Lily & Maria

about

Lily & Maria's sole, mighty rare album is a strange oddity, all the more so for its appearance on a major label. As singers, Lily & Maria sound very much like the sort of high-voiced, virginal female vocalists common in the early-'60s folk revival, like the only somewhat less slightly obscure duo Kathy & Carol (who recorded traditional folk music for Elektra). But the material and production on Lily & Maria show a decidedly psychedelic, late-'60s influence, if only a mild acid folk one. It creates the impression of a couple of choirgirls singing tunes that are a cross between what you'd hear from a choir and a coffeehouse duo. The big difference is that the words are far more inscrutable and enigmatic than anything you'd hear either a choir or coffeehouse folkies singing. The dreamy, obscurely poetic lyrics are very much in the vibe of 1968 psychedelia, and the arrangements are usually eerily sparse to the point of underproduction, to the extent that it seems evident Columbia didn't set aside much of a budget for the sessions. Yet acoustic guitar is sometimes embellished by tasteful, low-key orchestration and electric instruments that add to the appealing, hushed, never-never-land ambience. While the feel is usually laid-back and pretty, there's an overlay of unsettling mystery (particularly when the gothic organ comes in), like stumbling across a couple of self-sufficient orphans in a haunted house. Too, it's not all quiet acid folk, getting into a strident, semi-psychedelic

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albums

Lily & Maria

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Shifting Sands

Hippie Goddesses

Milk Of The Tree: An Anthology Of Female Vocal Folk And Singer-Songwriters

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Shifting Sands - 20 Treasures From The Heyday Of Underground Folk

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Lily & Maria (2008 Reissue)

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Women Blue: 16 Lost US Femvox Classics

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LILY AND MARIA-LP-

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Lily & Maria [Bonus Tracks]

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Milk Of The Tree

Milk of the Tree: An Anthology of Female Vocal Folk and Singer-Songwriters 1966-73

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20 Treasures from the Heyday of Underground Folk

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