97 Orchard

The veteran Chicago harpist's long-overdue debut album is quite credible, but you can't help but think he's got a far more satisfying set within him yet. Dreary backing by the overly cautious Ice Cream Men is the prime reason the set only occasionally soars – with a less derivative combo, Wheeler could come up with something special before he's through.

Shimshon Miel is a sole musician, a multi instrumentalist who recorded this album by himself in Tel Aviv 1977. He had one public appearance at the Rock Club in Tel Aviv but shortly after disappeared from the public eye after failing to distribute his record. Originally released in 1977 in an edition of 220 copies privatly. The music is fabulous fuzzy acid folk with experimentations in a 'Canterbury ' way, with some exciting fuzzy distorted guitar passages and some long tracks included here. The CD has 4 bonus tracks.

Magna Carta's third album was the first with guitarist Davey Johnstone on board, one reason for its subsequent immortality in collecting circles. Another is the extravagant packaging that accompanied the original Vertigo release – the gatefold sleeve was designed to open up like a box, with a layer of apples (from Wasties Orchard, of course) within. Add a crystalline Gus Dudgeon production and, of course, the popularity among collectors of the original swirly Vertigo label design, and Songs from Wasties Orchard emerges a seldom seen but much sought-after gem. For anybody familiar with the group's first two albums, Magna Carta's own style remained constant, a collection of beautifully stylized folk ballads sung and gently strummed with a warmth and versatility that saw the group endure (and, presumably, enjoy) constant comparisons to mid-period Simon & Garfunkel. The addition of Johnstone to the original duo does little to derail those remarks – indeed, his own musical versatility puts one firmly in mind of the Americans' more ambitious moments, as mandolins, sitars, and harpsichords dance behind Glen Stewart and Chris Simpson's magically melded vocal harmonies.