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CURRENTLY being advertised very unassumingly and available at a modest price, 'Mainstream' is probably the most invigorating record you're likely to hear this Summer. Rush-recorded - most of the basic tracks are first takes - alongside Phil Manzanera's self-effacingly generous 'Diamond Head', 'Mainstream' possesses in abundance qualities all too rarely expressed, let alone combined: inspired musicianship, total lack of compromise and, most importantly, a sense of feverish excitement and utter dedication.
Quiet Sun, who folded in early 1972 after two years spent struggling against complete indifference shown them by record and management companies alike, were Bill MacCormick (basses), Dave Jarrett (keyboards), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals) and Phil Manzanera (guitars). For the purposes of 'Mainstream' itself, Eno helps out with assorted treatments and synthesisers.
There are seven cuts here, with everybody composing. There are those who have offhandedly suggested that this kind of music is 'obsolete'; I'd reply that they're mistaken on several counts, mostly concerned with the aforementioned dynamism and essential freshness of this record, achievements a great deal more vital (and valid) than vacuous attempts at Musico-temporality. But, those who've wished to hear Manzanera in a more open, expansive context than Roxy Music will not be disappointed, his playing is throughout forceful and provocatively abrasive.
Group sound is co-operative, intricately meshed. 'Sol Caliente', 'Trot' and 'Mummy Was An Asteroid, Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil' are perhaps the most immediate cuts, whilst 'Bargain Classics' and 'R.F.D.' rely on Jarrett's lush, electronic textures. 'Trumpets With Motherhood' and 'Rongwrong' spotlight Hayward, being, respectively, a percussive interlude and an ingenuous vocal outing for him.
I think the only occasion I've been fortunate enough to hear music of comparable intensity and excellence was when seeing Lifetime in concert at Croydon some years back. However, you've the added bonus of being able to hear 'Mainstream' as often as you like. All in all, it's an offer you can't and shouldn't refuse.
Not for the Nervous
Allan Jones, Melody Maker
THIS album is not to be approached casually. Neither is it to be recommended to those suffering from any kind of nervous disposition. Quiet Sun have waited five years to record this album, and the energy which has for so long been restrained is here unleashed in the most manic and passionate rush of music that has been committed to vinyl so far this year.
Recorded at the same time as Phil Manzanera's "Diamond Head" album, "Mainstream" offers a selection of Quiet Sun material - they have enough for at least two more albums - which is positively lethal in its uncompromising intensity. The album presents a facet of Manzanera which has previously been merely suggested through his work with John Cale, principally his lacerating solo on "Gun", and on certain Roxy Music compositions, like the opening guitar volley which introduced "Mother Of Pearl".
His contributions to "Mainstream" see his ability for producing the most virulent guitar statements in contemporary rock taken to a frightening, and at times awesome, extreme. In he opening track, Manzanera's own "Sol Caliente", he contrives to defy most existing notions of guitar playing and comes on like a blazing Messerschmitt, twitching neurotically in spasms of barely controlled vehemence. Listen to this track a dozen times in succession and I guarantee you'll be crawling on the carpet searching for fragments of your brain.
It would, however, be totally unpardonable to even suggest that Manzanera dominates "Mainstream". Such are the talents of Bill MacCormick (bass), Dave Jarrett (keyboards), and Charles Hayward (drums and keyboards), that one would venture the opinion that were Quiet Sun ever to develop outside the context of what appears to be a one off reunion album, they would probably be the most formidable line-up in the country. They have packed more force into the five minutes and 37 seconds of Jarrett's "Bargain Classics" than Led Zeppelin mustered over four sides of "Physical Graffiti.''
Really, there hasn't been much music like this (apart from some of Can's aural violence) since the Velvets's "White Light/ White Heat". There's that same sense of urgency and intelligence on the point of collapse which characterised, say, "I Heard Her Call My Name" and "Sister Ray". But where the Velvets would sometimes charge straight through into the most completely nihilistic zones of sound Quiet Sun achieve and maintain a more tolerable balance. This is best exemplified by the inclusion of Jarrett's beautiful keyboard piece, "R.F.D.", which closes the first side with a welcome release of tension, and Charles Hayward's two compositions, "Trumpets With Motherhood" and "Rongwrong". The former is a brief and hilarious piece for percussion and kazoos, a swanee whistle and harmonica which prefaces "Classics", and the latter is the only "song" on the album. It features Hayward singing the most off-the-wall lyrics this side of Syd Barrett's "The Madcap Laughs" in a voice not a million miles removed from Captain Lunacy's own.
Elsewhere we have Manzanera's glorious "Trot", with the guitarist in stunning form on all manner of guitars and a dazzling solo from Jarrett on a Steinway grand piano. But perhaps the most outstanding track is Bill MacCormick's fearsome "Mummy Was An Asteroid Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil". With Eno on VCS 3 synthesiser (he's deployed elsewhere on all manner of electronic effects), and Jarrett and Manzanera combing straight through the atmosphere on Farfisa organ and meat cleaver guitar, and with MacCormick placing himself head and fretboard above almost every other bass guitarist in the neighbourhood (particularly on the final passage, which could literally melt a sensitive record player), the final effect is something which has to be heard to be believed. But don't stand too close to the speakers. I really don't know how even a drummer of Hayward's capabilities held it all together.
