Ivor Cutler - Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 CD

Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 buy CD music The second of Ivor Cutler's three mid-1970s albums for Virgin Records, 1975's Velvet Donkey is primarily known for two tracks, the epigrammatic poem "If Your Breasts" ("If your breasts are too big, you will fall over...unless you wear a rucksack") and the hauntingly strange "Go and Sit Upon the Grass," a song full of bizarre deadpan violence transformed by Cutler's flat Scottish burr and wheezing harmonium into a thing of disturbing beauty. (Longtime Cutler disciple Robert Wyatt would cover the song on his Nothing Can Stop Us six years later, but his polyrhythmic, African-influenced reading misses the original's peculiar grace.) Although those two tracks are probably the most beloved by Cutler's fans, all of Velvet Donkey is excellent, as drolly funny and surprisingly thoughtful as anything the Glasgow-born poet/musician/humorist has ever done. It's considerably more ambitious than its predecessor, 1974's Dandruff; art rock legend Fred Frith guests on five tracks, his low register viola complementing Cutler's harmonium most effectively on the delicate "Nobody Knows." It's the presence of fellow author Phyllis April King that causes the sole point of contention on Velvet Donkey. King had read several of Cutler's poems on Dandruff, often to great effect. However, her six contributions to Velvet Donkey are original poems, and while they're quite nice, particularly "Uneventful Day," King is a gentle humorist in the tradition of Wendy Cope or Stevie Smith's lighter moments; her poetry lacks the surrealism and melancholy of Cutler at his finest, and her half-dozen efforts do stick out a bit. Regardless, most will likely find her few brief pieces no more than minor flaws. Like Dandruff, Velvet Donkey contains two early versions of episodes from the semi-autobiographical Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume Two, the playfully bizarre and nostalgically evocative series of monologues based on Cutler's Depression-era childhood that he would finally complete in 1978. ~ Stewart Mason 1975 album from the Scottish singer/songwriter, one of the most unique figures on the pop music fringe, features 31 tracks including 6 tracks accompanied by Fred Frith , using ...

Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol. 2 songs Credited to the Ivor Cutler Trio, 1967's Ludo was produced by George Martin and recorded shortly after longtime fan John Lennon cast Cutler as Buster Bloodvessel in the Beatles' ill-fated Magical Mystery Tour film. Backed by bassist Gill Lyons and percussionist Trevor Tompkins, Cutler indulges his taste for trad jazz on tunes like the boogie-woogie "Mud" and the Goon Show-like "Good Morning! How Are You? Shut Up!" and "A Great Grey Grasshopper." Since Martin had produced records by Peter Sellers and the other Goons prior to the Beatles' success, his sensibility matches Cutler's perfectly, making Ludo one of Cutler's very best albums. It's certainly his funniest; the brief "I'm Happy," which continues "and I'll punch the man who says I'm not," and the outstandingly bizarre "A Suck of My Thumb" are probably the goofiest songs the artist ever wrote. Ludo is light on his usual poems and recitations, but the two short stories, "Mary's Drawer" and "The Shapely Balloon," are as funny and clever as any of Cutler's spoken works. ~ Stewart Mason Digitally remastered edition of this 1967 album. The only official recording by the Ivor Cutler Trio; this collection of some of Mr. Cutler's best loved songs, poems and stories were recorded in laissez-faire style by George Martin at Abbey Road, as one of the very first Air Productions. Highlighting the celebrated Scottish poet and raconteur's skill as a pianist and arranger as well as his unique way with language, it is one of his best recordings. Mr. Cutler's typically enigmatic starring role in the Beatles' film "Magical Mystery Tour", having launched him as a film star of some renown: it was inevitable that the Beatles' then label Parlophone would want a recording by the great man on its catalog; and let's face it, who wouldn't? Illustrator: Ivor Cutler. Arrangers: George Martin; Ivor Cutler. Personnel: Ivor Cutler (vocals, piano, harmonium, keyboards); Denis Blackham (synthesizer); Trevor Tomkins (drums, percussion). Recording information: 1967.