Gnostic Songs

On this collection of homemade solo four-track recordings cut between 1995-1998, George Elliott sings low-key paisley pop tunes. Though most of the songs are original, the few covers — of Procol Harum's "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence," Gene Clark's "Gypsy Rider," and the obscure British '60s psychedelic B-side by Dantalion's Chariot, "Sun Came Bursting Through My Clouds" — are indicative of his sensibility and inspirations. Although there's an understandable homemade feel about the production, it's well-suited for his slightly wacky, tuneful miniatures. Like some of his work on other albums, Syd Barrett serves as a general reference point, in the playfulness, the blend of psychedelic and folk-rock ingredients, and the haunting keyboard parts. He isn't as avowedly strange as Barrett, and in fact, sometimes he's pretty frivolous, echoing bubblegum new wave or sunshine pop. No doubt a "proper" company would have edited this down to less than 27 songs, even though none of them break the four-minute barrier, and many end before the two-minute mark. These sort of D.I.Y. productions, though, do allow for an auteurish feel that would probably get muted or whitewashed even by many indie labels, so this is something for which we can be thankful.