Curved Air formed in 1970, comprising the charismatic lead
\nsinger Sonja Kristina, Darryl Way on electric violin, Francis
\nMonkman (later of supergroup Sky) on lead guitar and keyboards,
\nRobert Martin on bass and the delightfully-named Florian
\nPilkington-Miksa on drums. It is interesting to note that later
\nband line-ups included Eddie Jobson and Stewart Copeland, amongst
\nother, less readily recognised names.<\/p>\n
The lack of stability in personnel contributes, I believe, to an
\nuneven standard of output from the band throughout its history. The
\nband split in 1977, although some music from 1973 was released
\nunder the title
\nLovechild<\/i> in 1990, and other retrospective releases are
\navailable. Despite the name, Sonja Kristina was apparently born in
\nBrentwood, England, although in all other respects, she seems an
\natypical “Essex Girl”.<\/p>\n
\nAirconditioning<\/i> was the band’s first release, and in places,
\nrepresents their finest work. The album covers a lot of ground,
\nbenefiting from a variety of styles and ideas. It unfortunately
\nremained virtually un-played in my music collection for a very long
\ntime, for an unusual reason. The release was one of the first vinyl
\npicture-discs, and was consequently a rather heavy piece of
\nplastic. My turntable refused to play it at the regulation 33 rpm,
\nso I ended up buying the CD out of a sense of curiosity – I wanted
\nto know how the damned thing was supposed to sound. That said, the
\nCD I own sounds like a recording of the original picture-disc,
\nrather than a digital re-master – the quality seems rather
\nmuddy.<\/p>\n
“It Happened Today” is the sort of song that really appeals to
\nme. A lead and bass guitar concoction is presented with an
\nexcellent rock beat, overlaid with Kristina’s distinctive,
\nunmistakable and somewhat haunting vocals. Said vocals are
\nstrangely married to the song, seemingly sung in spite of the tune
\nand the effect is slightly unsettling or jarring, but not
\nunpleasant. Then, with little warning, Way’s violin takes over, and
\nwe are in a completely different world. Monkman’s style of piano,
\n(given a freer rein in
\nSecond Album<\/i> from 1971), makes its appearance, accompanied
\nby some confident bass work by Martin. The second half of this
\ntrack is pure progressive – I have a snippet of video where this
\nsong is performed and Kristina is utterly entrancing (not
\nwithstanding the leather hipster trousers that might be considered
\nquestionable in this day and age). The melody is extremely
\npretty.<\/p>\n
“Stretch” is an odd mixture of electric violin and R&B. Way
\nalso provides vocals in support of Kristina, but overall, this is
\none of the more ordinary tracks on the album. The feel of it is
\nearly Fleetwood Mac, but in places, you can hear what later becomes
\nthe refrain of “White Punks On Dope” by The Tubes.<\/p>\n
“Screw” is a different proposition altogether – melancholy
\nvocals and a violin that gently saws upon your heartstrings. This
\nis a highly textured track, an excellent piece of ensemble playing.
\nThe fuzz guitar is spot on, adding depth at the appropriate
\nmoments. “All is lost now, it seems that way” goes the chorus, and
\ncertainly, there is a sense of loss that can be sensed within this
\nsong. Another beautiful melody is showcased here; this is one of
\nthe album’s best tracks.<\/p>\n
A rather folksy diversion leads us to “Blind Man”. A little bit
\nquirky, this is a strongly acoustic, vocal and simple tune, but
\noddly effective. Good for a change of pace. The lyrics, somewhat
\nawkward throughout the entire album, seem particularly
\nidiosyncratic here.<\/p>\n
The descriptively entitled “Vivaldi” finishes off Side One of
\nthe LP – and provides a chance for Way to demonstrate his prowess
\non violin. It starts off as a rendition of a part of “The Four
\nSeasons” (that some may call pointless, but being a philistine of
\nlittle classical music background, I rather enjoy such forays).
\nPart way through, we are treated to the strings equivalent of a
\n1970’s dreaded drum solo. The Four Seasons segment is then
\nrepeated, almost apologetically, as if Darryl Way is saying, “Sorry
\nfor the excessive self-indulgence, but see, I am a serious
\nviolinist!”.<\/p>\n
“Hide and Seek” is dramatic and urgent, and somehow seems to
\ntake itself very seriously somehow. For the most part, this track
\nis the most conventionally constructed piece on the album, until a
\ndrum-driven section cuts in part-way. The lead guitar and answering
\npiano at this time represent an interesting instrumental break in
\nan otherwise rather ordinary song.<\/p>\n
“Propositions” follows, a fast, rocker of a tune. Kristina’s
\nvocals are again rather unsettling. At times, the performance is
\nsomewhat reminiscent of “The Doors”, with its hypnotic lead guitar
\nand oddly cadenced drum. You half expect Jim Morrison to resume
\nsinging at the end of the instrumental section.<\/p>\n
The only track penned solely by Robert Martin, “Rob One” is
\nwholly instrumental. It is an introspective, evocative piece, led
\nby a somewhat plaintive violin that holds the attention and makes
\nthe listener miss Kristina’s vocals not one bit. Gorgeous melody.
\nWe never get to experience a “Rob Two”, as Ian Eyre replaces Martin
\nin the follow-up
\nSecond Album<\/i>. That is a shame, as “Rob One” is rather
\ngood.<\/p>\n
“Situations” allows Kristina to dominate again – and once again,
\nwe are struck by the oddness of the lyrics. The mellotron adds
\ndepth to the song, and value, whilst said lyrics in this case do
\njustice to the best (or worst) of Jon Anderson’s (Yes) excesses.
\nExhibit A, for example – “Soft dream, sun-colour still .”. The
\ninstrumental break in this track is distinctly psychedelic in
\nnature.<\/p>\n
The album is finally tied up by a reprise of “Vivaldi”, entitled
\n“Vivaldi With Cannons”. This represents a certain amount of
\nself-indulgence on the part of Way (violin) and Monkman
\n(synthesiser), but, what the hell, you can always skip it .<\/p>\n
In retrospect, I find that whilst the album is less than the sum
\nof its parts, nevertheless some of those parts are indispensable.
\nThere are melodies here that will haunt and delight you, so, if you
\ncan find it, grab it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":27741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7460],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-39120","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-curved-air","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39120"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}