Manimal Vinyl
The Chapin Sisters / Winter Flowers -split EP 10"- (US,2007)***°
This is a perfectly paired LP with firstly, the Chapin Sisters, which are three sisters, two daughters of songwriter Tom Chapin and one daughter of filmmaker Wes Craven. They are known to play a whole repertoire of songs with folk and bluegrass flavours, from old time classics to more recent hits (like The Cure’s “boys don’t cry” and an acoustic slower version of Britney Spears pop hit “toxic” with which they were given some attention). They are a LA based group who sing folk flavoured material in an acapella way, perhaps influenced by gospel or blues harmonies, but more like in their own “family harmony” acoustic way. Their songs are simple and happy, and are only accompanied by acoustic guitar, and a tiny bit of organ. Their contributions fit very well with the more arranged music of Winter Flowers. This Californian based group for me still is one of the biggest new promises in folk music, bridging with English folk traditions, but renewing the styles in their own way, from folk traditions to late medieval flavours, where Renaissance was changing styles into something more court-like. Also their core of harmonies are female harmonies, acoustic guitar and organ, but they also have a male singer, use flutes (and horns), glockenspiel, a bit of harpischord and mellotron, and also they use little percussion. A nice vinyl only release, with beautiful picturedisk artwork.
