The Rotter’s Club!!

I just can't get enough of this album!  At the risk of seeming like a foaming at the mouth canterbury fanboy, everything about it is almost perfect.  Every band member's compositions are great in different ways, the whimsy of Richard Sinclair's work, the jazzy lyricism of Phil Miller's songs, the alternating beauty and violence of Pip Pyle's pieces, and sheer mass, complexity, and (place own adjective here) of Dave Stewert's epic "Mumps."

Here are some random observations on one of my favorite albums that just does not get enough attention:

• Richard Sinclair is one of my favorite singers of all time, with his smooth, deep voice that retains its English accent with every syllable.
• The mid-section of Fitter Stoke has a Bath has one of the lushest musical textures I've ever heard, with what sounds like countless multitracked flutes and background vocals, before it segues into one of the most twisted guitar solos Phil Miller could have pulled off.
• The fender rhodes work on Underdub is to die for.
• And if that's not enough, the song titles are great.

Check it out!  Borrow it!  Buy it! Listen to the mp3s on this site!

They  have 3/4's of this lineup back together and are allegedly writing a  third studio album.  If it's half as good as this one, it'll be the album of the year, whether this year or next.

Great album! I especially like Fitter Stoke Has A Bath.

I adore Hatfield and this is their crowning glory to date! I too am very excited at the prospect of a new studio album. I saw the new lineup on it's first ever public gig and I can state with confidence that Stewart's replacement ROCKS. I'm not sure I can add any more to this... amazing group! Creative, original, complex, humourous, entertaining, musically superb... an all-round brilliant musical vision! No proggy home should be without a Hatfield album or two.

tuxon wrote: If they really are working on a new album, I'm all excited,

According to Sinclair they are... From his website:

HATFIELD AND THE NORTH

Emerged as 'version 3'...
Richard Sinclair, Phil Miller,
Pip Pyle and Alex Maguire and some Theo...
played a set of all original Hatfield 
music, plus Pip Pyle's 'Take your Pick'
a collage of past and present writing by Pip -
Plans are now, for a new Hatfield album!
And rehearsals start again in May,
for European concerts in June.

Isn't that lovely, eh?

I bought the first stuff, pretty awesome.

How is 'The Rotters Club'? Better?

The Rotter's Club is sitting at the top of the best album list of Gnosis (always is among the top five) and has an average rate of almost 13 (out of 15). This alone is quite a feat .

If there is one album best fit to describe typical Canterbury music, I would choose this one.

beterdedthnred4 wrote: Here are some random observations on one of my favorite albums that just does not get enough attention: Richard Sinclair is one of my favorite singers of all time, with his smooth, deep voice that retains its English accent with every syllable. The mid-section of Fitter Stoke has a Bath has one of the lushest musical textures I've ever heard, with what sounds like countless multitracked flutes and background vocals, before it segues into one of the most twisted guitar solos Phil Miller could have pulled off. The fender rhodes work on Underdub is to die for. And if that's not enough, the song titles are great.

 my favourite Canterbury record with ITLOGAP.One more point : Hatfield were funny,not only the titles but also the nonsense lyrics fit perfectly with the music : non-chalant and tongue in cheek.