I can think of no more than a handful of albums released this year which demand your attention as much as "Mainstream", and since it's being issued on Island's bargain label, HELP, at under £2 you can't afford to miss it. This one will molest your brain . . . at least you've been warned. -
Quiet Fire!
Dave Fudger, Disc
Big Phil strikes again! Mr Manzanera has got himself another band (Roxy watch out!) dredged up from his dark and murky public school days and they have turned out a dazzling piece of post 60s Soft-ish instrumental complexorama. The name of the ensemble is Quiet Sun and aptly dubbed they be. Their music is intriguing, intense and at times extremely volatile.
With executive and consultant assistance from none other than the phantom of the recording studio - Eno tunes with titles like 'Trumpets With Motherhood', 'Mummy Was An Asteroid, Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil' and 'RFD' (Ri-F***ing-Diculous) accommodate the blazing guitar abstractions of our Phil.
'Twixt him and t'other Sunners - Charles Hayward (drums), Dave Jarrett (keyboards) and Bill MacCormick (bass) - an album that proudly exhibits its influences has been produced. The mention of a Soft Machine influence might make you think that regular Roxy fans will find this record a little hard to pick up on. Well, not at all gang. The presentation of the music, albeit complex, is subtle and infectious. Mr Manzanera's own belief is that although in 1969/70 when the band was originally conceived, their kind of music was not commercially acceptable, many bands have since prepared the way for an album such as this today.
Although this is a big departure from his role with Roxy Music, for Phil Manzanera, deathray guitarist, this is your life - and you're going to get a whole new load of respect y'all. * * *
From the realms of time...
Pete Erskine, NME
FOR A LARGELY un-promoted debut of five-year-old off-the-wall electric jazz acrobatics performed by a defunct band, "Mainstream" ain't doing at all bad. Island reckon it's their fourth or fifth biggest seller at the moment - hot on the heels of Bad Company and Cat Stevens. The fact that Roxy's Phil Manzanera and former Matching Mole bassist Bill MacCormick are involved might have something to do with it. So might the fact that "Mainstream" is released as part of Island's Help budget series.
Basically though, in spite of the superficial incongruity of certain sections of the album it does exude considerable quantities of intense manic energy - itself something of a sales point in these universally bland times. And, better still, it's totally unpredictable and instrumentally rather skilfully executed.
Quiet Sun originated from a 1967 Dulwich College consortium vending a crossbreed of early Velvets, G. Dead and Airplane-fashioned material. Known as Pooh And The Ostrich Feather the band comprised Manzanera, drummer Charles Hayward, MacCormick and his brother Ian (better known to you as I. Mac). Their approach contained a large element of self effacing humour and diverse musical absurdities until - with the advent of the Soft Machine - they decided to get a bit serious, trying for something in a similar vein, but with a little more youthful verve; I. Mac describes it as "a young enthusiastic boys' version of the Soft Machine."
Quiet Sun were born, lasted two years, were almost signed to Warners and Harvest (prior to the Harvest auditions they had no name; Harvest demanded they think one up in an hour whilst the tapes were running - the final choice has been a source of embarrassment ever since). During this period they worked up a fair scrapbook of material but broke up before having a chance to commit any of it to plastic - MacCormick to Robert Wyatt's Softs offshoot Matching Mole, Hayward to Gong and Manzanera to the embryonic Roxy.
Five years later Manzanera found himself in the studios cutting his solo album. 'Diamond Head.' Pondering over the fact that some of the material he was working on had originated from the old Quiet Sun repertoire he booked a few extra days, persuaded their former pianist Dave Jarrett to take a break from his mathematics lecturing and reassembled the band (augmenting it with Eno) for their debut album. Of five-year-old material.
The more ardent observers among you will now therefore be able to complete the links between cuts like "Frontera" on 'Diamond Head," "Team Spirit" on Wyatt's "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard" and the bass figure employed in Manzanera's "Trot" here (which also vaguely correlates with his 'Same Time Last Week" on 'Diamond Head"). So, in context, the album has to have some relevance as a point of reference. Another selling point?
I only wonder because aside from these rather obvious points I'm still trying to divine why such an apparently uncommercial, superficially indigestible and even dated collection of material is so viable; even more so than the universally appealing melodic qualities of 'Diamond Head." Personally, the nearest I can get to it is on Jarrett's gentle. relatively straightforward piece 'R.F.D.', the closing third of Manzanera's 'Sol Caliente" which gels into a beautiful elusive guitar solo of considerable imagination, and brother Bill's six minute "Mummy Was An Asteroid Daddy Was A Small Non-stick Kitchen Utensil." Illogical.
David Platt, HiFi for Pleasure
Quiet Sun were together from 1970 to 1972, and consisted of Phil Manzanera on guitars, Bill MacCormick on bass, Charles Hayward on percussion and Dave Jarrett on keyboards. Manzanera then left to find fame and (presumably) fortune with Roxy Music, MacCormick to find less fame and no fortune but a superb partnership with Robert Wyatt in Matching Mole; Hayward joined Gong, intermittently, and Jarrett went to teach mathematics.
