185

Wow! I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this like that! This is smokin'!! I got this fairly recently with big concerns since I read it was much jazzier and very different from the canterbury style of Manna/Mirage, and I must say yes it is all that but who cares when the music is so good and exciting? Now If you don't consider Air Fiction (1000 copies) which was a private release offered only by mail by the band to be a proper release, 185 was their second and final album before regrouping 20 years later.185 is a different beast than what came before, by late 1979 and early 1980 the band's sound was gradually changing, their canterbury gentle jazz rock stylings are giving way to a harder edged sound, Dave Newhouse is playing less keyboards and writing pieces for 2 saxes bass and drums. Another thing that had a huge influence on their music was Fred Frith moving to NY in the late 70's and becoming friends with the band, he even featured them as a backup band on one side of his solo LP Gravity which brought their name to the attention of many more listeners. As we all know punk, new wave, heavier style of rock music and whatever... pushed aside mostly instrumental bands that played exceedingly complex anti dance music, by late 1980 frustrations inside the band were mounting as years of hard work were not paying off. Finally when they were ready to record this album there was enough tension and disagreement about recording it that they decided to bring in Frith as producer to take all decisions. Not enough that the band were already struggling to keep it together, when 185 sells even more poorly than they had hoped and received almost no press attention, 3 months after that they sadly disbanded.

While on Manna/Mirage woodwinds were already playing a big role but in a more melodic and playful kinda way closer to the canterbury style, here it's definitely jazzier/RIO, and with Frith on board and as an inspiration naturally the material sounds closer to Henry Cow or Picchio Dal Pozzo than anything. But still although being quite dissonant and more towards RIO than classic jazz, I found this to be much more digestible and easy than I thought it would be since it has some clear rock inluences thanks to the rhythm section. The music is quite often upbeat, Billy Swan's bass is a real highlight here, delivering impressive workouts and of course his delicious fuzzed distortion bass. Drummer Paul Sears also contributes to this album sounding rockier since he's not taking this to jazz realms. Both Frith and Swan contribute electric guitars here and there, they don't come to the fore but weaved in under the mix to spice up the sound.

Since there were quite a lot of criticism over the years about this album not sounding like The Muffins, the CD version released in 1996 by Cuneiform include the original LP as it was released and adds a remix of 7 out of the 10 original tracks without Frith's electronic manipulations to them and also keeping overdubs to a minimum, throwing away a lot of different parts for the purpose of allowing you to hear how the band sounded live. The original version does take the material even further away from Manna/Mirage with all kinds of electronic treatment to the woodwinds and to the mix, I personally think it's most welcomed and tastefuly done, making this album a bit more unique and intriguing, plus all the overdubs later taken out made the album sound richer and fuller. I think it would be quite hard to take all of this in one sitting first because of the nature of the music and second because it's the same songs over again, I like both versions in the CD but I think the original mix with Frith's additions is by far the better one and the most interesting.

You can see that the band is exploring a few directions, sounds and moods and even sparsly adding some vocals. The music is mostly energetic, the compositions are wild and progressive taking in a few ideas into one song, although the material is written there's enough room for improvisation (at least it sounds like it) without falling into the boring noodling trap. Woodwinds with an emphasis on saxophones are leading the way but instead of being jazzy it is for the most part in the RIO style, I don't find it to be too detached or out there at all, David Newhouse certainly knows how to craft some exciting pieces while still remaining on the ground and making it as accessible as RIO can get. The arrangements including mostly a few saxophones and clarinet are just stellar, the playing is superb it's easy to see that these guys are professionals, the ideas are diversed and interesting and the whole thing is just so fun to listen to. A big chunk of the music is pretty aggressive propelled by Billy Swan's big fuzzed bass and Newhouse/Scott squeaking and shrieking woodwinds, the best example would be Queenside with an almost heavy metal riff, quirky saxophones and some cool singing. I guess only The Muffins can go into more weird territories like in Dream Beat or Under Dali's Wing and still sound wonderful and logical.

So although the band's style had changed from Manna/Mirage I think 185 can still appeal to fans since the musicianship is still there and the writing is strong, worth checking out anyway. Anyone who's looking to get into RIO this would be an excellent starting point, you do have to give it time to grow on you but I assure you it will be very rewarding. 4.5 stars rounded down.