One Of You

One Of You (Scarab Records. Canada. 1981 - 1983)

Listen to an extract from: "One Of You - Life Is So Hard"

One Of You released just three 7" singles on their own label Scarab Records, the last single being recorded and released under the name The Trifids. This was the first single with picture sleeve as shown. One of you is basically one Czechoslovakian woman who managed to create a sound and feel so dark and yearning that even i find it hard to listen. She left Czechoslovakia during the 1968 uprising, finally settling in Toronto. All the talk in Prague was of how wonderful the west was. However, when she arrived she remembers being totally crushed. She saw a society where people seemed to be strangers to each other.

Listen to an extract from: "One Of You - Don't Be Desperate"

This second single was released in just a photocopied sleeve, although the colour of the paper does vary. As she could not write music she started writing songs in a code she created. The songs were about feelings of sadness and alienation. Some years later she and her husband recorded these songs and created Scarab Records to release them

Listen to an extract from: "The Trifids - Invincible"

Her last single came without a picture sleeve and is credited to The Trifids with writing credit to One Of You. Both tracks are instrumentals, but Invincible still conveys the same feelings of sadness and alienation. I'd like to thank the collector "Wornhill" who first brought these amazingly dark singles to my attention.

Phil Downer - The Dust of Time

Phil Downer - The Dust of Time (Lestar Records. UK. 1968)

Listen to an extract from: "Pretty Soon"

I can tell you nothing of Phil Downer except for the fact that he is one very aptly named folk artist. The guitar playing is rather accomplished and the voice is nice, but for me it's the delivery and lyrics that lift this above the usual solo acoustic folk effort. These are amongst the darkest lyrics i've heard in many years. For me this is the stand out track where everything seems to come together perfectly.

Listen to an extract from: "The Dust of Time"

This is the title track of this four track ep that may originally have come with a picture sleeve. This is another solid track and definitely another favourite for me. It doesn't quite have the dark atmosphere of Pretty Soon but is still a strong effort. Unfortunately Phil Downer and this single have proved so far to be ungooglable. Any information from Phil or anyone who knew him would be most gratefully accepted. Also, if anyone has a picture sleeve i'd love to see it.

Nigel Mazlyn Jones - Ship to shore

Nigel Mazlyn Jones - Ship to Shore (Isle of Light. UK. 1976)

Listen to: "A Singulary Fine Day"

A fascinating UK private pressing that sounds like it is from an earlier time, although it does occasionally give off touches that do firmly date it to the mid 1970's. Nigel has released 10 albums on his Isle of Light label, with this debut and the second album being the most sought after by collectors. On hearing the first track you could be forgiven for pigeon holing this as a Folk album, even an Acid Folk album. However, that's even less than half the story. Nigel was active on the live circuit and has collaborated with many well known 70's artists including Roy Harper, Nik Turner and even Hawkwind. These influences show on the rest of the album, with a gradual progression away from the folk sound into an earlier 70's singer/songwriter territory.

Listen to: "Ship to Shore"

Side two journeys further into that singer/songriter territory but with a classic left field sound, with some impressive guitar work that is ever present on this album that helps lift it above many similar albums. However, the title track (for some reason placed as the last track) is where the whole album comes together in a most impressive finale. It starts with an almost frantic Acid Folk vocal and guitar interplay before it enters a middle ground between the folk and rock influences before rounding it all off with an elongated finale that keeps you drifting effortlessly on, as if floating in some dreamy Pink Floyd styled interlude.

Those Old Records (Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK)

I like to highlight the bricks and mortar shops that i buy some of these records from. Far too many are closing down and without them we'll struggle to trip over these great unsung albums.

This album was bought on a trip to visit Chris at "Those Old Records" in Rugeley, Staffordshire. I first met Chris at the Stoke on Trent record fair. Chris keeps coming up with some mind blowing finds, he puts in a herculian effort travelling the length and breadth of the UK in search of those nuggets. Chris is also an audiophile so you'll find that he is very fussy about condition.

I'm glad to report that his shop is an extension of his great personality. Chris is extremely friendly and always goes the extra mile.

If you see an Ambrose Slade album in the photos below, then yes, you are seeing an original. The second copy Chris has managed to dig up in less than a year! He's topped that with one of the rarest British Jazz albums ever released; a Zombies Odyssey and Oracle that lasted about 10 minutes.....and i could go on.
If you can't visit "Those Old Records" in Rugeley then there is a website for your enjoyment:

http://www.thoseoldrecords.co.uk/

Thanks Chris!

John Sase - Aessence

JOHN SASE - Aessence (Private Press. USA. 1975/85)

Listen to: "Industrial Age"

Obscure USA private press folk album that's already got interest in the world of bloggers. However, i think it's worth adding as previous blogs have missed what could be a different fan base for this album. It was recorded around 1975 but not released until 1985. Despite the 1970's recording this album has tracks that i feel are closer to the Neo Folk style of the late 1980's onwards, than the Acid Folk tag other bloggers use. Listening to Industrial Age is for me akin to the Death In June sound from the All Pigs Must Die album. Artists like Nurse with Wound and Current 93 have always been open in their love of Folk, especially artists like Shirley Collins and Comus.

