Ivor Cutler

A recent discovery (via a superb BBC4 documentary) who's very quickly become one of my favourite people. Anyone who's done over 20 Peel Sessions , appeared in Magical Mystery Tour and played the Royal Festival Hall at 81 is clearly doing something right. But what exactly? At first listen, it's a rickety Scottish gentleman either reading some lightly surreal poetry or playing the harmonium - badly - and singing some fairly monotonous tunes over the top.

After a few pieces, though, you realise you've never heard anything like this. Completely deadpan delivery and some really odd content - bats play Brahms, fathers take children to Hypocrisy Day and good old fashioned words like poltroon or alum get an airing. He tells oddly compelling shaggy dog stories about a darkly humorous childhood. It's not to everyone's tastes, certainly, but it's a million miles away from the shiny happy people we have to stomach these days, which is good enough for me.

My favourite song is The River Bends...

"Where the river bends, the blind men fall in,
Where the river bends, the blind men fall in,
Where do they come from, the blind men,
Why do they all fall in?
I don't know, and neither do they.

I walked round to where the river bends, and I fell in,
I walked round to where the river bends, and I fell in,
Where do I come from?
Why did I fall in?
I don't know.

We all went back to the bank,
And fell in again and again, and again and again and again and again,
And again and again."



...some kind of Glasgow zen maybe? Fair play to him, in any event.

Mod out.


Ivor Cutler yahoo group