Wo-Wy

Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Fresh Today (Music & Elsewhere 112, cassette, 1991)
Garage/Psychedelic
Caroline Davey
If you can get past the mediocre (and variable) sound quality, there’s some find music on this Brighton band’s debut. Side one offers six discrete songs running the gamut of garage and psychedelic styles (I can hear echoes of everyone from Arktis to Big Brother & The Holding Company) whilst side two is a series of segments snipped together into a long free-form jam that goes in all kinds of interesting directions. GRADE: C+.
Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Kingdom Of The Big White Rabbit (No label, cassette, 1991)
Garage/Psychedelic
Caroline Davey (joint lead vocals)
Album number two has decidedly improved sound quality, but also appears to be a concept set, with the songs and jams linked by dialogue and stoned humour. This aspect of the proceedings doesn’t really work for me, but the music is still very solid. GRADE: C+.

Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): What? (Music & Elsewhere, cassette, 1992)
Garage/Psychedelic
Caroline Davey (joint lead vocals, percussion)
This compilation gathers remixed versions of cuts from their earlier tapes, plus several outtakes and one new live number, all in excellent sound quality. At its best – when offering full-throttle psychedelic jamming with Caroline Davey in Grace Slick mode – this is great stuff, but as with their earlier work their fondness for whimsy slightly undercuts their power. GRADE: C+.

Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Overflowing Bowls Of Green Jelly (No label, cassette, 1992)
Psychedelic/Blues/Rock
Caroline Davey (joint lead vocals, harmonica)
This is their best to date – bluesier, more single-minded and mostly avoiding whimsy. At its finest, as on ‘Flame Of Life’ and ‘Dark Stroll’, it’s genuinely impressive, and with more songs of this calibre and improved sound quality, this could have been considered a modern-day successor to Big Brother & The Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills. A remixed version of the set, with slightly improved sound quality but minus two tracks, was issued on vinyl two years later (Magic Gnome MG 4299324, autographed, with inserts and sticker). 500 copies were pressed of the stock issues, whilst 13 numbered test pressings exist with black-and-white paste-on artwork, two inserts and a promo letter.

GRADE: C+.
Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Rockadelic Reefer (No label, cassette, 1993)
Psychedelic/Blues/Rock
Caroline Davey (joint lead vocals, keyboards, recorder)
This is another step up – a consistently strong album that’s full of powerful tripped-out bluesy jams and largely devoid of half-arsed stabs at stoned humour. It’s just a pity they didn’t have the funds to record it in a real studio. The tape was repackaged, along with Overflowing Bowls Of Green Jelly as the boxed set The Myths Of The Ghandarva (Crohinga Well 001) in a VHS case with a booklet, sticker and badge. GRADE: C+.

Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Sockitome (No label, cassette, 1993)
Psychedelic/Blues/Rock
Caroline Davey (principal vocals, harmonica)
This odds-and-sods compilation features a few cuts from previous albums, re-recordings of old songs and a few new numbers. Concentrating almost entirely on heavy bluesy jams fronted by Caroline Davey, it’s an excellent introduction to their work. GRADE: C+.
Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Spiralize Surprise (No label, cassette, 1994)
Psychedelic/Blues/Rock
Caroline Davey (principal vocals, keyboards)
Choosing a favourite among Wobble Jaggle Jiggle’s albums to date is difficult – they’re all of a piece and all enjoyable without being hugely substantial. But this is certainly their best to date, for one simple reason: whereas previous outings offered really good psychedelic jams, these are great psychedelic jams. GRADE: B–.
Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): Strange Tales From The Electric Beyond (No label, double cassette, 1996)
Psychedelic/Blues/Rock
Caroline Davey (principal vocals, keyboards)
Compiling material recorded between 1993 and 1996, this gargantuan set offers well over three hours of psychedelic jamming. Taken individually, most of the pieces merit a C+, but there’s real synergy here: keeping one’s attention for that long is an achievement in itself. GRADE: B–.
Wobble Jaggle Jiggle (UK): It Came From Nowhere (September Gurls SGCD 22, CD, Germany, 1999)
Garage/Psychedelice
Caroline Davey (joint lead vocals, keyboards, tambourine)
Marking a return to their original garage psych style, this is a fitting end to Wobble Jaggle Jiggle’s career. It’s a revelation to hear their music with true studio sound quality, and they offer a great cross-section of material here – wild, trippy and sheer good fun. GRADE: B–.

