Oriental Sunshine – Dedicated to the Bird We Love. 1970. Norwegian group who play is a style of a typical low budget acoustic folk sound. Female vocals, good vibes and hippy lyrics recall groups such as Agincourt or Ithaca. They also go whole hog for the Eastern bag with some sitar, flute and tablas. Definitely a pleasant record, but nothing extraordinary. There’s a new legit CD out on Sunbeam for the curious.
Tocabiol - Es El, Es Ela. 1977. Here’s another one of those buried cassette tapes I have from my 90s trading days. First half of the album is strictly regional folk music, while the other is a long tranced out acid folk rock journey. This half reminds me some of Sergius Golowin. So half the album is essential. Perhaps they have another session similar that would make a great CD? Sung in Occitan, a language found in southern France and northern Spain.
Kenny Hakansson Spelar – Springlekar och Ganglatar. 1978. Kebnekaise’s guitarist weighs in here with fuzzy psych guitar versions of Swedish traditional folk songs. Just guitar, nothing else. Imagine Jimi Hendrix recording for the Northside label, and you have a good idea of the contents within. It’s a fun concept, but after about track 3, it starts to get pretty old. Too one dimensional for my ears at least. If this sounds like your cup of tea, the original came out on the Silence label, and they also did the CD about 12 years ago, which is what I have.