Thursday 13 July 2006

still on holiday
Yesterday's papers, full of the news of Syd Barrett's death, made me want to reach for my Barrett LPs, but they're at home of course. They are as good as everyone as says they are, although I don't agree that the first Pink Floyd LP is the masterpiece everyone seems to be think: it's mostly a bit of a mess to my ears.

The nearest thing I've got on my iPod here is the first solo album by Syd's friend Kevin Ayers, which shares with The Madcap Laughs a drummer in Robert Wyatt, and a dreamy drug-addled songwriter with a bass voice using his own accent. I used to listen to Ayers's album on holiday as a teenager. It's a great record, packing the kind of charm that Belle & Sebastian might achieve if they weren't allergic to musical competence. David Bedford's arrangements and piano playing strike a perfect balance between intelligence and wilful knowing stupidity.