nederlands
englishAll content is © 2006-2009, Evening of Light.
And here it is, In Gowan Ring's vinyl debut! Not a new album yet, but more archival recordings. Dutch label Clear Spot is releasing a series of vinyls containing recordings from the VPRO radio program Dwars, which has featured many important artists from the alternative folk scene. These sessions, as heard on the radio, always sound intimate and close, and this 10" is no exception.
As far as song selection goes, this EP is quite mixed. "Boat of the Moon" and "Along the Stragglin' Way" are non-album tracks that are finally released properly now. Both are excellent tracks, also in these versions. B'ee plays together only with Amber on flute and backing vocals, so the sound is much more simple than on most albums. That does suit these songs very well, however. "Morning's Waking Dream" is also nice, but less special, in my opinion. The track has featured on many other releases so far, and doesn't add anything to the studio version from Hazel Steps through a Weathered Home.
The same goes for "The Seer and the Seen", which is always a beautiful track though, with its distinctive melody lines, which, for some reason, remind me of Christmas carols, though in a good way. The best stuff is kept for the end of the EP, though. Many will remember "Cupped Hands Spell" as a 10+ minute spaced out psychfolk track from The Twin Trees, but this is quite different. It turns out the intro can be done beautifully with only guitar and flute, and the rest of the track lends itself well to a more recent style of In Gowan Ring playing. "Dandelion Wine" gets a similar treatment, and turns out even better. The reworked melody lines and duet singing take this track to a new level, proving that dusting off ten year old tracks is sometimes worthwhile. Very good!
The retro album design is by Iker Spozio, and it suits the series well, although perhaps it doesn't represent the whole spectrum of the In Gowan Ring sound. What did bother me is that no one seemed inclined to doublecheck the tracklist on the sleeve. As far as I know, the song isn't called "Beat of the Moon", and "straglin'" is not an English word, at least not spelled like that. Mistakes like this happen often, but they're always sloppy, especially when the rest of the sleeve looks flawless! Nitpicking aside, this is a great EP, recommended to every In Gowan Ring fan, even newcomers! The selection covers a broad period of B'ee's work, while remaining stylistically coherent. And in general, this series of vinyls (limited to 500 copies each) should be interesting for anyone interested in alternative folk.
O.S.
As far as song selection goes, this EP is quite mixed. "Boat of the Moon" and "Along the Stragglin' Way" are non-album tracks that are finally released properly now. Both are excellent tracks, also in these versions. B'ee plays together only with Amber on flute and backing vocals, so the sound is much more simple than on most albums. That does suit these songs very well, however. "Morning's Waking Dream" is also nice, but less special, in my opinion. The track has featured on many other releases so far, and doesn't add anything to the studio version from Hazel Steps through a Weathered Home.
The same goes for "The Seer and the Seen", which is always a beautiful track though, with its distinctive melody lines, which, for some reason, remind me of Christmas carols, though in a good way. The best stuff is kept for the end of the EP, though. Many will remember "Cupped Hands Spell" as a 10+ minute spaced out psychfolk track from The Twin Trees, but this is quite different. It turns out the intro can be done beautifully with only guitar and flute, and the rest of the track lends itself well to a more recent style of In Gowan Ring playing. "Dandelion Wine" gets a similar treatment, and turns out even better. The reworked melody lines and duet singing take this track to a new level, proving that dusting off ten year old tracks is sometimes worthwhile. Very good!
The retro album design is by Iker Spozio, and it suits the series well, although perhaps it doesn't represent the whole spectrum of the In Gowan Ring sound. What did bother me is that no one seemed inclined to doublecheck the tracklist on the sleeve. As far as I know, the song isn't called "Beat of the Moon", and "straglin'" is not an English word, at least not spelled like that. Mistakes like this happen often, but they're always sloppy, especially when the rest of the sleeve looks flawless! Nitpicking aside, this is a great EP, recommended to every In Gowan Ring fan, even newcomers! The selection covers a broad period of B'ee's work, while remaining stylistically coherent. And in general, this series of vinyls (limited to 500 copies each) should be interesting for anyone interested in alternative folk.
O.S.