D Sound Unicorn

Always one of the most exquisite-sounding records of the mid-'70s, Blue Pine Trees was the sound of Unicorn at the peak of their musical and songwriting abilities. An album that puts you in mind of Lindisfarne before they got desperate, or the Beatles if Ashley Hutchings had produced them, this is British folk-rock at one of its most idiosyncratic extremes. On the one hand, Unicorn's roots in the sounds of the American West Coast are unmistakable. But, on the other, they never forget their English roots and, mindful too of their familial links to Pink Floyd (Dave Gilmour produced the best of their albums), Blue Pine Trees soars with melancholy subtlety above all of its influences, to remind us just how unique Unicorn were…

The Unicorn saga began in 1963 when Ken Baker met Pat Martin at secondary school in England. They were both learning to play the guitar at the time, and soon began jamming on British beat tunes and Beatles covers in Martin's garage. Drummer and soon lead vocalist Peter Perrier was brought in and various people filled in on bass until Trevor Mee (who had been jamming with Tony Rivers & the Castaways) came aboard as a guitarist, with Martin switching over to bass. By 1968, they were playing gigs as the Late Edition (or simply the Late, as they called themselves by 1968) and backing other singers. In 1969, during a month-long residency in Copenhagen, they listened to the Crosby, Stills & Nash album, which been released in May of that year.

The British trio used the help from trumpet, saxophone and violin in some ambitious instrumental developments. VULGAR UNICORN is song oriented melodic prog. The compositions move in and of these influences creating variety and interest but not any wasted time. Also included in their sound is some space prog influences. This combination creates interesting changes in texture and mood. The melodious and refined themes, the sound effects, the simplicity of the moods evoke PINK FLOYD, CAMEL or CODA. VULGAR UNICORN has their own niche, which is very easy to listen to.

The third Tyrannosaurus Rex album, and their debut U.S. release, Unicorn was also the first to steadfastly state the game plan which Marc Bolan had been patiently formulating for two years - the overnight transformation from underground icon to above ground superstar. Not only does it catch him experimenting with an electric guitar for the first time on record, it also sees Steve Peregrin Took exchange his bongos for a full drum kit, minor deviations to be sure, but significant ones regardless. And listen closely: you can hear the future. The opening "Chariots of Silk" sets the ball rolling, as slight and lovely as any of Bolan's early songs, but driven by a tumultuous drum roll, a pounding percussion which might be the sound of distant gunfire, but could as easily be a petulant four-year-old, stamping around an upstairs apartment…

Hiroyuki Sawano is a Japanese composer and musician best known for his work on many anime, TV series, and movies.

This is an ambitious two-disk set comprising interesting performances of GENESIS material by mostly unknown groups and individual artists (except perhaps for GALAHAD and a couple of other professional musicians). While not every track works perfectly, most are interesting because rare are the ones so faithful to the originals that nothing new is added to them…