Yes, it's Mr. Cutler - fixture of the Underground, a regular on Peel, friend to the hippies and the rockers - despite being a member of the Noise Abatement Society and a foe of amplification. So someone at Melody Maker in 1971 thought it would be funny to get him to review the singles - or rather a select (and rather interesting) handful.
Actually looking closer, it's not actually singles - it's tracks from albums (as if Nico would have a single off of Desertshore!).
So it's more like The Wire's Invisible Jukebox column. Except that instead of the choices connecting to the artist's own music and taste in revealing ways, this is all things he has little sympathy for.
The only commonality is the fact that he and Nico play the harmonium.
Still, it's not all negative - he finds some nice things to say about some of the things played.
I belong to that rare and dignified class of North American Ivor Cutler fans, having discovered him through "Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road" on Robert Wyatt's masterpiece LP "Rock Bottom." I was immediately taken with Ivor's surrealist prose and vocal delivery, which sound fantastic combined with Fred Frith's guest viola playing. Ivor is a true eccentric, the kind that only the U.K. could ever produce. As my musical tastes continue to favor more avant-garde and experimental sounds, Ivor definitely fits in well with other favorites like Henry Cow, the aforementioned Robert Wyatt, The Residents, Negativland, and Laurie Anderson.
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