JUNE 1ST,1974

Can be titled as Ayers and Friends, we hold here one of the most unique and bizarre experimental line-ups ever, but it is only partially successful. And believe me this album holds an even more stellar cast than the four big names of the title. A bizarre mix of the Velvet Underground and Soft Machine arbitrated by former Ayers collabs, this album makes certainly for a worthy listening experience. This album can be seen as one of the best example of Art Rock

The opening track is greatly underlined by John Cale's great violin and a solid intro as well as a highlight of the album. Equally interesting although a bit nerve- shattering is the Baby's On Fire with its cringey guitars. An odd-beat rendition of Presley's Heartbreak Hotel follows, but if interesting, it is rather unsettling and holds no real correlation with the original. Those of you aware od Belgian band dEUS, will note that they certainly listened to this track intently at some point in their lives. However the Doors cover The End is rather overlong and IMHO a real bore past the initial surprise, Nico's voice not paying homage to the original singer's voice. Eno's minimalist arrangements of this tune are very reminiscent of Terry Riley's A Rainbow In Curved Air.

The second side starts with a selection of three of Ayers's better known tunes (although not my favorites) of which May I holds one verse sung in French (Ayers was coming back from southern France back then). A slow and acoustic blues, is rather boring and seems top be an awful waste of vinyl time given the superb line-up at hand in this concert especially when the original studio version is so much more interesting. The closing track Two Goes Into Four goes back a bit to the first side but is ended abruptly and leaves the listener a bit frustrated.

This one time only formation had tremendous potential and started quite well, but seemed to run out of steam halfway through the album. Please note that this is one of the last albums Wyatt played drums on, as his accident will happen soon after leaving him paraplegic. This album is at the image of Ayer's career: very uneven and should be approached with caution by progheads. I rounded it up to the third star.