INCREDIBLE STRING BAND - The 5.000 Spirits, rem.CD,

11,50 EUR

incl. 19 % UST exkl.

Art.Nr.: FLED 3077

Less than a year after the Incredible String Band's fine debut came THE 5000 SPIRITS (THE LAYERS OF THE ONION), an album made after the band was reduced to a duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. The cover of this album alone hints at group's ... Full Descriptionsonic transformation; where the cover of the debut featured a conventional-looking photograph, this cover featured a dazzlingly colorful psychedelic painting.

At the time that Williamson and Heron were working on this release, they began playing a range of stringed instruments from around the world, including bowed gimbri, sitar, and oud. The writing is split nearly evenly between the two men, and some of their most memorable and lasting tunes first appeared here, like Williamson's "First Girl I Loved" and Heron's "Chinese White." The music, which is firmly grounded in the traditions of the British Isles, is supported throughout by contributions from the masterful string bassist Danny Thompson.

Inside, 5000 Spirits is full of whimsical delights. It was produced by Robin Williamson and Mike Heron once they had returned from travels. Robin himself had managed to pick up a variety of different instruments in Morocco and they all seem to get in there somewhere. Clive Palmer who had started the String Band with Robin had gone off to Afghanistan and did not rejoin the others. 5000 Spirits was quite unlike anything else that was around at the time. Anyone expecting something like Disraeli Gears or Odessey & Oracle would have been surprised by what the String Band was offering. The fusion of folk, blues, psychedelia and, certainly what we now call World Music, gave 5000 Spirits a unique sound that has guaranteed a place in music history. Warner. 2003.

The Incredible String Band includes: Robin Williamson (guitar, vocals), Mike Heron (guitar).

All songs written by Mike Heron or Robin Williamson.

Recorded in 1967.