Grades / Reviews

Steve Lake, former journalist, Melody Maker, London

Having said all that the album I've heard most often in the last two years has been, without doubt and by far, University of Errors' "Jet Propelled Photographs". A songs album. My son, 10 at the time it came out,  fastened on this disc with relentlessness and played it day in, day out. Non-stop. He played it in the morning and at night. We had to take it on holiday with us. The experience of hearing a child sing "You've got to save yourself" every breakfast time made me start to wonder about the potency of the baraka Idries Shah was sprinkling over Daevid Allen back at Robert Graves's place all those years ago…
I tried to wean the kid off of UofE with the Gomelsky sessions. He wasn't having it. "Bah! Horrible! Play the *real* versions…"

Daevid Allen's University Of Errors: Jet Propelled Photographs
    Back in 1967 the original Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, Daevid Allen) recorded a collection of demos that were subsequently released as ‘Jet Propelled Photographs ‘ after Daevid Allen was refused entry into the U.K. due to his alleged involvements in the Paris riots. Since this time Mr Allen has always stated that he was unhappy with his contribution to the songs and would like to record them again.

    Well it’s been a long time coming but finally the songs have been re-fitted for the new millennium, with guitar duties being undertaken by Josh Pollock whilst Daevid restricts himself to vocals only. Are they any good though? The answer is a resounding yes, every song is a bundle of joyous energy, the much loved tunes brimming with infectious good humour and playful psychedelic touches which add to the originals rather than spoiling their memory.

    This time around, the sparse instrumentation of the originals has been replaced with a broader palette, the band utilising megaphones, xylophones and toy instruments, within the mix. Special mention must go to Warren Huegel who had the dubious task of following Robert Wyatt’s exemplary drumming style, and does so with great aplomb demonstrating a lightness of touch as well as great precision, blending well with the solid bass of Michael Clare to create the perfect backdrop for the “all over the place “ guitar playing which dominates much of this record. Finally we come to the vocal performance of Daevid Allen, who turns in one of his finest performances seemingly fired-up and full of passion for these songs, giving them 100% of his attention and allowing the words and music to lock together into a cohesive whole.

    Displaying a vibrancy not noticeable in the melancholic 1967 versions, this album is rooted firmly in the present, and is so much more than an exercise in nostalgia. As such it should appeal to lovers of psych-pop, the planet gong, as well as forward thinking fans of the early Soft Machine. (Simon Lewis)

University Of Errors - "Jet Propelled Photographs"
(Cuneiform Records 2004, RUNE 188)
Uploaded to Aural Innovations: July 2004

The fourth outing from University Of Errors is a remake of what were essentially demo tracks recorded in 1967 by the embryonic Soft Machine, which at the time consisted of Daevid Allen on guitar, Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals, Kevin Ayers on vocals and Mike Ratledge on piano and organ. The demo sessions were paid for by legendary producer Giorgio Gomelsky, who also kept possession of the tapes and later released them under the title Jet Propelled Photographs. (Daevid left the Softs before their first official album was released.)

Fast forward about 36 years and we find Daevid re-recording these historical documents with University Of Errors. Of particular interest is Daevid's choice to leave all the guitar parts to Josh Pollock and only handle the vocals. Of the original sessions he states in the liner notes that, I had a bad hair day on guitar and always dreamed of re-doing it with perfected guitar parts. Now, with the University Of Errors, it has at last become possible.

So how do these new versions compare with the originals? Well these are no mere cover songs, that's for sure. They're given the full rockin' University Of Errors treatment, with Pollock's piledriver guitar lovingly ripping up the songs and adding a kick ass psych-metallic flavor. The faculty do an excellent job of retaining the 60's flavor of the originals while simultaneously injecting them with healthy doses of blazing metallic psychedelia. "I Should've Known" is a killer in this regard. The song is intact but Pollack launches into a total freakout that alternates between acid-metal, 70's heavy rock, and cosmic space. If part of Daevid's intention is to redeem the guitar parts of these songs, he's not only succeeded but updated the music to where he's at today, specifically of course with University Of Errors. "When I Don't Want You" has a cool jazz flavor, given a unique character by Pollock's guitar. Songs like "Memories" illustrate how well Daevid's vocals work on these tunes. Both he and Robert Wyatt have instantly recognizable voices, but both are close enough in sound and style to do the songs equal justice. But we also get lots of tripped out fun that is reminiscent of Gong, like "Jet Propelled Photographs" which dances about in avant space jam realms. And if you were unfamiliar with the originals and heard the Kevin Ayers penned "She's Gone" you could be forgiven for assuming it to be a Daevid original.

In addition to the 9 tracks covering the 1967 demos we also get covers of the first Soft Machine single: "Love Makes Sweet Music" and "Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin'", "Hope For Happiness" from the Softs first album (they ROCK this one!), and "We Know What You Mean (Soon Soon Soon)", originally released on Kevin Ayers' first solo album. Rock out baby... University Of Errors fans will love this, and Soft Machine fans are in for a surprise.

