Abendlandung # 161 – Electric Eden Special, Part 5

The Electric Eden saga is continuing! The fifth part focuses on the occult songs of Mr Fox and Dave & Toni Arthur, the bucolic psychedelia of Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett, the fantasy worlds of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the alchemical meanderings of Third Ear Band, the acid folk of Comus and Spirogyra, and the dark yet hopeful mysterious poetry of Bill Fay.

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.

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.