Rob Young's Electric Eden

Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
Just started this.

Sped-red the intro but thoroughly enjoyed the first chapter (details of Vashti's Progress) and now eagerly anticipating the rest of the book which looks like it's going to be nice reflection of Albion as i escape it to camp over northern spain this month (last year read ackroyds london which gave a useful perspective).

Anyone else on this too?

(don't think we have a UK Folk gossip, slander, lies thread......but haven't bothered searching - this deserves its own thread)
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
I'm ordering this in definitely. I'm hoping for a mystical experience of some sort. I hope he doesn't bang on about Incredible String Band too much though, I can't stand them...
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Diggedy Derek said:
I'm worried lugging it around in a bag will cause me chronic back problems.
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Just picked this up today at waterstones. It is pretty hefty! Read the first chapter on Vashti already, that is a great story. Might actually give the incredible string band yet another go (I think this would be my 3rd attempt to like them). I'm not really sure what attracted me to this book as I haven't listened to much folk music at all in the past couple of years apart from the occasional bit of Dylan & John Martyn. It seems very well written so far though.
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
Benny B said:
Just picked this up today at waterstones. It is pretty hefty! Read the first chapter on Vashti already, that is a great story. Might actually give the incredible string band yet another go (I think this would be my 3rd attempt to like them). I'm not really sure what attracted me to this book as I haven't listened to much folk music at all in the past couple of years apart from the occasional bit of Dylan & John Martyn. It seems very well written so far though.
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yeah the incredible string band are certainly good for the 5000 layers and hangmans. i swell with pride at recalling that the ISB sleeve in the book is my very own (topical innit!)
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
About half to two thirds of the way in.

It's very well written and well researched and is probably going to send me off on an amazon shopping spree, but it does seem to be a great deal of information from which I'm having trouble getting any particularly interesting or unexpected Big Ideas...

It doesn't help that as far as folk music goes I tend to prefer more stripped down traditionalist stuff - not because it's more 'authentic' (which Young sort of insinuates is the only reason for preferring The Copper Family to The Incredible String Band) but because I find it much more musically interesting. And hence I'm not all that interested in the precise circumstances surrounding the recording of each ISB album. Also I've yet to see much interesting criticism of the folk / rock / jazz / psych scene and its goals and assumptions, although maybe that's to come later...
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
Reading it at present - first 70 odd pages have me gripped. Like the way he is aware that as Bunyan seeks the back to nature the only uprights on the island are the symbolic arrival of electricity.

Very interested to see how this all pans out - very readable despite its sheer size.
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
jenks said:
Very interested to see how this all pans out - very readable despite its sheer size.
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I loved this book and devoured it in about 3 days (I am off work for the summer though). Got me listening
back to Steeleye span and Fairport again after not bothering for years, and the bit on Incredible String Band managed to totally change my mind about them. I used to find them a bit silly but I went back to em
and realised their cosmic properties lol

Rob Young is a great writer
 
B

Brother Randy Hickey

formerly Dubversion
i thoroughly enjoyed parts of it - essentially the bits up to the late 60s folk-rock boom and the bits after the death of the folk rock boom. Fascinating, insightful stuff. I didn't think much of the ISB, Fairport, Pentangle, Nick Drake elements because I pretty much can't stand that sort of folk rock anyway. Which might make reading the book at all seem a little perverse since that scene is the core of the whole thing, but I found enough other content to make it a really worthwhile read
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
Finished it a while back now. Liked it very much - particularly good at getting me to reappraise bands I thought were a bit naff. Lovely stuff on Mark Hollis at the end. Would have liked more Blakean moments in there perhaps.

I was going to make a spotify playlist and then realised that I didn't need to and instead dragged out all the Lammas Night Laments CDs - also finally got hold of Martyn's Live at Leeds, between this book and the re-energised ambient thread, my listening has been pretty much sorted this past fortnight.
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Brother Randy Hickey said:
i thoroughly enjoyed parts of it - essentially the bits up to the late 60s folk-rock boom and the bits after the death of the folk rock boom. Fascinating, insightful stuff. I didn't think much of the ISB, Fairport, Pentangle, Nick Drake elements because I pretty much can't stand that sort of folk rock anyway. Which might make reading the book at all seem a little perverse since that scene is the core of the whole thing, but I found enough other content to make it a really worthwhile read
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Yeah, I think those sections were actually objectively a bit less interesting, too - because when he was talking about earlier traditionalists and folk song collectors he had an undercurrent of prodding at the assumptions and conceits that they were working from while still appreciating the work that they did. Whereas the folk rock bits seemed to take a lot more at face value.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
Well, after having picked this up and then being side-tracked by numerous other things, I have started to make headway into this book and very fine it is too, although the narrative that Mr Young tries to construct strains at times.

But if you quickly pour water (mentally) on the points of highest friction, it gives tonnes of hints and areas to explore.

Best tip so far- Anne Briggs' accompanied output. Only had her a cappella previously. Awesome.
 
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