Spirogyra - Bells, Boots and Shambles. 2005 Strange Days / Polydor (CD) (1973). Collection revisit (Dec). Third and last album from Spirogyra. An improvement on Old Boot Wine but not as satisfying as their debut. Mostly folk rock while the prog rock elements are fairly muted here. The opening cut offers the most interesting material. The lengthy closer isn't as exciting as hoped. It's one of those "good enough for 2005" CDs that just aren't taking me to the next level 20 years later.
Aigues Vives - Water of Seasons. 2004 Garden of Delights (CD) (1981). Collection revisit (Nov). My initial listen notes from 2006 stated: "On paper, and in practice, German folk albums sung in English are a dicey proposition. Unless they go the cosmic rock route like the Pilz acid folk bands such as Holderlin's Traum, Emtidi's Saat, or Broselmaschine, you probably can expect a schlager influence here or there. But Aigues Vives avoids the beer drinker plugs, and sticks to the extended complex arrangements that can make folk rock interesting. Nice flute, violin, and guitar leads. Not at the same level as Emma Myldenburger, but a nice discovery. " In listening to it again, I hear an odd strain of Quebecois styled prog folk here. A bit of Harmonium and other lesser known bands. Maybe the French reference goes beyond the band moniker after all. The instrumental sections are far more engaging than the vocal ones. Notably the album closes on a strong note. Kind of sneaks up on you. CD adds four bonus tracks from a planned 1983 album that never surfaced. Here Aigues Vives moves their sound further west to the British Isles. Comparisons to Gryphon wouldn't be incorrect, including their progressive phase. Tempted to keep this one, but it lacks any major highs, so I will let it go.
Langsyne. 2012 Garden of Delights (CD) (1976). Collection revisit (Nov). Mostly an English sung folk album, but one with haunting atmospheres provided by the use of woodwinds and organ. There are shifts in tone within the compositions, giving credence to the progressive tag. I've seen reviews correlating Langsyne with the Pilz cosmic folk movement, but the vibes are different. The angst of Krautrock isn't present, though there are odd references to the esoteric late 60s American Greenwich Village folkies who morphed into the San Francisco scene. One can understand how such an extinct artifact would be highly collectable, though it's allure is limited to a narrowly focused group. CD offers no less than 15 bonus tracks. Strangely, despite the usual exhaustive documentation regarding the group and album, the provenance of the bonus tracks is covered in a simple sentence that they are from the 70s. While it offers good value for your CD expense, it's much more sparse and threadbare. Sounds more like a 60s John Fahey album on Takoma. This can go.
Mellow Candle - Swaddling Songs. 1993 Si-Wan (CD) (1972). Collection revisit (Sep). I've never been convinced that Swaddling Songs was a great album, but there are too many people I respect who hold this one in high regard. Looks like it's been 11 years since I last dove in, so I thought I'd give it one more try. Post 2018 has seen my musical palette expand dramatically. But unfortunately I hear this album as I always do: A pleasant folk rock album. It's not a case, as we often see, of pure folk masquerading as a prog album. It definitely has a rock component. But at this stage, after having owned either a reissue LP or CD for 30 years, I think I can safely move on here.
Dawson - The Other Side of the Hill / Lucky Stars. 19?? Celesta. From a thrift shop in Woodland Park (Jul). This one checks two boxes. Local grooves and seriously obscure. Dawson were from Aurora (or at least the label is) which is a Denver suburb. Not too many country songs start with an electric bass groove. It gets to country pop soon enough complete with some mean hoedown violin, a little bluegrass, and steel guitar. 'The Other Side of the Hill' is a heck of a lot of fun. 'Lucky Stars' has some Western Swing going for it. Looks like a 70s or 80s single, so a bit of retro going on here.
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