It's been a while since we last heard from the Ellis Island Sound crew, and from the sounds of it they've been quite busy perfecting their lush blend of acoustics and delicate electronics. The collaborative project of musical veterans David Sheppard (State River Widening, Phelan Sheppard) and Pete Astor, Ellis Island Sound have finally settled down on the very lovely Peacefrog label after flirting with Static Caravan and Heavenly and 'The Good Seed' is the fruits of their new pairing. The duo recorded everything on an old 8-track recorder using a multitude of electronic and acoustic instruments and the cacophony is more than pleasantly surprising. Now the smoke has cleared on the whole 'home recording' boom of a few years ago there are a surprising number of musicians going 'back to basics' and taking great pleasure in making the most gorgeous sounds from the most crumbling retro equipment. Ellis Island Sound however are more than just scenesters jumping on the new in sound, they have been steadily pedalling away at their own brand of electrically re-wired folk music for nearly a decade, and 'The Good Seed' is easily their most coherent and involving effort yet. It seems by paring down their sound and giving themselves limitations they have come up with something which feels spontaneous and really rather involving - there's something incredibly happy-go-lucky and incredibly Englishabout their compositions. This is music for 1970s Saturday morning television, music for elevenses, music for feeding the ducks in the park - and it's all the better for it. There's no pretension and no cynicism to these twenty (!) productions, instead they are dripping with love and sincerity, something I must say is a pleasant surprise to hear. Curl up by the fire, get yourself a good (English?) book and let 'The Good Seed' bring you a smile from ear to ear.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Swords Reversed
2. Angel's Way
3. Auction Of Promises
4. Villagers
5. Cuckoo Hill
6. Count The Cars
7. Plagal Walk
8. Density Ratio
9. Swords Reversed (1)
10. Building A Table
11. Dark Lane
12. Unwinding Not Unravelling
13. Waveny Waltz
14. Hills Of Braithwaite
15. Reeds For Arthur
16. Summoning The Pharoah
17. Orchid
18. Last Days Of John Train
19. Concertina Theory
20. Starlight Madrigal