Hatfield And The North MUSEA RECORDS
The Rotters’ Club MUSIC ON VINYL
A pair of Canterbury classics receive first vinyl reissue with mixed results.
It’s easy to understand why these two albums are among the most cherished artefacts of the Canterbury scene. Hatfield And The North’s self-titled 1974 debut is akin to an intricately constructed collage of breakneck juxtapositions, finger-numbing riffs, plangent chorales, wry, self-referential lyrics, faux telephone calls, jaunty themes, comedic reveals, a Robert Wyatt cameo, and the kind of lissome interplay you’d expect from players whose lineage includes Gong, Caravan, Matching Mole, and Egg.
“None of this resequencing makes any sense.” The following year’s The Rotters’ Club also contains that inventive mix of throwaway whimsy and surgical precision, highlighting Richard Sinclair, Dave Stewart, Pip Pyle and Phil Miller’s…