Having countryman John Cale label your first-ever commercial release “his favourite album ever” is about as good a start as a Welsh rock band could hope for. And after several subsequent, critically-acclaimed albums on the Ankst label, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci caught the attention of a major label (Fontana) and released this 1997 psych-folk masterpiece. Two singles resulted, both charting: the gently rocking “Diamond Dew” and the twisted pop ditty “Patio Song,” but Barafundle is above all an album, taking you on a benevolently bent journey akin to the Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (with a side trip of Incredible String Band), which is high praise indeed. For its first-ever domestic LP release, we’ve had it remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, and pressed up 2000 copies in jungle swirl vinyl, housed inside a jacket with full-color printed inner sleeve. Put a log on the fire, brew up some mushroom tea, and bliss out.
