Last great Canterbury related album?

U.K. ST.

Rick1 wrote: Lol!  I have opened a hornet's nest with this one...I expected nothing else from the good folk of Prog Archives.  I tend to use Calyx - Aymeric Leroy's excellent Canterbury website - as a reference point for what is considered Canterbury related so my choices are conditioned by that.

Calyx is very good -- I used to visit that a lot. PA's Canterbury Scene page is very useful too as is the album chart: CLICK

And rateyourmusic etc.

By the way, I could imagine that the book might well have made that claim without the 1970s addition, and it's not that non-sensical (especially if it came out in the 90s). I might disagree, but I have a longer lens to look back on and a different perspective. In other words I could imagine that you were very correct when you said "I read somewhere that National Health's 'Of Queues and Cures' was the last, great Canterbury album". So sorry for wanting to uphold the value of post-1970 Canterbury Scene and Related albums. It is so subjective.

By the way, sticking with the 70s, I would have included Mother Gong's Fairy Tales from November 1979. But you know, the more I think about it, I could see why someone would think that 1978 was the last really great (which might read as classic) year for Canterbury Scene music even if many albums I love came out later. National Health with the debut (my favourite National Health album) and Queues and Cures were both very significant releases.

Even though I definitely prefer National Health's earlier album, I'll go with Cures (we could do with more cures, and less queues). Western Culture is my favourite on the list, but I don't think of it as either Canterbury Scene or Sound ad I think it makes more sense given the premise (comparing to your book source) to vote for one that I think Canterbury Scene, and I do go with that pick.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Logan wrote: The first step on the road to wisdom is the recognition of one's own ignorance.   I think I'm recognising my own ignorance when it comes to Canterbury Scene music, so maybe that makes me wiser.

Not only is the recognition of one's own ignorance important, but knowing when not to pursue certain knowledge shows a certain wisdom too. :) There are some things that I'd rather not learn about or experience, and would not I think be of much value to me or even detrimental. There's only so much time. Listen to what interests you, but try to keep an open-mind even if you need to close those ears sometimes for your own well-being. :)



Edited by Logan - July 22 2020 at 04:02

Lol!  I have opened a hornet's nest with this one...I expected nothing else from the good folk of Prog Archives.  I tend to use Calyx - Aymeric Leroy's excellent Canterbury website - as a reference point for what is considered Canterbury related so my choices are conditioned by that.  

Logan wrote: ^ That makes a lot more sense. Psychedelic Paul wrote: Rick1 wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: I didn't know the band U.K were part of the Canterbury Scene. That first album is often considered related due to Bruford and Holdsworth... Okay, thanks for the info.     I was tempted to vote for Camel's "Breathless", because that's the only album I've actually listened to in the poll, but maybe I'll give U.K's debut album a listen first before I cast my vote. Or listen to the ones generally considered to be Canterbury Scene even if you don't generally like Canterbury Scene/ Sound music. Just a thought.

^ That makes a lot more sense.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Rick1 wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: I didn't know the band U.K were part of the Canterbury Scene. That first album is often considered related due to Bruford and Holdsworth... Okay, thanks for the info.     I was tempted to vote for Camel's "Breathless", because that's the only album I've actually listened to in the poll, but maybe I'll give U.K's debut album a listen first before I cast my vote.

Or listen to the ones generally considered to be Canterbury Scene even if you don't generally like Canterbury Scene/ Sound music. Just a thought.

Edited by Logan - July 22 2020 at 02:22

Rick1 wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: I didn't know the band U.K were part of the Canterbury Scene. That first album is often considered related due to Bruford and Holdsworth...

Psychedelic Paul wrote: I didn't know the band U.K were part of the Canterbury Scene.

Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: I would have to disagree with the premise, I think that were many great Canterbury Scene related albums that came later than all of these, and I think that the Canterbury Sound is still going strong. I continue to be a fan of the scene up until the present day (my last pre-lockdown gig was the excellent Soft Machine).  I have seen many of these musicians post-1970s but their recorded output tends to be patchy and sporadic - much as I love them and I keep returning to their 70s prime. Well, the output may be patchy and sporadic (with many), but that doesn't mean that there haven't been great Canterbury Scene and CS related albums throughout the decades. For a big name in the Canterbury Scene, I've loved a lot of Robert Wyatt's albums throughout the years. I am a Wyatt fan too (along with Ratledge, one of the key members of the scene I have not seen live) but I also tried to give the poll some integration with the late 70s timeframe.  Maybe I should create an alternative poll to capture post 70s output... Or edit your initial post to make your intent clear since neither the title nor your opening post seem to indicate this late 70s timeframe. When you say "Last great Canterbury related album?" that indicates the latest possible album that could be considered great. I would totally disagree with what you read somewhere -- the "I read somewhere that National Health's 'Of Queues and Cures' was the last, great Canterbury album". I'd be interested to know the source if you can recall, and if it's someone whose opinion should matter to me or is a respected authority. I read lots of things that I feel have low merit, and claims that are not backed up well with strong research or good arguments. Edit made.  The quote came from either the Bill Martin or the Paul Stump books.  Both scholarly and authoritative (and published in the 90s).

Maybe those books have needed updating too.

Logan wrote: Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: I would have to disagree with the premise, I think that were many great Canterbury Scene related albums that came later than all of these, and I think that the Canterbury Sound is still going strong. I continue to be a fan of the scene up until the present day (my last pre-lockdown gig was the excellent Soft Machine).  I have seen many of these musicians post-1970s but their recorded output tends to be patchy and sporadic - much as I love them and I keep returning to their 70s prime. Well, the output may be patchy and sporadic (with many), but that doesn't mean that there haven't been great Canterbury Scene and CS related albums throughout the decades. For a big name in the Canterbury Scene, I've loved a lot of Robert Wyatt's albums throughout the years. I am a Wyatt fan too (along with Ratledge, one of the key members of the scene I have not seen live) but I also tried to give the poll some integration with the late 70s timeframe.  Maybe I should create an alternative poll to capture post 70s output... Or edit your initial post to make your intent clear since neither the title nor your opening post seem to indicate this late 70s timeframe. When you say "Last great Canterbury related album?" that indicates the latest possible album that could be considered great. I would totally disagree with what you read somewhere -- the "I read somewhere that National Health's 'Of Queues and Cures' was the last, great Canterbury album". I'd be interested to know the source if you can recall, and if it's someone whose opinion should matter to me or is a respected authority. I read lots of things that I feel have low merit, and claims that are not backed up well with strong research or good arguments.

Logan wrote: Rick1 wrote: Logan wrote: I would have to disagree with the premise, I think that were many great Canterbury Scene related albums that came later than all of these, and I think that the Canterbury Sound is still going strong. I continue to be a fan of the scene up until the present day (my last pre-lockdown gig was the excellent Soft Machine).  I have seen many of these musicians post-1970s but their recorded output tends to be patchy and sporadic - much as I love them and I keep returning to their 70s prime. Well, the output may be patchy and sporadic (with many), but that doesn't mean that there haven't been great Canterbury Scene and CS related albums throughout the decades. For a big name in the Canterbury Scene, I've loved a lot of Robert Wyatt's albums throughout the years.