- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
For an artist’s second album to appear 35 years on from their debut suggests an unprecedented case of writer’s block, but Vashti Bunyan can at least point to mitigating circumstances. An acolyte of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Bunyan recorded one of British folk’s great lost works, 1970’s Just Another Diamond Day. That record’s re-release and subsequent glowing reappraisal has led to a new generation of celebrity fans--Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Four Tet--and with Lookaftering, a new suite of songs as beautiful as anything that came before.
Bunyan’s voice is high, stately and choiral, somewhat akin to Nico, had she been born not in Cologne, but some verdant English meadow. Accordingly, it’s the perfect vehicle for these dainty, pastoral sing-songs. A number of musicians guest here: Devendra Banhart plays steel acoustic guitar on "Wayward", while Joanna Newsom contributes restrained but elegant harp to "If I Were" and "Against The Sky". But their performances are restrained and supportive, never threatening to overwhelm Bunyan’s florid, fragile nursery rhymes. A quietly terrific return; consider this a case of writer’s block shaken.-Louis Pattison
Review
Vashti Bunyan's story is possibly the most romantic that music has ever known. After being ejected from her mid-60s art school for being unable to choose between songs and painting, she was discovered by Stones svengali Andrew Loog Oldham and looked set to become a star.
However, the recordings she made never surfaced. Disenchanted with the industry, she packed her few belongings onto a cart and made an epic horse-drawn journey north to Donovan's colony on the Isle of Skye. Two years later, she arrived to find that the Scottish Dylan had gone, leaving her with just the collection of songs she had created en route.
Those songs, thanks in no small part to the Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention, made up her debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, a twinkling collection of other-worldy folk released with little fanfare in 1970. After that, Bunyan vanished. So legendary is that self-exile that Mark Radcliffe used it in his recent book, Northern Sky, as metaphor for the ultimate get-away-from-it-all disappearing act.
With all that in mind, no-one ever expected this, her follow-up, a mere 35 years later. Its the kind of gap that makes Kate Bush and The Stone Roses look like hard workers. A web search a few years back revealed to Vashti that her debut had become something of a lost gem, a cult classic passed from collector to collector, and it spurred her to develop Lookaftering.
It is a worthy successor. Rather than being a simple echo of her masterpiece, Lookaftering is distinct in its own beauty, shimmering with her soporific tones and floating on the gentle wonder of her melodies.
As with Just Another Diamond Day, Bunyan has chosen to work with some of the finest and most challenging musicians around. Where before Dave Swarbrick and Robin Williamson gave her accompaniment, now it is the turn of Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart and Adem to offer their talents in support.
Her songwriting has developed, if only in the lengthening of her compositions, but none of her tender charm has diminished in those years of absence. Her topics are, as ever, drawn from her own life, taking in motherhood, the loss of a brother, the loss of freedom and the constraints of domesticity along the way. That honesty only adds to the lulling intimacy her voice already offers and makes the album title, a personalised word that means taking care of someone, seem like the most perfect description possible.
Lookaftering would have been a remarkable albumeven without Bunyan's story to accompany it. The fact that it is the work of a singer whose brilliance was thought long-lost to the world makes it an instant classic. --Chris Long
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gentle masterpiece,
This review is from: LOOKAFTERING (Audio CD)
This is a quite wonderful record. In many ways it's similar in sound to Vashti's only previous release, 'Just Another Diamond Day', but while JADD had an air of hippy idealism to it, the mood on Lookaftering is altogether more melancholy, an older and wiser sister. This, however, doesn't stop it from being one of the most lovely records you will ever hear. It has a totally natural, pastoral sound, and Vashti's half-whispered vocals are captivating and heartbreaking, making the album a mood-piece of astounding beauty.It's impossible to name a favourite track on Lookaftering, but if you were ever to record the sound of being in love, 'If I Were' comes close, with a marvellous contribution from Joanna Newsom. Also, Robert Kirby's string arrangement lends a real presence to 'Same But Different'. That said, every single track is a real gem. If you're looking for gentle, bittersweet, moving, beautiful music then I cannot recommend this record enough. It's good to have you back, Vashti.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure, fragile and wonderous beauty,
By
This review is from: LOOKAFTERING (Audio CD)
You either get Vashti Bunyan or you don't. Her backstory is well known and it's this fragile reemergence into the mainstream that is chronicled on 'Lookaftering'. VB's music is that rare thing, a complete world unto itself, but totally accessible, exquisitely beautiful, delicate, gentle and hugely melodic. Every song haunts the memory and is supported by perfect arrangements featuring a stellar cast of new folk / alt folk musicians (Joanna Newsom, Adem, Devendra Banhart etc.) Each setting is a spare, sparkling web of nylon string guitar, harp, glockenspiel and oboe with Bunyan's cobweb light vocals drifting on top.
Most importantly, these are songs about yearning, life, parenthood, loss, friendship and love. Indispensable.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One star too little,
This review is from: LOOKAFTERING (Audio CD)
I recently bought a copy of "Just another diamond day" by Vashti Bunyan and was very impressed by the quality of songs and so I gave it five stars. This prompted me to buy "Lookaftering". I thought the passage of years may have blunted Vashti's sensibilities as it has with many people in this world, but I was pleased to find that the songs and emotions expressed in this album are deeper and more heartfelt than on her first one, which made me feel like giving six stars if I were able. Once again the songs have a delicate beauty complimented by Vashti's tender voice. Some reviewers have criticised her voice, but I feel that it is perfect for the songs that she sings-no other voice would do and the whole atmosphere of the album is of an almost melancholy beauty that is unique in modern popular music. It was captured in that period of the late 60's to early 70's by such singers as Nick Drake, Bridget St John, John Martyn, Sandy Denny, Judy Collins and Carol King to name just a few, but now the emphasis is on less romantic introverted music but more up-front compositions reflecting shallow emotions and coarser thoughts. This album is certainly a treasure and an oasis in the desert of modern day creativity. Also a little glimpse of a golden age that would pass if not for souls like Vashti Bunyan.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
