TEITHGAN

Second album from the Welsh combo and second touchdown in so many tries. Indeed Pererin proved that the 80's had no grasp on their music and Teithgan is yet another marvellous piece of 70's prog folk. The quintet's delightful folk rock reminds a lot of the later 70's Basque folk wave and is especially reminiscent of the fabulous Itoiz, both in terms of pure heavenly songwriting, but also in the vocal delivery, their Gaelic dialect adding some very exotic touches. Their three albums had been completely forgotten about, until the small Spanish-based Guerssen label revived it recently with reissues of all three, although it appears the debut has yet to see a Cd format reissue. While the group chose to sing in their Welsh tongue, they took care to at least translate their song titles in English, French and two other "brands" of Gaellic. Teithgan (Travelling Song) comes with a very naïve and abstract windy-themed artwork.

The opening Door track (that's the title gives you right away the beautiful and serene ambiances through which the whole album will bask. Indeed Bev Jones' flute gives an enchanting tone to the often multi-faceted vocals. The following Gefn Brith is a tribute to the Welsh martyr of the same name. Even though the ambiances go a little more solemn and dramatic, the mainly acoustic music remains gorgeous. The short instrumental "Will You Come, Dei?" is another pure delight, moving through a few moods effortlessly. Through The Mountains is a slower track where the flute gives out a pastoral that sends you out for the green pastures of the Welsh hills. Closing up is a trad song roughly translate to My Babe Is Cute and might just be the only cheesy moment of the album, even if a Hackettian and Firth Of Fifthian electric guitar solo smoothes out the balladry

The flipside of the album starts out on Joyful Symphony (a modern Christian song), much like previously given

Then comes a four-movement suite (lasting under 6-mins), from which the album draws its name after the first movement Teithgan, a story of a Welsh that beat a horse at racing but ended dead after crossing the line. Definitely one of the highlights of the album, it is the only song of the album where the joy seems partly absent, but replaced by some dramatics. Maybe the album's tracks, too. Another trad song "Where Are You Going, Fair Lady?" gives another nod to the Basque group of Itoiz, ending in an electric fair with Banksian synth layers and Hackettian guitars. Trickles is a short Rutherford-Philips-Hackett arpeggio interlude, a prelude to the superb Parys Mountains, a warning about interference of mainstream culture for local tradition. Starting out on a solemn flute over cold winds, the 5-mins closing track is another highlight, with a full-blown prog spectrum, showing on much Genesis had been an influence over them.

Overall, a delightful album that only small labels like Guerssen seem to be taking the risk to reissue and certainly here, they have unearthed another superb gem that had been forgotten. And let's rush out to buy it, just to encourage him to look for more. Don't be afraid of the year of release of this album, it seems that time and music industry had little grasp over Pererin.

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