Review: Sherpa - Tanzlinde

There are a few people in the music 'world' whose taste I trust implicitly.....a few fellow bloggers, label owners, artists etc...the sort of people who, if they recommend a record or band, 9.9 times out of ten they have just turned you on to a beauty. Dave from Sulatron is definitely one of these people. Sulatron are yet to release anything I haven't dug immensely. The latest example being Sherpa whose debut album 'Tanzlinde' is out imminently on CD via Sulatron, with a lush press on green 180g vinyl (limited to 500) to follow in December. Sherpa are a neo-psych band from Abruzzo, Italy and 'Tanzlinde' is a bit of a beauty!

The album gets under way with 'Elven' and straightaway it's obvious that Sherpa are not neo-psych in the same manner as, say, The Black Angels - there are no hazy walls of fuzz here, but instead veering down a more pastoral route. 'Elven' is a beuatiful slice of psych folk with hints of eastern melodies running throughout. 'Robert W' is a more ethereal track, thanks in part to the dreamy vocals and lush instrumentation...to be fair it's probably more 'shoegaze' than neo-psych but that has no bearing on it's intrinsic charm. 'Dubinska' takes us straight back to the sixties with some gorgeous vocals, with more eastern motifs, and excellent psych guitar work. Title track 'Tanzlinde' (Linden Tree) extends the eastern theme with some exotic melodies and thudding drums whilst recalling the psychedelic folk of the early seventies...an excellent track and probably my favourite on the album. 'Sherpa' has some more chiming psych guitar that veers towards the exotic but it's the vocals that grab you - moving from a psychedelic Clannad style to some middle eastern chants...another belter. 'Loto' again recalls the sixties with its west coast harmonies and chilled vibe while 'Big Foot' has a lush drone running throughout, over which a delicate guitar complements some hushed vocals - if this track was any more laid back, it would be horizontal. 'Magnetic' is a primal, gothic neo-folk number..tribal drums and guitar over some vocals a la Father Murphy..another stand-out track and, to these ears, indicative of some of the fantastic music coming out of Italy at the moment. 'Of Coke And Steel' is a title of a song that one would expect to be almost industrial in nature, but nothing could be further from the truth...it is initially one of the more driving songs on the album but still has that alluring, bucolic atmosphere that runs through 'Tanzlinde'. The album is brought to a close by 'Plot', a more abstract number with a middle eastern feel to....hushed chants, stabs of brass, electronic chirps and an almost hauntological vibe.

'Tanzlinde' is an intense album for all its pastoral beauty and lush instrumentation and it's definitely a 'grower'...every time I've listened I've become more and more ensnared in the subtle beauty and entrancing melodies. It is an album that seeps into your consciousness bit by bit. If 'Tanzlinde' was released by a label such as Boring Machines or No-Fi it would be acclaimed as a gem of the Italian Occult Psychedelic movement and rightly so. So, Dave, you've done it again! 'Tanzlinde' is out on CD imminently (if not now) and on vinyl in December and is available from the Sulatron shop