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| Pitchfork |
 n the liner notes to these carefully packaged reissues, all four of the Incredible String Band principals-- co-founder Clive Palmer, core duo Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, and Elektra records executive Joe Boyd-- offer their insights in separate essays. Three of them mention the smell of patchouli. Such were the times, certainly, but the ISB are loved equally by avant-garde musicians, psychedelia enthusiasts, and those slightly dweeby young gentlemen who hang around music shops on college campuses. The reissue of their first four albums probably put to rest any notion that the ISB were a properly great band, releasing just one true classic, but they were rarely anything less than brave, inspired, and profoundly weird.These reissues contain no extras or unreleased material, which might call to question their utility, but much of this music has been out of print in the U.S., or at least difficult to acquire, for years (previous reclamations only unearthed odd pieces of the catalog). The remastering was necessary, but my old copy of The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter never sounded too thin or affectless; the new versions offer more space between the instruments and a general clarity, but they're not revelations in the way that many mid-1960s edits are. The ISB probably weren't the first band to incorporate Eastern modes and instruments into folk music, but they were the first to achieve any manner of noticeable repute doing so. By 1968 the group was selling out venues like the Royal Albert Hall; they played at Woodstock. They had famous fans-- Paul McCartney and Robert Plant were public admirers-- and they still do: Stephen Malkmus once called ISB "the greatest band of all time." There remain plenty of reasons to think about the ISB in 2010, not the least of which are the raves garnered by the likes of Joanna Newsom and Grizzly Bear. Messy, schoolyard orchestras like Neutral Milk Hotel and the Decemberists owe a debt as well....full text |
| Itunes |
| Album Review The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter is the Incredible String Band's most ambitious album, with Robin Williamson and Mike Heron employing an arsenal of unusual instruments (sitar, gimbri, pan pipe, oud, chahanai, and more), and Dolly Collins adding a couple of the more dignified arrangements. It's usually considered their most important effort by critics, but there were also traces of the sprawling, occasionally grating lack of focus that would increasingly come to characterize their work. Customer Reviews The Bible of Psych-Folk by My first J.T. album First off, let me say that The Hangman's Beauatiful Daughter is one of my favorite albums and one of the greatest albums of the sixties. Released in 1968, a year of turmoil for most of the world, the ISB wrote songs of mythology (The Minotaur's Song) and old childrens' folk tales (Koeeaddi There, Witches Hat), and cover religious and existential philosophy (A Very Cellular Song). These songs right here serve as the basis of the genre of psych folk. Although there were other albums preceding this one (most notably the ISB's previous album, the Holy Modal Rounders, and Pat Kilroy's Light of Day), this album serves as everything that psych folk represents: mythology, philosophy, communal living, religion, history, occasional use of drugs, and most of all, the concept of nostalgic, almost mideviel living. There is a certain innocence found on this album that is like no other. Despite the use of LSD, these songs and there themes work together to blend a beautiful arrangement of real sophisticated psychedelic music, and grand vocal, whether harmonious or not. All of the songs are a fantastic journey of life, poetry, and music to listen to. However the best songs are Koeeaddi There, A Very Cellular Song, Mercy I Cry City (obviously a the group's take on Dylan), Waltz of the New Moon, and Swift as the Wind. All of these songs set the foundation of psych folk to come, and also inspired popular groups to follow in the same tradition (most notably Led Zeppelin's The Battle of Evermore). I hope you enjoy this album and it becomes a statement of your life like it has in mine....full text |
| Amazon |
| One of the most engaging groups to emerge from the esoteric '60s was the Incredible String Band. Basically the duo of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, its sound was comprised of haunting Celtic folk melodies augmented by a variety of Middle Eastern and Asian instruments. Heron was a member of several rock bands in England in the early '60s, while Williamson and Clive Palmer played as a bluegrass...full text |
The Incredible String Band: The Incredible String Band / The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter / Wee Tam and the Big Huge lyrics
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