The Eighteenth Day Of May: The Eighteenth Day Of May 2020

 

The Eighteenth Day of May were a six-piece, London based group who combined elements of

traditional and contemporary folk with a psychedelic jangle. The group's sole album is now finally released on vinyl together with rarities and unreleased recordings made for an unfinished second album before the group split at the end of 2006.
English folk-rock quartet the Eighteenth Day of May construct alternately rousing and pastoral songs in the tradition of Fairport Convention, Pentangle, and Steeleye Span.
                  

The international collective formed initially around the trio of American vocalist and flutist Alison Brice, Swedish multi-instrumentalist Richard Olsen, and English multi-instrumentalist Ben Phillipson. They added drummer Karl Sabino, bass player Mark Nicholas, and violist Alison Cotton in 2004 and

began work on an album. A hazy, mesmerising glow hovers over the proceedings, from its lilting melody to its enveloping wall of sound arrangement and production which make excellent use of dulcimer, mandolin, and glockenspiel throughout. ‘Sir Casey Jones’ is not the old Grateful Dead nugget, but a jangly Byrdsian effort which flexes their poppier muscles and again makes excellent use of mandolin, and ‘The Highest Tree’ brings a countrified hoedown vibe to the party. Their eponymous debut was released on Hannibal Records in 2006.
              

When it comes to British folk-rock, Fairport Convention's 1969 classic Liege & Lief occupies the same influential trophy case as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, and Nirvana's Nevermind. London folk revivalists Eighteenth Day of May have studied that

record well, alternating between male and female lead vocals, bending traditional pieces into pastoral folk-rock hymns and utilizing an arsenal of traditional instruments without ever sacrificing the cool strains of an electric guitar through a vintage amplifier. Like fellow new traditionalists Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, EDM evoke the countryside in all of its sunlight splendor and rainy gloom, peppering their eponymous debut with descending autoharps, bells, dulcimers, and the occasional flute solo, and for the first few songs they sound like clipper ship full of wind.
                                

      
The lush "Eighteen Days," "Sir Casey Jones" with its Volunteers-era Jefferson Airplane harmonies, and

the rolling "Highest Tree" are mini road trips set to music, but by the time a plodding cover of Bert Jansch's "Deed I Do" appears, the record begins a slow descent into a midtempo sinkhole filled with lush but forgettable folk-pop. The members of this talented collective have obviously done their homework, and their reverence is admirable, but there is so little danger on this excruciatingly safe debut that it ultimately renders itself invisible.
                      

IT'S PSYCHEDELIC BABY MAGAZINE

                                

The Eighteenth Day Of May – The Eighteenth Day Of May
Label: Cardinal Fuzz – CFUL0152, Feeding Tube Records – FTR515
Format: 2 x CD, Limited Edition, Reissue
Country: UK & US
Released: May 18, 2020
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Country Rock, Psychedelic Rock

CD1.

                   

01. Eighteen Days   6:24
02. Sir Casey Jones   3:14
03. The Highest Tree   3:27
04. Deed I Do   3:56
05. Hide + Seek   3:03
06. Twig Folly Close   2:04
07. Lady Margaret   6:47
08. Cold Early Morning   3:53
09. Monday Morning's No Good Coming Down   3:21
10. The Waterman's Song To His Daughter   5:11

CD2.

                     

01. Seven Dials   4:26
02. Up The Hill   3:11
03. The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood   6:12
04. The Man Who Would Be King   3:15
05. Stone Cold   5:56
06. Tell Me Tomorrow   4:44
07. Mary Ann   4:13
08. Dawn   2:04
09. Co'dine   4:35
10. Flowers Of The Forest   5:09

LINE - UP

Bass Guitar, Vocals – Mark Nicholas
Drums, Percussion, Autoharp, Vocals – Karl Sabino
Viola – Alison CottonVocals, Acoustic Guitar [6 String], 12-String Acoustic Guitar, Percussion – Richard Olson
Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin – Ben PhillipsonVocals, Harmonium, Flute, Dulcimer – Allison Brice   

NOTES

Released in a gatefold card sleeve. Limited to 400 copies.

Tracks 1-1 to 1-10 and 2-7 to 2-10 recorded at Concrete Island in 2005
Tracks 2-1 to 2-5 recorded at Bark Studios in January 2006
Track 2-6 recorded at Zed One rehearsal studios

Tracks 1-1 to 1-10 and 2-10 appeared on the intiial release of the album

Flac Size: 500 MB