Abendlandung # 155 – Electric Eden Special, Part 4

The Electric Eden series is a radiophonic adaptation of Rob Young’s phantastic book with the same name, an in-depth look into British visionary music from early 20th to early 21st century, with a strong focus on folk and folk rock.

This time with music by and information about The Incredible String Band, C.O.B., Strawbs, Forest and Paul Giovanni's & Magnet's soundtrack to the wondrous original Wicker Man movie, an occult folklore masterpiece, which celebrates it's 50th anniversary this year.

In his groundbreaking survey of more than a century of music making in the British Isles, Rob Young investigates how the idea of folk has been handed down and transformed by successive generations – song collectors, composers, Marxist revivalists, folk-rockers, psychedelic voyagers, free festival-goers, experimental pop stars and electronic innovators.

In a sweeping panorama of Albion’s soundscape that takes in the pioneer spirit of Cecil Sharp / the pastoral classicism of Ralph Vaughan Williams / the industrial folk revival of Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd / the folk-rock of Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Shirley Collins, John Martyn and Pentangle / the bucolic psychedelia of The Incredible String Band, The Beatles and Pink Floyd / the acid folk of Comus, Forest, Mr Fox and Trees / The Wicker Man and occult folklore / the early Glastonbury and Stonehenge festivals / and the visionary pop of Kate Bush, Julian Cope and Talk Talk / Electric Eden maps out a native British musical voice that reflects the complex relationships between town and country, progress and nostalgia, radicalism and conservatism.

The book is available at Zabriskie Buchladen: click here.