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

UNIVERSITY OF ERRORS - Jet Propelled Photograph
(Cuneiform 188)
University of Errors is led by guitarist, vocalist and pataphysical icon Daevid Allen. Daevid was one of the founding members of The Soft Machine (and later the founder of Gong), but he left the Softs in August, 1967 and there are only a handful of recordings and demos of his tenure with the band. One album, known as 'Jet Propelled Photograph' a.k.a 'Soft Machine - Zero' was released without the band's consent and Daevid was always unhappy with his performance. Allen launched his US-based band, University of Errors, over thirty years, numerous musical escapades and multiple continents later. 'Jet Propelled Photographs' is University of Error's 4th release and their first recording with Cuneiform Records. It is a remake of Soft Machine's first music: their repertoire from the days when Allen was in, and recorded with, the band whose existence he helped sparked. On 'Jet Propelled Photographs', University of Errors revives, re-informs, and reinvents Soft Machine's psychedelic rock and pop of the era, kicking it into the 21st century and resulting in a sound that is entirely new! - Cuneiform press blurb.

This version of University of Errors features Daevid on vocals only, Josh Pollock on guitars, vocals, megaphone, xylophone, piano, percussion & production, Michael Clare on el. bass and Warren Huegel on drums. The band (UoE) really do a great job of reinventing these tunes, with heavy, wailing, psychedelic fuzz guitars replacing that fuzz organ sound that became the Soft's signature sound. Daevid even changes many of the words to make them his own, something that vocalist Robert Wyatt did much of time as well. Daevid also has that same twee, high-pitched vocal charm that Wyatt possessed and still does. I love the way Josh consistently layers and alters his guitar parts with enchanting psychedelic charm, even playing some glissando geetar here and there. The middle section on "Shooting at the Moon" has some great warped guitars, throbbing bass and tribal drums. Hugh Hopper's "Memories" gets a splendid heavy treatment, similar to the version on Daevid's early solo album, 'Banana Moon', only fatter. What is truly great about this how the UoE have both captured the spirit of these old psych/rock songs (some 37 years later) and also modernized them so they still sound fresh today. Nice to hear the first Soft Machine single, "Love Makes Sweet Music" and "Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin" on a CD, since there is no other CD version in print at present. An excellent job from the mainly west coast version of the Canterbury contingent. - BLG

UNIVERSITY OF ERRORS - Jet Propelled Photograph
Review by Bill Tilland

Pothead pixie Daevid Allen has been a major scene-maker since the late 1950s, when he landed in Paris from his native Australia and collaborated with minimalist Terry Riley and beat guru William S. Burroughs, and then journeyed to Canterbury, where he eventually recruited Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Kevin Ayers, and Mike Ratledge for a band that Allen christened the Soft Machine after one of Burroughs' controversial cut-up novels (with naming approval conferred by Burroughs himself). Denied reentry to Great Britain in 1967 at the height of Soft Machine's popularity because of a Visa violation, the tireless Allen then moved back to Paris and formed Gong, around which he developed an elaborate, spaced out, psychedelic mythology. The original Gong lineup disbanded in 1974, but Allen has been conducting a kind of shambolic musical/philosophical traveling circus ever since, with solo projects, various Gong offshoots (Mother Gong, Gongzilla, Planet Gong, etc.) and his most recent group, the University of Errors, which he impulsively formed in 1999 with a group of San Francisco musicians probably not half his age. On this, their fourth CD, Allen has decided go back to the source, reprising the very early history of the Soft Machine with nine songs originally recorded on a Soft Machine demo. (Allen had actually been separated from the group even before it recorded its first "proper" LP.) Also included are the "A" and "B " sides of the first Soft Machine 45" single release, and one song each from the first Soft Machine LP, and the first Kevin Ayers' solo CD, all of which were part of the Soft Machine's early set list. The Canterbury School in general, and Soft Machine in particular (as well as Allen's Gong) are often associated with long, spacey instrumental jams, but Wyatt, Ayers, Allen, and mutual friend Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd all had an interest in whimsical, psychedelic pop tunes that featured clever wordplay and slightly skewed arrangements. Ayers and Wyatt even flirted with commercial acceptance, and they both seemed vaguely surprised and annoyed, at first, that their music was not embraced by the record-buying masses. However, the objective truth is that the tricky rhythms, unexpected chord changes, and inscrutable lyrics were typically too eccentric to qualify as radio-friendly soundbytes. On his own recordings, and those with Gong, Allen himself has often been whimsical and eccentric to the point of self-indulgence, but on this CD, he handles the vintage Soft Machine repertoire with a perfect balance of respect and fresh energy. He even yields his lead guitar role to young bandmember Josh Pollock and concentrates on vocals, choosing (as he explains it) to let Pollock carry the day instrumentally with his superior guitar skills. Allen's reedy, cheerful voice is sometimes a dead ringer for Wyatt's, but this is no mere nostalgia trip. Allen's animated singing, together with Pollock's tart, wailing guitar, and the strong rhythm section of Michael Clare on bass and Warren Huegel on drums, reinvigorate early Soft Machine classics such as "I Should've Known" and the brilliant "Hope for Happiness," as well as many others. There's nothing musty and quaint about any of the music on this CD. It's still strangely compelling 40 years later, and for this, Allen certainly deserves some major credit.

CROSSROADS (France)

                    Giulia Nuti - www.ilpopolodelblues.com