10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a neglected bridge, January 25, 2000
This review is from: Vibing Up the Senile Man (Audio CD)
The post-punk fall-out of '77 - '80 was a magical time for British music, with bold and courageous new ideas and styles flying out of bedrooms and basements with unstoppable force. Bands such as The Fall, Throbbing Gristle, Dome, The Door + The Window, Doof, Nurse With Wound (to name only a few) were springing up out of the manure like little mushrooms that tasted sweet and refreshing, like hope. Of all the acts to emerge from the D.I.Y. underground scene (in all it's numerous facets) Alternative TV were perhaps the best example of a working unit intent on smashing the constricting codes of the punk movement which spawned them, and rebuilding a new and unfamiliar landscape from the rubble.'Vibing Up The Senile Man' is a record rich in adventurous, experimental spirit. From it's opening refrain: " 'old on - wats appnin?" right through to the Residents-like mock-free jazz finale, it sinks it's fangs firmly into some strange smelling meat.
Mark Perry's knack of writing off-kilter narratives ('Release The Natives', 'Graves of Deluxe Green', etc) is at it's sharpest, fusing mundane observations of boredom, frustration, and the agony of everyday life, with surreal and fantastic flights of weirdness, in ways that perhaps only Mark E Smith could do better. The arrangements and instrumentation are also several very large steps away from any definition of the expected. Decidedly non-punk tools such as piano, chimes, bells, and flute scrape and clang against the contours of each song, and are pinned down only by Dennis Burns' simplistic yet memorable bass guitar lines. Perry's interest in the avant-garde is a clear indicator on this LP, with a guest appearance from Genesis P Orridge, and various tried and tested studio techniques, (John Cages' 'Radio Music' gets the Perry thumbs-up on 'The Radio Story'), and the whole thing is abound with flourishes of unconventional glory. 'Vibing Up The Senile Man' also boasts some subtle, yet devestating tape work and production touches. The intro to 'Facing Up To The Facts' being an exact replica of the intro to 'Splitting In Two' from the first LP ('The Image Has Cracked') played on cassette from somewhere in the studio one would suspect. Details such as these may be lost on initial listens, and the general despondance and gloom of the LP may well prevent many from venturing any further into it's undergrowth. Those who persist however, will be rewarded with a bounty of tiny, yet beautiful gems that offer themselves to you in exchange for your attention.
As far as bonus tracks go, you're treated to (amongst other things) an all-too-brief selection of cuts from The Good Missionaries' (Perry's excellent post-ATV ensemble) 'Fire From Heaven' LP - (a CD reissue of that record and the subsequent 7"s that surrounded it should be organised a.s.a.p.), as well as ATV's side of the split LP with prog goons The Here And Now, which is a less satisfying affair. Still - better to have heard than to have not...
It took a band of tremendous courage and foresight to produce a record of this nature, and at a time when they did - effectively alienating a massive percentage of their following, most of whom were after another 'Action Time Vision'. Over twenty years later and the scars are still visable, although very slowly the tables are starting to turn. A new generation of bands and musicians have risen up out of the underground, all very informed by this LP (check out the British band The Shadow Ring as a good example), and rightly so - it's a blueprint that's worth reproducing. This is one apple that's been ripening up nicely for some time now, if this sounds like the kind of fruit that's right for you, then I recommend you climb the tree and grab it.
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