LIVE IN THE UK

Brainville convened in summer 1998 as a kind of Canterbury supergroup, with Daevid Allen, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle playing jazzy psychedelic space rock with a Canterbury twist on a short UK tour. In 2004 this live recording from one of those dates was released as part of the Bananamoon Obscura series. The three musicians had a substantial shared history; Hugh Hopper had first played with Daevid Allen in 1963 as part of a trio with Robert Wyatt, while Pip Pyle had spent long enough in Gong to play on Camembert Electrique.

Appropriately enough we start on Planet Gong, with a version of Fohat Digs Holes in Space that takes a short while to find its groove, but quickly achieves escape velocity. From there onwards the set list leans heavily on Daevid Allen's collaborations with Kramer, especially 1992's Hitmen. There's a return to Gong for Flowers Gone and early Soft Machine for Hope for Happiness, but despite the songs dating from the 60s to the mid 90s it's a very coherent set. The songs are launch pads for spacy jams and improvisations, with Hugh Hopper's distinctive bass and Daevid Allen's gliss guitar floating over Pip Pyle's muscular but jazzy drumming. Daevid Allen is also in good voice, with regular interjections of scat singing and beat poetry.

This is the Brainville live album that I would be most inclined to recommend. The sound is a bit bass heavy, but overall it's an interesting offshoot of the Canterbury scene that is worthy of attention. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.