a r t i s t : Mellow Candle
t i t l e : Swaddling Songs
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Esoteric
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : Apr/2008
t r a c k s : 12
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 61,7 MB
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This release features extensive booklet with new essay. 2008
digitally remastered edition of this album, originally
released in 1972. Featuring female vocalists Clodagh Simonds
and Alison Williams, Mellow Candle never achieved the
commercial success they deserved but they did release this
legendary Psychedelic Folk-Rock album akin to Fairport
Convention and Fotheringay. Touring to support Thin Lizzy
(Simonds played on Lizzy's album Shades Of A Blue Orphanage)
and Horslips, the band had a short lived existence . Clodagh
Simonds later went on to play with Mike Oldfield and Jade
Warrior and this release serves as evidence of the talents of
both Simonds and the band who deserved far more commercial
success than they attained. Now rightly regarded as a classic
of the genre Filled with multi-layered harmonies and complex
arrangements, this unfortunately underlooked album of
beautiful, flowing, and wonderfully recorded British folk-rock
(originally released in 1972) has been a favorite of record
collectors for years. Luckily, the strength of the music holds
up beyond its scarcity. Not merely electric updates of lost
traditional numbers, the album works because it establishes a
voice and a sound that is truly compelling. The arrangements
range from the zigzagging light progressive bent of the
opener, "Heaven Heath," to the more storming tempo changes of
"Dan the Wing." Strewn across the record is some truly
remarkable guitar work, with the blanks filled in with lush
violin and piano fills. The high-toned, occasionally strained
interplay of Alison Williams and Clodagh Simonds may not
always reach the notes as they ought to be reached (this rings
especially true on the bombastic "The Poet and the Witch," an
otherwise fine song), but their voices have their own peaceful
rewards. The vocals see most of their limitations during the
more up-tempo numbers ù which is fine, seeing that this record
is able to soar on the quieter moments. On "Silver Song" (the
one track that was actually released as a single with "Dan the
Wing" during Mellow Candle's short tenure at Decca's Deram
Records offshoot), the band falls into a mid-paced ethereal
haze, within which it finds its strongest points. Gliding
guitars and equally haunted vocals wrap around each other in a
fog of vaguely mystical lyrics. The crystal clear recording
and the lack of reliance on overly fantastical lyrics make
Swaddling Songs sound remarkably current. Anyone who is able
to track down the CD reissue will be more than pleased with
this lost treasure.
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01-Heaven Heath [03:01]
02-Sheep Season [05:02]
03-Silversong [04:27]
04-Poet And The Witch [02:52]
05-Messenger Birds [03:40]
06-Dan The Wing [02:46]
07-Reverend Sisters [04:21]
08-Break Your Token [02:28]
09-Buy Or Beware [03:06]
10-Vile Excesses [03:14]
11-Lonely Man [04:29]
12-Boulders On My Grave [03:28]
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42:54 min