DAVID LANCE CALLAHAN - English Primitive I - LP - Vinyl

LABEL: Tiny Global Productions

CAT NO: PICI0028LP

BARCODE: 076625972596

Tracklisting:

1. Born Of The Welfare State Was I (04:17)
2. Goatman (04:25)
3. Foxboy (08:26)
4. She’s The King Of My Life (04:36)
5. She Passes Through The Night (07:10)
6. One Rainy September (08:25)
7. Always (04:36)

DAVID LANCE CALLAHAN
– English Primitive I

LP – Black Vinyl

Uniquely of the many acts which came to public awareness through the lauded C86 compilation, David Lance Callahan has pursued a career of consistent brilliance and stark originality. After a run of fine albums with The Wolfhounds, outstanding work with Moonshake and collaborations with members of Stereolab and PJ Harvey (among others), Callahan has outdone himself on this long-awaited solo album, the results of which merit the sort of deep dive best explained with with ample time and a quality turntable. Whether English Primitive I is a product of the past year’s isolation or of a long-simmering brew only now ready for dissemination is something Callahan has yet to reveal.

Whatever its origins, English Primitive I is the work of a massive talent. Wolfhoundian riffage offered enough ramshackle charm to somewhat obscure Callahan’s darker, more penetrating writing. Likewise, Moonshake’s musically bi-polar approach disguised his underlying political impulse. Here Callahan’s lyricism finally, indelibly, proves him to be among the finest British pop craftsmen. This is his masterwork, a mélange of what has been called “mutant Eastern, West African, folk, blues and post-punk influences” . . . an improbable cross-cultural gumbo, yet one which coalesced into a swirling, kaleidoscopic psychedelia of emotion unlike any other record in this era.

As with any recording favouring the avant-garde –works like Balaklava, Brian Jones Presents The Pipes of Pan at Joujouka, and The Heart Of The Congos– one might expect that the impact of English Primitive I will be revealed slowly, over a much longer span of time than the the too-often workaday product of today’s independent music scene. With this album, Callahan takes his place alongside cult heroes Robert Wyatt, Scott Walker and Cathal Coughlan as a prime example of seemingly limitless artistic expression. English Primitive II, drawn from the same sessions which produced this album, will follow shortly.