Review | Songlines

Their First Album

Rating: ★★★

View album and artist details

Album and Artist Details

Wee Tam and The Big Huge

Artist/band:

Incredible String Band

Label:

Fledg''ling Records FLED 3079

June/2010

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

Artist/band:

Incredible String Band

Label:

Fledg''ling Records FLED 3078

June/2010

Artist/band:

Incredible String Band

Label:

Fledg''ling Records FLED 3076

June/2010

The 5,000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion

Artist/band:

Incredible String Band

Label:

Fledg''ling Records FLED 3077

June/2010

The first four albums by the Incredible String Band summon up the spirit of the far side of the 60s as vividly as Pink Floyd's Piper At the Gates of Dawn, the books of John Mitchell or the ghosts of Middle Earth, UFO and the Technicolor Dream. From today's ultra-materialist point of view, they should be no more than a rustic hippy anachronism, whose mix of mysticism, whimsy, nursery-rhyme psychedelia and acoustic folk has long since crumbled into dust. But the band's passionate following shows no sign of abating – which other group has fans ranging from Dylan and Led Zep to Billy Connolly and the archbishop of Canterbury? They've been rightly lauded as world music pioneers, and the dream logic of their lyricism – both instrumental and vocal – is as distinctive as anything that came from the 60s revolution. ISB's opening salvo of albums sit there nodding and plucking at the heart of today's strange folk boom.

These excellent remasters from Fledg'ling were supervised by Joe Boyd, the producer/manager who signed them, and they come with new liner notes from Williamson, Palmer, Heron and Boyd, band photos and poster art, original album notes and lyrics. It's extraordinary to think how popular ISB were in the latter half of the 60s, given how far from the mainstream they operated. They sound like no one else, and though the mix of British and American folk and world music eclecticism treads a similar path to Davey Graham, the ISB journeyed considerably further out. You see the instrumental arsenal increasing from album to album – from the first's guitars, fiddle, banjo and kazoo to the sitar, gimbri, tambura and oud on The 5,000 Spirits. Song structures and lyrical themes are full of unexpected turns and jack-in-the-box transformations. Sounds from all points on the compass float their way through the mix; the silly sits with the profound. You'll lose your footing long before getting to the bottom of these permanently fresh albums.

Subscribe from only £7.50

Start your journey and discover the very best music from around the world.

Subscribe

View the Current
Issue

Take a peek inside the latest issue of Songlines magazine.

Find out more