{"id":2010,"date":"2017-02-03T22:25:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T22:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hippy.com\/hip\/other\/spirogyra-indefinable-realms\/"},"modified":"2017-02-03T22:25:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T22:25:12","slug":"spirogyra-indefinable-realms-by-shiloh-noone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/reviews\/spirogyra-indefinable-realms-by-shiloh-noone\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirogyra – Indefinable Realms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spirogyra <\/strong>born in Bolton Lancashire 1968 approached \u2018Apple Records\u2019 with a demo. This incredible psychedelic folk group were headed by vox songsmith Martin Cockerham<\/strong>, the first seed known as T\u2019Bolton Beatalls<\/strong> comprising Mark Francis & Neil Duckworth<\/strong>. The groups official debut kicked off at Keynes College with eighteen musicians which later downsized to four members. The Northern accented Barbara Gaskin<\/strong> would add that luster of the indefinable North, ironically later ending up with Egg <\/strong>and it\u2019s older brother Hatfield & The North<\/strong>. Future Square Dancing Machine Julian Cusack<\/strong> plays the haunting violin that has been become the characteristic of the group. With intuitive bass by future Mellow Candle Steve Borrill<\/strong> they went on to record three albums which often featured Fairport\u2019s Dave Mattacks<\/strong> on drums. Slowly the members faded with a new enlistment of Jon Gifford<\/strong> sax & flute, Rick Biddulph<\/strong> bass and Barbara keyboards.<\/p>\n

Not quite Canterbury this infectious group massaged almost childlike in their sing- along chants, like reborn Christian praises they sang from the heart and soul -\u201cMackerels And Fishes\u201d and \u201cBring Me Back\u201d. Cusack\u2019s<\/strong> violin is really speedy on \u201cShe\u2019s The One\u201d while Borrill<\/strong> bends his bass backwards on the childlike \u201cBring Me Back\u201d. Cusak<\/strong> could really achieve that haunting mystique as in the eerie \u201cCounting The Cars\u201d and sadly \u201cForest Of Dean\u201d, a number they always closed with on live sets. Barbara reaches into heavenly ascent on \u201cWhere There\u2019s a Will There\u2019s a Way\u201d with a tone delivered straight out of the middle earth sanctuary. The groups debut St Radigund<\/em> launched in 1970 was a finely fused work of folk rock illuminated by the eerie \u201cCaptain\u2019s Log\u201d and the opus arrangement called \u201cThe Duke Of Beaufoot\u201d. Spirogyra<\/strong> would then evolve into the 1971 Old Boot Wine,<\/em> courtesy of drummer Mattacks <\/strong>& Bill Bruford<\/strong> original guitarist Mark Francis<\/strong>, Alan Laing<\/strong> cello and Rick\u00a0 Biddulphs<\/strong> mandolin. Magic wold continue it\u2019s spell through \u201cVan Allen’s Belt\u201d (\u201cDiamond Dave\u201d’s sexual exploits), the angelic \u201cCanterbury Tale\u201d (their home town) and psychedelic \u201cDisraeli’s Problem\u201d that has Francis playing his guitar like Gandalph\u2019s wand.<\/p>\n

The groups last and finest endeavor Bells Boots and Shambles<\/em> comprised flautist Stan Sulzman<\/strong>, cellist John Boyce<\/strong> & Keef Hartley trumpeter Henry Lowther.<\/strong> The group also launched \u201cI Hear You Going Somewhere\u201d (Joe Really), not included on Bells Boots<\/em> , yet \u201cBurning Bridges\u201d, recorded as a duet between Barbara & Martin was magic majestic. Bells Boots and Shambles<\/em> enchants with Lowther<\/strong>‘s trumpet theme fused with strident flute on \u201cThe Furthest Point\u201d. All roads lead to the Gaskin<\/strong>\u2019s soul severing \u201cIn The Western World\u201d that encapsulates fused medieval patterns and rocky folk elements. Although joyful moments jump forth as in the flute whiffling \u201cSpiggly\u201d the albums holds an intensity close to medieval sorcery. The haunting \u201cAn Everyday Consumption Song\u201d is their opus with its transcending tempo and harmony changes, yet the technical 13min epic \u201cWestern World\u201d is really where they were at.<\/p>\n

Added:<\/b> December 22nd 2010
\nReviewer:<\/b> Shiloh Noone<\/a> | See all reviews<\/a> by Shiloh Noone
\nCategory:<\/b> Music<\/a>
\nScore:<\/b> \"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"
\nRelated Link:<\/b> Seekers Guide To The Rhythm Of Yesteryear<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spirogyra born in Bolton Lancashire 1968 approached \u2018Apple Records\u2019 with a demo. This incredible psychedelic folk group were headed by vox songsmith Martin Cockerham, the first seed known as T\u2019Bolton Beatalls comprising Mark Francis & Neil Duckworth. The groups official debut kicked off at Keynes College with eighteen musicians which later downsized to four members. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hipplanet.com\/hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}