Roger Wootton - Guitar/Vocals
Glenn Goring - 6 String/12 String Guitar/Bongos
Andy Hellaby - Bass
Colin Pearson - Violin/Viola
Rob Young - Flute/Bongos (role now filled by Jon Seagroatt)
Bobbie Watson - Vocals/Percussion
Influences
Family
Frank Zappa
Soft Machine
Captain Beefheart
Incredible String Band
Magritte
Gerald Scarfe
Bert Jansch
John Renbourn
Julian Bream
John Coltrane
Allan Ginsberg
Lawrence Ferlingetti
Ray Bradbury
Tony Hancock
English Countryside
Tolkein
TS Eliot
Dylan Thomas
Samuel Beckett
King Crimson
Paul Simon
Joni Mitchell
Aretha Franklin
Burt Bacharach/Hal David
Celia Birtwell
Ossie Clarke
Biba
The Who
Bob Dylan
Liverpool Poets
Thomas Hardy
Jimi Hendrix
Spike Milligan
Lewis Carroll
The Beatles
The Beach Boys
Frank Sinatra
Count Basie Orchestra
Lonnie Donegan
The Hollies
Chris Squire
Jack Bruce
Velvet Underground
The Doors
Pink Floyd
Brian Eno
Graham Bond
Blodwyn Pig
John Mayall
Otis Redding
Sam Cooke
Wilson Pickett
John Lee Hooker
Alexis Korner
Muddy Waters
Messiaen
Stravinsky
Miles Davis
Steve Reich
Morland's Munch
Cuddly Jeans
The Kinks
Robert Wyattt
John Peel
Salvador Dali
John Milton
It's a Beautiful Day
Yes
Monty Python
It's ready! The DVD of Comus' electrifying reunion performance at the 2008 Melloboat Festival. Available from
here, the DVD features live versions of classic 'First Utterance' tracks including; 'Song To Comus', 'Diana', 'The Herald', 'Drip Drip' & 'The Prisoner', as well as 'Venus In Furs' and bonus 'Comusology' footage.
.....and below is the first new Comus song in thirty four years, 'Out Of The Coma'.......
Reviews
Reviews
First Utterance
Pretty happy to report that this one turned the final gear for me and I think I’d consider it a flawless album, a 15. Never has there been an album like this and this is an album that has often been a major influence on the strangest of bands, for instance Opeth’s album title "My Arms, Your Hearse" originates here.
First Utterance is probably the most pagan album ever put to vinyl, drawing energy from a pre-civilized state where there was nothing between primitive and god. The cries to Diana that begin the album already hint at the promise of leaving behind the known and entering the other land, but such a lure is swiftly forgotten as the story begins again, building a web of hand drums, violins, and multiple vocals. The music is so beautiful, it’s excruciating, but it’s when the beauty starts to kick in that the premonitions of what is to come start nipping at the periphery, just a shiver and a wicked lyric here and there as one starts to tenuously slide down a hallucinatory tunnel.
If the beginning of the album invokes a vision of faerie, you quickly learn that it isn’t what it seems to be and everything turns dark rapidly, the hand drum like the quickening pace of your heart as the beauty of the folk starts to weave darker strands in between and the vocals become more strident. The build up is utterly bewitching, voices begin to appear subliminally like in those pictures when you realize that the wildlife is actually busy with faces and bodies all merging into nature. And nature is unforgiving, wild, vast, pitiless, hungry. When the lyrics turn to the death of a Christian, it’s not even the lyrics that get the point across, it’s the context that has been built up so far as the old world collides with the young world. The album climaxes deliriously with a terrible and simple repetition: "Insane, insane, insane, insane…"
Mike Mclatchey
Review by Sean Trane (Hugues Chantraine)
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Specialist
This is really a masterpiece , a gem , a diamond , an enourmous find. Released in 71 and re-released on Cd by Dawn label (shouldn't be too difficult to hunt it down) this is one of the most accomplished prog-folk album ever. There are two singers , the female having a rather standard folk rock voice such as Celia Humphries (the Trees) or Jacqui McShee (Pentangle) and the male sounding like some kind of Roger Chapman of Family on acid. The lyrics are demonic (not satanic) and the poetry is as good as Gabriel or Tull's Tramp or Hastings but in a very dark way - but I would not classify this as gothic either. The music is very acoustical - one might say folkish without sounding celtic or country music. Somehow this escape real description unless by comparing to Trespass (Genesis) or a Trees album or maybe also Spirogyra's debut album St Radiguns . The violin is more of classic nature than celtic and the flute makes for an even more pastoral mood. The lyrics are in a sharp contrast to this pastoral feel and this is what makes it fabulous . Drip Drip and The Herald are pure "heavenly" chills down your spine, yelling for murder curses and other joyful christain things.
