The Incredible String Band

It was way back in the Sgt. Pepper days of 1967 when the Incredible String Band first appeared. It was formed by Robin Williamson and Mike Heron, both of whom were steeped in the ways of the old-time folk minstrel.

So, with almost everyone else breathing in the raw electric screams of San Francisco add rock, (and drum solos ad nauseam), the Incredible String Band softly wove their way through album after album of charming English-vintage folk. Like the musical equivalent of a bottle of old mellow wine, Incredible Strings made music that dripped wilt the rich warmth of English sea chanties and ballads.

Even from the beginning, the groups flushed this simple, innocent music with its own strange concoction of magic. And now, with its sevenrh album, Liquid Acrobat Regards teh Air, the band proves itself again to be a master at creating blendings of traditional folk tunes and fusing it ttih Williamson and Heron's own unique musical visions.

If you think Pink Floyd gets strange at time, check out Williamson's lyrics on "Evolution Rag":

• eat air croquettes my children dear
• if you want to save yourself time and tears
• history picnicers follow me
• evolution up the slopes of the sea

Like all Incredible String albums of the past, this one bubbles over with mystical dreams of serene, heaven-world where souls, unchained fro their torment, can run free. If it sounds a Iittle maudlin, it is. But like the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd, the group has built up enough skill and craftsmanship over the years to pull it off.

The folk influences on the music are evident right from the first cut, "Talking of the End," which starts out as a somber Medieval love ballad with deep rumbling chords on harpsichord and organ. The real treat on side one is "Evolution Rag," done in the manner of a children's lullaby in a happy-go-lucky style reminiscent of the Lovin' Spoonful.

Side two continues with this type of easygoing fun song in another nonsensical ditty called "Adam and Eve." But then the organ bellows out thunder and you're back in a Medieval church for the remainder of the album except for a refreshing medley of traditional English drinking songs, titled "Jigs," where the group really kicks it out with fiddle, spoons, mandolin, autoharp and bironne. It sort of sounds a bit like a foot stompin' hoe down. And this is the genius of the lncredible String Band; an almost perfect fusion of traditional sounds and a mystic's dreams.