Hari mentioned last night and Robert just mentioned to me now that they are really enjoying the Anna Black record. In response to Hari, rather than saying, “Yeah — you’re welcome” and sneering like a douchebag, I excitedly asked if he’d heard Sibylle Baier’s Colour Green. Why? Because this is by far my favorite female folk record ever. Hell, it might just be my favorite female singer/songwriter record OF ALL TIME. And by “favorite” I mean I listen to it more frequently than I listen to many Evan-rock bands. I don’t listen to Cat Power, but I’m pretty sure this is what Cat Power would sound like if she cared a little more about songcraft and a little less about Chanel advertisements. Colour Green is gorgeous, stark, and haunting. The songs force your attention on them. That voice, it forces your attention on it. This is not a fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues exercise like Anna Black, but it is another case of an under-appreciated female artist taking a chance on her immense catalog of songs and getting them absolutely fucking perfectly right. Oh my God, what a beautiful record this is.
Aquarius Records says: “And now on our plate are these previously unreleased home recordings of German underground folk singer, Sibylle Baier. We must admit when we first heard this, we suspected fraud. These recordings sound almost too contemporary to have been made in the early seventies. But after doing a little research, we found out this is no fraud. These intimate recordings fully deserve their “buried treasure” status, for whatever that’s worth at this point. Baier, only previously known for a song on an early Wim Wenders film soundtrack, recorded these songs in her home from 1970-73 after a “spirit-renewing” trip through the Swiss Alps. She has the warm Sunday jam and tea voice reminiscent of Vashti Bunyan, but with the more spare guitar compositions and melancholy vocal delivery of someone like Chan Marshall. Like Bunyan, Baier shunned what could have been a successful career in order to raise a family and it’s because of her son, Robby, that these recordings are being heard at all. But unlike Bunyan, these songs don’t derive from a back to nature hippie-folk aesthetic, but rather they come from a more delicate fragility where life’s beauty and despair are interwoven with the tiny details of daily life. Beautiful! Totally recommended for seventies folk enthusiasts as well as fans of contemporary singer/song-writers.”
Sibylle Baier
Colour Green
Tracklist:
01. Tonight
02. I Lost Something In The Hills
03. The End
04. Softly
05. Remember The Day
06. Forget About
07. William
08. Says Elliott
09. Colour Green
10. Driving
11. Girl
12. Wim
13. Forgett
14. Give Me A Smile
