Anthony Moore has gathered some of his friends together to re-interpret some of his best loved songs On Beacon Hill that was naturally recorded at The Beacon, AKA are Anthony Moore, Keith Rodway and Amanda Thompson, the friends are Olie Brice, Tullis Rennie, Richard Moore and Haydn Ackerley. Anthony is currently based in one of England's most musical communities in Hastings, the town that has provided me with lots of great albums to review this year, this is another top-notch album from the Hastings scene. Anthony has a long career in Slapp Happy, Faust and Henry Cow as well as numerous collaborations with other musicians and artists.
The album slowly fades in to Caught with sparse piano and violin, forlorn sounding memories of being Caught being in love, desolate feelings on this sophisticated version of this much-loved song, Amanda Thompson's harmony backing vocals have just enough pain in them to reflect the Love lust and loss.
It's Fear elegiacally swoons across the speakers allowing Anthony the space to let us in on all the fear he feels, for being alone in the world without the means to get by, while claiming It's Fear that makes you weightless.
The Argument is slower and softer than you might expect an Argument to sound, even the discordant guitar notes are slow, careful, full of quiet menace like a fight in the wee small hours.
A Man Of Custom is introduced as being a prelude to an opera about Alan Turing and Aleister Crowley, both Hastings legends who worked at Bletchley Park, Anthony claims at least one of this unlikely duo lived without fear, pain or anger, the gentlest tinkling piano and super slow bass adding texture to the thoughts of what connects them.
No Parlez sounds like a lost Nick Cave classic, rather than the Paul Young album, this one has a chorus claiming you hate your children, dark sombre and a little bit frightening, despite the deep beauty of the music.
The Blistered Salver is slowly descriptive thoughts, with an almost not quite there backing, double bass bowed and adding distended woes to experimental improvisations. World Service hopes to see more lighting in the ballroom, while trying to tune the radio into the World Service again on shortwave, while shaking with malaria, this has a darkened slow blues feel with the harmony vocals filled with pain and distress at memories of another malaria attack, thankfully I haven't had one in quite some time.
The album closes with a slow strum through A Different Lie reflecting on just why the band played on, what it meant for how everything has fallen apart again, leaving Anthony walking on broken glass rather than gilded splinters.
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