Elephantasia cover

Elephantasia

Released

Bangor-born Dave Evans only learnt to play guitar in his 20s while passing through Morocco during a stint in the merchant navy. Yet Evans quickly developed a virtuoso, yet seemingly effortless, finger-picking style which drew the admiration of both his peers and early champion John Peel. Released in 1972 and until recently out-of-print, his second album is a beguiling, bewitching gem. Fans of Nick Drake will swoon at the Bryter Layter-like “Only Blue” (featuring perhaps music’s most romantic reference to “chili con carne”), but Evans’ quivering vocals and pioneering use of tape manipulation (see the two-speed guitar ‘duet’ on the title track) chart Elephantasia into more unusual waters, drifting into a space between folk and a pastoral prog of the sort to be found on EMI’s Harvest imprint.

Chris Catchpole

Suggestions
Peasant cover

Peasant

Richard Dawson
Wilds cover

Wilds

Andy Shauf
Farm to Table cover

Farm to Table

Bartees Strange
Then I Try Some More cover

Then I Try Some More

Joanna Sternberg
Nakama cover

Nakama

Steve Gunn
Big Picture cover

Big Picture

Fenne Lily
Silence cover

Silence

Alexis Taylor
Another Side cover

Another Side

Leo Nocentelli