Listen to: "New Life"

The album was released in a limited edition of 300 autographed and hand numbered copies with two inserts, housed in a plain sleeve with screen printed title and pasted picture. John Sase was based in Detroit, hardly well known for producing Folk music. There are a wealth of instruments on the album which are played well enough to lift it above the usual private pressing. If i was to have a criticism of the album then it would be that the tempo seems to remain pretty much the same through the entire album. The songs themselves are strong so keeping it interesting.

Meic Stevens - Mwg

MEIC STEVENS - Mwg EP (Wren Records WRE 1073)

Listen to: "Myfi yw'r Dechreuad"

How could i resist adding some Meic Stevens to the Acid Folk section?

No longer what you could describe as an obscure artist, Meic has been an important & well loved figure in Wales for many decades. Not only did he produce some of the most wonderful music to come out of Wales, he was also the inspiration, catalyst & vehicle for many Welsh bands to make & release music.

Mwg is my favourite Meic Stevens ep & this track is the most "Acid" from this particular release. I do belive that Meic Stevens is best listened to in Welsh. Although most people will not understand the words, there is an interplay between the Welsh language, Meics' delivery & the interplay with his guitar playing that just isn't present on Outlander, his English language album.

There is plenty of information on Meic on the web & there are also two compilation albums that bring together all his EP tracks including this one.

Beau - Creation

BEAU - Creation LP (Dandelion DAN 8006)

Listen to "Creation"

Certainly not the most obscure offering on this blog, but it is in my mind a criminally overlooked album. Infact it's inclusion is more to do with the fact that this is still an affordable album, something that will probably change as time goes by. There is plenty of information on Beau to be found on the web.

It was Beau's second album for John Peel's Dandellion label, released in 1971. What sets this apart from his first album is the fact that Tractor are his backing band for this outing.

It's a strange mix; the Folk songs of a renowned folk songwriter with the twisted rock musings of Tractor. For me the song where this works best is "Silence Returns", which has a undercurrent of darkness that is just about kept in check until the end when all hell breaks loose through an incredible acid guitar piece until the song eventually fades out.

Listen to: "Silence returns"

It's nowhere near as "Acid" as the first Comus album for example, but as a whole the album does work, although sometimes it does feel like the mix isn't quite right. Some songs are more traditional, some far more twisted.

All in all though, still an album i would recommend picking up before prices inevitably rise.

Sharon People - Inside Looking Out LP

SHARON PEOPLE - Inside looking out LP (Indigo Sound Studios IRS 5510)

Listen to: "I'm in love"

Here's the first Xian Psych/Folk album i bought. Got a call about it last year from a fellow digger. I'd never heard of it, but he assured me that i'd like it & if not that i'd easily move it on.

Well, the first few needle drops were anything but positive, but once again, it's the arrangements that set this apart from other LP's. Once i'd sat down to listen in it's entirity it made complete sense to me. Maybe that's the thing with private pressings, once you "get it"; the strange arrangements, the throwing out of the rule book; then you're hooked.

I could never hope to explain the music here. The only thing that came to mind was a Cabaret band playing songs written by Ennio Morricone, arranged by Bryan MacLeane, with Sterling Morrisson guesting on guitar. OK, so that's a bit strong, but how do you compare this to anything else you've ever heard?

Listen to: "Wilderness"

Side one is much stronger than side two here, there's a passion throughout side one that seems to be lacking on the other side.

I've come up gainst a complete brick wall on researching this album. It's on the Indigo Sound Studios label out of the Republic of Ireland with a very home made looking sleeve. I originally thought this was a subsiduary of EMI, but i now think it was probably recorded in the EMI studio in the Republic of Ireland that happened to be called Indigo Sound Studios.

I've tried researching the members' names as well, but once again drew a complete blank. Two other diggers i've spoken too said they owned or had seen the Sharon People album, but it seems they are talking about a second album i've seen listed on a Japanese website which appears to be some kind of a stage play using some of the songs & music from this album.

If anyone can throw some light on this album please get in touch, as i am particulary obsessed by it. Who wouldn't be, you just need to hear the passion in the vocals of I'm in Love......if that's what being in love with Jesus Christ is all about, well......

Sounds of Salvation - An exploration in worship

SOUNDS OF SALVATION - An exploration in worship LP (Reflection RL 310)

Listen to: "Love III"

This is the album that has inspired this blog (obvious from the title really!). What they call a blind punt, quite literally picked up off the floor of a local flea market where someone had unceremoniously dropped it.
This is one difficult album to explain.

Released in 1974 by a Christian group from Cambridge University, it ranges from a long introduction of sound collages depicting everyday life (strangely akin to the KLF's Chill out album), through a very dark Psychedelic track "Overseers", then through prayers, acid folk & twisted rock.

It really does need to be listened to in it's entirity as it does flow despite the strange marrying of styles.

Listen to: "What is it like Lord?"

The female voices are particulary strong, along with some superb guitar work, especially in the more acid moments. What manages to really make this work for me are the arrangements, they are very different from traditional arrangements, and that makes for a refreshing listen.

I don't feel that the soundfiles i've uploaded are representative of the album as a whole, but they are an introduction to a strange world; a world where people ask the Lord what it is like to burn & where peoples eyes are scratched out so we can see through them.

As a foot note, the stamps on my copy show that it once belonged to a hospital radio station. Now there's a thought!

Although inactive for many years the group behind Refection records have now come back together & are releasing the albums on CD.

I hope i have inspired at least one or two of you to buy the CD.

If anyone connected with this album is reading, we would love to hear your recollections.

Listen to: "Overseers"