Private Parts and Pieces II "Back to the Pavilion"
	Produced by Rupert Hine except track 1 by Anthony Phillips and Anton Matthews
	Released on 1980
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
PVC 7913 cover

A nother hodgepodge of old and new material, featuring a return (of sorts) to The Geese & The Ghost. Phillips acknowledges the similarity between the opening “Scottish Suite” and Geese’s “Henry,” and fans of his first work will enjoy the encore. Recorded in the summer of 1976, the suite actually pre-dates the release of Geese, with “Salmon Leap,” “Electric Reaper” and “Amorphous, Cadaverous and Nebulous” again picking up where Trespass left off (Mike Rutherford and Andy McCulloch support Phillips’ arsenal of guitars and keyboards). The rest of the record is a continuation of the music found on the first Private Parts & Pieces; instrumentals featuring Phillips on keyboards or guitar, sometimes incorporating a flange effect, other times playing tracks backwards, with a homespun sense of studio experimentation. Ever the sentimentalist, Phillips stoops to conquer our hearts in some instances (none more annoying than “I Saw You Today,” in which Phillips croaks out maudlin lyrics), but there are some pretty and wistful pieces to be salvaged, such as “Spring Meeting” and “Nocturne.” Most surprising is an excursion into Eno’s ambient world on “K.2.” that recalls Discreet Music; this song and “Heavens” suggest that Phillips might have a very good album of fuzzy keyboard music up his sleeve. Given the fact that many of these songs date from 1976 and 1977, it’s no wonder Back to the Pavilion sounds like a cross between Geese and Private Parts. Due to Phillips’ uneven and occasionally unrewarding catalog, some critics have pegged Pavilion as a worthy successor to Geese, which it’s not. That said, it does rank among the more substantive of the Private Parts & Pieces archival digs, and will prove more amenable to fans of Geese and the first PP&P than his “pop” albums, which have sent more than one listener into synthetic shock.

PVC 7913 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. SCOTTISH SUITE
   (i) Salmon Leap
   (ii) Parting Thistle
   (iii) Electric Reaper
   (iv) Amorphous, Cadaverous and Nebulous
   (v) Salmons' Last Sleepwalk
   
2. LINDSAY
3. K.2.
4. POSTLUDE: END OF THE SEASON
5. HEAVENS
6. SPRING MEETING
7. ROMANY'S ARIA
8. CHINAMAN
9. NOCTURNE
10. MAGIC GARDEN
11. VON RUNKEL'S YORKER MUSIC
12. WILL O' THE WISP
13. TREMULOUS
14. I SAW YOU TODAY
15. BACK TO THE PAVILION
16. (*cd bonus track) LUCY: AN ILLUSION
    
    All titles composed by Anthony Phillips

CREDITS

ANTHONY PHILLIPS -- guitars, keyboards, vocals
Mel Collins -- flute (13)
Rob Phillips -- oboe (11)
Mike Rutherford -- bass (1)
Peter Cross -- cover illustration

SUGGESTED READING

As the liner notes explain, the album's title is "based on Colin Sturge's Back to the Pavilion, the biography of the notorious Neil Von Runkel, the socialist baron who gave us his title and estates to work for the M.C.C. party." Though it's likely a tall order to fill, you can try searching GEMMbooks for a used copy of Sturge's Back to the Pavilion. Good luck!

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