So when do you think music production peaked? When the Smiths split up? When you found out you can’t smear jam on your CD’s or scratch them with a rusty compass point? A week last Wednesday? Well, if you are a member of The Owl Service, you think it took place somewhere around 1969, their music an attempt to take in the great albums and artists of that time. Formed through a mutual love of British film and television from that era (hence the name), this is folk music at its most unusual and entertaining, a musical time capsule of ideas and ponderings.They are also the latest in a long line of musicians that I would not wish to live next door to. If this album is an extension of their characters, they are an unusual bunch, at times angelic but often just odd, as comfortable with more traditional folk sounds as the contemporary. Having them next door would be a life of wind chimes, weird tunings and exotic smoke wafting over the patio. However, I am sure they would be excellent company on a warm, summers evening, as they possess a pastoral, English quality, evidenced through the lyrical storytelling found here and the scattered bursts of bird song.The title track is a good benchmark, underlaid with an analogue hiss as the band proclaim “these are instruments of joy that we play for you ”. Such a warm welcome leads you to fire up the Wicker Man with 'The Rolling of the Stones', a conventional slice of folk enlivened with a hypnotic keyboard and some stunning guitar work, where the vintage production really shines. Cut through the duration of the LP are also a number of mind-soothing instrumentals, some of which working better than others. 'Hoodening' is “out-doorsy”, for want of a better adjective, and whilst 'Lammas' has sinister undertones 'Corn Dollies' is light and the perfect bridge into the majestic 'Flanders Shore'. Album highlight for me though has to be 'Apple Tree Man', a real-ale sing-a-long for any fans of unseasonal wassailing. Also worthy of mention is 'The Dorset Hanging Oak', a slow beast of a song full of ideas and talent.I first became aware of The Owl Service through the wonderful compilation What the Folk 2 , and I am glad I first heard them in this context as standing on their own, it is a real mixture. Review a Kooks album and you can list a ream of bands they sound like. This is far harder to categorise, as if I mention The Incredible String Band or The Zombies I am just going to get a lot of funny looks. However, this album is all the better for that, and well worth checking out if the end of Doctor Who puts you in mind for some further time travel. 84% Links The Owl Service [official site ] Southern Records [official site ]