Consummate weirdo/loner UK downer folk private rescued from oblivion by Sunbeam: originally released in an edition of only 200 copies in 1978, Puritanical Odes is a singular slice of acid folk beamed straight from the edge of oblivion. Mostly scored for 12-string guitar and vocals but w/occasional flourishes of hysterical choral settings and weirdo low-level feedback it feels like a spiritual cousin to Bob Desper’s amazing New Sounds, with macabre poetic lyrics that run through abattoirs and carcinogens and loneliness and a radical guitar style that crosses lush Robbie Basho-styled jams with baroque UK folk styles and some massively out navigations of 12 steel strings. Janaway’s vocals run from lucid, high Tim Buckley-isms through bleak thousand yard stares and moments of all-out possession. Hard to explain just how singular this recording is but it sits perfectly alongside such classic outside UK singer-songwriters as Bill Fay and Simon Finn. “I became aware of Puritanical Odes when a friend found five copies in a junk shop, long before the term 'acid folk' had been coined. Neither of us had heard of it, but its homemade, simple-but-stunning sleeve was enough to warrant further investigation. As soon as I played it I was smitten. It is at once melodic, literary, uncompromising, beautifully performed and extremely strange. Janaway's amazingly complex and technically brilliant 12-string guitar technique has to be heard to be believed. His voice is rich and deep, his lyrics thought-provoking, sometimes downright disturbing. It became something I would introduce to people I knew would love it, and my copy is now a well-used but treasured artefact. To finally see it available to all, and recognised for the masterpiece it is, is exciting and vindicating” – Nick Saloman (The Bevis Frond). First time on CD – highly recommended!

If you’ve never heard of the legendary NZ guitarist Billy TK – once dubbed “the Maori Hendrix” – then prepare to have your conception of the reach of six strings blown to pieces all over again. The Human Instinct were a freakbeat group that temporarily relocated to the UK and cut a bunch of great period-perfect sides before returning to New Zealand where they recruited Maori guitarist Billy TK. TK’s style took them through the roof and exploded the form, birthing a mutant amalgam of Hendrixoid fuzz and wah that was as monomaniacal as Mizutani’s work with Rallizes. 1969’s fantastically titled Burning Up Years presents the new group at the peak of their powers w/second guitarist and legend in his own right Jesse Harper contributing a buncha compositions and the group tearing through Neil Youngs’ “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”. Kinda has to be heard to be believed. 180g vinyl. Recommended.