Seeing Harper live in the Eighties, it seemed astonishing to us that the venerable sixties troubadour still breathed. This Mancunian Methuselah would, of course, have been all of forty-five years old.
Now, Harper’s seventieth birthday sees digital re-releases for his twenty-three albums. 1970’s Flat Baroque and Berserk, a marinaded acoustic set, only partially spoiled by stoned spoken interruptions, was overshadowed by its acclaimed successor Stormcock, but sold Harper to post-punks when This Mortal Coil covered the airily undulating Another Day.
Today, the album’s period details seem oddly timeless, and it’s inspired the Joanna Newsome generation of diaphanous folkies.
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Leach Juice, Twitter
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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