Wolfscote Featuring Cathy Lesurf (UK): Turn The Glass (Plains PLR15002, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2015)
Folk
The big surprise here is in the artist credit, marking Cathy Lesurf’s return to recording after decades away. She’s in fine voice, and the sparse but rich acoustic backing suits her well, especially on the intense closing medley of ‘Sula Lula’, ‘The Great Silkie Of Sule Skerry’, ‘Boatman’ and ‘Flint’s Maggot’. A few more moments like this might have lifted the album further, as might more of the occasional rock interjections, but this is nonetheless a fine piece of work. GRADE: B–.

See also Albion Band, Fairport Convention, Fiddler's Dram, Ashley Hutchings, Cathy Lesurf, Oyster Band

Womb (USA): Womb (Dot DLP 25933, with inner, 1969)
Progressive
Karyl Boddy (joint lead vocals, guitar, piano)
Like many early progressive rock albums, this is all over the place. Opening with a long, delicate acoustic number, it offers a brief acid-rock link to a slightly twisted blues/rocker, then a jazzy instrumental, then finally an uptempo track that slightly recalls Jefferson Airplane. And that’s just side one. Side two has a melodic hippie folk/pop song before launching into the LP’s centrepiece: the seventeen-and-a-half minute ‘Happy Egotist’. This is basically a long jam, blending elements of acid-rock and jazz, topped with strange, choppy lyrics that recall the aftermath of a fatal car crash. It’s an interesting piece, though rambling and diffuse, and quite unlike the carefully structured style generally favoured by British prog bands. Overall, the LP is patchy and occasionally frustrating, but certainly packed with ideas. GRADE: C+.
Womb (USA): Overdub (Dot DLP 25959, 1969)
Progressive
Karyl Boddy
Their second and final album is a big step forward from their rather schizophrenic debut, though released only four months later. It sees them refining their jazzy progressive sound, with four shorter songs on the first side and two longer ones on the flip. Whilst the LP is no match for the progressive music emerging from Europe at the time (though the ten-minute closer ‘Evil People’ is outstanding), it is interesting and enjoyable, and definitely one of the better examples of American prog from the era. GRADE: C+.

Wondeur Brass (Canada): Ravir (Ambiances Magnetiques WB 21385, 1985)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Judith Gruber-Stitzer (joint lead vocals, guitar, bass, violin), Diane Labrosse (joint lead vocals, synthesiser), Danielle Roger (joint lead vocals, drums, percussion, drum programmes). Joane Hétu (joint lead vocals, saxophone), Ginette Bergeron (saxophone), Hélène Bédard (trombone)
For the most part, this rather good all-female RIO outfit sound similar to French contemporaries like Étron Fou Leloublan or Les I, although they use a lot more horns. However, the Dagmar Krause-like vocals frequently recall Henry Cow or Art Bears, whilst the best cut ‘It’s Insane’ is an aptly crazy concoction of treated guitars, metronomic drum machine and new wave-ish Lene Lovich or Toyah Willcox-like singing.

GRADE: B–.
Wondeur Brass (Canada): Wondeur Brass Volume 2 – Simoneda, Reine Des Esclaves (Recommended RR C29, with booklet, UK, 1987)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Joane Hétu (joint lead vocals, synthesiser, saxophone), Danielle Roger (joint lead vocals, drums), Diane Labrosse (occasional vocals, keyboards), Marie Trudeau (occasional vocals, bass)
Recorded with a smaller line-up, their second album is in the same vein as its predecessor, but with more stripped-down arrangements and an even clearer influence from the new wave. Despite some fine tracks and plenty of experimentation, this is overall a little less memorable than their first. GRADE: C+.

