The MG Album Club #18: Meic Stevens - Outlander

[Ojai Sam]

I decided to come up with some music from the UK for my dear friend Georgie (not to be confused with my dear friend George). This album hit my radar for the first time when Rhino Handmade reissued it. Forced Exposure sez:

"In the popular music of Wales, Meic Stevens is the defining folk and rock singer of the past 40 years. He is as important there as Bob Dylan in the United States, John Lennon in England, Caetano Veloso in Brazil and Serge Gainsbourg in France. Outlander, his sole English language release, came out in 1970 in the UK, and has never been widely available in the States until now. A diverse mix of folk, psych and rock with a distinct Welsh flavor, Outlander has long been a sought-after collector's item. Stevens' recordings have been a noted influence on such contemporary Welsh groups as Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci."

Mr. Freak may already know about Meic (pronounced “Mike”). I hope you all enjoy it.

 

[lpfreak1170]

Mr. Freak is not familiar with Meic or this album. Mr. Freak is listening now.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

This is something special-- I took a liking to it 30 seconds into "Rowena." After only one listen, this album will be going into my permanent Spotify library.

Perhaps Super Furry Animals and Gorky's were influenced by this, but Outlander is superior to anything those two groups have put out.

I also enjoyed the production on this. The sound quality isn't all that great, but it has an analog feel that I very much liked.

I give it with room to move to on further listens.

 

[axolotl]

This is something special-- I took a liking to it 30 seconds into "Rowena." After only one listen, this album will be going into my permanent Spotify library.

Perhaps Super Furry Animals and Gorky's were influenced by this, but Outlander is superior to anything those two groups have put out.

I also enjoyed the production on this. The sound quality isn't all that great, but it has an analog feel that I very much liked.

I give it with room to move to on further listens.

I concur in whole and in pertinent particular to the decision of my esteemed and learned colleague RB(butnotG), above.

Adding my own words, "This good stuf is. Grok like."

 

[lpfreak1170]

I need to listen once more before my final rating...wavering between 4 and 4 1/2...great, great album!!

 

[Nickyboy]

This didn't click with me this morning, but I can see there is something there. I'm going to try again later, but for now I give it a solid 3/5 stars with potential to go up.

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

So I listened to this on Friday.

I didn't care for the first track at all. I wanted to give it a fair listen so I gritted my teeth and stayed the course. Then the second track kicked in and it was a pleasant, acoustic folk song, reminiscent of early Dylan and Fairport Convention, with a little more modern production. I liked it.

The flutesy tracks made me think of Jethro Tull, but really only because flutes are few and far between in popular music. The tracks themselves bear little resemblance to JT. In fact, Sailor and Madonna is a little too improv, a little too artsy at the detriment of melody for me.

Tracks like Ox Blood, with the guitar and banjo were nearly comfortable bluegrass, but not quite. A nod to the aforementioned modern production. In that, they kind of missed it for me. Either mimic the genre or don't, but this style of riding the fence didn't click for me.

Was that a sitar in Yorric? This guy really strives to produce a variety of sounds. I respect him for that. But it went on too long, and the style of singing in that track was again, a bit too artsy for me. I need a melody.

Then to Midnight Crimes, a very pleasant, acoustic singer/songwriter track.

And around and around it went. From experimental to comforable, back and forth. I really appreciate that he's not just bringing his acoustic guitar to the studio and calling that enough. This guy really strives to experiment and bring a variety to his recordings. He earns my respect.

It was an interesting listen, and one that I enjoyed. I appreciate that he brings in all of these styles to his space. He did a nice job of pulling in classic sounds to his modern stylings. But to me it just didn't click enough that I'll become a regular listener.

Again, I enjoyed the listen and I'm glad to have been exposed to something I might never have tried. I'm really enjoying this series.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Always amazed that no matter how much one thinks he knows a particular year/era/genre in music, there is always an unheard album out there. Thanks, Sam, for introducing me to this Welsh folkie. OUT pointed out the attempts to try different styles and instrumentation. I too was not a fan of the yowling in the opener, but the rest is nice. The Dylan influence is clearly there - perhaps a bit too much so, but hey that's unavoidable for a folk artist of this era (some Donovan too while we're at it). I didn't love it as much as others but happy to hear it - might check it out in the future

 

[lpfreak1170]

Easy, solid . Just a fantastic album, and I can't thank Sam enough for introducing it to me!!

 

[Nickyboy]

I have moved it up to 4/5 stars.