In 1970, Vashti Bunyan released a record nobody listened to. Thirty years later Folk's New Kids on the Block (D. Banhart, J. Newsom, Animal Collective) exhumated it and told everyone it was a forgotten gem. People buy it. Sure, Just Another Dimaond Day is a fine record, yet i still have trouble making sense out of this. I'll try to stop thinking for a while.

Lookaftering, Vashti Bunyan's proper comeback, after a song with Devendra Banhart (folk's Puff Daddy) and a great ep with Animal Collective (folk's Wu Tang Clan) was recorded and arranged by Max Richter, who is a talented man. It sounds good, even if a bit too polished at times. Her voice is still crystal clear, and the record sounds like a folk record by an artist who played folk in 1970.

Funnily enough, while Just Another Diamond Day flunked because it arrived at the end of the 60s folk revival, Lookaftering may pass by unnoticed because it stands amidst tons of heavily hyped, yet poorer, records that were influenced by its predecessor. Was the context different, Lookaftering could be considered as a timeless classic. Right now, it's only a perfect mother's day present that may very well blossom into another hidden gem for the 60s folk revival revival revival (scheduled for 2038).

-Barbara H

/october 2005/