Machingbyrd "The Road to Forbidden Ecstacy" 1980 US Private Acid Folk. <br /> <br />This has taken me forever to sort out and the file info has driven me insane thanks to this <br />dying computer. The album is entitled 'The Road to Forbidden Ecstacy' (the files may still be <br />named 'ecstasy', if they are please re-title), released in 1980 by a man named Michael Engberg <br />under the pseudonym of Machingbyrd - pronounced 'mach' (as in the speed Mach 3), 'ing', 'bird'. <br />I managed to pick this up about one and a half years ago off an internet store for a fraction of <br />other prices I'd seen (ebay). It was still sealed, but because of the fact it had been sealed <br />for 27 years the record came a bit bowl warped (hence the much lower price). Hopefully you won't <br />notice that in this replication, to my ears the quality is very good. <br />Overall it's a very pleasing acid folk album, one of the many that have been lost in time. <br />~ by disconcerted. <br /> <br />Very rare US acid/folk gem with deep vocals,dreamy keys,tenor sax passages, <br />electric guitar backings,fuzz flashes,folk/rock moves,stoned feel,hippie vibe… <br />~ By: Philmarie (RYM). <br /> <br />This record caught my attention on the Acid Archives when it was described as, "folk and <br />folkrock with psych moves, acoustic and electric guitars, some synth embellishments." <br />Thought it sounded interesting and so the hunt to find a cheap(ish) copy of the original few <br />that were pressed begun. <br />Now owning an unplayed copy of the album - well, was unplayed until I got my hands on it! - it <br />had to be heard. I was maybe figuring it would be something like the Dreamies project of Bill <br />Holt, but it's a lot less synth orientated. It's almost as much a jazzy folk album as much as <br />it is psych folk. <br />If you get a copy I'd highly recommend playing it through some decent headphones if only for <br />'By your leave's kicking bass drum. I can't seem to hear it through normal speakers, but when <br />the headphones are on it sends my ears insane, the air displacement is fantastic. 'By your <br />leave' is one of the best tracks on the album in my opinion, with that bass drum, the French <br />vocals and the nice synth soundscape, it works beautifully. <br />'His wildest dreams' (track 8) is really the only track that shows off the synthesiser and he <br />really knew how to incorporate it well into his music. The short solo is excellent and really <br />helps make it one of the stand out tracks. <br />The last track, 'Mary B Reel', the only instrumental piece on the album, is a great piece of <br />folk guitar that wouldn't sound out of place on something like Sir Richard Bishop's recent <br />'Polytheistic Fragments' album. Timeless. <br />The only downside of the album is that sometimes the vocals are a bit of a let down, but they're <br />not terrible and something that can definitely be appreciated in accompaniment with the music. <br />I also have to admit that my rating partly reflects the fact that this is a rare piece and that <br />I'm proud to be an owner of a copy, but on the music alone I definitely wouldn't rate this below <br />3.5. Fairest would probably be 4/5. <br />These days he is making music under his own name, Michael Engberg. <br />~ By: Disconcerted (RYM).
