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I have often
pointed out that progressive rock and folk sometimes get very close
together. Think of Strawbs to name just one band which perfectly
blended folk and prog no less thanks to a very young and
inspirational ‘Ricki’ Wakeman. When I listened to this wonderful
album by the multi-instrumentalist duo Madden & Harris I couldn’t
help notice that the term Progressive Folk fitted the music like a
glove. Indeed the rather short songs are lyrically the perfect
example of folk at it’s best however due to the inclusion of nice
arrangements with tons of mellotron and other vintage keyboards
“Fool’s paradise” kind of becomes a world within a world. Although
drums are added they don’t become heavy in the mix leaving behind a
delicate gentle music with the emphasis on the acoustic nature of it
all spiced up with fragile harmonies.
Privately
pressed on their very own Jasmine Records label on no more than 500
copies it has taken a long, long time before a CD version could be
released. Thank god the original tapes were found so after dusting
them off they were prepared for their very first digital appearance
on top of which two extra bonustracks were added to make it even
more special. The duo in fact consists of the classically trained
music teacher Peter Harris and his student Dave Madden. Harris once
said of “Fool’s paradise” : ‘our music lies halfway between a 16th
century chamber sound with light jazzy influenced breaks’. It most
certainly is a collection of simple yet effective tunes which remind
us all of a simpler, more reflective era. In a way the music could
be compared to the softer side of the Moody Blues fused with the
soft whispering voice of Donovan, the pastoral moments of early King
Crimson or even Jade Warrior.
Originally
from the eight tracks on the vinyl album seven were to be found on
the A-side with the entire B-side taken up by the lengthy ‘Fool’s
paradise’ suite. Based on a beautiful painting by Australian artist
Jane Lerossignol our Sydney based duo most certainly delivers a
perfect blend between songs and instrumentals here. At 20’16” this
epic both includes happy themes as well as ominous atmospheres. The
children’s choir right at the very beginning kind of reminds me of
the choir on Wakeman’s “White rock”. The distorted guitar in ‘Will
you be there’ is soon alternating with acoustic simplicity sounding
like Sutherland Bros & Quiver in parts. The final part, ‘End game’
really sounds like the end of the world : all dark and without any
future at all. A monotonous bassguitar is backed by eery synth and
string sounds before acoustic guitar introduces the end conclusion
where personally I would have loved to hear some fragile flute.
Instead it’s once again the duo’s harmonies which are the main
attention.
As a bonus
to this CD release both sides of the duo’s only single have been
added. Released before the album “Fool’s paradise” both tracks are
not to be found on the album which make them highly welcome on this
disc. ‘Remember me’ is a rather predictable little song which
nevertheless includes a fair amount of mellotron as well as some
harp turning it into a joyful whole. The other side of their elusive
single, ‘A simple song’ sounds like a song by the Mamas & Papas yet
minus the female vocals (thus only by the Papas !). It’s OK to find
them as bonustracks here but our main attention most certainly has
to go towards the entire duration of the full “Fool’s paradise”
album which indeed is a fine example of progressive folk and,
although dated, a wonderful proof that Australia had more to offer
other than Sebastian Hardie ! |
