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Creedy: Privileged Vagabond

If you have a soft spot for some of The Strawbs classic era material, then you'll surely want to get a hold of this new release from folk/prog guitarist & singer Creedy. His CD, titled Privileged Vagabond, is a collection of melodic, lush songs that are squarely in the folk style, but thanks to the symphonic 70's styled keyboards from Pilgrym mainman Andy Wells, it turns these ten tunes into pastoral, prog-inflected gems. Creedy's folky, lazy vocal delivery, along with his tasty acoustic guitar picking, works wonders alongside additional guitar work from Richard Dalby and Wells' vast array of sounds, including organ, Mellotron, piano, Moog, Korg, Roland, and ARP synths. Many of the songs here are quite addicting, as the dreamy melodies lull you into an intoxicated state, especially on a song such as "Opposties Attract", floating synth washes calm the senses that are already sedated by Creedy's delicate vocals and plenty of lush guitar work. Mellotron lovers will be overjoyed the way Wells uses the vintage keyboard to dramatic effect on pieces like "Ninety Eight Percent", "Melt Us Down", and "Fall Into Winter", all gentle pieces that include occasional bursts of energy thanks to the mighty Mellotron. For some great acoustic picking, you can't go wrong with "Fever", one of the more upbeat numbers here, and the almost Led Zeppelin (circa their 3rd album) sounding "Lilac Jay". "Particle Acceleration" is a fun little piece, Well's spacey synths, Mellotron, and futuristic vocoder adding an almost ELO feel on what is otherwise a manic guitar based folk instrumental.

It there's anything negative you can say about Privileged Vagabond, there's a overall lack of variety or change in the tone of many of these songs, which all follow a similar pattern. That's probably more a statement about the folk genre than anything else, but clearly Creedy has come up with a pleasing listen here, and thanks to Andy Wells has injected the right amount of prog elements into these songs to make this a worthwhile purchase for proggers as well as folk lovers.


Track Listing

  1. Melt Us Down
  2. Ninety Eight Percent
  3. Opposites Attract
  4. Fall Into Winter
  5. Fever
  6. To Faith With Love
  7. And Now Your Heart Is But An Organ
  8. No Angel
  9. Lilac Jay
  10. Particle Acceleration

Added: February 8th 2009
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Artist MySpace Page
Hits: 3178
Language: english

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Creedy: Privileged Vagabond
Posted by Jon Neudorf, SoT Staff Writer on 2009-02-08 23:06:01
My Score:

If you like your rock with a heavy dosage of 70s sounding folk you should be all over the new cd by Creedy entitled Privileged Vagabond. A lot of tasty acoustic guitars and plenty of keyboards, including organ and synthesizers help to give this album a full sound. Percussion also plays an important role in making the music more interesting. Some of the guitar playing reminds me of Cat Stevens and there is a quaint charm about this cd that I find quite refreshing. I hear a definite aura of progressiveness here, maybe because of the tasteful keyboard work found throughout the album. Creedy and his band display good musicianship throughout especially on some of the longer numbers where the acoustic guitars and spacey keyboards are used extensively. Creedy himself has a pleasant sounding voice and never over stretches its limits. His voice is strong at times but also displays a delicate and fragile quality. Occasionally his singing bares nods to David Bowie ("Ninety-Eight Percent") and Ian Anderson ("And Now Your Heart"). Melody is an important component to all of these tunes and the music is all the better because of it.



The album starts with the ultra catchy "Melt Us Down" filled with melodic acoustic guitar and bubbly organ fills. The keyboards in this one get top billing. Once this song gets in your head it may not leave and you may not want it to. On "Eighty-Eight Percent" Creedy's voice reminds me of something from Bowie's Outside album. Gentle acoustic guitar and washes of keyboards help set the somewhat mournful mood the song conveys. In "Fall Into Winter" Creedy's voice has a lower tone somewhat suiting the song's winter theme of cold and loneliness. The sorrowful mood is enhanced with subtle keyboards and guitar. The beginning guitar in "Fever" takes on a Spanish flair with Flamenco flourishes leading to solid rhythmic strumming and some tasty accordion work. Of the ten songs on offer I found no filler whatsoever.



This was a nice find and something a little different than the usual stuff that makes it to my cd player. Recommended for all music lovers who appreciate folk prog of the 70s and folk music in general. This release earns a very respectable 3.5 stars.



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