{"id":22493,"date":"2022-03-03T05:30:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T10:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22493"},"modified":"2022-03-31T14:02:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T18:02:19","slug":"march-through-time-caravan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/03\/march-through-time-caravan\/","title":{"rendered":"March Through Time: Caravan"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month, I’m hitting<\/em> pause on coverage of new artists and releases, focusing instead for a bit on the bodies of work from some of my favorite artists. — bk<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"In music, the so-called \u201cCanterbury sound\u201d encompasses a wide swath of musical styles. The label refers to the unique music made by English bands including Egg, National Health, Kevin Ayers, Soft Machine and sometimes even Gong, who are French (go figure). There\u2019s a strong jazz element \u2013 or at least sensibility \u2013 to much of the Canterbury sound, though it owes debts to progressive rock, English folk, psychedelic and even (cringe) \u201cjam\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

For me, the very best music that falls under the heading has been made by Caravan. Almost wholly unknown here in the U.S., the group nonetheless does register on some listeners\u2019 radar thanks to their album covers being featured (along with 15 others) on the outside of record inner sleeves from the London label.<\/p>\n

They deserve better. Melodic in the extreme, often whimsical, reliably complex and frequently breathtaking, Caravan\u2019s music deserves a wider hearing. They released their debut in 1968, and they\u2019re still at it, with a new album released mere months ago. That said, their \u201cprime\u201d era centers around the earlier releases. Here\u2019s my rundown of those, with mentions of some notable latter-day sets worthy of your attention.<\/p>\n