Solstice Saturday/ Soundtrack Saturday

Today is the 21st of June, the summer solstice. The sun will rise in the UK at 3.42 am and won't set until 21.42 pm (later the further north you are). Marking the solstices is a nice tradition, a link to a much earlier time. Five years ago Rich Lane released a track for June 2020's summer solstice- we were all deep into lockdown in June 2020, the world was a very different place in all sorts of ways. Five years on that period is half- forgotten by many people and some don't want to be reminded of it. Rich's Solstice comes in four versions, 12", 7", ambient and instrumental. All/ any of them are highly recommended- the Ambient Mix comes with a dawn chorus, ethereal chanting, long synth chords, a shimmering drone and then Rich's sweetly sung vocals. 

In February 2021 Belgian duo A Winged Victory For The Sullen released an album called Invisible Cities, a gorgeous and affecting thirteen track dark ambient/ neo- classical record which contained this short but emotive piece of music...

Every Solstice And Equinox

Most Saturdays this year I've been posting about film soundtracks. The solstice film that came to mind was the 1973 folk horror classic The Wicker Man although the climax (spoiler alert) in which Edward Woodward is burned alive inside a giant wicker man as the locals on the remote Scottish island of Summerisle dance around singing an old Middle English song Somer Is Icumen In is actually on May Day not Midsummer's Day but the pagan, folk high summer feel of the Wicker Man and its legendary soundtrack get it the nod today. The songs for the film were written and recorded by Paul  Giovanni and Magnet and many of them were sung by the film's cast. Willow's Song is the best known, mesmerising, haunting, a siren's call and a lullaby (not to mention some erotica/ filth in the last verse, lines about a maid milking a bull, 'every stroke a bucketful'). Willow's Song is apparently not sung by actress Britt Ekland but by Rachel Verney. 

Willow's Song has been covered by loads of artists- in the 90s Sneaker Pimps did a version and Doves recorded it as a B-side. Sean Johnston's Summerisle Trio recorded a version for a Golden Lion Sounds 7" single in 2021. Last year Katy J. Pearson recorded it and there was this very tasty Richard Norris remix, a dub folk crossover that hits all the solstice spots. 

Willow's Song (Richard Norris Ritual Mix)

The Wicker Man's soundtrack was heavily built around versions of existing folk songs. The opening song (sung by actress Leslie Mackie) and the song Corn Rigs are arrangements of Robert Burns ballads, nursery rhymes crop up and old English, Scottish and Irish folk songs provide tunes and melodies for many of the instrumental parts of the soundtrack. For some early 70s innuendo and Summerisle discomfort here's the Summerisle pub faithful singing The Landlord's Daughter... Happy solstice.