Customer Reviews

Colour Green

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Some of us here whose proclivities gravitate towards rare psych and folk have been bemoaning the recent flurry of "buried treasures" and "lost classics". It seems a day does not go by without a new release or re-issue of a forgotten or recently discovered artist rescued from obscurity passing before our attentive eyes and drooling mouths. Sometimes the "lost classic" status is not always deserved (not everything made in the sixties and seventies that didn't receive any attention is noteworthy, somethings are better off staying buried or lost), but it's sure keeping the reissue labels and revisionist musicologists busy as they map out an ever-growing expanse of the spheres of influence on music today. It's hard to keep up and also pay equal attention to all the great music that is being made right now.

This makes me very happy on the one hand that amazing music continues to be discovered but it also drives me crazy us to see my paycheck quickly dwindling every week. Why just in the past month, I've seen re-issues from Bridget St. John, Kay Hoffman, John Jacob Niles, Kaleidoscope and Fairfield Parlour (all pretty amazing!) among others. And now on my plate are these previously unreleased home recordings of German underground folk singer, Sibylle Baier.

I must admit when I first heard this, I suspected fraud. These recordings sound almost too contemporary to have been made in the early seventies. But after doing a little research, I found out this is no fraud. These intimate recordings fully deserve their "buried treasure" status, for whatever that's worth at this point. Baier, only previously known for a song on an early Wim Wenders film soundtrack, recorded these songs in her home from 1970-73 after a "spirit-renewing" trip through the Swiss Alps. She has the warm Sunday jam and tea voice reminiscent of Vashti Bunyan, but with the more spare guitar compositions and melancholy vocal delivery of someone like Chan Marshall. In fact, I sort of wish the new Cat Power or Beth Orton records were this good! Like Bunyan, Baier shunned what could have been a successful career in order to raise a family and it's because of her son, Robby, that these recordings are being heard at all. But unlike Bunyan, these songs don't derive from a back to nature hippie-folk aesthetic, but rather they come from a more delicate fragility where life's beauty and despair are interwoven with the tiny details of daily life. Beautiful! Totally recommended for seventies folk enthusiasts as well as fans of contemporary singer/song-writers.

Sibylle Baier was primarily an actress, born in Germany, and these songs-she was living in the States by then-are the result of the inspiration she drew from a certain road trip with a friend, which led her to write and sing this low-fi and quite private set of recordings between 1970 and 1973.

The first thing that might strike about these songs is the consistent sadness of their melodies, akin to the mood she had been in at the time, and the hushed yet expressive phrasing of these lyrics.

More than anybody else, this album may remind you of Vashti Bunyan, particularly her debut "A Diamond Day." Although the Bunyan's songs were less imbued of somberness, they share a certain melancholy with these tunes. Also, you may think of what Sylvia Plath might have sound like if she chose to sing rather than poetry, more through its mood than the nature of its words.

Still, the important thing is that this album, which had never been released before, presents a singer/songwriter of exquisite sensibility, sharing a very personal batch of songs that were never intended for "the public" and, perhaps due to that, conjure up an intimate and gorgeous portrait of a woman's inner life.

If you are a friend of brave and intimate Folk, you will not be disappointed with this purchase.

The appearance of a completely unexpected treasure, such as this quietly stunning album, serves as a reminder of the hidden wonders in this world. Which is a good description of its tone, in fact. Listening to these songs draws one into a wistfully austere & pure landscape, where the melancholy of the gathering twilight meshes with the secret thoughts & musings of the day, as the soul now approaches sleep in resigned yet grateful stillness. It's amazing to think that such beauty was consigned to a closet for some thirty years! We can only be thankful that it's finally available to the rest of us. A collection of astonishing emotional honesty, both stark & rich, most highly recommended!

Difficult to describe music with words so I won't even try.
People who like Leonard Cohen, Nico ("Chelsea girl"), Nick Drake,
Will Oldham, Sandy Denny, etc... should love this music.

Sibylle Baier's Colour Green is an album of pensive and deeply moving songs and sweet, happy, infectious ones. Her lyrics are beautiful and poetic and the images, emotions, and concepts she evokes are often profound (particularly in the album's standout track "I Lost Something In the Hills). The music enhances her lyrics perfectly and have a great, unique, and moving aesthetic.

I don't know what else to say as I'm not writing very well today, but definitely give this album a chance. If you like anything at all similar you'll love this.

I checked this out because I've listened to my two Vashti Bunyan albums about a thousand times (and still not sick of them, never could!) and wanted something in the same vein. Well, the voice and feel is a little Vashti-ish but much more Chan Marshall with a soupcon of Suzanne Vega; very much in the vein of the Cat Power "Covers" album. This is not sweet pastoral English folk, but rather moody, introspective psych-folk. It's slow, weird but strangely catchy. I find myself humming, "tonight...when I came home from wuck..." (her strange accent makes this all the more charming). The music backing Sibylle's gorgeous voice sounds like PURE Leonard Cohen to me. I mean, if you like early Leonard Cohen, you'll love this woman. And I do, so I'm digging it. Apparently she just recorded this one night at her house during a dinner party in the 70's? It's almost amazingly modern-sounding, but so clearly not trying-too-hard or anything like *twee* (listen to this as an antidote to Joanna Newsom). Anyway, I think this is the hippest thing I've come across in a while. Perfect to play at your own dinner party.

This album is hauntingly wonderful from the first time it hits your ears, or stomach, or fingers or finds its way into your dreams, your car, or beneath your skin. If you gravitate toward artists such as Vashti Bunyan, Devendra, Joni Mitchell etc... you will probably dig it. The recordings emit this honesty and emotion I cannot describe. From love to suicide, Baier paints intimate portraits that spring to life with her guitar (she experiments with alt tunings and picking styles too). Not recorded for mass sales or a record deal, the album is simply fo' real and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys listening to an artist who throws all of their heart and being into their work. Did I mention her voice is beyond beautiful???

If you are into folk such as Vashti Bunyan and Marissa Nadler you will love this. Gorgeous melancholy songs.

7 out of 10

Sibylle Baier didn't make this music to be heard by the general public, her son released it more than 30 years after it was recorded). She made this music for herself and those close to her. Her style of music is very personal folk; sparse musically and rich emotionally. Every song but the last is just Baier and her guitar, making music that reaches down into her soul. The stories that she tells always make the song worth listening to; "William must have a chorus in his heart and lilacs in his shoes/ William is the sweetest boy I ever saw."- "William"

All of the songs are very short; the entire album of 14 songs is only 33 minutes long. Despite their brevity, the tracks pack powerful punches. Here are the lyrics for "Remember the Day"- "I no longer thought of what is good or what is not / there simply was the water's smell and remoteness/ I only stood and watched that old cold ocean / in tender and bright, full, unspeakable emotion." The songs are not terribly different stylistically, but each one has its own tenderness.

My girlfriend introduced me to Sybille Baier with the song, "I Lost Something in the Hills" because of the similarities to Nick Drake. "Colour Green" certainly does remind me of the moving "Pink Moon." However, this album is not "Pink Moon". Sibylle Baier is a commendable song writer, but does not have the versatility of Nick Drake. After a few songs, you know exactly what you can expect from the entire album. I don't mind that too much, but it can be tiring to listen to "Colour Green" all at once. Overall, I am very happy that my girlfriend introduced me to Sibylle Baier and her potent music.

Favorite Tracks: I Lost Something in the Hills, William, Driving