Earth Records
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Visit product page →LP Single sleeve printed inner but note no download card. CD Single CD in a 20 page DVD sized book.
The Time Has Come'is an absolute master class on words and guitar twisting into one another - the poetry goes beyond simple observation into deeply personal and profound lore. A timeless document of sweet and haunting melodies. My favorite record of all time.'Ryley Walker.
"I've never written songs, regularly, because I never considered myself a song-writer. I've only ever really considered myself a ballad singer, which is what is most important to me. The stories... the ancient nature of the situations and the human condition. And obviously, it's changed so much over the centuries that those songs have been sung, but it always retains that essence of something that's universal... to humanity, and I've always wanted to touch that. I think I wanted to understand people; I think I wanted to understand myself. It's a way of finding the truth. I felt I belonged to that music.' Anne Briggs
Offering some of her first original compositions, The Time Has Come'was a break from tradition in more ways than one for Anne Briggs. Where previous recordings displayed the unaccompanied melodies of her voice, this album - originally released by CBS in 1971 - brings additional instrumentation in the form of guitar and bouzouki.
The result is that her vocals are not submerged, but heightened - the plucked strings providing the perfect foil for her crystalline inflection. The Time Has Come'is a mix of Anne's own songs alongside some notable covers (Lal Waterson, Steve Ashley, Stan Ellison, Henry McCulloch). All are graced with the quietly self-assured elegance of Anne's playing, with sounds ranging from the breezy Clea Caught A Rabbit'to the terrible beauty of Wishing Well'- each song typifying the bouzouki or guitar style.
To say that Anne was an accomplished picker is to do her something of an disservice - the intricacy of her finger-work rivals - and more often than not eclipses - any number of her contemporaries.
Tracklisting:
1. Sandman's Song
2. Highlodge Hare
3. Fire and Wine
4. Step Right Up
5. Ride, Ride
6. The Time Has Come
7. Clea Caught A Rabbit
8. Tangled Man
9. Wishing Well
10. Standing On The Shore
11. Tidewave
12. Everytime
13. Fine Horseman -
4LP Casebound book-back set, comes with high-quality download card. 4CD is a book-back set.Visit product page →
Signifying a return to form that heralded one of the most prolific periods of his life, this special collection features some of Jansch's finest work. Living In the Shadows includes an extra disc of demos, alternate versions and never-before heard tracks, transferred from Jansch's personal tapes, alongside the three studio albums of the 1990s: 'The Ornament Tree', 'When The Circus Comes To Town' and 'Toy Balloon'. Both studio albums and DAT transfers, remastered by Brian Pyle.
This trio of works represents quite different facets of Jansch's talent; where Circus'is a bluesy, late-night sounding party, Ornament'is altogether more subdued, drawing on Maggie Boyle's bodhran, flute and whistles to creative a sound that is nothing if not celtic. Toy Balloon'falls somewhere in the middle, with that feeling of intimacy that is so Bert. Despite these apparent contrasts, the unifying element is of course, Jansch's guitar.
There is an ease about these albums that suggests a musician that has found himself very at home''just a simple soul', to quote the man himself. The real draw here for many Jansch fans will be disc four: unreleased tracks (including'let joy be unconfined!'one with John Renbourn), as well as alternative takes of familiar songs from the '90s period. Chosen specifically for their contrast to the studio versions, these tracks are often more stripped-down or without the embellishment typical of the era.
Mostly recorded at Bert's home studio, this unheard and unreleased collection, transferred from Bert's own DAT tapes, has a intimate quality that is incredibly moving.
