PLANET FOR $ALE

Nigel contacted me via email recently and of course we started reminiscing about music and how long we had known each other (30 years), and it was only then that I discovered he had released an album of very different styles back in 2007. I always think of Nigel as primarily an acoustic guitarist in the same vein as Roy Harper, Rog Patterson, Gordon Giltrap etc, and had no idea there had been an album of remixes which had far more in common with the dance scene than his normal pursuits. In 1998 radio producer Dr Keith Halden, created a visual montage based on the words of the NMJ song "Planet for $ale" for BBC 2 TV Scotland. Following on from that, various artists friends and producers became involved in a project to produce something quite different to his norm, creating re-mixes from the original NMJ recordings and samples. The musicians involved include Guy Evans of Van Der Graaf Generator, Carla Vallett, Steve Jolliffe, Phil Beer, Margaret Phillips and Bliss (NMJ provides vocals, guitars and bass on all tracks while everyone else is only involved on a couple), and the tracks have been remixed by Steve Hillage System 777, Banco de Gaia, Guy Evans, John Acock and Keith Halden.

The album received a new burst of life a few years ago when Banco de Gaia released a video of "Breathe a Little Life" (available on YouTube) to tie in COP 26. To say the video is perfect, and perfectly frightening, is understating the power of the images and I highly recommend everyone watch it ? this has also been released on the 2023 Banco de Gaia album, 'Altered Realities'. This is not my normal style of music at all, but somehow all those involved have captured the essence of NMJ and turned his music into something very different yet has not removed all traces of him and his humanity. The next most prominent musician on this album is Guy Evans, who plays on three tracks, and has worked with NMJ for years (I highly recommend the 1997 album, 'Mazlyn Jones and Guy Evans with Nik Turner and Friends') and they understand what they are trying to achieve together, so Evans can be providing highly complex fills yet never takes over from NMJ.

There is something about this album which really speaks to me, and there is no doubt it has not dated in the slightest. We get the percussion led "A Wing and a Prayer" which totally offsets the insect sounds and commentary of "Doctors' Orders" which has much more of a dance beat and sound, while that in turn is in contrast to the piano of Margaret Phillips and vocals of Carla Vallett on "Only Passing Through". The repeated question of "Who'll give us two pence for a dead old globe, who'll breathe a little life into these dying nations, who'll give a little love to the sick and the old?" is powerful and hurting, passionate and hard to hear. I have loved NMJ for years, and this album may be totally different to his other works, but I am so very glad indeed that I have finally come across it.