Just as the fantastic purple tree of the splendid cover sinks its roots into "fertile soil," Donovan Quinn draws inspiration from the Anglo-American psychedelic folk tradition of the late 60s and early 70s, filtering it with a sensitivity born from the neo-psychedelic scene that emerged in the mid-80s. The songs of "The Telescope Dreampatterns" bring to mind the "underground folk" of the past, and it's impossible not to mention the Incredible String Band, folk mixed with electric psychedelia. I think of the underground Fresh Maggots, echoes of Syd Barrett, and moving forward in time Greg Ashley, a raw Robyn Hitchcock in humble folk attire, a soft Anton Newcombe, but many are the names evoked by these sounds.

The language used is psycho folk, but we are not in pure nostalgia territory. The songs are modern, they vibrate with a current electricity, wearing modern lo-fi clothes, definitely not from a 60s tailor. They are built with guitars that do not disdain sweet distortions, organ, flutes, exotic interludes, percussions, and a voice very similar to a drawling Dylan. The atmosphere is surreal, reverberated, dreamlike, trippy but at the same time physical, garage. Donovan Quinn has done with 60s psycho folk a modernization operation somewhat similar to what Plasticland did with English psychedelia. A nice repaint while keeping the frame recognizable.

30 minutes recommended for those who love psychedelia, garage folk, and the past without being totally dependent on it.

Tracklist and Videos

01   Into the Blacktrees ()

02   The Coffin Splits in Two ()

03   The Greentrees ()

04   Moonlanding ()

05   Seeing the Telescope Dreampatterns ()

06   Birds That Come Back Again ()

07   Softly, The Embers ()

08   Fluttering Pastures ()

09   Sea Funeral, The ()

10   Ash-Wednesday ()

11   Graveyard Porchlight ()

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