MOONSTONE

Yet another band that truly fits the definition of obscure, MOONSTONE was a psychedelic folk band that emerged from an unknown destination with some sources citing Alaska, USA and some various parts of Canada, however there is no dispute that the band recorded in the city of Montreal, Quebec where they released their one and only artifact of their existence, this eponymously titled album that was released on the Kot'ai label in 1973. Despite the relative obscurity with insufficient info attached, the album has seen re-issues with Radioactive Records having been the last to issue it on CD.

This is a highly melodic example of purely acoustic psychedelic folk that consisted of the five band members Randy Price (vocals, electric & acoustic guitars), Michael Heath (vocals, 6- & 12-string acoustic guitars, piano), Carolyn MacLeod (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano), Francis Path (flute) and David Bass who of course played bass! This is light and airy music that sounds somewhere between the British folk of bands like Fairport Convention and some sort of Americana country roots music with an emphasis on the strong harmonic interplay of MacLeod's charismatic and strong feminine vocals that work well with the male vocals.

At times it reminds me of Heart's earliest works at least in the acoustic realms on such tracks as "Dreamboat Annie" or "Dog & Butterfly," only more haunting and ethereal. There are no rock aspects present here save the more energetic guitar solo on "Black Blind Light." This music is completely on mellow mode but contains instantly infectious melodies that are probably most closely related to the 1970 album "Parallellograms" by Linda Perhaps only doesn't venture into the surreal psychedelia and instead keeps focus on a rural folk mood setting stance with almost all of the instrumental interplay heard on acoustic guitar and bass with the piano and flute only making sporadic appearances. Tracks like "David (Blue)" are quite dark and moody however.

This one definitely evokes a traditional roots sound and is probably the least psychedelic of folk that has been lumped into the acid folk tag i've ever heard. At times the harmonies also slightly bring Crosby, Still, Nash & Young to mind but overall, MOONSTONE capture one of those in between types of band sounds that clearly doesn't deviate significantly from the genre norm but has enough personality not to be mistaken for the more well known folk bands of the era either. While not groundbreaking nor innovative in any possible way, the eleven tracks on MOONSTONE's sole release are however extremely well crafted and the perfect getaway to the light and breezy escapist journey in the countryside. No bad tracks here and excellent performances throughout. This really needs to be rediscovered.