Classical-rock fusionists Curved Air hit their commercial and musical peak in 1971, making the UK Top 10 with album Air Conditioning and single Back Street Luv. This German-sourced DVD showcases five Beat Club TV performances from their annus mirabilis; a sixth is a repeat of Back Street Luv in front of a blue screen. The music is fine, but the packaging and presentation disappoints. We don’t know which of these songs were actually broadcast – or when – while even the basic personnel details are lacking (they can’t spell violinist Darryl Way’s name right; and who’s the bassist with the see-through instrument?). The sleevenotes were obviously written without sight of the contents (why else would the author bang on about the yet-to-arrive Stewart Copeland?), while the unattractive sleeve sports Anglo-German gobbledygook seemingly straight from Babelfish.
The performances, however, are well worth wading through all that for, and each adds to the album recordings. The blue screen remains on the thrillingly atonal Piece Of Mind – plucked, like the single, from the second album – paradoxically revealing how much the psychedelic projections added to the Beat Club experience.
