Important Rec. 
Robin Crutchfield : The Hidden Folk (US,2007)****
Some people seem to have their own sort of series of harmonies and can put them into some compositions these are more or less like minimalism of sound vibrations living forth in whatever melodic loop in time they express in themselves, as remains in time, of comparable descriptions of these specific harmonic vibrations.
Moondog worked partly this way, and even Florian Fricke’s Popol Vuh have their series of effective combinations, even when adding story lines or different ideas (for Moondog) or mantra-like contexts with more words (Fricke). Also Robin Crutchfield has learned well to worked out his pallet with more and more instruments and ideas, of mostly harp like vibrations of some sort of nature. All of them provoke something as if having something of the vibrations of the elves world, of the hidden folk world.
The conditions in which the melodic compositions come to life aren’t, at first too complex, but the harmonies in these melodies are free and vibrate more, silently, softly, brushed like a language hidden within each stroke and movement of the harp hands, while for instance a tampura drone whirls around it, or combinations that provoke the woods.
Also heard for instance are some comparable rhythms as if created from scraping wood in a forest, or as if produced by some strange woodworm rhythm or so (on track 4). Other instruments seems to have been derived from a well picked sample of harmonies, like that of on tin pots (?) (track 5), wood as if from African origin, but calmer, more from the earth message itself (on track 7).
Others are like found environmental loops in time with a message of rhythm (track 9). You can hear a thumb piano with an ethereal hypnotic cloud of rhythms (10), forming melodies as if spreading itself like whirling feathers in space (11).
Just a few small tracks return like remembered themes from the previous albums, themes which then thoroughly intermingle in some other tracks forming new combinations of themes like wheels in a clock, forming together a new time and space, vividly surreal, like being provided with the time given in a dream (13).
Very sweet, like a dance on wooden block sounds, is track 14.
Yes, the wooden sound themes are really becoming more than a quicksand of images and vibrations of the elves worlds to be left in just a loop, they start to last longer, are trusted for it, and become like changing and evolving images of a puppet shadow theatre (just listen to track 16). The harp starts to play something more like small dances, with quick steps of small feet (17). While the pallet is found, its harmonies and sort of message in which vibration this is fitting, the messages become much more than quick experiences, catching an elf in the wink of an eye, leaving an odour in the form of a melodic loop, the appearances, even in the format of just a few minutes long are longer, and hold their visibility longer, so that you can see and hear something like the elves dancing.
When the final track sounds like a musical box it is as if this story is going to close its curtain, is going to sleep. Was it all but flashes from a dream ? (19)...
The strongest album of Robin so far.
Robin also published a book with Faerie tales; see below->
