Artists Condensed: Vashti Bunyan

By msarko on 4/23/09 8:32am
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Folk musicians are an interesting lot. At least half of them seem like they don't even want to be recording artists. In a weird way, that makes a lot of sense. Folk is often the closest someone can get to just screwing around on an acoustic guitar without any thought applied to arrangement. Simple chords, even-paced picking and the balladeer's sense of repetition make folk what it is; the music of guys sitting on the couch and girls waiting for the kettle to heat up.

Earlier this week I wrote about Nick Drake, who in the above sense is something of an oddity. Most of his work is fairly complex for being folk music and his lyrics often go far beyond the themes of nature and childhood that have long been cliche in the genre. That's why I wanted to focus the second half of Folk Week on someone I would consider the quintessential traditional folk artist. Vashti Bunyan barely qualifies as a recording artist. In 1970 she released Just Another Diamond Day and then promptly disappeared from the music scene for three decades. What was she doing all that time? Why, raising children and tending a farm full of animals. A lot of musicians are disingenuous at best concerning their style and preferred topics, but Bunyan ain't one of 'em.

With her kids grown and the whole folk craze having blown over, only to have a minor resurgence as of late, Vashti Bunyan returned to professional music a couple years ago. With acts like Iron and Wine reminding Americans of how much they like gentle, grown-up lullabies the world was ready for the Godmother of Freak Folk to return, trippy lyrics and all.

In 2005 Bunyan released Lookingafter, an airy wisp of an album that didn't really try to sound new. In fact, the first time I heard it I thought it must have come shortly after Diamond Day. The main difference between these two albums is that Lookingafter has a sort of old-world spirituality about it, and I mean really old-world, like the cthonic gods of Gaul old.

As is my new tradition, I'm taking time out to talk about my personal favorite song from the artist. I love the fun little melody and the imaginative lyrics here. "They had a green car called Happiness Runs/ Friday comes and Happiness Runs/ Out of petrol and everyone gets out to push". If by some strange circumstance the world ever allows me to procreate, this is going to be one of my kid's nap time songs.

At the same time that she's gentle and motherly, Vashti Bunyan is also trippy as hell. Eastern instruments, echoes and dreamy sweeps are present on about 1/3 of her songs, which beats a hippie on a banjo any day of the week.

Vashti Bunyan also wrote some pretty good love songs, like the above two tracks. They focus more on quiet fascinations and mundane things, which is generally rare in music. Fixating on the way your object of affection talks with their hands is more realistic and thereby more moving than any assertion of a heart on fire or the clouds parting at the right person's presence.

Just like she wrote some great love songs, Bunyan also wrote one of the greatest breakup songs I've ever heard. Clocking in at just under two minutes, "Winter Is Blue" perfectly captures the kind of malaise and exasperation that comes at the end of a relationship. She's tired but restless and it even seems like it's raining just to make the day a little worse.

This is kind of an anti-hit, isn't it? Vashti Bunyan only ever recorded one song like "Some Things", and even this one sounds a little incongruous. It's a swingin' pop song that is easily three times faster than anything else she ever recorded. It's particularly jarring considering its original form, a rocking track penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

I'm glad that Vashti Bunyan didn't just disappear completely after Diamond Day. Her re-emergence in the digital age gave plenty of people a chance to spread the word about her, this time on her own terms. In her early days Bunyan was under pressure from the industry to produce hit songs to add to the already overgrown pile of pop folk singles, so she dropped out before she lost herself or became irrelevant. Artists like this are meant to be enjoyed on a more quiet, personal level, not paraded out on a variety show to appeal to the long-haired kids in the audience.

I'll be back next week with another artist. Until then, listen well.