modernist » 12 Jan 2015, 20:48

Yeah I know that one...it doesn't blow me away. I'll check out Nev's recommendation.

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Brother Spoon » 13 Jan 2015, 05:26

CUNT wrote: He's no great talent, tho'.


It's fair to say his greatest talent was for living.

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Brother Spoon » 15 Jan 2015, 17:30

Image

I've never heard the first Soft Machine album.
What do the fans think? Is it Ayers-esque?

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Snarfyguy » 15 Jan 2015, 19:24

Brother Spoon wrote:Image

I've never heard the first Soft Machine album.
What do the fans think? Is it Ayers-esque?

It's fantastic, but it's more of a group effort, so KA's particular idiosyncracies aren't to the fore (compared to how, for example, Lou Reed was kind of the central figure in the Velvet Underground).

Having said that, there are several themes (musical and conceptual) on here that Ayers would continue to mine in his solo career.

You really should hear it; it's no overstatement to say it's a classic.
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby naughty boy » 15 Jan 2015, 19:29

I'd second that. I've always been a bit confounded as to why the second SM album is more lauded. This one always seemed stranger, deeper, heavier (at least in places).
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Quaco » 15 Jan 2015, 20:17

I love all of the first three, though each is rather different. The first one is stranger, especially when you have Kevin's growling, and it just seems more thrown-together, like a group of guys getting whatever they could to make a whole album. I think it was basically their live set trimmed down a bit.

The second one has more little Wyatt songs (so Wyatt people will tend to like it more), and it's done in a bit more sophisticated suite style, and Hugh Hopper's bass -- that defining fuzz bass which they would use for years -- is much more accomplished than Kevin's, so it's a rather more dazzling, melodic display. I happen to like it the best, but I can also see objectively why it's more highly lauded. (It's also possible, John, that you get the feeling it's more lauded simply because I and a couple other people on here are vocal about it. Is it highly lauded in the real world?)

The third one is a real departure, and I generally got the impression that that was the one people considered their classic. I love it too, though it took me a while to get all those long instrumental jazzy bits. I think I wished there had been more "Moon in June"-type stuff on it.
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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Brother Spoon » 17 Jan 2015, 18:09

I will keep it in mind.
I know the second and third, which I both like a good deal, without becoming favorites. Maybe the first one is the one for me.

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Rayge » 15 Jan 2018, 18:50

bump
In timeless moments we live forever

You can't play a tune on an absolute

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby clive gash » 15 Jan 2018, 21:22

It’s already been mentioned but

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby zoomboogity » 12 Apr 2018, 07:50

Old Grey Whistle Test was created by Kevin's dad.

Here's Galen Ayers and Bridget St. John in New York, November 2017:

Image

"Quite."

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Bent Fabric » 12 Apr 2018, 18:52

I fell for him in such a big way when I finally did that I'm not even remotely able to see the "no decent tunes" P.O.V.

Things like "Town Feeling", "Girl on a Swing", "Lady Rachel", "Song for Insane Times" are as captivating to me as anything I've ever heard by anyone - all classics in my world, and...suffice to say, Joy of a Toy is hands down my favorite work of his. It feels more focused than the others. Not that I don't love everything up through and including Dr. Dream to some extent.

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Re: Beyond the 130 - Kevin Ayers

Postby Charlie O. » 19 Apr 2018, 16:48

Bent Fabric wrote:I fell for him in such a big way when I finally did that I'm not even remotely able to see the "no decent tunes" P.O.V.

Things like "Town Feeling", "Girl on a Swing", "Lady Rachel", "Song for Insane Times" are as captivating to me as anything I've ever heard by anyone - all classics in my world, and...suffice to say, Joy of a Toy is hands down my favorite work of his. It feels more focused than the others. Not that I don't love everything up through and including Dr. Dream to some extent.

This is pretty much word for word how I feel, though I've gradually come to love Whatevershebringswesing and Bananamour very nearly as much as the first.

And The Unfairground was strong enough to make me truly rue that there wasn't a follow-up.

Nice Galen/Bridget clip, zoomb!
Image


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