Audiophile Digital

Kevin Ayers
All This Crazy Gift Of Time
Esoteric QECLEC102888 (nine discs + Blu-ray)

Among the uniquely British performers of the 1960s-’70s who never achieved the fame they deserved, ex-Soft Machine singer-songwriter-bassist Ayers was arguably his own worst enemy, continually sabotaging his career. Despite his erratic behaviour, he delivered elegant, witty, whimsical material which links the modern rock era with the likes of
Noel Coward. This stunning set contains his Harvest albums from 1969-1973, arguably at his pinnacle, including Joy Of A Toy, Shooting At The Moon, Whatevershebringswesing, and the magnificent Bananamour, plus live material from BBC sessions and concerts, singles tracks and a Blu-ray of super-rare footage. It’s essential for devotees of UK psychedelia. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Peter Hammill
Incoherence
Esoteric ECLEC22889 (two discs)

On CD only in 2004, Incoherence is Hammill’s 30th studio album, recorded and hastily mixed just before he suffered
a heart attack. He’s taken the time – two decades on – to remix the album to his satisfaction, while expanding the set to include a second CD of the separate tracks. The distinguishing element of this album
is the continuity of the 14 original tracks ‘with soft transitions between them’, heard on CD 1. An acknowledged magnum opus in prog-rock circles, this version is as it’s meant to be heard, in all its changing moods. Note there is a 2LP version as
well, with a unique mix for the vinyl, the continuity split for the four sides. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Ringo Starr
Look Up
Lost Highway Records 00602475201083

Those old enough to recall the Beatle drummer’s second solo LP, Beaucoups Of Blues from 1970, will remember that it
was a country album. Fifty-five years on, and Ringo’s been rewarded with a well-received sequel of sorts, his 21st solo effort. This is easy-on-the-ears contemporary C&W, notable for T Bone Burnett’s role as producer and composer of nearly all of its 11 tracks: country’s ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’. As expected, given his decades with the All-Starr Band, there are A-list guests aplenty, including Joe Walsh, Alison Krauss, Larkin Poe and others from both rock and country. As one wag put it, ‘a Ringo album worth a second playing’. KK

Sound Quality: 90%

Mark Wirtz
Dream, Dream, Dream
Cherry Red CR5JAMBOX030 (five discs; part mono)

I’ve lost count of the number of times Keith West’s proto-rock opera ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’ (aka ‘Grocer Jack’) has been reissued, but this 5CD box should provide closure for that and other material from the fertile mind of producer-engineer-composer Wirtz. Though less famous than Joe Meek, he was as adventurous, this 130-plus-track package containing his work with John Carter, Caroline Munro, Tomorrow, The Matchmakers and others, so it’s a feast for fans of the Carnaby Street zeitgeist, early psychedelia and sunshine pop. This comprehensive set also contains two entire albums unavailable since 1968/1970. Mono versions, outtakes – a collector’s dream. KK

Sound Quality: 85%