Wondeur Brass (Canada): T’As Vu Mon Coing (Nikad Robom 006, cassette, Yugoslavia, 1987)

Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde

Joane Hétu (joint lead vocals, synthesiser, saxophone), Diane Labrosse (joint lead vocals, synthesiser), Marie Trudeau (bass), Danielle Roger (drums, backing vocals)

This live recording from Belgrade has sound quality slightly above that of a good bootleg, but the music is rather interesting. Crossing free-jazz and new wave influences, the band channels Henry Cow through an eighties prism, and whilst the results are somewhat rambling and diffuse (as is much live Henry Cow) it’s certainly full of surprises. GRADE: C+.
See also Joane Hétu & Jean Derome, Justine, Diane Labrosse, Poules

Jon Wood (UK): One To Five (Orange Sky ORA CD104, CD, 2004)
Singer/Songwriter/Folk/Blues/Jazz
Hanna Burchell (occasional vocals, flute), Lenna Santamaria (occasional vocals)
The Fold leader’s solo album serves as a vehicle for his deft acoustic guitar playing, offering a mixture of songs (featuring a number of guest vocalists) and instrumentals. Drawing on folk, blues and jazz, it’s tasteful, sophisticated, late night stuff, but I do find myself missing the rock energy that made the Fold so special. GRADE: C+.
See also Fold, Pan

Lauren Wood Featuring Novi & Ernie (USA): Lauren Wood (Warner Brothers BSK 3278, with inner, 1979)
Pop/Rock/Soul
Lauren Wood (principal vocals, keyboards), Ilene Novog (synthesiser, viola)
Quite why Ilene Novog and Ernie Eremita get co-billing here is a mystery to me: they don’t do much on the album and this doesn’t bear much resemblance to Chunky, Novi & Ernie, let alone Rebecca & The Sunny Brook Farmers (whose Ki-Ki Koury contributes some backing vocals). In fact, she attempts to reinvent herself as a female Michael McDonald (with the real thing contributing one song and some prominent backing vocals). It’s all well done, with competent songwriting and the cream of America’s session musicians, but the spacy, proggy ‘Time Zone’ aside, this excites me about as much as watching paint dry. GRADE: C–.
Lauren Wood (USA): Cat Trick (Warner Brothers BSK 3517, with inner, 1981)
Pop/Soul
Lauren Wood (lead vocals, piano)
The problem with her second album – which makes her first sound like a masterpiece – isn’t that the songs are vapid, lightweight fluff drowning in soul and soft rock clichés. The problem is that it’s literally pointless: why would anybody, even if they like this kind of music, choose to listen to Wood’s impersonation of Michael McDonald when they could hear the real thing? GRADE: E.

Lauren Wood (USA): Lauren Wood (Bad Art 1188-14200-2, HDCD, 1999)

Singer/Songwriter/Pop/Rock

Lauren Wood (lead vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion)

The name of Wood’s own label isn’t a commentary on the quality of the music here: this is a good album and light years away from its excruciating predecessor. I still find her vocal style a little affected, but that’s a minor quibble, and I can’t imagine the real Michael McDonald writing (and arranging and producing) a set of songs as solid as these. GRADE: C+.

Lauren Wood (USA): Love, Death And Customer Service (Bad Art 1188-14300-2, HDCD, 2006)

Soul/Pop

Lauren Wood (lead vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, loops)

Compared to its predecessor, this is more soulful and more digital; hence I like it less, though it’s perfectly component for the most part. In particular, the closing ‘Walk Toward The Light’ demonstrates that she can make good music when she wants to, but I’d be delighted never to hear her take on the rock stalwart ‘Time Of The Season’ again. GRADE: C.

Wood Family (UK): Quiet Folk (Chris Newman Recording, 1968)
Folk
Jacky Wood (joint lead vocals, banjo), Pat Wood (joint lead vocal, harmonica)
One of the earlier folk private pressings, this extremely obscure LP features a three-piece family band from Manchester. Had they formed a few years later, they would have been prime candidates, both musically and geographically, for the Folk Heritage label, but this is better than most Folk Heritage releases and indeed most traditional folk private pressings. GRADE: C+.
Woods (UK): Early Morning Rain (Tradition TSR 001, 1969)
Folk
Jacky Wood (joint lead vocals, banjo), Pat Wood (joint lead vocals, harmonica)
I’d always assumed that their second and final album, under a slightly different name, was much more common, but given the ‘Mecolico’ stamp on the rear and the fact that no copies have openly been offered in years, I suspect it’s also a 99 copies pressing. Like their first, this is pleasant traditional folk with three-part harmonies and backing from acoustic guitar, banjo and harmonica plus occasional electric bass. GRADE: C+.

