A Midsummer's Night Dream

Chronique

A cult classic from Britain's folk-rock underground, Oberon's lone release, A Midsummer's Night Dream, has languished in obscurity as much for its scarcity as for its cerebral psych-folk nature. Recorded in 1971 by a septet of teenaged students at Oxford's Radley College, the album is a D.I.Y. wonder of its day, entirely homemade and pressed to a scant 99 copies. Fueled by the voracious absorption of Incredible String Band, King Crimson, and Pentangle records, bandmates Robin Clutterbuck (vocals, guitar), Jan Scrimgeour (vocals, guitar), Julian Smedley (vocals, violin), Chris Smith (guitar), Charlie Seaward (flute), Bernie Birchall (bass), and Nick Powell (percussion) convened in a vacant classroom at the start of their summer holiday to rehearse and record their defining statement. A combination of youthful ambition and well-read pretension resulted in a clutch of songs that ranged from flowery Tolkein-inspired romps ("Minas Tirith") and Medieval fantasias ("The Hunt") to a surprising rendition of George Gershwin's American standard "Summertime." Complex, frequently difficult, and flitting endlessly between ethereal underworld darkness and breezy jazz-inflected sweetness, A Midsummer's Night Dream is a fascinating chunk of progressive psych-folk very representative of its specific era. Brainy and theatrical, it's unlikely Oberon would have found a wider audience had they even sought one, but in retrospect their undiminished vision and unpolished talent have the kind of niche appeal that makes cult fandom almost inevitable. In the decades after its release, the album became somewhat of a unicorn for record collectors with copies often fetching impressively high sums. It has emerged in the digital world a couple of times before, but with this exhaustive 50th anniversary edition from archival champions Grapefruit Records, Oberon's journey seems rather complete. Along with the remastered original disc is a second album containing one of the group's rare concerts captured in the spring of 1971 just before album sessions began. While it doesn't quite resonate at the level of the better-known folk-rock classics of its day, A Midsummer's Night Dreamm still ripples with mysterious allure and remains a captivating snapshot of one Britain's most unique scenes.

© Timothy Monger /TiVo