CULPEPER'S ORCHARD

This self titled studio album is the debut album from Danish band Culpeper´s Orchard. Culpeper´s Orchard is fronted by former Cy, Maia and Robert member Cy Nicklin. Cy Nicklin is as opposed to the rest of the band from England which means that the vocals are not strongly accented which sometimes was a problem with other danish acts from the sixties and the seventies.

The music reminds me a lot of the early Jethro Tull albums This Was and Stand Up without exactly sounding like Jethro Tull though. But try and listen to Your Song & Mine or Ode to Resistance and tell me that this doesn´t sound like Jethro Tull. I can almost imagine the flute from Ian Anderson even though there are little flute on this album ( there are some flute in Ode to Resistance though). The music is very guitar driven and there are some great bluesy soloing here and there from lead guitarist Niels Hendrikson. Songs like Mountain Music Part 1, Teaparty for an Orchard and Your Song & Mine are great examples of bluesy and mildly progressive music that Culpeper´s Orchard play. I also hear some cream and Wishbone Ash in the music. The Eclectic prog tag is just right as there are both folk, psych and blues rock in the music.

The musicianship is great and I really enjoy Cy Nicklin´s vocals. He´s not a very distinct vocalist but he has a pleasant style. The instrumentation is mostly stripped down to vocals, guitars, bass and drums but there are parts with organ, piano or flute.

The production is really good. Warm and pleasant.

Seen from a progressive angle this debut album from Culpeper´s Orchard isn´t the most exciting release but it´s still good rock music and does deserve 3 stars. It´s only mildly progressive but still serves as a good representative of the early seventies Danish experimental music scene. Listen to the album more than once. I know I did and it still grows on me so it might be a 4 star rating some time in the future. There are more details here than you´ll probably hear on initial listen.