Monday, September 15, 2008

v/a "Early Morning Hush: Notes from the UK Folk Underground 1969-1976"

I think wor bird picked this one up, when we visited popular local record shop Claddagh on a record buying splurge. This one was pretty cheap, I seem to remember, and we are always easily tempted by cheap treats. It is also really good. In musical terms, it does what it says on the tin, but the selections are a lot better and less generic than I expected. In some ways this is like an English language version of one of those Welsh Rare Beat records. I wouldn't like to play favourites with this record, as it all brilliant and all of a piece, but the tune that sticks in my head the most is maybe 'Cherry Blossom Fool' by Duncan Browne, though that is not to say that it is actually the best. 'Harvest Time' by the Water Into Wine Band is also interesting as the source of all Michael Nyman's musical ideas.

Actually, listening to these tracks again, in order to try and name a few more exceptional ones, I am struck again by the uniformly high standard here. If this is what some random collection of UK folk has to offer then maybe it is time I started exploring the UK folk scene of the period in more detail.

Early Morning Panda

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