Comments for Newman, Tom, Faerie Symphony

Faerie Symphony is just plain masterpiece. Too bad it is not available through more wide spread record labels. Many folks just don''t know about its existence!

Tom Newman, probably best known for his Mike Oldfield production work, created his own projects during studio offtime, late at night or whenever the time was available. This album (recently re-released by Korean label Si-Wan) is based on traditional Celtic faerie lore, including Irish and Scottish, with stories from various cycles of the former. The cycle is successful in its moody meandering from dusk to dawn (probably something to do with the times that it was recorded), beginning with haunting flutes and acoustic guitars, working up to the very Celtic partying of "The Seelie Court" and "Dance of the Daoine Sidhe" (featuring an unbilled appearance by Mike Oldfield on characteristic guitar), then to the spooky unearthly "The Unseelie Court," with its bass hook,gibbering and booming vocal distortions (the Unseelie Court abduct travellers just before dawn, in an ancient variation of the modern alien abduction myth), returning to the opening theme as dawn arrives. The night and day cover, by Jim Fitzpatrick, is among the most beautiful album artwork I`ve ever seen. The music, while often repetitive due to the techniques involved, becomes fairly compelling on repeated listenings and is full of inventiveness, with flutes (Jon Field) and mellotrons featuring prominently, among a variety of guests. (Ian C. Thomas)