Deep in the Woods: A Pastoral Psychedelic Compilation

My neverending quest to mine musical gems of sound continues with this newly released, three disc set of rare psychedelic pastoral music from the 1960s and 70s. The set was released by Strawberry Records, a division of Cherry Red Records. 

The pastoral psych sound was pioneered by British bands and artists such as Vashti Bunyan, Pentangle, and Trader Horne. I've forayed into the forest folk UK scene a bit over the years. I recognized a handful of artists: The Woods Band, Nirvana (no, not the 90s grunge band!), Bridget St. John... As I scanned the tracklisting, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I only had already heard one song on the collection which was 'Magician in the Mountain' by Sunforest, which I mentioned years ago in The Ultimate Guide to Forest Folk Psychedelic Music. 

Upon opening, I was enthralled by the album art, an assemblage of ephemera depicting a fantasy forest filled with folklore and beautiful beasts. The package was designed by Lyndon Pike, who really deserves recognition for his fine work.

The compilation starts off with 'Leafy Lane' by Fat Mattress, which captures everything I seek in a song: foresty, folky simple sounds with a few interesting effects and surreal lyrics of living in a 'Magic Forest'. Other highlights include The Woods Band 'Noisey Johnny' although I wood have preferred to hear 'Dreams'. The band Trees, best known for 'Road' feature on here with the song 'Murdoch'. Trader Horne who I had first encountered through their Tolkien inspired track 'Three Rings for Elven Kings' join the party with 'Morning Way'. Last but not least, I don't need to go on and on about how great Sunforest is, they had been featured on this blog before for their trippy track 'Where Are You?' . Check out the  bluesy B-Side 'And I Was Blue' as well.

Deep in the Woods is a treasure trove of forgotten forest folk which I will be listening to for a long time.