I am actually one of those people who believes that Andy Partridge is the great unsung hero of British pop,so upon hearing that he was recording with former X.T.C. keyboard player Barry Andrews i was filled with a sense of enthusiasm for the possiblities this renewed partnership may bring.
Well, this cleverly packaged double set gives a major clue to its contents by stating "there was no rehearsal or discussion about key,tempo,or feel and no overdubbing, it just came out like this".In itself this is no problem,and to be fair the instrumental music on this double set is generally easy on the ear,sounding in parts jazzy,ambient,and psychedelic.It's just that i cant help wondering what the point is in putting out a 2 cd set of musical doodles,when the talents of Partridge and Andrews are capable of much greater things.
Monstrance is not a hard album to listen to,and tracks like Winterwerk,Pagoda Tailfin,and The Floating World show off the admirable musical talents of all the players. The album is not short of good ideas its just that i would have preferred them to have been used in a more structured way rather than left as formless as they are on the album.
For any fan of Andy Partridges more experimental work this album will be very welcome,for the rest of us,i suspect this album will remain a curiosity,but never essential.
Maybe that was Monstrances intent!