Kevin Ayers- Joy of a Toy[1969]

I've been sick as balls since FBC the other night, so this post will be fairly short, and mostly just to keep the site moving.

"Joy of a Toy" marks the beginning of Soft Machine-genius Kevin Ayers' solo career, and contains an interesting mix of cutesy baroque pop, surprisingly dark and bitter lyrics, and the jazz influences that would become more pronounced on later Soft Machine releases.

Opener "Joy of a Toy Continued" has the feel of a theme song, though there isn't any real story present on the album. If I had to pin down the "concept" of the album, based on lyrics and the music itself, it would be being unhappy while surrounded by irritatingly happy people. "Town Feeling" is sardonic and bitter, with Ayers relaying the frustratingly routine meetings and greetings of life in his happy little town, while "The Clarietta Rag" tells a strange story about a witch riding around on an umbrella, and features some noisy guitar screeches, a hint of Ayers' progressive leanings. "Girl on a Swing" features interesting use of tape loops and reel-to-reel manipulation, and "Song For Insane Times" is a swirling fusion lament, as strange as it sounds.

The second half of the album, beginning with "Stop This Train(Again Doing It)" is probably the more experimental and memorable portion. "Stop This Train" shudders to life, becoming an upbeat dissertation on boredom and possibly train rides. "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong" is noisy, dissonant, and psychedelic, especially for 1969. You can really see where Ayers was headed with Soft Machine on some of these tracks, and even where the structure and instrumentation are more conventional, there's always something, be it lyrics, or just general atmosphere, that sets "Joy of a Toy" apart as mocking the naive "psychedelia" of his contemporaries.

Sorry if that was badly written, the thoughts just aren't flowing. This really is a good album, go ahead and download it.