Search - Samandtheplants :: Eft

Psychedelic ADD folk from the forest - -- --- * --- -- -

Chris Carter | my music room | 03/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Heh heh.....how did you find this?!? I found my copy at Grimey's in Nashville (GREAT independent CD store, by the way) - it was at the counter, and merely reading the description on the outside of the case intrigued me to the point of purchasing something I'd never heard before (which I typically don't do). Here it is : "The debut album from Faust-esque zygotic zitherist and two-headed acidic folk outfit Samandtheplants. Imagine Delia Derbyshire in deepest Lancashire recording a Nepalese Incredible String Band with members of Os Mutantes and Faust keeping the generator warm and the kitchen operating in audible proximity."



Well, you GOTTA hear that! Right? Actually, that description is fairly spot-on. The only beef I have with this is that it is SO random that there is absolutely no continuity or flow to it (I've heard it a few times ; maybe, by the eighth time, it changes, but I doubt it.) It's pretty awesome and weird and wooly and dream-inspired and I challenge you to find ANY modern band that sounds like this. Male/female vocals, homemade instruments, unorthodox song structures, bizarre sounds - you can see why they referenced the Incredible String Band. I would be VERY suprised if Sam (and his plants) do not have some ISB in their collection. Absolutely nothing wrong with that - 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' is one of the greatest, most inspired albums I've ever heard by anyone EVER, so certainly nothing with following in THOSE footsteps, but definitely a work created by people (or aliens) from the shuffling Ipod/MP3 generation. It is comforting to know that music that sounds like it comes from a lysergic medieval dream is still being made. So take some shrooms and commune with Samandtheplants - you will NOT forget it. Very special and unique."