NICK MASON'S FICTITIOUS SPORTS

This album is somewhat of a concoction. Wanting to make a solo album like his fellow Floydians, but being neither a composer nor a singer, Mason asked Carla Bley to write the tunes, and his friend Robert Wyatt to sing on the album. He also asked other friends (like Gary Windo on saxes, and Karen Craft on vocals) to be part of the project. The result is a one-off odd-ball mixture of styles and textures that bears little resemblance to anything that came beforehand or afterward. It really feels concocted too. Wyatt in many places sounds unsure of whether or what he should be singing, and the compositions are quite quirky, distinctly Carla Bley but with a (not-always-musical) twist, and with a very particular sense of humour (not always funny). And the whole thing seems like it was put together with insufficient rehearsal. Very transparently, nothing here is essential, and much of it borders on un-musical. But, luck of fate, this is better than one might guess, if just for its uniqueness. The best tune here is the closer "I'm a Mineralist", but songs like "Can't get my Motor to Start" and "Wervin" have a sort of odd-ball dumb charm. Not likely an album you will constantly come back to, nor put in your top 1000, it is nonetheless a refreshing happy listen if you are in the right mood, and you probably won't want to jettison it either. It is worth "something", even if it is hard to determine just what that is. I give this 5.9 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to lowish 3 PA stars.

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