Bleep

Originally released by Herb Cohen’s Straight Records in 1970, Tim Buckley’s ‘Stairsailor’ LP gets a repress, courtesy of the brilliantly-titled 4 Men With Beards label. Building on his folk successes, the album sees the singer take on a wider range of influences from jazz and modern music, with utterly startling results. ‘Come Here Woman’ opens proceedings with terrifying church organs and waves of strange cymbal attacks, above which Buckley’s voice hovers with a demented touch. The result has more in common with electric–era Miles Davis or Scott Walker’s 21st century output than idyllic English folk, as does the remainder of this highly individual yet rewarding album.