Tracklisting:
Disc 1 - The Ornament Tree
1. The Ornament Tree
2. The Banks O'Sicily
3. The Rambling Boys Of Pleasure
4. The Rocky Road To Dublin
5. Three Dreamers
6. The Mountain Streams
7. The Blackbirds Of Mullamore
8. Ladyfair
9. The Road Tae Dundee
10. Tramps And Hawkers
11. The January Man
12. Dobbins Flowery Vale
Disc 2 - When The Circus Comes To Town
1. Walk Quietly By
2. Open Road
3. Back Home
4. No-One Around
5. Step Back
6. When the Circus Comes to Town
7. Summer Heat
8. Just a Dream
9. The Lady Doctor from Ashington
10. Stealing the Night Away
11. Honey Don't You Understand
12. Born with the Blues
13. Morning Brings Peace of Mind
14. Living in the Shadows
Disc 3 - Toy Balloon
1. Carnival
2. She Moved Through the Fair
3. All i Got
4. Bett's Dance
5. Toy Balloon
6. Waitin' & Wonderin'
7. Hey Doc
8. Sweet Talking Lady
9. Paper Houses
10. Born and Bred in Old Ireland
11. How It All Came Down
12. Just a Simple Soul
Disc 4 - Picking Up The Leaves
1. Morning Brings Sweet Peace Of Mind Alternate Version,
2. Back Home Demo,
3. Just A Dream Alternate Version
4. Instrumental I Unreleased
5. When The Circus Comes To Town Demo
6. No-One Around
7. Lily Of The West Demo
8. Fool's Mate Demo
9. Paper Houses Demo
10. Another Star Demo
11. Little Max Unreleased
12. Merry Priest
13. Instrumental II Rough, With John Renbourn, Unreleased
14. Instrumental II With John Renbourn -
In California by name, in California by nature. You'll struggle to find 14 songs more drenched in lazy West Coast sunshine than Compton and Batteau's only album (recorded in 1971 before promptly falling into the abyss of wonderful, overlooked recordings).Visit product page →
Fans of Gene Clark, John Phillips, Fraser & Debolt and the like will be well served here, with many of the tracks leaning towards the cowboy balladry these artists share. Completing the line-up with the likes of Randy Meisner (The Eagles, Poco) and Jim Messina (Loggins and Messina, Buffalo Springfield) In California' understandably has an additional proto-yacht rock feel, evoking Late For The Sky'era Jackson Browne - though it's the more up-tempo offerings that really showcase the duo's ability to write a tune.
Album highlight Homesick Kid'is the perfect example of the addictive, melody-led songwriting which really should have earned them stardom, while Honeysuckle'and Essa Vanessa'bring texture in the form of immaculately orchestrated percussion and additional instrumentation (harpsichord, cowbell).
On these occasions the album veers magnificently towards the psychedelic, bringing to mind The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Compton And Batteau In California'remains enthused about in quiet corners, by Amazon buyers, on sites like Vinyl History and Small Town Pleasures. It's a forgotten piece of baroque folk caught in time; 47 years after the fact it somehow sounds timeless. Like Cat Stevens with Nick Drake's strings.' - Dave Henderson, MOJO Magazine - ¦..
Tracklisting:
1 Laughter Turns to Blue
2. Silk On Steel
3. Honeysuckle
4. Narration
5. Elevator
6. Narration
7. Homesick Kid
8. Proposition
9. Narration
10. Grotto Farm
11. Essa Vanessa
12. Zephyr
13. Narration
14. California
Release Date: 14/07/2017 -
The second release from Earth Recordings is the one and only album from the virtually unknown Australian singer HOWARD EYNON, now to be reissued 40 years after it's original release. So What If Im Standing In Apricot Jam (note no apostrophe) is a bizarre and wonderful acid folk treasure in the vein of wild-eyed geniuses such as Syd Barret, Kevin Ayers, Neil Innes or Nick Drake, although perhaps even more beautiful and mysterious.Visit product page →
It's certainly more unusual, with its colloquial lyrics, acerbic wit and Howard's Anglo-Australian accented singing voice.' Howard Eynon was born in the small market town of St Ives, Cambridgeshire and then moved to Chichester. When he was eleven, his family moved to rural Tasmania. Settling on a dairy farm in the small town of Deloraine, Howard grew up milking cows, driving tractors, riding horses and blowing up tree stumps with gelignite and would often spend days on end in the bush without seeing another living soul. At 17 he left the farm on his motorcycle and made his way to Melbourne to pursue a career in acting. He worked mostly in theatre and joined various theatrical repertory companies.
He found himself in all kinds of small parts for local Aussie dramas such as The Sullivans. Later, he made notable small appearances in both the original Mad Max (1979) and as one of the horse riders in The Man from Snowy River (1982). Throughout this time he continued to play music. In 1971 he had won the Grand Final of Australian New Faces and became a much-loved solo artist in Tasmania, playing many shows and toured with great artists such as Hunter S Thompson. Whilst a member of the Tasmania Theatre Company, he was asked to write and record a guitar piece for a play, which lead him to Spectangle in Hobart, Tasmania where he met Nick Armstrong, who invited him to record a full-length album.
