The Monochrome Set – Radio Sessions: Marc Riley BBC 6 Music, 2011-2022

Tapete

The initial flowering of the unique organ that is The Monochrome Set took place in the late seventies and pushed on through to the nineties, creating joyous and playful albums that revelled in wordplay and merged forward thinking imagery with musical dalliances that took in all sorts of esoteric and overlooked styles. The flow of albums ran on until the mid-nineties before the original line-up centred around Bid, Andy Warren and Lester Square disbanded and a decade and a half hiatus was put in place.

However, the time was always right for the kind of wry observations in which Bid specialises and he reconvened a group, also including Andy Warren and for a short while Lester Square, using The Monochrome Set name and the same sort of wayward musical direction and archly knowing lyricism that previously warmed the heart. It is this era that Tapete’s double disc compilation of BBC 6 sessions highlights and the set covers the period from 2011 to 2022 in which they recorded eight sessions for Marc Riley with varying line-ups.

Interestingly, the first session finds them firing up four old classics including “Jet Set Junta”, but the vigour of youth is replaced somewhat by more measure and comfortable treatments. They feel lived in after thirty years and Bid’s voice contains a weariness which gives the tracks a different inflection; but they definitely sound as though they are enjoying themselves and for anybody who appreciated the original line-up will thrill to the wheezing organ and Lester’s clever little guitar runs. The addition of Helena Johanssen on violin to the second session imbues the tracks from Platinum Coils with new energy, particularly on the slow skeletal campfire soliloquy “Streams” and the flanged motorik of “They Call Me Silence”.

As the years pass, so the group seems to feel more at ease and if anything sounding younger and more energetic. The diversity of the tracks and the sensation that they are a group of musical nomads never settling on one style, utilising elements and then flitting on to the next thing, is most obvious here. If you were looking for a primer for the second part of their illustrious career, this would be an ideal starting point. Tempos shift and wriggle like somebody trying to shrug off a jacket and then dancing into the sunshine. The short tenure of Steve Brummell on the drum stool injects the latter part of disc one with real groove and he ties into Andy’s bass with supreme confidence.

The second disc covers the period from Cosmonaut onwards and as the tracks unfurl, so you notice the space left by Lester Square’s guitar inhabited by the organ of John Paul Moran and some of these tracks fizzle with a ’60s psych groove. At some points I was reminded of the sparkling organ work of Martin Duffy and that can only be a good thing. The playful, surreal lyricism and wandering vocal style threw hints of Stump in odd directions and there is even a country noir vibe steeling into the Fabula Mendax tracks, particularly “Summer Of The Demon”, while “La Chanson De La Pucelle” would make a perfect outro for a sweeping remake of Bonanza.

It is wonderful to have this kind of diverse compilation available and would be great for current fans, as well as those people looking to dip their toe in. The only problem is, on the strength of the tracks here, you would just want to load up on the entirety of The Monochrome Set’s twenty-first century catalogue; but hey, it’s only money and f we can assist the group continuing for a little longer, let’s do it.

-Mr Olivetti-