Concubine Rice - Lone Pigeon

Track list:

1. Dad's Blue Danube / Concubine Rice / Your Tie Perhaps?
2. King Creosote's Wineglass Symphony / Sally Bradwell
3. The Road Up To Harlow Square / Been So Long
4. Heaven Come Down / Ancient Hubbard Cow Of Bubbletoop
5. Beatmix Chocbar Rap / Victoria
6. Waterfall / Boats
7. Old Mr. Muncherman / Endless Ballad Of A Riccoco Moon
8. Melonbeard / Lay Me Down / Stars Won't Sleep
9. Lonely Vagabond
10. Oh Catherine
11. Bona Fide World / Johnny & Jodie / Long Way Down
12. The Rainking / Don't Look Back
13. Concubine Rice Reprise / I Am the Secret Unknown
14. I Am the Secret Unknown
15. Untitled

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2002

So I think this will be an odd one. Lone Pigeon, aka Gordon Anderson, one of three musical brothers in my library, the others recording as Pip Dylan and my perennial favourite boy, King Creosote.

This is a solo work, though Anderson also recorded with The Beta Band and The Aliens, and I seem to recall it being weirder than his band-based work. There also seems to be no consensus on the proper track list for this album, so I've gone with what matches the titles in my player.

I rather like the simple rhythm that we start with, even if the tinny synth keys aren't exactly musical in nature. Anderson's voice is deep here, and the lyrics are definitely odd, but at the same time there is a simple charm to it all. Is that a recording of an elephant trumpeting?

This morning I have already been thwarted by bad luck once, discovering a slow puncture on the rear wheel of my bike meant I couldn't get out for some exercise before the day got too hot; I lack the necessary bits and pieces for repair so my pathetic attempts at healthy living is stymied again for now. I can well believe that the wineglass symphony is actually what it says on the tin, because the actual sound is a horrible din in places. Thankfully it gives way to more of a tune, and some repeated Beta Band limits. Recycled material is something I see a lot with Lone Pigeon - As an example, Boats crops up here as part of track 6, has it's own place on Schoozzzmmii, and then made it on to Luna by The Aliens too.

This whole album cuts about all over the place, splicing vignettes together into longer tracks. It gives it a very tumbledown air, very random. In places this manifests as some frankly appalling sounds, in others its just slightly odd, and then here and there you get lovely little loops, melodies or vocal lines cutting in and out. Honestly, just from the 4 and a half tracks that have played by now, I half feel I should just cut the lot. But only half. The other half of me loves the oddity, enjoys the arbitrary nature, and finds real beauty hidden in those nicer, more melodic moments.

I'm pretty sure my track list is wrong. Track 6 seems to have the Ancient Hubbard Cow of Bubbletoop at the start. You would have thought in this day and age it would be easy to get a definitive listing but... no. The rest of 6 sounds like it should be Beatmix Chocbar Rap, but no list I see anywhere fuses those two half-tracks together. I think this must be deliberate. Even pausing and going to look for the physical disc and liner notes really doesn't help clear anything up because the presentation there doesn't click with the 15 tracks it ripped to. I don't like the inaccuracy, but at the same time I'm damned if I can be arsed to sort through this any further.

There's a really nice guitar part at the start of what I have as track 7. It doesn't last long before we get into a really low-fi, echoing recording all sharp sounds and over-sustained vocals obscured by fuzz. Completely random, and still no Boats.

Of course.

The very next thing that plays is Boats. At the start of track 8. Only the opening hook though, then we're on to something else.

By this point the constant switcheroo is getting tiring. The interesting bits and lovely melodies are fewer in number than the meandering dross. I have been reluctant to mention it to this point, as someone who has been through (minor) depressive episodes in the past, but I find it hard to escape the thought that this disc might reflect Gordon Anderson's struggles with the mental illness that caused him to drop out of the Betas just as they made their name. The lack of cohesion in particular gives me that impression. Between the muddled track presentation, the skipping between styles, bits of atonal or incidental recordings and frankly nonsense lyrics its a hard one to escape.

Those nice moments are now so rare, and presented in such chaotic context that I'm considering junking the lot. Lonely Vagabond has a nicer touch to it, but of course the player things I'm on Oh Catherine now; only 1 tune out by this point, but still. It's frustrating me enough that I'm seriously considering junking the listen here, and there's still 20 minutes to go, including a 9 minute epic.

Somewhere along the way I have tuned out and got distracted by other things. It seems that might be a sensible thing, but it is contrary to the intent of these listens. I'm really rather disappointed by this. I knew this disc was weird but I hadn't realised just how poor most of it actually is. That said, if it was an endeavour that got Gordon Anderson through tough times and poor mental health then for all I dislike it I am happy that it exists.

I am the Unknown foreshadows the Aliens some, that rockier sound points towards things like I am the Robot Man, and The Happy Song... or rather to itself. This appeared on Astronomy for Dogs as well. The clashing guitars are actually a really welcome change from all that went before but not enough for me to save anything from this hot mess of an album.

