Customer Reviews

Espers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No joke. This is one of the best albums I have heard in years. The mix of psychedelia, indie rock and peak Vanguard era acid folk is perfectly on target without sounding like a study in the classics. In other words, the feeling is natural not forced. If you like the best albums by the Incredible String Band, Pentangle, Fairport Convention and the sweet pop balladry of the singer/songwriter heyday by people like Bridget St. John, Nick Drake, Jackson C. Franck, then this CD is an absolute must. It's perfectly arranged and wonderfully conceived and getting into it is totally effortless. I don't normally start thinking about my top 10 discs in March but this is already numero uno and unless an 8th wonder springs out from the earth, it will stay that way.

Psych-folk trio Espers get it right on the first try in their self-titled debut. While their summery, acid-tinged kind of folk occasionally misfires on the indie-rock route, when it sticks to dilated pupils, Appalachian fiddles and sparkling chimes, it stays a good thing.

It opens with a song that pretty much sums up what the sound is all about: "Flowery Noontide." It opens with soft windchimes, right before a flute, guitar and Meg Baird's indistinct vocals kick in. It proceeds pretty much in that vein, sounding like a stoned summer afternoon at the Renaissance Festival. In short, quite good.

That lush folk sound continues throughout the album, mixing stately folk tunes with fuzz and some classical flourishes. Songs like "Meadow" err on the side of folk, despite that implosive riff. On the other hand, "Hearts and Daggers" veers over to Neutral Milk Hotel-like indie-rock, with weird flourishes and thick fuzz.

Actually, that indie-rock bent does have its weakness -- Espers sometimes seem unsure what to do with all the indie flourishes. "Riding" is downright painful to listen to at high volumes, because of a riff that completely drowns out the delicate acoustic layers.

Fortunately by the end of the album, they seem to have grasped how it should sound. And the fragile stoner folk sound is remarkably pretty, without the grounded sound that people usually associate with folk. This stuff is up in the sky, and it's staying there.

Meg Baird and Greg Weeks share vocal duties, and they both sound sweet and laid-back, although I had difficulty hearing what Meg was saying. Then again, the lyrics seem to fade away in front of the lush instrumentation -- acoustic
guitar and fiddle, often overlaid with an otherworldly flute, chimes, dulcimer and classical strings.

Espers' self-titled debut is a charming, sweet trip through layers of acid-folk. Best listened to on a lazy summer day, with wind-chimes and crickets.

I agree about what the above reviewer said. This is quite typical of the classic late 60's/early 70's psych folk scene. Adding to the list of bands mentioned in the other review, I'd like to add the gorgeous Scottish/psych/folk band "Bread, Love and Dreams" who influenced Espers. "Bread, Love and Dreams" released 3 classics in 1969/1970/1971 which Espers went out of their way (on their web-site) to mention "Bread, Love and Dreams".

Although there's nothing innovative about what Espers has done, I can sure toot the horn for them and say "It's about time that good music is being done again since music has really gone on the decline since the glory days of the British folk/rock invasion". Accoustic guitars, strings and etheral vocals (both female and male) abound. Again, if you end up liking Espers, investigate "Amaryllis", "Strange tales of Captain Shannon and the Hunchback of Gigha" and the "S/t" albums from Bread, Love and Dreams and discover the big influence on Espers. You'll love and treasure those albums as well.

I admit I had never heard of Espers, but my 16 yr. old daughter somehow (I have no idea how) found out about them and bought their album, and of course I was interested in checking them out as well. What a pleasant surprise this was! (And kudos to my daughter...) Espers is a trio lead by Greg Weeks, and is essentially a trip back in time to the 60s of the psychedelic-folk sound.

"Espers" (8 tracks, 40 min.), released in 2004, is a "mood" piece all around. The overall sound is of acoustic guitars, flutes, violins, and even dulcimers (but no drums), all to great effect. There are no uptempo songs on here, just slow mood pieces as if you were sitting around a camp fire. The vocals are shared by Greg Weeks and Meg Baird, who sounds just angelic. The 2 outstanding tracks are "Hearts & Daggers", an 8+ epic that culminates in a beautiful instrumental outro, and the album closer "Travel Mountains", another long song with a similar structure.

This is a beautiful album from start to finish. Not something to listen to when you are in a hurry, that's for sure. Espers has released an EP of covers last Fall, as a stop-gap for the release of their next proper album, and I can't wait for that. Meanwhile, check this out. Highly recommended!

Espers release on Locust Records is a modern psych folk meltdown, arranged by a smoky wizard with overly dilated pupils and taken in by hiccupping pixies, one of which lies out arms akimbo on the grass, grooving. A circle of mushrooms encircles the stage, and the scent of sage lift up on the wind. Espers are from Philidelphia and built around Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons. The part there about Philly and the band, that there is true... the other part about the wizards n' stuff, yea I kinda made that up.

Most songs showcase some flavor of stripped down acoustic guitar work, complete with the subtle sounds of fingers scratching along the strings. Often a simple flute or dark stringed instrument comes in to assist, and Greg's voice and a female vocalist (not sure whom) either playing off each other or harmonizing. Permeated with minor keys, the pieces are generally foreboding, usually culminateing in the inevitable psilosybin-esque breakdown. These frenzied freak outs are my favorite part. For example, when "Hearts and Daggers" fuzzes out into a flurry of flutes and flossy keyboards it conjures up memories of "Space Odyssey" by The Byrds. And you can read any number of reviews and see comparisons to a number of other contemporary and classic acid-folk acts, but I like to through curveballs, so here comes an odd comparison. With the haunting, apprehensive tone in most of the songs, coupled with clean acoustic guitars I can't help but note a comparison no one else has seen. Early Black Sabbath always seemed to produce at least one haunting instrumental ballad per album, I get a sense of that here. Seriously, go listen to "Orchid" off Master of Reality, then "Riding" by Espers... or maybe "Byss and Abyss" back to back with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath's gem "Fluff".

All in all, I really like this album, but my dig on it is after a bit it is kind of formula driven. The aforementioned song structure occurs on just about every song. Guitar + Flute/Strings + Droning Voices. Punctuated by outbursts of psych twisting sonic whirlwinds that overshadow everything else however, this album is well worth checking out. A bit repetitive at the openings, but when the songs peak they are first class. Best track? Probably "Travel Mountain" with its slipstream of ghostly vocal mixing in the background.

I've tried very hard with this album since its release, but have to disagree with most of the reviewers here. The incredible string band, pentangle, Bread, love and dreams comparisons are, in my opion, wishful thinking. This isn't due to Espers ability as song writers, but to their incessant use of annoying overdriven heavy metal type guitar everywhere. This ruins what is otherwise a nice album.