Post Description

Boxset/Compilation, released in 2000, United Kingdom.

Dit album bevat songmateriaal van de periode voor dat men het eerste album St.Radigunds maakte.
Voor liefhebbers zeker een luisterbeurt waard.

This is a rather intriguing compilation of pre-‘St. Radigunds’ Spirogyra music, one that would more properly be called an ‘early recordings’ than demo tapes. The band hadn’t yet grown a full-time drummer so the sound is a bit more sparse than Radigunds, and due most likely to the times and the band’s inexperience the tracks are less polished than the band’s later albums (relatively speaking – this is folk prog after all).

One of the more appealing characteristics here is the greater prominence of Barbara Gaskin’s vocals than on most of the rest of the Spirogyra music I’ve heard. She has a wonderful voice that transcends folk without veering into psych territory like so many of her peers tended to do. The result is an unsophisticated timbre that still manages to draw the listener into the band’s tales and fancies. The other standout performance comes from Julian Cusack on violin. The sporadic nature of the instrument makes for a nice compliment rather than a dominant role, which seems to suit this style of music quite well. Martin Cockerham plays a fair guitar, although he doesn’t seem to stretch himself all that often but is instead content to strum in accompaniment for the most part. 



Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Turn Again Lane (7:13)
2. Bring Me Back (3:04)
3. She's The One (3:30)
4. Nothing To Hide (2:37)
5. Where There's A Will There's A Way (4:06)
6. I Gotta Woman (2:43)
7. Counting The Cars (2:52)
8. We're Going Over (4:58)
9. Mackerels And Fishes (2:53)
10. Defender Of The Faith (4:12)
11. Hey Lady (3:01)
12. Sing It Simple (2:57)
13. The Forest Of Dean (4:27)
14. A Northern Lament (3:48)
15. Jerusalem (3:19)
16. I Hear You're Going Somewhere (Joe Really) (2:27)
17. Burn The Bridges (4:04)

Total Time: 62:11

Line-up / Musicians

- Martin Cockerham / guitar, vocals
- Barbara Gaskin / vocals, piano
- Julian Cusack / violin, keyboards
- Steve Borrill / bass

- Stan Sulzman / flute
- John Boyce / cello
- Dave Mattacks / drums