Plain and Fancy: 07/09/24

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

A-Austr - Musics From Holyground (1970 uk, delicate multicolored psychedelia, 2005 edition)

With an issue of only 99 copies, this is one of the rarest records to emerge from the UK that contains some interesting music. The elaborate packaging and the general care which went into the record betray, if nothing else, at least a heartfelt love of recorded music as a means of self-expression. Being a low-budget enterprise, a fact which is never really masked throughout the production, A-Austr went for diversity rather than sales figures. The music is strongly eclectic, with more influences than can be listed. No less than 15 tracks within a broad spectrum of styles can hardly be unanimously satisfying.

In general the music is gentle and even folky, without drawing upon traditional material. At its best it's nothing less than brilliant, though in an unobtrusive sort of way. These highlights include almost all the songs which do not try to be "progressive" or severely emotional, but which instead opt for a simpler approach, thereby succeeding to convey a subtle and almost mythical atmosphere. As soon as the instrumentation gets denser, the sound tends to clog up or even becomes chaotic, being charming still, but nothing more than that. Definitely a very interesting record, though it's near to impossible to dig up an original. A few years ago a limited repro was manufactured, which now sells for a collector's price itself and is worth picking up.

by Marcel Koopman