Phil Thornton with Mandragora - While the Green Man Sleeps. 1993 England

Some 13 years ago I wrote:

Phil Thornton is the main man behind Mandragora and they were one of the great UK festival psych bands. And while this goes under the Phil Thornton name, most of Mandragora is on it, and it sounds like a Mandragora album to be honest. Or perhaps a more electronica version of the band, something the group eventually moved to anyway on their 1998 opus Pollen. This particular release reminds me a bit of Ship of Fools actually, given the relaxed nature and flow of the music. Hard to find nowadays, but well worth the effort if you're so inclined.

---

As noted already in a couple of places, I'm quite fond of Mandragora, who I felt added a bit more than your garden variety space rock and UK festival act. And this listen resulted in a +1 as well. I didn't mention this above, but While the Green Man Sleeps is a mixed release. The first two tracks are from a concert in Scotland circa 1987. And for whatever reason they included 'Xylem' from Earthdance which is superfluous. The remaining 3 tracks are newer recordings and apply more to my initial review. The final track 'Rainbow Chant' is nearly 25 minutes, and is worth the price of admission alone.

Ownership: CD: 1993 Mystic Stones. Jewel case. Interesting to note that 13 years ago the CD was scarce. Today it is common as raisins. Cheaper than that actually...

1994 (first listen); 9/29/09 (review); 1//10; 10/7/22 (update / new entry)