Strange Folk

Because more than half of the 35 songs on this two-disc retrospective of Marianne Faithfull's 1979-95 output come from her three great albums – Broken English, Dangerous Acquaintances, and Strange Weather – or are previously unreleased outtakes or B-sides from them, A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology makes a fine primer to Faithfull's often challenging, always mesmerizing (or would that be always challenging, often mesmerizing?) music…

Superlatives are inadequate for the box record company Universal Music recently released. Two hundred hits on ten CDs, hundreds of hits and a lot of TV and news clips on five DVDs and then another book as reference book. It can not be on. The disadvantage of the Testament of the sixties is that for a hundred euros a hefty investment. The advantage that you are now ready to be a hit with your sixties Collection.

Mick Softley - Any Mother Doesn't Grumble (1972) {Morello Records MRLL65 rel 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 231 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 98 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 6 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2016 Morello Records / Sony Music | MRLL 65
Folk Rock / Folk / Singer/Songwriter / Guitar

Mick Softley's 1972 album released for the first time on CD. Born in 1941 in South Woodford, Essex, Mick Softley was at the forefront of the folk revival scene of the early 1960s. Mick helped Donovan with guitar-picking styles when they were both involved with the folk club in The Cock pub in St Albans. Later, Donovan would record two of Mick's songs 'The War Drags On' and 'Goldwatch Blues'. Recorded at The Manor in Oxfordshire and at Sound Techniques, Chelsea, musicians included Jerry Donahue (Fotheringay / Fairport Convention), Gerry Conway (Fotheringay), Pat Donaldson (Fotheringay), Barry de Souza (Curved Air) and Lyn Dobson (Manfred Mann / Soft Machine). Produced by Tony Cox, talented keyboard player who played with Sandy Denny and Mike Heron. 'Disc and Music Echo' magazine probably captured the essence of this unique recording most succinctly when they reviewed the album and stated that 'listening to it, one almost feels an intruder into the man's soul'.

Steven Mackey (b. 1956) has a rock background like Tüur, and when he plays electric guitar figurations in Heavy Light from this deftly played and atmospherically recorded New World CD, that background comes to the fore, or at least to the middle-ground. He says he is using rock as a form of vernacular, or folk-reference, in a serious context. So sometimes, think Zappa. Mostly, though, the three works here sound like serious, witty, chromatic chamber music, with the whole of the last century on board.

This obscure folk-rock artist from the late '60s left a track record of a few albums and a handful of obscure single releases, including the languid "Lyanna" and the demanding "Don't Leave Me Now." Campbell first came to prominence as a singer/songwriter on the folk club scene. He signed a contract with the interesting Fontana label, which released much cutting edge folk-rock and psychedelic music. He recorded one album and three singles for them before switching dizzily to the Vertigo label. The resulting album took a proud place in this label's catalog, right between the largely forgotten Dr. Strangely Strange and the grandly remembered Paranoid by Black Sabbath. It was definitely Campbell's most famous album, entitled Half Baked with just a note of derision. The album's title track is in turn the most well-known cut by this artist.

Equation - Hazy Daze (1999)
British Folk Rock/Celtic | Putumayo World Music | MP3 CBR 320kbps | 43:47 | 100 MB

Sure, none of your friends have heard of Equation, but they're missing out. I have loved this CD from the very first track and I still can't get enough. Equation's sound has been described as British-Celtic folk-pop. Basically, their sound is all their own and thus this ambiguous description suits them well. They're not quite like anything you've ever heard. But watch out; this album is highly addictive. From the intensely singable "Kissing Crime" to the contemplative "Myself" to the superb "Strange Love," the tracks are all incredibly sincere and beautifully performed. I played this album all summer at the large bookstore where I worked, and every time I played it, someone would come up and ask what was playing. I always highly recommended it to those who asked, as I do to you today. Maybe someday Equation will be the household name that they deserve to be, but for now, they remain one of music's most exquisite hidden treasures. (review from Amazon)