Ivor Cutler

Ivor Cutler began his performing career at the BBC in the late '50s, and throughout his career, much of his best work has been done for Auntie Beeb. His many John Peel sessions are legendary, for example. 1986's Prince Ivor, a double disc set released by the venerable Rough Trade label, is a unique addition to the Ivor Cutler canon, collecting 12 of his short plays written for BBC Radio 3 between January 1979 and March 1983. These plays are different from most of his work not least because of their extended length -- most are around 10 minutes, with some running up closer to 15 -- and use of voices other than Cutler's own familiar Scottish burr. But the most unusual aspect of these plays is the way in which they engage the outside world in ways that Cutler's poetry, songs, and surreal short stories do not. There's a surprisingly political subtext to plays like "A Miner Is Approached By Ivor Cutler" and its companion piece "A Sheet Metal Worker Is Approached By Ivor Cutler," both of which make some deftly pointed comments about Margaret Thatcher's economic policies. Even more oblique plays like "Ivor Cutler and the Mermaid" can be heard in this light, making Prince Ivor both a time capsule of British political humor of the early '80s and one of Ivor Cutler's most surprising and delightful works. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi