Anthony Moore - 1971 - Pieces From the Cloudland Ballroom

Anthony Moore

1971

Pieces From the Cloudland Ballroom

01. Jam Jem Jim Jom Jum 21:18
02. Mu Na H-Uile Ni A Shaoileas 12:03
03. A.B.C.D. Gol'Fish 7:36

Recorded in Wümme, Germany 1971.

"My thanks to the singers Ulf Kenklies, Glyn Davenport and Gieske Hof-Helmers, who sang on Jam Jem Jim Jom Jum, to Werner "Zappa" Diermaier, who played hi-hat on A.B.C.D. Gol'fish, and to Gunther Wüstoff for all his work and patience."

British experimental musician, composer, performer and producer Anthony Moore was a founding member of Slap Happy and has worked with Henry Cow, Kevin Ayers, and Pink Floyd among other great names in the British scene. In 1971 he moved to Hamburg, Germany, and worked in the boiling experimental scene of the city. As a result, two LPs were issued on Polydor in 1971 and 1972, right before forming Slap Happy with old school pal Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause.'Pieces From a Cloudland Ballroom' is the first of those early solo LPs by Moore on Polydor. It was released in 1971 under the production of Uwe Nettlebeck and featured Anthony Moore on conduction, Ulf Kenklies, Glyn Davenport and Gieske Hof-Helmers on vocals, plus Werner 'Zappa' Diermeier on hi-hat.Pure minimalist experimentation with echoes of Richard Young's 'Advent' or even Moondog, done just a month after Faust (who included Werner 'Zappa' Diermeier) recorded their first LP. The missing link between British 'art-rock' and the German 'krautrock' scenes!

Those of you familiar with Moore from legendary Slapp Happy and Faust (the latter whom contributed to the german produced two SH albums) and his later appearance in the Slapp Happy/Henry Cow "supergroup" should not be disappointed to hear these wondrous pieces. They were produced at the highly productive german period of Moore when he was making soundtracks for the movies of Werner Nekes. They are a worthy representation not only of the actual time period but also of the wide range of compositional greatness of the artist. Absolutely recommended!