This is the 21st anniversary double vinyl re-issue of the only album by Hannibal records recording artists The Eighteenth Day Of May, the early 2000's psyche folk revivalists that featured Richard Olsen, Allison Brice and Ben Phillipson, who were joined by Mark Nicholas, Karl Sabino and Alison Cotton. This new version adds 8 songs to the original album. They are not to be confused with either The 25th May or The Last Days Of May. Most of the band morphed into Trimdon Grange Explosion when 2006 didn't see a mass English folk psyche revival sadly.
The A-side opens with Eighteen Days a slow English folk song, that has echoes of Pentangle or Fairport Convention with high female vocals telling us about those crucial Eighteen Days in that May of long ago.
Sir Casey Jones has a wistful acoustic mandolin figure that repeats throughout, while we find out the truth they want to tell us about Sir Casey Jones, he is far too good for The Grateful Dead and we should all study his achievements.
The Highest Tree strikes a chord with me on the week we lost one of our Horse Chestnut trees, this bucolic tale of a particularly legendary tree, with Allison's wistful vocals in the Linda Thompson mould.
Oh Deed I Do is Bert Jansch's song of longing for everything you deserve in this life, slowly evolves in your loving arms with subtle twists along the way. Sparse snare and flutes accentuate the message.
Hide And Seek and the games we play to trick each other into the love we may share, they would never play Hide And Seek for fun it is far too serious for that.
The B-side opens with Twig Folly Close sounding suitably backwoods, a rural strum into the world of wondrous folly's appearing in unlikely places. Lady Margaret is the classic old folk tune about the queen of Kentish Town, played like they are the folkie equivalent of the Small Faces, but with Bonnie Dobson influenced vocals bringing out all the wonder and awe at the centre of the dreams in this song.
Cold Early Morning has a chilled out, floating on a mushroom pillow, floating into the new morning kind of feel, almost like they are dreaming they could own Afghan coats to keep the chill at bay.
Monday Mornings No Good Coming Down is laid back feelings for the awful reality of Monday Mornings getting up for work while still in your weekend headspace, can you get that woman out of your head and get ready for work, or do you just want to carry on staying in an acid fried folk world, blowing on your harmonica like you believe you could out play Dylan.
The Watermans Song To His Daughter is treated sensitively with plaintive vocals and slow plucked strings taking us deep into this ancient song.
The C Side opens with Seven Dials that sees them plugging into a Velvets meets Mazzy Star tambourine and viola heavy, weaving its way through Covent Garden hoping to fulfil their fevered dreams of Pizzicato plucked strings and fuzzy guitars.
Up The Hill takes the opposite approach to David Bowie by gently meandering Up The Hill forwards, in search of Crosby Stills And Nash's secret house of harmonies evolving as the vista before them expands.
The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood takes the Richard Farina standard, imbuing it with the joyful veins of Fairport and Pentangle, once more a crystalline loving siren sings of her passions, seductively convinced the romantic era has returned to dear old blighty once more.
Would Be King is a song whose meaning may have changed quite a bit over the last 20 years, a far more fearful foreboding subject than this gentle folk strummed song for the over ambitious, neckerchief wanderer, with his intricate musical patterns weaving around us, falling through our dreams.
Stone Cold is how the one you wished would love you, actually treats you, cascading notes and expressive supple bass won't open his arms to you in any natural way, you wish that it would. Instead casting a psychedelic spell on them with the masterful freak out outro.
The d-side opens with Tell Me Tomorrow they need to stay in the zone for now, just one more day of togetherness then you can split for good, shuffle off, following the slightly off shuffling drums, they drop out leaving the strings to tie you in knots, keeping you from going away. Mary Anne a floaty ever so slightly frazzled psyche folk song rather beautifully evocative.
Dawn will be welcomed with the flutes and prayers for a new day. Co'Dine takes Buffy St Marie's classic anti-war song of pain and sorrow, needing to numb all the pain, jangling the Byrds meets Crosby Stills Nash & Young hell out of it, this is a great version of this classic cautionary tale.
The album closes with 20 Flowers Of The Forest that may have been in the tea I have been drinking, while reviewing this album, they play this trad folk song like they learned it at an old folk session and have learned the ways to play it without offending any purists, it would sound perfect to listen too while wandering in a forest if you didn't want to hear the birdsong.
Find out more at https://circuitryrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-eighteenth-day-of-may https://www.facebook.com/TrimdonGrangeExplosion
