Following
their critically acclaimed 2013 debut album of gorgeous Psych Folk/Tropicália
covers, Lisbon’s Beautify Junkyards return with more hauntologic and
kaleidoscopic sunshine folk tales that shimmer with the beauty of a spring
morning. Using the 60/70s Acid Folk influences/inspiration from the first album
as a template, The Beast Shouted Love is full of beautifully crafted original
songs that have such a timeless air about them that they sound authentically traditional
yet so very modern.
The Beast
Shouted Love mines the same rich seams of Acid Folk that Beautify Junkyards
explored on their first album, taking in influences from classic artists such
as Nick Drake, Donovan, Heron, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs and……er…….Kraftwerk
mixed with a hint of more modern Psych Folk acts like Soy Un Caballo, Espers
and Tunng. Add to this exhilarating mix a generous helping of Os Mutantes-esque
Tropicália, you then get not just an impressive record but an ethereal, magical
and transcendent experience. Opening the album with three exquisite pieces of
giddy Acid Folk, ‘Sun Wheel Ceremony’, ‘Canterbury’ and ‘Rainbow Garland’, Beautify
Junkyards bring together acoustic guitars, gentle electronica, snippets of
found sounds/field recordings and subtle percussion with the shimmering voices
of João Branco Kyron and Rita Vian, shaping a musical landscape that is both
from now and sometime circa 1969. The rest of the album is in the same vain, a skilfully
hewn mix of pastoral psychedelia with sun kissed Tropicália, where the old and
the new seamlessly blend together. There are some sublime moments here………………… the
trippy fairground swirl of ‘Tomorrow's Children’, the Folktronica groove of ‘Rite
Of Passage’…….but nothing can really top ‘Drop City’ and ‘Valley Of Wonders’ which
are simply stunning, Acid Folk has never sounded so good. Now that Beautify
Junkyards are recording original material they are not restrained by any
preconceived ideas of how the songs should sound, The Beast Shouted Love is a
melting pot of ideas and inspiration ………beautifully twisted but ever so accessible.
This really is a fantastic Psych Folk album and we doubt if there will be many better
records released this year.
Released on
the very groovy British psychedeliacentric boutique label Mega Dodo, The Beast
Shouted Love is available on limited edition vinyl and CD (250 copies of each)
and is available from their web store at http://www.mega-dodo.co.uk/
and Bandcamp site https://megadodo.bandcamp.com/album/the-beast-shouted-love
plus the usual cool online sites like Shiny Beast………….alternatively, go ask
your local friendly vinyl vendor to order you a copy.
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