10. Espers - II [Wichita]

A few moments of doubt when I see Joanna Newsom gazing at me from her cover of Ys. There's only room for ten in this Bonanza and with all the fantastic noise/drone/scuzz/what not releases I've heard this year it's hard to squeek in other stuff I liked. Ten seconds of pondering later and it only seems fair to give Espers the benefit of doubt. Without sounding too confident about it, I might add, because Ys and II are two totally different albums. What they do have in common is the way they mold folk into something of the Here and Now. You might as well forget about freakfolk already. II is the real deal and they're not even trying to sound like whatever and what if.

The way they do it remains mystifying. There's always the smell of ancient tribes hanging round. Folks like Fairport Convention, Pentangle and Steeleye Span did leave their footprints in the soil II walks on but Espers strangle every bittersweet folk arrangement with electrifying guitar chords to make sure their sound doesn't get stuck inside an embroidered paradise. At times II hits harder than your average metal album with Greg Weeks wielding his axe like he just joined Blue Cheer.

Center of attention though are Meg Baird's pastoral vocals. Simply incredible, a solid rock of elegance inside a roaring ocean of tweaking pedals and swooning violins. Check out the climaxing maelstrom of fuzz guitars and violins during the last minute of 'Widow's Weed', the pondering melody of the soothing 'Cruel Storm' that feels like a hundred years old. The slow build up to the enormous folk meets Led Zep sculpture 'Mansfield & Cyclops'. By now you know you can trust a guy like Greg Weeks. Especially with this Espers crew on his side I'm convinced every one of their albums will be remembered as remarkable chapters in today's music and in the end, II will be just another highlight.