Jammy Smears - Ivor Cutler

Ivor Cutler's third album for Virgin, originally released on vinyl in 1976, continues his highly idiosyncratic trawl through life with the usual mixture of tall tales, some presented as unaccompanied prose speech, others sung (although the word is used advisedly) with piano or harmonium. It's a long way from the hippie Virgin fare of that era - only his labelmate Robert Wyatt (with whom Cutler collaborated on "Rock Bottom") comes remotely close. ...
...more accurate reference points. Ever the miniaturist, Cutler crams over thirty vignettes into the album. The perpetual "Life in a Scotch Sitting Room" has two more extracts included here, both of which are wonderfully bizarre evocations of a childhood of porridge, country walks and learning about the development of Glasgow's sewage system. Of the songs, "Rubber Toy", where Cutler parodies his Jewish upbringing with a Topol-style wail, and "Everybody ...

wiseowl96 30.03.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Jammy Smears - Ivor Cutler