Stupendous and flabbergasting how this did not become huge back then, but one understand that the sheer quantity of quality records coming out in those years made that some disappeared without a trace as it is the case with this one. Whereas in the 80's the slightest average record might have been seen as excellent in a very mediocre mass production - this is why so many of that neo is so over-rated.
Anyway, if you must discover one album this year , make it this one!!!!!!!!
Review by OpethGuitarist (Joey Kelley)
PROG REVIEWER
Ahhh, what a wonderful hidden gem, and by that, I do mean hidden. Good luck finding this on vinyl. However, it's worth the effort to find it, an incredible release.
This is a very disturbing album. Not disturbing as in blood, gore, eat your heart out, but more along the lines of creepy, sick, and twisted, but with wonderful folk music and a myriad of instruments. If I had to compare them to something other proggers would know, I would say a Jethro Tull that had a very disturbing childhood. But that really doesn't do this album much justice. What's great moreso is that it's unlike many albums, yet you still find yourself enjoying it in some way, as if their is some evil force in all of us.
Highlights here are the opener Diana, Drip Drip, Song to Comus, and The Bite. Song To Comus is probably the most accessible. The two disturbing tracks, Drip Drip and The Bite. Drip Drip is prog folk at its finest, my personal favorite, and just an incredibly unbelievable song. All instruments lend their effect to create an atmosphere that can envelope you with emotion as you hear the chilling tale unfolding. The Bite is a sharp and eerie song about the hanging of a Christian man.
Definitely more out there than many a prog band, but out there in a good and refreshing way. This is a classic gem that deserves its high praise by those who have had the chance to hear it. My favorite folk delight, an absolutely essential listen.
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this folk-carol on myspace... Poem 230 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (see my blog for details): CHRISTMAS SUNG SIMPLY
As gospellers have said, Beneath signalling skies, On land dusty to tread, A trough in a stable Was the strawy first-bed Of a divine baby - The forgiving Godhead.
A season for new hope - There then and here now; The yuletide of goodwill - There then and here now.
In respect of this chance, Beneath bright or dark skies, Faith's the star that we glance Attending Christ's churches And trying to enhance, With singing and ritual, Our God-loving stance.
hey, just stopping by to say hi - hope you're doing well. I've got a new video up on my page at the moment, as well as my new single, The Waiting. If you get a minute, I'd love to know what you think. Just spreading some love your way - Thanks and catch you soon! Kevin
Nous avons moins besoin d'adeptes actifs que d'adeptes bouleversés... Faut-il en rire? la rupture de tout..............................................
Thank you for accepting our friend request!! Really appreciate it. Wish you an awesome wednesday! Very best regards from Merlin’s Company! “Beware of the armadilloes whose dark shadows sweeps the streets”
Pour la deuxième édition du Cheese Prog Event, Orignal Music invite sur la scène du Molodoï à Strasbourg l' excellent groupe Italien Accordo Dei Contrari (élu meilleur groupe de rock progressif Italien dans leur pays en 2008), le tout jeune groupe Taennchel (excellent mélange de rock acoustique mégalithique) et le mystérieux Camembert (groupe progressif avec harpe et instruments électriques et acoustiques).
available at FSOLdigital.com, home to the legendary FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON & AMORPHOUS ANDROGYNOUS
SEAFAR deliver a fat slice of electric space music - Hegira the sounds of a flight from danger. Wander the streets together, the noise of life muted by sheets of rain, brilliant colours dimmed in a pervading mist of grey. An instrumental amalgam of moody beats and synth drenched noises.
thanx for the add!! we hope you enjoy our stuff! leave us a comment what you think of it!check our CD VERMAECHTNIS and our video here at myspace!! the new cd "FORBIDDEN ANGER" will be out in october. for more infos and merch check www.damnmetal.de
"Behind Closed Eyes... ...colors fade and blend into new creations...fate is left at the door of imagination...places new and amazing...faces remain unseen...
...how then does our heart feel as if it is racing in the anticipation of a dream...
...let your mind begin a journey...a voyage...leave all thoughts of the world as you knew behind you...
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