Vashti Bunyan
"Just Another Diamond Day"
Philips / re-release: DiChristina Stair
Sounds like: The 30-year-old decision to play folk music instead of going to art school.
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The sense of legitimacy in the music industry seems to have faded away with the recent flux of bad Clear Channel radio stations and television's impious programs reveling in the overspending of the rich and semi-talented. The truly refreshing counteraction of this rejection is the emerging subgenres, specifically the underground folk trend. The returning matriarch of this subgenre is Vashti Bunyan, resurfacing after more than 30 years of self-induced exile from the popular music world that attempted to claim her.
Bunyan's life is fascinating, full of art school ?migr?s, farms, a donation from mega-popular '60s folk singer Donovan to build a wagon, and the British Isles landscape. Between 1965 and 1970, Bunyan recorded pop and folk songs after she decided to drop out of art school, choosing the solo guitar over the solo paintbrush.
As Bunyan's popularity increased, she was immediately heralded as "the next Marianne Faithfull" or a "female Bob Dylan." Rejecting the overwhelming responsibility of those titles, Bunyan traveled the British countryside and wrote.
In 1970, Bunyan recorded "Just Another Diamond Day" with Joe Boyd, landmark producer for the British folk scene of that era. Boyd is notable for having worked with pseudo-icon Nick Drake - this overlap is evident in the parallel string arrangements on "Just Another Diamond Day" and many of Drake's albums, as well as the ethereal timelessness of their sound.
Upon the recording of "Just Another Diamond Day," Bunyan was essentially given two options: promote her album or begin a family. Bunyan chose the latter and the album fell into obscurity, with only a few remaining taped recordings left, rendering Bunyan and her music something of a rare artifact of the blissful British folk scene. "Just Another Diamond Day" found itself a niche among Brit-folk collectors and enthusiasts, and was re-released in the United Kingdom in 2000. It wasn't until last fall that the album was available domestically, when DiChristina Records stepped up to the plate.
The album is striking in its timelessness. Anyone who grew up around an acoustic guitar and a volume of "Rise Up Singing" would be instantly familiar with the gentle way in which Bunyan paints a pastoral picture of the landscape. An idyllic life is translated through her serendipitous songs. From start to finish, each of the 18 tracks could be traditional or campfire fare, passed down through generations, yet each is original, inspired by her travels and experiences in 1960s Great Britain. She writes and sings of the familiar, of the bucolic.
Bunyan's voice is devastatingly on point. Boyd's production juxtaposes her small, soft tone with equally small and equally soft instrumentation. It soars when needed and diminishes with a chill-inducing timbre. Each song is a small present doled out by a shy gift-giver, to be treated with respect and reverence.
Bunyan's increased popularity over the past year can easily be credited to New York folk singer Devendra Banhart, who has often referred to Bunyan as his idol. The two recorded a duet for Banhart's 2004 album, "Rejoicing in the Hands," by the same title. Bunyan's whispered voice hovers over Banhart's tender melody, recreating the same hushed vocals that can be found on "Just Another Diamond Day." Bunyan's voice remains unchanged over the past three decades, staying so delicate it almost seems to tear with the changing chords.
