Review: The Ilk - The New Dark Age

I've said it before and I'll say it again - one of the real joys of writing a music blog is receiving little nuggets of joy like this (on this occasion via Kostas at Melotron Recordings - thanks Kostas!). I'll be totally honest, I'd never heard of The Ilk before the email from Kostas but apparently they have been around for a while.....I will be investigating further!

'The New Dark Age' takes the best bits of acid folk, psychedelia, prog and hauntology, has a bit of a stir and the result is a potent brew that looks back with a nostalgic eye at a more pastoral age whilst channeling the musical spirit of the Canterbury scene AND the soundtracks of those wacky seventies children's TV programmes. It is a beautiful piece of work that rewards both the ears and the brain.

The opener, 'On Ilkley Moor/ The New Dark Age' is a fourteen minute opus of gently plucked acoustic guitar, washes of mellotron and what sounds like harpsichord (not enough harpsichord around these days). Add to this some bursts of electric guitar (that even sound vaguely surfy at times) and some brass and you have a track that, whilst never seeming to 'go' anywhere, maintains the listeners interest to the end. There are definite proggy overtones which add to the overall nostalgic feel. 'A Ghost Story For Summer' feels like a nightmarish soundtrack to Ray Bradbury's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' - the eerie synths and carnival organ give the track a real spooky feel underneath the jaunty melody.'Powerplant' races along as a track with it's almost-krautrock rhythm and it's chiming percussion while 'Off Hogben's Hill' brings back some mystery and intrigue to the proceedings - a harpsichord picks out the basic melody and the synths add the air of suspense and unease - it has seventies soundtrack written all over it - had Tangerine Dream recorded on Ghost Box, this would be the result. Closing track 'Living By The Water' ends the album in a fine style, taking a traditional sounding melody and distorting it with some deranged guitar and some truly mad synths (is that bagpipes I hear?). it's the most unhinged of the five tracks but works well in conjunction with the rest.

'The New Dark Age' is not always an east listen but stick with it...it has passages of pure beauty and some of uneasy tension but it is an immensely satisfying listen. It can be obtained through the Melotron Recordings bandcamp page as a digital download or as a pretty groovy cassette.