Recording took three months and Howard was joined by a host of amazing local players and utilising Violin, Mellotron, Flute, Synths, French Horns, Double Bass, Piano and more to capture a dozen quirky and addictive tracks that would become one of Australia's most interesting albums of the 1970's. It was originally released in 1974 by Basket/Candle Records but has been out of print ever since. The record ranks amongst the rarest and most sought after acid folk private pressings. Not much was known of his whereabouts or activities beyond the early 1980s.
So What If Im Standing In Apricot Jam'is a bold and madcap record on a par with Paul McCartney's Ram. The evocative lyrics take in everything from political commentary, to anti-authoritarian jabs, to bright homely humour and deep descriptive stories. This daffy folksy psychedelic ramble full of tall tales, delightfully quirky melodies, hilarious lyrics and marvellous wordplay, risqué irreverence and beguiling lapses into musical frippery, has not only stood the test of time, but completely and utterly blown it away.
Tracks:
1. Wicked Wetdrop, Quonge and Me
2. Hot B.J.
3. Village Hill
4. Commitment to the Band
5. Good Time Songs
6. Boots & Jam & Heads & Things
7. Happy Song
8. Now's The Time
9. Roast Pork
10. French Army
11. Gone to the Pine Tree
12. Shadows & Riff -
Sold outLP is a Single sleeve with DL card and OBI strip.Visit product page →
"Like Surf-Rock Shostakovich... think a Soviet Gainsbourg whose vowel sounds will convince you that Russian is the only language for singing about love." Guardian
'the music sounds so evocative, so immediate, so transporting even without its visual anchor. Rather than forbidding, Film Music is immersive: a box set to get lost in.' Pitchfork
'Poignant songs and haunting instrumental pieces shifting elegantly from introspective to upbeat moods; should appeal to Serge Gainsbourg and pre-spaghetti Western Morricone.' Uncut
When he died in November 2015, Eldar Ryazanov left behind an astonishing fifty year, thirty movie legacy which included some of the most popular Russian films of the modern age. And of all of them, the one that remains the most popular is 'The Irony of Fate', a comedy made for MOS film in 1975.
But The Irony of Fate owes part of its immense popularity not just to its genius director, its clever comedy, its satirical subplot or its starring actors. It is a film with songs. And those songs and the underscore that accompanied them have become as memorable as the film itself, they have become part of the Russian musical DNA, recognised even when the name of their composer, Mikael Tariverdiev, is not.
Following the award-nominated Film Music'collection of last year, comes the first in a series of stand-alone reissues documenting the astonishing body of work by Russian composer Mikael Tariverdiev. Single vinyl LP, remastered from Mikael's own tapes, in tandem with his widow Vera Tariverdieva, complete with sleeve notes by Earth collaborator (and founder of Antique Beat, with whom this album is released) Stephen Coates.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1 Overture
2 What is Happening to Me?
3 Hope
4 Expectation of the New Year
5 No One is Home
6 Snow Over Leningrad
7 Po Ulitse Moei Kotoriy God
8 On the Third Stroiteley Street
Side B:
1 On Tikhoretskaya
2 Happy New Year!
3 I Like
4 Aria for a Moscow Guest
5 The Last Waltz
6 I Ask the Mirror
7 I Ask the Ash Tree
8 Don Not Leave your Lover
9 Melody -
The cast is remarkable. Seek it out' GuardianVisit product page →
'(Shirley Inspired) preserves these songs for future generations...It's the great triumph of this collection, one that goes beyond whether it hangs together as a body of work.' Quietus
'Fresh accents open up the material in intriguing ways - ¦and through heartfelt performances such as these they continue to live' The Wire
"There are these unique voices, these unique songs that would not have survived if it were not for Shirley... she has kept that entire tradition alive." - Alan Moore
July 2015 will see Shirley Collins celebrate her 80th year - an age that would seem frankly ridiculous for a woman as spritely as her, had it not been for all she's achieved. From her seminal field-recording trip to America to her lauded musical career; from her role as historian and protector of the folk tradition, to the very fact that this record can exist - more than half a century after her career began - all of these things are testament to the breadth of her influence. And so we arrive at 'Shirley Inspired'.
