Syd
Barrett: Under Review
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Main Program: B
We were sitting in my friend’s cluttered bedroom while
trying to edit the poetry submissions for our high school literary magazine
when my friend threw some Pink Floyd
on the stereo. My father being an
acolyte of Dark Side of the Moon and
having spent many nights myself shut in my dark room, headphones crushing my
temples, I was more than happy to have a respite from the moribund adolescent
poesy.
But what was this?
What’s going on here? This
couldn’t possibly be Pink Floyd. It was really weird and awfully poppy, and
that high keening nasal voice was like a dentist’s drill. And so went my initiation into Piper at the Gates of Dawn and the
world of Syd Barrett. To say I was unprepared would be an
understatement.
My Pink Floyd
was totally void of a sense of humor, they were heavy and dark and brimming
with anti-establishmentarian angst so who the hell was this weird guy singing
about his bike?
It wasn’t until a few years later that the true goofy,
acid-glazed glory of Syd really hit me. I had picked up his first solo record The Madcap Laughs on a whim. I’d heard some rumblings in the magazines
that Syd was brilliant and damaged and worth exploring, so I took Syd home and
gave his record a go. And almost
instantly I was converted to the church of Barrett. The Madcap Laughs is
shambling and idiosyncratic and everything that I loved about rock’n’roll at
that point in my life. After spending
night after night with Nico and the third Big Star record, Syd’s cracked and
folky blues-pop was a perfect fit for my then current aesthetic.
The British Under Review series is yet another addition to
the talking-heads-discussing-the-Pop-of-yore canon of Rockism. Syd’s biographer Chris Welch and a slew of
journalists from the elite rock’n’roll magazines (Uncut, Mojo,
etc.) chime in with stories and vivisections of Syd’s brief time as a recording
star. Under Review has a more
high-toned critical bent to it than, say, the Classic Albums series with
its emphasis on technique, or VH1’s Behind the Music, which sucked at
the teat of tabloid gossip.
All in all this is a fine program for the uninitiated and
the fan as well. The picture and Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo sound are just above average as the Queen installment
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) was.
The interviewees are passionate about Syd’s music and have all done
their homework. These programs are
never as interesting as the music that they discuss, but Under Review
makes for a fine primer.
- Kristofer
Collins
Kristofer Collins is an editor at The New Yinzer and the
owner of Desolation Row CDs in Pittsburgh, PA.
Visit Desolation Row at www.myspace.com/desolationrowcds
for more.
