WULFSONG VOLUME 1

Obscure beat poet and tree hugger Wulf Zendik aka Larry Wulfing was this Texan guru trying to live off the fat of the land in a self realised community, which promoted environmental health and sound ways to go about it.

Whereas his earlier records are stacked neatly in my Krautrock collection, this one entitled Wulfsong is somewhat of a curiosity that leaves all the sawing grungy guitars and electronic trickery behind for an altogether more personal affair.

Wulf died in 1999, which makes this album a posthumous release. He'd played and recorded music all through his life, much of the times it was merely him sitting in front of a single mic with his trusty self-made 8 string guitar/sitar. I guess these recordings of his mostly acted as blueprints to future orgiastic freak outs with his fellow compatriots, yet some of them were kept intact and stored away somewhere. Wulfsong are basically leftovers from a period of 25 years. As such you could say that it remains his most personal output, as nobody else but himself is featured on here.

With these words in mind this collection of songs suddenly take on new life. With Wulf dishing out his heart in the most heartfelt and soothing manner, Wulfsong distances itself from the wilderness of past psychedelic excursions. Even his vocals seemed to have changed, and remember some of these songs were indeed caught on tape whilst his singing style contained in the "band" was out there and screeching, almost demonic in some aspects. On here you are met by a gentle soul. His voice flies on by you like a beautiful velvety bird. Not entirely unlike Tim Buckley's quivering delivery, dear ol Larry puts his own spin on it and sounds altogether more raspy and worldly-wise.

All through this album I feel like I've tapped into the globe's most obscure radio station that proceeds to air broadcasts from a barren cave located in the dry red soil of Texas. Out of the speakers I hear this hermit and his beguiling voice tell tales of the love, sorrow, dreams and hopes of men.

Wulfsong remains a laid-back folky affair with low key string strummings, endearing vocals and lyrical tapestries. You won't find much in the way of prog rock on here, but what you do find in it's place, are a series of intimate sonic moments, where you get to hear the single most intimate utters from a beatnik guru who spent his whole life searching for the esoteric and earthy, all at the same time. On here he may have found the earthy part of the equation. There's a fragility about him that exudes honesty, zero bs and a love for the simple things in life. Like watching plant life shoot through mud and darkness.