The moral of the elephant

"The way their voices swoop and bend together is a delight. Grand Conversation on Napoleon is based on a Vaughan Williams song from the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) collection but the highlight is the sweetly sad Happiness, written by Nick Drake's mum Molly, and finely sung by Eliza Carthy, with some impressive old-fashioned whistling from Martin thrown in. It was recorded by her at home in the Fifties and only recently unearthed. The Moral of the Elephant is a fine album from Topic Records, who celebrate their 75th anniversary this year".

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"Eliza Carthy finally teams up with dad on an album of alluring dignity and depth. There's the affecting emotion of Martin's gentle guitar behind the telling simplicity of Elixza's vocal on Happiness (by Nick Drake's mother Molly), while their natural guitar/fiddle interplay and harmony vocals count on hefty traditional fare like Bonny Moorhen and The Queen Of Hearts".

"The Austrian guitarist returns to the label home of his 2001 masterpiece - the West Coast distortion swells of "Endless Summer" - with further blow-outs of pop guitar melodies, churned and chopped through a gnarly tsunami of distorted electronics".