Woodbine & Ivy Band (UK): The Woodbine And Ivy Band (Folk Police Recordings FPR 004, CD, with digipak, 2011)

Folk/Rock

Jenny McCormick (occasional vocals), Fay Hield (occasional vocals), Pinkie Maclure (occasional vocals), Olivia Chaney (occasional vocals), Elle Osborne (occasional vocals), Jackie Oates (occasional vocals), Nancy Wallace (occasional vocals), Rachel McCarron (occasional vocals), Rachael Gladwin (harp)

The Woodbine & Ivy Band’s favourite film is clearly 'The Wicker Man', as evidenced by the lovely (and quite radical) version of ‘Gently Johnny’ but their favourite albums are clearly Liege And Lief and Fotheringay. Using different vocalists on every song (plus Starless & Bible Black’s Hélène Gauthier on backing vocals), they deliver a beautiful electric folk set with spellbinding versions of ‘Alison Gross’, ‘Twa Corbies’, ‘Poor Murdered Woman’ et al. As a contemporary tribute to Fairport, Steeleye, Trees, the Albion Band, Home Service and others, this simply succeeds on every level. GRADE: B–.

Woodbine & Ivy Band (UK): Sleep On Sleeping On (Static Caravan VAN281, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, 2014)

Folk/Rock/Progressive

Jenny McCormick (joint lead vocals), Rachael Gladwin (harp)

In sharp contrast to their debut, this features two lead vocalists throughout and mostly original compositions. It’s quite different musically, despite some hints of Fairport and Fotheringay and a couple of old-school electric folk tracks, with a much more modern, proggy sound and an emphasis on acoustic guitars, synthesisers and atmospherics. Which of their albums you prefer will depend on your tastes: mine perhaps tend more towards the first, but they’re both excellent. GRADE: B–.

Wooden Horse (Australia/UK): Wooden Horse (York FYK 403, UK, 1972)
Folk/Country
Susan Traynor (joint lead vocals)
Characterised by beautiful harmonies, this rare album offers gentle mid-Atlantic folk/rock with a rural flavour. It’s far from original or adventurous, taking its cues from innumerable West Coast bands, but the songs are of a uniformly high quality, especially the haunting ‘Northern Beaches’. The band was originally an acoustic trio from Sydney, joined here by two British players. GRADE: C+.
Wooden Horse (Australia/UK): Wooden Horse II (York FYK 413, UK, 1973)
Folk/Country/Rock
Susan Traynor (joint lead vocals)
The band’s even rarer second LP opens brilliantly with their two best compositions, ‘Celebration Song’ and ‘Wooden Horses’. The standard is not maintained, but it’s a very pleasant album, with more electric arrangements than their debut. Following their break-up, vocalist Susan Traynor went on to the commercially successful Fox (under the alias Noosha Fox), which issued some enjoyable baroque pop albums in the mid-seventies. It has been rumoured that this LP was withdrawn from sale almost as soon as it was released. GRADE: C+.
See also Fox

Woods Band (UK): The Woods Band (Greenwich GSLP 1004, UK, 1971)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (joint lead vocals, bodhrán, concertina, dulcimer, autoharp)
I’ve often wondered what a second album by the original Steeleye Span line-up would have sounded like. Playing Please To See The King followed by this has never helped answer the question, as Gay and Terry Woods and their former bandmates went in diametrically different directions. True, ‘As I Roved Out’ is decidedly Span-like, but much of the rest sees the couple and their collaborators moving into more of a contemporary folk style. The result is a solid LP, but nowhere near the standard their contributions to Hark! The Village Wait suggested they could attain. Gay is strangely underused, contributing surprisingly few lead vocals – out of eight cuts, three are instrumentals – which I can equate only to buying a Ferrari and leaving it in the garage. As a footnote, the late seventies reissue substituted a revised (and rather strange) running order, which is duplicated on all CD versions except the Japanese pressing. GRADE: C+.
See also Auto Da Fé, Steeleye Span, Gay & Terry Woods