Astronomy for Dogs - The Aliens

Track list:

1. Setting Sun
2. Robot Man
3. I Am the Unknown
4. Tomorrow
5. Rox
6. Only Waiting
7. She Don't Love Me No More
8. Glover
9. Honest Again
10. The Happy Song
11. Caravan

Running time: 71 minutes
Released: 2007

The Aliens. What the Beta Band did not become, but some of them did next. No Steve Mason here, but rather Lone Pigeon is back to front up. My recollection of this one is that it is a bit of a mess with the odd high point worth celebrating, but I am looking at the length with a sense of trepidation. I doubt I will have all 71 minutes intact.

I am starting this listen tired. It's just prior to 9pm and I wish I was in bed. I made that mistake yesterday and managed to get 3 1/2 hours of sleep before waking up and being up the rest of the night. Joy. So I am trying to push back bedtime to something more usual. Setting Sun does not go kindly with this mindset, jangly and loud - very retro. It is not a song for a tired man, my state of mind makes it feel dull somehow though... like it has a lot of body but no soul. Big sounds fall flat, the riffier bits are more successful but still lacking something. I feel it would be better as a shorter track (its 5 minutes) where the punch would be more effective. It loses strength as it drags on. There is a hint of a less good Assessment about it if you sniff hard enough.

Robot Man is all trippy sounds - this feels like something the Betas could have done, a feeling only strengthened when the keyboard appears. The rhythms are not necessarily all that, but the other lines hang together surprisingly well given the song is basically "I'm [I am] the Robot Man" repeated ad nauseam.  This cohesion is also present in the next song, similarly stunted lyrically, though this is threatened when it gathers a big sound (and expands lyrically) rather than concentrating on meshing the various odds and ends together. It ends up being pretty dull after a good start - especially as they take to repeating "We are The Aliens" a lot as it closes. "I know that you chump, it's right there on the cover!"

Tomorrow reminds me more of Lone Pigeon's solo work - a bit more stripped back. I am half surprised not to find it on the work I have of his. This is nice, diverting rather than engaging, but very easy to end up nodding your head to. There is more of a song there, a more recognisable structure, but it suffers from overrun and by the time it starts drawing down I am bored. If I called Robot Man trippy, the start to Rox beats it out for that. However after the awful beginning the rhythm it adopts if surprisingly infectious - the touchpoint that immediately springs to mind is Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3 (insert unshared anecdote here). The track veers all over the place - messy is a good term for it - but it does maintain a neat beat and an edge to it that keeps it interesting. It would never become a favourite but I like it more than I was anticipating.

So obviously that signals the time to throw in some really dull, repetitive guitar riff. That is disappointing, and whilst the track builds a little past that Only Waiting is a sharp reminder that this album is not of consistent quality. The very fast vocal is the only point of interest, and mostly that is because it masks the backing which remains consistently unpleasant. On the plus side, it gives way to the nicest melody on the album, the keys that introduce She Don't Love Me No More are a nice touch, and the structure of this song is a tuneful interlude where the vocal gives hints of Pip Dylan (not a massive surprise, as that is one of Lone Pigeon's two musical brothers) - enough that I have to check to see whether he contributed backing vocals here (not that I see credited). The song itself it pleasant enough but there just is not quite enough to it - certainly not for its full length. It should have closed at the 4 minute mark as the vocal fell away. Instead we get an extended outro, then the keys appear to take up a new melody, with string backing... its all a bit unnecessary, the song already ended.

A nice punchy beat and chord progression introduces Glover - the kind of thing that works really well for 10 seconds but when it continues unabated and does not get much accompaniment can start to really drag. Guess what happens here? It persists for too long anyway. It softens over the middle of the piece and there is a little bit more going on as it is replaced but much of what comes in is experimental balls. The track lacks structure, cohesion. Instead it plays with strange sounds and samples for sounds sake. FOR EIGHT MINUTES! Could really have done without that, guys...

Nearing the end, I think? Well yes, but there is still 16 minutes of Caravan to come. Gulp.

Honest Again is a poorly realised track - it half feels like a reprise of She Don't Love Me No More even thought it is not (actually that is part of what makes Caravan so long). Blandness abounds... but it does well to clear the aural palette for The Happy Song which is just deliriously silly. My abiding memory of this track is of seeing King Creosote (no surprise there, because KC is the other musical brother) play it live and a whole crowd jumping like loons - its the only thing to do when you are happy right? It is not a complex song but there is something infectious about it; the uplifting quality is definitely enhanced by the simple repetition of the word "happy" - hear, sing, think, be. It smacks of self affirmation after Lone Pigeon's troubles with mental health, but whether that was actually the muse for the song is another matter.

Caravan has begun. Boring start. Not very musical loop, dull rhythm, odd vocal skit. It has plenty of time to build (and I am sure it will) but it is not a promising start. It meanders along, and individually some of the sounds that contribute to the way are alright, but as a whole? No, it is a total jumble of incoherence. I am not even bothering to write anything because it is just so devoid of form, purpose and quality that there is nothing to say. An awful way to close the disc. The reprise appears for the last couple of minutes or so, which means there is 12 minutes of crud and 2 of silence. And I listened to it all.

Yeah - on reflection this is getting cut down a bit, but nothing like as much as I thought I might reduce it. There are some neat songs on this disc but there is no consistency of quality so you get some utter dross too. I liked them enough at the tie that I bought The Alien's second album, Luna, too, but we shall have to wait a year or two to find out what I think of that.