It would be almost lazy to the talk about the resurgence of folk music or the 'new folk' sound - the recordings found here are so much more than that. This is the very essence of folk - songs handed down from person to person, interpreted by modern musicians - as a way of keeping these songs alive.
Originally released on deluxe 3L gatefold, this CD versions enjoys 12 more stunning interpretations, including contributions from Paul Armfield, Jack Sharp (Wolf People), Rob St. John and Elle Osborne. Make no mistake these are modern versions; we've the soulful dirge of Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas' 'Pretty Saro'; the rabble-rousing minimalism of Stewart Lee (yes him) and Stuart Estell's 'Polly On The Shore'; the prism-like vocals of Ela Stiles' 'Murder of Maria Marten'... even Graham Coxon's traditional affair evokes something altogether more rebellious, his clawing, feral style is much in evidence here.
This compilation was an inheritance of sorts: borne to us from the kickstarter appeal that funded 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins' - a film that is currently being made about the First Lady of Folk Music's life. We here at Earth now have the privilege of giving these songs a tangible existence in the shape of this special recording.
The woman herself had this to say: "I've been overwhelmed by the generosity of the singers and musicians who responded to the invitation to be part of the Shirley Inspired collection. Their choice of songs is fascinating, the interpretations of them fresh and various, beautiful and sometimes challenging! Listening to these recreations shows me again that English folk music has timeless power and significance." Proceeds of this album go directly towards the production of 'The Ballad of Shirley Collins', a film by Fifth Column. Tracks kindly donated by the musicians involved.
CD Tracks:
Disc One:
1. Bitchin Bonnie Billy Bajas - Pretty Saro
2. Trembling Bells - Richie's Story
3. Stewart Lee & Stuart Estell - Polly On The Shore
4. Johnny Flynn - Rambleaway
5. Lee Ranaldo - The Plains Of Waterloo
6. Alasdair Roberts and David McGuinness - A Blacksmith Courted Me
7. Graham Coxon - Cruel Mother
8. Meg Baird - Locks And Bolts
9. Angel Olsen - The Blacksmith
10. Ela Stiles - The Murder Of Maria Marten
11. Stuart Estell - Just As The Tide Was Flowing
12. Bonnie Dobson and The Lords of Thyme - Hares On The Mountain
13. Rachael Dadd - Polly Vaughan
14. Josephine Foster - Love Is Pleasing
15. The Owl Service and Laura Cannell - Edi Beo
16. Jackie Oates - Banks Of The Bann.
Disc Two:
1. Crying Lion - Shepherd's Arise
2. Ned Oldham - The Blacksmith
3. Ulver - Poor Murdered Woman
4. Sally Timms With The Mini Mekons - Go From My Window
5. Chris Joynes - It Was Pleasant and Delightful
6. Sharron Kraus - Gilderoy (Heart's Delight)
7. Joe Murphy - Adieu To All Judges And Juries
8. Slate Islands - Proud Maisrie
9. Sophie Williams - Charlie
10. Rozi Plain - Long Years Ago
11. Paul Smith - Geordie
12. Olivia Chaney - Oxford Girl
13. Orlando and Tom Furse - My False True Love
14. Barbarossa - Dearest Dear
15. Belbury Poly - Cambridgeshire May Carol
16. Eric Chenaux - Just As The Tide Was Flowing
17. Tunng and Farao - Never Again
18. Findlay Brown - Sweet England..
Disc Three:
1. Jack Sharp - Adieu To Old England
2. Miz Stefani - My Bonnie Boy
3. Marco Pirroni & Jen Vix - Turpin Hero
4. Rosemary Lippard - The Unquiet Grave
5. Sam Gleaves - Greenwood Laddie
6. Elle Osborne - The Murder Of Allen Bain
7. Ruby - Bad Girl
8. Rob St. John - The Bold Fisherman
9. MV & EE - T Devil
10. Susan Stenger - Barbara Allen / Idumea
11. Paul Armfield - Adieu To Old England
