Search - This Heat :: Made Available:John Peel Sessions

'IMPOSSIBLE-TO-PERFORM' MUSIC...LIVE...

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 03/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Heat were a pretty amazing band - utilizing `standard' instruments such as electric guitar, bass, vocals, percussion and keyboards, along with less-common ones like found percussion and tape recorders, they fused political and social consciousness with musical adventurism and created something that was energetic, stimulating, on-the-edge and ... (gasp!) ... listenable. Their studio albums - the 1980 self-titled debut (a.k.a. `Blue and yellow'), and the crucial, shattering follow-up, DECEIT, released in 1981 - blew the listener away. It was amazing to hear what they had achieved by deconstructing and reassembling what most people considered to be `rock music'. I heard several people comment to the effect that `Well...that's interesting, but they could never perform that stuff in a live context without lots of additional people to help.' - which brings us to this document.MADE AVAILABLE was recorded live - Charles Bullen, Charles Hayward and Gareth Williams performing alone - in BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. Three of the tracks were recorded in April of 1977, five in October of the same year. The trio utilized their usual array of instruments and effects - they were pioneers in the live use of tape loops, using both prerecorded material and sounds looped as they were generated live on stage. The effects are breathtaking in their imagination, power and (despite what some people might feel about music such as this) emotion. From the first album are offered live versions of `Horizontal hold', `Not waving', and `The fall of Saigon'; `Makeshift Swahili' from DECEIT appears here as simply `Makeshift'; we are also treated to four tracks illustrating the band's ability to create music on the spot: `Rimp romp ramp', `Sitting', `Basement boy' and `Slither'.They set us on our ear with each new release - and set us to thinking as well. This music is every bit as powerful, vital and relevant today as it was when it was recorded - a lot of people have learned (the less-kind might call it `stolen') from their pioneering work, but I have yet to hear it equaled. Most of their recordings are now out-of-print. If you're musically adventurous and appreciate sounds that will stretch your mind, and you run across any of their work, I would suggest picking it up while you can. THIS HEAT and DECEIT will hopefully be reissued - it's a crime that they're not more readily available - and MADE AVAILABLE is an important piece to their puzzle."