Thousands on a Raft

Thousands on a Raft is remembered as much for its cover as anything else -- a picture of a model Titanic and a model Concorde sinking in a puddle, as rafts of toast ferry thousands of baked beans to the shore. Musically it was some good jazz-rock, with the emphasis not always on Brown's vocals and elliptical lyrics, as Jim Mullen's "Highland Song" offered an inventive, lengthy instrumental as the disc's centerpiece. The title cut has a Pink Floyd edge, surprising given Brown's predilection for jazz and blues, but it works well in the context. Guitarist Mullen is co-writer throughout, while the rhythm section of Rob Tait and Steve Glover swing rather than plod. "Station Song Platform Two" employs Mellotron to full prog rock effect, while "Got a Letter from a Computer" seems eerily ahead of its time for the early '70s. This was the last gasp of this incarnation of Piblokto!, but there's no doubt they went out on a high note. ~ Chris Nickson