Robert Wyatt performs in a knitted mask on French television.

One of the more underrated progressive rock groups from the ’70s Canterbury Scene, Matching Mole was a short-lived project led by Robert Wyatt after he left Soft Machine in 1971. Matching Mole, which is a play on the French translation of Soft Machine “Machine Molle,” would feature Wyatt’s inimitable drums and vocals alongside David Sinclair of Caravan on organ and piano, Dave MacRae on electric piano, Phil Miller of Delivery on guitar and the great Bill MacCormick of Quiet Sun on bass. The group released a pair of albums in 1972. Our personal favorite is the self-titled one, mostly because of the amazing album artwork which featured a pair of cute illustrated moles that look like they could’ve have been plucked right out of the frog and toad universe.

That same year, Matching Mole would tour across Europe supporting Soft Machine, who were at the peak of their popularity. Amazingly, a few of these performances were captured on video including this performance on French television program Rockenstock. After years playing shirtless with Soft Machine, Wyatt puts on a Matching Mole t-shirt here and what looks like a Waq’ollo Mask, traditionally used in Latin American dance celebrations. His creative genius on both vocals and drums are on full display as he starts the set off with some wild vocal improvisations first squeaking creature-like sounds into the microphone then going into a sort of bluesy bit before landing on a heavily echo’d out sequence of “testing 1,2.” The scene is totally weird, mesmerizing, and made even better by the bored looking French audience members.

Below, watch Matching Mole perform heavily improvised renditions of “Gloria Gloom” from Matching Mole’s Little Red Record and “Part of the Dance” from Matching Mole.

Lineup:

• Robert Wyatt – Drums, Vocals
• Phil Miller – Guitar
• Bill MacCormick – Bass
• Dave MacRae – Keyboards

If you’re unfamiliar with Matching Mole, we highly recommend listening to their 1972 self-titled album.