AND EVERY BLOSSOM

It is often difficult to rate an EP. Too short probably to make one's own judgement but long enough to get an idea?

This "Echolyn" work offers two facets: a soft and folkish affair while you listen to the opening "Bright Sides". And a more conventional "Echolyn" textured music with "Ballet For A Marsh" which offers a more complex structure and to be honest a more solid prog approach.

Somewhat in between, the pleasant "Brunch In The Sun" which is quite a nice moment of music. Light, symphonic and vaguely jazzy?

As most EP's, this one is absolutely not essential. Not at all representative of what the band is able to produce. Just an hors d'oeuvre awaiting the next album I guess ("As The World" ? that will only see the light two years later).

As such, two stars are a maximum rating. The production of "Blue & Sand" sounds pretty awkward and loose. You'd better pass your way?

This particular EP was released the year after "Suffocating The Bloom" came out. It really feels like one of those unplugged sessions which i'm not a fan of. So yes it's acoustic music but all in all it's a good little recording. It seemed like the perfect listening material this afternoon on such a hot humid summers day.

"Bright Sides" has this cute introduction from a child before violin, acoustic guitar and vocals lead the way. Very laid back with piano 1 1/2 minutes in. "Ballet For A Marsh" is another relaxing tune with piano, acoustic guitar and vocals out front. It does pick up after 2 minutes but then settles back.

"Lunch In The Sun" is again mostly acoustic guitar and vocals until the guest horns kick in before 3 minutes. The child is back introducing "Blue And Sand" with acoustic guitar, piano and vocals leading the way.

An acoustic EP that's quite different from what we usually hear from this band.

Echolyn's four-song EP represents the band at their most lighthearted and cheerful, and no song shows this more than the exciting and childlike "Bright Sides," appropriately introduced by a child. Acoustic guitar, piano and strings flutter around each other as an excited Brett Kull sings the whimsical words. "Ballet for a Marsh" eases into a slightly more somber direction, but keeps a sense of wonder with fretless bass, autoharp, and moody, reserved singing from Ray Weston. I love the percussion, especially the shaker. A more fanciful interlude breaks up the song and gives it variety. Taking the jazziness of the second song much further, "Lunch in the Sun" expresses a hazy happiness- the perfect lazy day. Kull's airy rasp is the ideal voice for such a piece, and the brass excursion is just the right touch. The final tune, "Blue and Sand," features Weston singing so sweetly over light acoustic guitar and piano. The lyrics are immediately poetic, offering reflections on nature and the rich beauty of the earth. As EPs go, it doesn't get much better than this for me. The entire work is a cornucopia of satiating imagery, good feelings, and simple, lovely music. "This is a happy" thing.

This is a very interesting EP from this american band. it´s totally opposed to their more overtly complex arangements and playing. In short, Echolyn is really capable of doing something simple, acoustic and straightforward. Although my knowlledge of the group is quite limited (I´ve listened to just one CD until recently), I was not very fond of their sound on As The World. The reason is onlly one: they were complex for complexity´s sake. Unlike their obvious heroes and main inspiration, early to mid-70´s Gentle Giant, Echolyn seemed unable to use their tremendous technique and talent for the music itself. GG always knew how to balance things around and while their sound was very elaborated they also knew how to write melodic and catchy stuff.

And Every Blossom is something of their lighter side that I did not know of. It´s very acoustic, very melodic, very bright and... yes, simple. And I liked it. It´s a totally different approach (even sounding like another band completely) and I hope next time I hear one of their new releases they´ll handle both sides and make it more palatable. dosing between the extreme complexity of their former sound with the simpleness needed so often. Then they´ll be closer to their idols and maybe they´ll make it big (at least in the prog world).

Echolyn were hit by the spring fever of 93' and left aside their electric complexity for a month to come up with an unplugged mini album full of enjoyable, poppy tunes.''...And every blossom'' was released again on Bridge Records, consisting of four song with a total length of 15 minutes.Wind and string instrument varieties were provided by some guest friends of the Germantown Academy.

Echolyn do sound a bit like GENTLE GIANT during their fading days, they try to mix a sophisticated Chamber/Folk with vocal-based Pop and the result is far from their previous releases, still pretty decent within the scope of its creation.The basic instrumental dominance comes from the limited space for such ideas and the delicate work on flutes, trumpets, cello and violins, supported by the lovely piano lines of Christopher Buzby.As aforementioned, ''''...And every blossom'' was a totally acoustic offering with a good production, relying on acoustic tricks, short string/woodwind orchestrations and hidden rural inspirations.Its style remains along the lines of sophisticated Pop music with nice vocal lines and interesting acoustic sessions, always delivered with a positive mood, but somewhat moving away from the usual offerings of the band.

Actually I would recommended this album only to Echolyn fans.Pleasant sophisticated Art Pop, which showcases the band's external talent, but fails to stand next to Echolyn's monumental full-length albums...2.5 stars.