Gay & Terry Woods (Ireland): Backwoods (Polydor 2383 322, UK, 1975)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (principal vocals, dulcimer, autoharp)
A logical step forward from the Woods Band, Backwoods sees the husband-and-wife duo sharpening their songwriting skills to deliver some wonderfully bittersweet material boasting rich acoustic and electric arrangements. It all climaxes with Terry’s chilling reading of the traditional ‘Dunlavin Green’, which equals almost anything produced by Steeleye Span. In fact, this compares favourably with the more celebrated Richard & Linda Thompson albums of the era, offering a much more understated vision. GRADE: C+.
Gay & Terry Woods (Ireland): The Time Is Right (Polydor 2383 375, with inner, UK, 1976)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (principal vocals, dulcimer, autoharp)
Broadly, this is very similar to its predecessor, right down to the formula of including one traditional number among the self-penned songs. However, the material here is generally even more downtempo, with a country influence beginning to creep in on a couple of songs. It’s hardly groundbreaking, and a little more variety would have been welcome (the only surprise comes with the slightly spacey near-instrumental ‘Redlake Piker’), but the quality of their singing and composition remains unarguable. GRADE: C+.
Gay & Terry Woods (Ireland): Renowned (Polydor 2383 406, with insert, UK, 1976)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (principal vocals, dulcimer, autoharp)
This is where Gay and Terry discovered their pop sensibilities, both in terms of the material and the arrangements. Some listeners may find the country-tinged songs here too mellow for their tastes, but in parts this album rocks out in a way their previous work didn’t. There’s also no denying the sheer quality of their compositions, particularly the mournful opener ‘Love Is Like A Burden’ and the bouncy yet wistful ‘Radio Man’, both of which could have become staples on Radio Two; instead their rather average cover of ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’ was issued as the single. In case anyone thinks they’ve forgotten their roots, an eerie extended rendition of ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ closes the album in the same way that ‘Dunlavin Green’ ended their first. By some margin, this is the duo’s best work and they were unlucky not to reach a wider audience. GRADE: B–.
Gay & Terry Woods (Ireland): Tender Hooks (Mulligan LUN 020, with insert, 1978)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (principal vocals, dulcimer, autoharp)
The couple’s last album together is a lightweight affair in two senses: its running time is little more than half an hour, and there’s a throwaway pop feel to much of the material. That said, the lyrics don’t reflect the carefree nature of the melodies, with ‘We Can Work This One Out’ and ‘I Won’t Believe It’ dealing with marital break-up in a chillingly pragmatic manner. Indeed, Gay and Terry were no longer an item, musically or personally, a mere couple of years later. The disc also includes two of their finest-ever songs: the powerful, bluesy ‘Lonesome Blue’ and remarkably beautiful ‘Full Moon’. The album was also released in the UK (Rockburgh ROC 104); that pressing comes with an insert. GRADE: C+.
Gay & Terry Woods (Ireland): In Concert (Windsong WINCD 071, CD, 1995, recorded 1976 & 1078)
Folk/Rock
Gay Woods (principal vocals, dulcimer)
This short but important archive release couples a live set from 1976 with a John Peel session from two years later. Whilst the versions here never top the studio originals, the material is well-chosen and four of the duo’s best songs (‘Love Is Like A Burden’, ‘Radio Man’, ‘Full Moon’ and ‘Lonesome Blue’) are all present and correct. GRADE: C+.
See also Auto Da Fé, Steeleye Span, Woods Band

Pat Woods & Kathy Lowe (USA): Country Show (Le Chant Du Monde LDX 74498, France, 1972?)
Folk
Kathy Lowe (joint lead vocals, guitar, dulcimer)
The title may suggest country/rock, but this is actually hippie folk with three members of fellow expatriates Mormos helping out on vocals. The sound sometimes resembles Mormos too, and the album covers a lot of ground, from offbeat progressive folk to acoustic stuff to more rural material. Like a lot of hippie commune project LPs, it’s hit-and-miss, with rather ragged singing and playing; whilst only ‘Confirmation Sunday’ really sticks in the mind, anyone who likes the style should find it an enjoyable listen. Lowe went on to issue a solo album as just Kathy, which was also released only in France. GRADE: C.
See also Kathy

Wool (USA): Wool (ABC ABCS 676, 1969)
Rock/Psychedelic
Claudia Wool (joint lead vocals)
With six out of nine tracks being cover versions, this is hardly the most profound or important album in the world. But its differing blends of soul, acid-rock, blues, folk, funk and pop are never less than enjoyable, and though the heaviest tracks are clearly the best (‘Love, Love, Love, Love, Love’, ‘Combination Of The Two’, ‘It Was Such A Lovely Night’), there are no really weak moments. Still an affordable LP, this is considerably more listenable than many rarities ten times its price. GRADE: C+.

