Vashti Bunyan - Somethings Just Stick In Your Mind [Fat Cat Records - 2007]Something’s just stick in your mind is an often charming sometimes twee & overblown collection of this English folk singers singles and demos work from between 1964 & 1967- going from bigger sounding stabs at more string led folk pop to more striped down acoustic guitar and voice tracks. Bunyan has a very distinctive often high & innocent sounding blowing with the wind voice, which is slightly less distinctive on the bigger production 60’s pop tunes. The first disk opens with the more approachable and a little dated pop folk tracks like the title track which though lyrical is intresting sounds a bit too interchangeable with other mainstream music of the time. But as the collection progresses the instrumental layers and big production are stripped down and Bunyan's voice is allowed to soar in it’s innocent & often hurt wonder. Going lyrically from her been the hurt lover to more playful and bizarre tracks like the excellent & quirky 17 pink elephants which is about, well 17 pink elephants under a chestnut tree By the time we get to the secound disk tracks the are complete stripped down with her floaty high folky voice and melodic acoustic strum with some great memorable moments both lyrically and tune wise, though sadly too this is where some of it becomes a bit too nicey-nicey and twee for it’s own good. So in summing up it’s really down to how interested you are in folk music of the 1960’s, as there some very effective, beautiful and heart-melting moments, but also it has it's fair share of overblown and a little sterile 1960’s pop production and clichéd nice folky-ness. Roger Batty
|