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newishpuritan's review against another edition
4.0
Encyclopedic and full of interesting characters from the (mainly) English folk scene, c. 1960-75. No real shape beyond a loosely chronological survey, and the argument often disappears amidst an avalanche of names. Also marred by some garbled overwriting. However, one reads a book like this for the author's enthusiasm and expertise on their subject--and there are plenty of both on show. The real test is discovering interesting new music, or seeing familiar music in a new light, and it passes that too. I discovered Bill Fay, Meic Stevens, Comus, Dr Strangely Strange, Spirogyra and others, and learnt more about Vashti Bunyan, The Incredible String Band, etc. I'm not sure how many of these I'll play regularly going forward, but I'm the richer for hearing them.
Edit: I am now a convert to Spirogyra, Bill Fay, Mr Fox, and others, and I'll be returning to this book to help me navigate this world. So I've increased my original rating by one star.
Edit: I am now a convert to Spirogyra, Bill Fay, Mr Fox, and others, and I'll be returning to this book to help me navigate this world. So I've increased my original rating by one star.
dobs407's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
old_tim's review against another edition
3.0
I have to say that this was a massive disappointment for me. I wanted it to be one thing, but it was another. Oh well.
It turned out to be a bit too academic, and focused a bit too much on the long term historical antecedents of the music that I wanted to discuss.
It turned out to be a bit too academic, and focused a bit too much on the long term historical antecedents of the music that I wanted to discuss.
testpattern's review against another edition
4.0
This doesn't really deserve all four of those stars. It's a survey, and as such, it's necessarily fairly shallow. More and more, I want my music writing to be book-length critical meditations on one album, or better, one song. That being said, this is an admirable survey, one that unspools and describes a vast tangle of obscure artists and albums. A warning, though: it will inspire you to spend lots of money on twee English psychadelic folk music.
kmccubbin's review
4.0
Daunted by the sheer numbers of excellent reviews on this book here, I'm going to keep this relatively brief. This is a really hard book for me to put my finger on. I love it's wealth of information on early twentieth century musical trends in Britain and the necessity of the music to look back in order to escape the platitudes of music hall and Gilbert and Sullivan and move forward. Young's take on the recurrence of "travelling" themes and a running pulse of paganism stirring Albion's musical pot is often compelling.
And then often it's not. After a while the cookie cutter approach to seemingly everything that uses an acoustic instrument (Talk Talk? Julian Cope?) being an unbreakable stream straight from King Arthur's loins starts to get unwieldy. Occasionally even a little ridiculous.
That said, though, the wealth of information about Pentangle, Shirley Collins, Nick Drake, Fotherinport Confusion... It's a wealth of smart loving commentary for people who love that particular brand of electric folk.
I also dig his branching commentaries about paganism in films and the use of electric folk in things like The Wicker Man, Penda's Fen, Quatermass and the Pit and The Witchfinder General. It might be excessive here, but it's an excessive I like.
That said, I'd call his extensive coverage of festivals and post-70s folk fusion forced and misguided. And the desperate wraparound to bring those sections, towards the end of the book, back into thematic lock step through the use of fantastical liner notes and hobbit stories, is truly weird.
Take the four stars with a grain of salt if you are not fairly fascinated with 60s/70s electric folk music from England. But if you are, it's a pretty enjoyable read.
And then often it's not. After a while the cookie cutter approach to seemingly everything that uses an acoustic instrument (Talk Talk? Julian Cope?) being an unbreakable stream straight from King Arthur's loins starts to get unwieldy. Occasionally even a little ridiculous.
That said, though, the wealth of information about Pentangle, Shirley Collins, Nick Drake, Fotherinport Confusion... It's a wealth of smart loving commentary for people who love that particular brand of electric folk.
I also dig his branching commentaries about paganism in films and the use of electric folk in things like The Wicker Man, Penda's Fen, Quatermass and the Pit and The Witchfinder General. It might be excessive here, but it's an excessive I like.
That said, I'd call his extensive coverage of festivals and post-70s folk fusion forced and misguided. And the desperate wraparound to bring those sections, towards the end of the book, back into thematic lock step through the use of fantastical liner notes and hobbit stories, is truly weird.
Take the four stars with a grain of salt if you are not fairly fascinated with 60s/70s electric folk music from England. But if you are, it's a pretty enjoyable read.
dustymantle's review
4.0
Another of those giant music books that I find so appealing, and which throughout nag me to take notes as their infodumps stream by. Certainly it enlightened me at great length about the mysteries of folk, and equally made me want to hear some of the stuff that was described, which ultimately for a book about music can only be a good thing.
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