Published March 25, 2011
Melchior is one of those prototype renaissance artist groups, consisting of multi-instrument-wielding folks performing music as a vehicle for poetry. Or is it the other way around? Sounds like a multitude of current indie/alternative groups that frequent these pages, right? Thing is, the two albums re-issued on this double album were originally let loose on the public in 1980, hence the name.
The group doesn’t fit into any particular genre or style. The music is all over the place: folky, proggy, and acoustic, there’s a bit of rock, a bit of pop and tons of annoying-as-hell. Yes. After 38 songs from an aimless “sound world”, saturated with playfulness and quirks, I turn into a bitter sailor that would love nothing more than to put these artsy-farts on a raggedy fishing vessel.
But ‘1980’ is a pretty remarkable document of an era gone by, a glimpse into an art scene that was. It has an air of sincerity and innocence to it, emitting more Iceland than most of today’s acts. The booklet looks hideous but it has lyrics and credits rudimentary for a release like this, but no liner notes. C’mon!
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