Woorden (Holland): Woorden (Omega 333.023, 1968)
Avant-Garde/Jazz
Nona (occasional vocals, guitar)
This very rare album is usually described as ‘psychedelic’ in dealer lists; whilst that broadly makes sense, it’s much closer to performance art. As the name suggests (‘woorden’ is Dutch for ‘words’) this features three modern poets delivering rambling and sometimes fiery monologues over jazzy backing from double bass, drums and harmonica. Nona contributes a gentle folk song on the second side (almost like the melodic section in Crass’s Yes Sir, I Will, which is structurally similar to this) and some more experimental backing vocals elsewhere. This is an interesting album and very listenable for an avant-garde work, with an impressively trippy cover, but it’s not likely to appeal to more conventional psychedelic music fans. GRADE: C+.

Word Of Life (Sweden): Further Ahead (Xotic Mind Productions XMLP-2, with insert, 1992)
Psychedelic
Anna Nyström (flute)
Essentially the solo project of one Måns P Månsson, this is an excellent album of modern psychedelia, with some powerful jamming tracks. Ranging from heavy West Coast acid-rock to more European-sounding psychedelic folk, it’s a superbly trippy set containing some really wonderful moments. GRADE: B–.
Word Of Life (Sweden): Dust (Xotic Mind Productions XMLP-10, 1995)
Psychedelic
Anna Nyström (piano, flute, vocoder, backing vocals)
Even spacier and trippier than its predecessor, this is somewhat different, with a more Krautrock-influenced style, lots of electronics, and some folky and slyly funky edges including effective use of hand percussion. The element of surprise is maintained right up to the end: after a lengthy interlude of gentle seashore noises, the album erupts into a series of starling electronic effects that extend the stereo medium to its utmost. Dust thus qualifies not only as a superb psychedelic album, but also a useful hi-fi test disc. GRADE: B–.

World Entertainment War (USA): Televisionary (Infomania, with inner, 1989)
Rock
Darby Gould (joint lead vocals), Amy Escolere (keyboards, flute, backing vocals)
Darby Gould later went on to join Paul Kantner’s reconstituted Jefferson Starship, and the fit is obvious: this is the same kind of left-field AOR, with the same kind of off-kilter political lyrics. Mostly they sound influenced by mid-eighties Kantner compositions such as ‘Connection’, ‘Mariel’ or ‘America’, resulting in a well-assembled bur rather low-key album. GRADE: C+.

World Entertainment War (USA): World Entertainment War (Popular Metaphysics/MCA MCAD-10137, CD, 1991)
Rock
Darby Gould (joint lead vocals), Amy Excolere (keyboards, flute, backing vocals)
Once again I’m reminded of Paul Kantner, and this time I don’t mean it as a compliment: like latterday Kantner, World Entertainment War have plenty to say about a whole range of political topics but treat the music as strictly secondary. Certainly, this is competent enough mildly funky rock, with catchy hooks aplenty, but it’s ultimately rather dull and rambling – and so are the lecturing and tendentious lyrics. GRADE: C.
See also Jefferson Starship

Worldbackwards (UK): Flesh (Illuminated JAMS 9, with inner, 1982)
New Wave
Dinah Mulholland
Whilst this could in some ways be described as electropop, it’s nothing like most music fitting that description. Instead, the sound is dark, sinister and claustrophobic, with the synthesisers and drum machines overlaid with squalling saxophone and sinister guitar lines, drawing from progressive, psychedelic, jazz and industrial music. At times, the disc resembles a cross between Amon Düül II and Joy Division, bizarre though that may sound. Whilst this isn’t an album I’d wish to hear every day, it’s very creative and was certainly a bold diversion for its era. GRADE: C+.

