Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind

Vashti Bunyan's first and second albums were released, uh, thirty-five years apart. Meaning it could have been more than three decades before we heard from her again.

Fortunately such is not the case. "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967" collects scattered odds and ends of Bunyan's early work, and you'd really never have known that it's from decades ago -- these two discs are full of timeless pop and pretty little folk songs.

It kicks off with the title track, a smooth and catchy concoction of strings, cymbals, guitar and brazen horn. The lyrics aren't exactly perky, though: "Why does the sky turn grey every night?/Sun rise again in time/Why do you think of the first love you had?/Some things just stick in your mind," Bunyan sings in a sweet, slightly off-kilter voice.

Afterwards, she murmurs through the soft tambourine folk of the "I Want To Be Alone" -- call it Garbo folk -- and the lo-fi acoustic ballad "Train Song." Then she glides effortlessly into a string of gentle folk melodies, flavoured with quirky instrumentals and bittersweet, haunting lyrics. And, of course, pioneering freak-folk like the gloriously offbeat "Coldest Night of The Year."

And the second disc is made up of taped 1964 demos -- lo-fi, stripped-down little guitar ballads with no musical ornamentation other than Bunyan's lovely voice. She recites the title, starts gently playing a little acoustic guitar, and singing in a hauntingly sad voice.

You can tell how rough these demos were: "Leave Me" starts with Bunyan reciting the title, followed by a man saying something incoherent to her. She says it more loudly, and chuckles self-consciously.

Admittedly, this release isn't perfect -- the aged tapes from the sixties have shown their age, and despite careful remastering they sometimes sound tinny or crackly. Not Bunyan's fault, though -- her voice and beautiful lyrics are absolutely stunning and heartbreaking, and her instrumentation definitely verifies that she is the Godmother of Freak-folk.

And even in the crackliest songs her little guitar shines out, playing wistful soft-edged melodies. In some of the earlier ones, it's festooned with other sounds -- sweeps of violin, xylophone, trumpets, countryish harmonica, a touch of sitar, cymbals, tambourine, and occasionally even some solid drums. But none of these detract from the sadness of her music, or the power that that one acoustic guitar gives her.

Her voice is the real highlight, though -- you can tell it hasn't been tinkered with even when the tapes were remastered, because she occasionally sounds slightly off-key. So her soft, fairylike voice has a sweetness and purity that most pop singers can't achieve with computer help -- and even more important, her vocals are saturated with a sense of longing, loneliness, and love.

But her lyrics are the absolute breaking point -- every one is a gorgeous, bittersweet little poem. They're evocative ("Train wheels beating, the wind in my eyes") and painfully emotional, full of faithless lovers, men who don't love you as you love them, and uncertainty. Even in the most cheerful of her songs ("I'd sit there in the sun of the things I like about you/I'd sing my songs and find out just what they mean to you") there's a sad edge.

The crackles and age of "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967" can't hide the bittersweet purity of Vashti Bunyan's music. Broken hearts, lovers and sorrows -- absolutely stunning.

This 2 disc set collects the singles, demos, acetates and home tape recordings made by Vashti Bunyan between 1964-1967.

Vashti was discovered by Andrew Loog Oldham who produced her first and best known track (at least to 60's girl sound collectors) for Decca Records 'Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind' (written by Jagger & Richards). Unfortunately, it's hampered by poor sound quality, having been sourced from scratchy vinyl. A better version can be heard on Decca's 'The Girl Scene'. Despite appearances on both Ready Steady Go & Shindig, the single failed to chart. She moved to Columbia, where she dropped the pop for folk and recorded the wistful 'Train Song'. A lack of failiure there and then at Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, resulted in her journey, by horse and cart, to the outer Hebrides.

Another highlight includes: 'Coldest Night Of The Year', credited to Twice As Much & Vashti, is Andrew Loog Oldham's stab at Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound: sleigh bell sound effects, backing vocals, a Four Season falsetto and a thunderous orchestral boom. Vashti purists will shudder, but it's hand down my favourite track. Elsewhere, Vashti's style, approach and melody is reminiscent of both Francoise Hardy and Marianne Faithful - you can hear the seeds of her much praised solo album 'Just Another Diamond Day' here and on disc 2 which contains her first recordings sung into a tape recorder.

The 24 page booklet contains rare photographs, news-paper clippings. all the lyrics and best of all sleeve notes by Vashti herself.

Vashti sums this collection up when she writes 'When I listen to them now I know how little I have changed...'

While its unlikely anyone will put out The Roots of Vashti Bunyan it might seem obvious that Nursery Rhymes played a big part-Lily Pond for example uses the melody of Boys & Girls come out to play.
Which is where many of these songs touch.
Its not music for people who like rock chicks or divas its the polar opposite and could be called Pastoralia.
The CD is a beautifully packaged item with plenty of photos and text included.The seperate CD of demos is simply for completeness and would not be played much