Elephantasia

Bangor-born Dave Evans only learnt to play guitar in his 20s while passing through Morocco during a stint in the merchant navy. Yet Evans quickly developed a virtuoso, yet seemingly effortless, finger-picking style which drew the admiration of both his peers and early champion John Peel. Released in 1972 and until recently out-of-print, his second album is a beguiling, bewitching gem. Fans of Nick Drake will swoon at the Bryter Layter-like “Only Blue” (featuring perhaps music’s most romantic reference to “chili con carne”), but Evans’ quivering vocals and pioneering use of tape manipulation (see the two-speed guitar ‘duet’ on the title track) chart Elephantasia into more unusual waters, drifting into a space between folk and a pastoral prog of the sort to be found on EMI’s Harvest imprint.