Wormdoom (USA): Last Days Boogie (Twisted Village TW-1037, CD, 1994)
Garage/Psychedelic/Avant-Garde
Kate Biggar
This offshoot of Crystalized Movements (though they sound more like sister band Vermonster) offers the usual Twisted Village lo-fi psychedelic freakouts. The difference with Wormdoom is that the jams seem inspired by religion, and particularly by apocalyptic concerns, going by the track titles. GRADE: C+.
See also BORB, Crystalized Movements, Heathen Shame, Magic Hour, Major Stars, Various ‘Deep Funnels Of Entry – A Twisted Village Compilation’, Various ‘Marvelous Sound Forms’, Vermonster, Kate Village & Wayne Rogers

Wotzat? (UK): Wotzat? (Arny’s Shack A 5 058 LP, 1984)
Pop/Rock
Sue Hawker (lead vocals)
Issued on the same private label as the more celebrated Al Et Al, this is quintessentially eighties pop/rock, with dramatic soul-tinged vocals, funky basslines and programmed drums. There are a few glimmers of talent here, suggesting that they could have made a reasonably good album, but this isn’t it. GRADE: C–.

Wutan (Germany): Vikarma (Metalizer MERED24, some on marbled vinyl, with insert, 2014)
Blues/Rock/Metal
Francis Tobolsky (lead vocals, guitar, flute)
On the opening ‘Franis Vikarma’ they sound like a heavier Jethro Tull, but it’s not typical of the album. For the most part, this is heavy early seventies-style blues/rock, drawing on Led Zeppelin and often sounding similar to their Swedish contemporaries Blues Pills. They stretch out a bit on side two, especially on the nine-minute ‘Jungle’, which brings Frumpy, Tomorrow’s Gift and even early Heart (in live jamming mode) to mind. However, also like Blues Pills, whilst they’re unquestionably a good band, they’re definitely not in the league of the greats that inspired them. GRADE: C+.

Wyld Olde Souls (USA): Poems From The Astral Plane (Parallel World PW-CD4, CD, 1998)
Folk/Psychedelic
Ivy Vale (joint lead vocals, guitar, percussion), Marlene Reil (joint lead vocals, guitar, piano, percussion), Kristin Pinell (occasional vocals, guitar, percussion, mandolin, flute)
Running for around 24 minutes, this mini-album offers stunning acid-folk, with crystalline acoustic instrumentation accompanying magnificent harmony vocals. It all peaks on the stunning closing cover of Gwydion’s ‘The Sun God’, which is completely different from the vaguely Jefferson Airplane-like original whilst being equally impressive. GRADE: B.
Wyld Olde Souls (USA): Poems From The Astral Plane (Parallel World PW-CD4, CD, 1998)
Folk/Psychedelic
Ivy Vale (principal vocals, guitar, percussion), Kristin Pinell (occasional vocals, guitar, flute), Melissa Davis (occasional vocals), Marlene Reil

(occasional vocals, guitar, Mellotron)
Whether their only full-length album is stronger or weaker than its predecessor is a moot point; certainly, there’s nothing here as remarkable as ‘The Sun God’. But with 14 songs – all but one being Ivy Vale originals – it’s certainly a more substantial set, and a remarkably good one too. GRADE: B.

Arfon Wyn & Chyfeillion (UK): Pwy Wnaeth Y Sûr Uwchben? (Gwerin SWYD 235, with booklet, 1982)
Folk
Llio Hâf (keyboards, glockenspiel, flute)
Arfon Wyn was the leader of Pererin, and his ‘Friends’ comprise band members Llio Hâf and Einion Williams, so this is virtually a Pererin album by default. However, given that this is an album of Christian songs for children (with a kids’ choir participating), its focus is somewhat different. On the plus side, the children can actually sing, Wyn’s mellow voice is as lovely as ever and a few of his spacy guitar leads recall the parent band, but despite the line-up don’t buy this expecting Pererin. GRADE: C+.
See also Pererin

Wyndow (UK): Wyndow (Summer Critics SC001, CD, with minisleeve and inner, 2021)
Pop/Psychedelic
Laura J Martin (joint lead vocals, keyboards, flute, clarinet), Lavinia Blackwall (joint lead vocals, piano, autoharp)
According to their own blurb, this is ‘a melting pot of influences with both artists at the top of their game, reflecting on the smallest human influences set against a galactic sonic canvas’. However, don’t expect anything über-tripped out or cosmic: this is a relatively straight set of songs – betwixt pop and singer/songwriter – given a psychedelic edge by the hazy flute and impressionistic production. It’s nice stuff – at its best haunting, delicate and slightly eerie – but although it’s just about a B– I’d question the claim that this is the best thing the extremely talented Lavinia Blackwall has ever done. GRADE: B–.

See also Lavinia Blackwall, Crying Lion, Trembling Bells

Wo-Wy

​