There is a contemporary school of thought that believes that if something can't be found on the Internet, then it doesn't exist. The Green Man crack editing team did a quick Google search and found not one but TWO sites about Nightwatch and Poke Records. So while the1997 copyright notice makes this album almost antediluvial, if you find this review makes you yearn for a copy of the album, according to current information it's still out there!
Unavailability would be a real shame, because what is being offered here is a not too serious take on ten instrumentals (half traditional and half quasi-traditional) and one song. Half of the instrumentation is conventional (guitar, bass and drums), and half somewhat offbeat (one member doubling on violin and recorder, and another contributes sax, keys, whistle and recorder), which together can produce a spectrum of sounds ranging from the familiar to the somewhat strange. The saxophone tone produced by Alison Heywood is not the abrasive sax sound familiar from rock and roll, but more an apologetic British sound, puff puff puffing away, which adds an unusual ingredient in the palette.
At times the group sound like Gryphon when it's the recorder or sax taking the lead, and at other times, it's mid 80's instrumental Fairport, when the violin is in the foreground. Sometimes it's a potpourri which sounds familiar, yet totally individual - for example, the traditional "Barfly" in lazy waltz time, in which most of the instruments take their opportunity to bask in the spotlight. In contrast, "Lemming's Leap" is almost heavy rock, with the drums and bass playing a straight-forward rhythm, whilst synthesizer and effect laden violin share the riff-like tune.
The title of this disc is most appropriate, as the best time to listen to it is indeed from dusk to dawn, in the early hours of the morning when no one has any strength left to argue. The tunes on the disc are relaxing and melodic, without being over demonstrative in their range: the perfect accompaniment for a wildlife documentary on television (I don't mean this as a putdown).
The one song on the disc is the closing track, "Between The Wars" by Billy Bragg. Bassist (and mainman) Brian Heywood shows that he's a competent singer, and the other band members add backing vocals. This track too is relaxing and melodic, and sounds like a Fairport Convention ballad from the early 90s with Maartin Allcock taking lead vocals (although the ending reveals his voice overdosing on echoplex) . One wonders why only one song was included on the disc, as it shows Nightwatch in a completely different light to the rest of the disc.
Judging by part of the accompanying sleeve notes -- "This album has taken about five years to reach fruition. Sections of some of the tracks were recorded with a two year gap in the middle", it seems most likely that Nightwatch is only a part-time occupation for the members of this group, and that even the most devoted concert goer is unlikely to come across them. I think that this invisibility is a pity, because I quite enjoyed listening to this somewhat offbeat disc, and I think that many others would enjoy it as well.