Early this year Manzanera brought them together again, during the sessions for his excellent Diamond Heed and, augmented by Eno, they cut this Set of material composed before they split. The result is exhilaratingly energetic, fresh and inventive; Jarrett's keyboard work is particularly noteworthy and. the band coheres in a way which belies their lack of rehearsal and the speed at which the, record was cut. There are echoes of early Soft Machine, the Nice and Gong and, as a bonus, a Sid Barrett vocal by Hayward on Rongwrong.
This is one of the year's best records, and a giveaway at £1.75. Why sit at home and listen to Schoenberg in the bath? Buy this and influence people.
Ron Gott, Trouser Press
This record may not be every Anglophile's dream, but for some it will be sheer Nirvana. Mainstream marks the reincarnation of a band which dates back to 1970 and includes one Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, as well as ex-Matching Mole bassist Bill MacCormick, Dave Jarrett, keyboards, and Charles Hayward, drums. Not to mention another cameo appearance by everyone's favorite, Eno, on synthesizers, treatments, and oblique strategies.
Whatever preconceived ideas you may have about this album sounding like Roxy or even Phil's Diamond Head, erase them right now. What's on this vinyl is a ferocious combination of the ideas on the first two Velvet Underground albums coupled with the musical inventiveness of King Crimson or Soft Machine.
The album was rehearsed and recorded in the same 26-day period in which Diamond Head was done. When listening to the two, a similarity in melodies is evident in many tunes. An example being the acoustic track, "Lagrima," from Diamond Head is played note for note on "Sol Caliente", the opening track from Mainstream. In fact, "Lagrima", "Frontera", "East of Echo", and "Alma" are all taken from a song Manzanera composed with the band in 1971 called "Corazon y Alma".
Manzanera's guitar technique is truly one of the most interesting to be heard in years. His virtuosity is not derived from how many notes a second he can play or how far he can stretch a string; instead he concentrates on constructing leads from short, lyrical phrases. This with the combination of his unique guitar sound makes for a breathtaking presentation and should help to distinguish him as one of the most original guitarists in rock.
Trying to give descriptions and compare the tracks would be hopeless. This album must be heard to be believed. The musicians are superb, the production flawless. Hopefully the band won't wait as long to do a second album as it took to get this one.
Forbes Magilligan, Liquorice
First the Facts. This is a very good record. It only costs £1.75p (a nugget in the sludge these days), and is the best release on Island's Help label since Robin Williamson's "Myrrh".
The material performed on "Mainstream" is around five years old; Quiet Sun are Dave Jarrett/keyboards, Phil Manzanera/guitars, Bill MacCormick/bass, Richard (sic) Hayward/drums, Eno and Ian MacCormick appear on the record too. The album sleeve is a goodie, and a Stateside release is being planned too.
It is eminently more preferable to have "Mainstream" than countless puerile figures such as Yes/Joe Walsh et al.. Everyone in Quiet Sun composes; there are two Manzanera pieces two each from Jarrett and Hayward and one from Bill MacCormick. The overall sound is very strong and attacking, blistering maybe.
You need to play "Mainstream" a good few times before getting to grips to it. I find the seven pieces on the album more preferable than the pieces on "Diamond Head". They have more of continuity and a feel. Personal favourites are Jarrett's "Bargain Classics" and "R.F.D.", Hayward's "Rongwrong" and Manzanera's "Trot". It's all mighty good, fervent stuff, bursting with energy and tottering between tranquility and pandemonium.
ECHOES OF DULWICH COLLEGE IN NOT SO MAINSTREAM MUSIC
Cedric Porter, South London Press
THE HALCYON days when Dulwich was a hotbed of progressive pop are recalled with the issue of an LP deceptively titled "Mainstream" by a group called Quiet Sun. In 1967, Quiet Sun called themselves Pooh and the Ostrich Feather with a quick turnover of musicians - with all of them pupils at Dulwich College. Getting under way round the corner in Dalmore Rd., Dulwich, were Robert Wyatt and most of the original line-up of Soft Machine - about to become the darlings of the underground and even to get bouquets from the straight world by becoming the first pop group to play at a Promenade Concert.
Phil Manzanera, (now with Roxy Music) on guitars, Bill MacCormick on bass and Charles Hayward on percussion were making some pretty weirdo noises in SE21. The line-up was completed by a Dulwich College old boy, Dave Jarrett, on keyboards. But their ideas of electronic musical wizardry turned out to be too ahead of their time. For two years the group now renamed spent more time playing to themselves than an to people.
They split up in 19721 and went their separate ways, Jarrett deserting music altogether. But last year, Manzanera, booked himself in to a studio to record a solo album and came up with the idea of getting together with the rest of the group to record an LP of Quiet Sun material as well.
"Mainstream" is heady stuff ranging from potent musical ideas to pointless meandering. Although suffering from a lack of rehearsal time, it also gains from a peculiar sense of intensity.
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