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Comus (band)
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Comus (band)
Comus are a British progressive folk band who had a brief career in the early 1970s. Their first album, First Utterance, has garnered them a cult following that persists to today. They reunited in 2009, and have played several festivals and released a new album called Out of the Coma.
Comus was formed in 1969 by art students Roger Wootton and Glenn Goring, who developed their musical style performing in folk clubs in and around Bromley in Kent. The band was named after Comus (a masque by John Milton), and also after the name of the Greek god Comus. The band grew from an early folk duo to a six-piece ensemble; in that later form, David Bowie came to appreciate them. They appeared regularly at his Arts Lab project in Beckenham, Kent. He also invited them to be his support act in a 1969 concert at London's Purcell Rooms.
Their first album, First Utterance, with cover art by Wootton and Goring, appeared in 1971. The music is largely acoustic music that blends elements of Eastern percussion, early folk and animal-like vocals. The lyrics involve violence, murder, mental disorder and the mystical. Tiny Mix Tapes rated First Utterance five stars out of five.
After the album, woodwind player Rob Young was replaced by Lindsay Cooper, and the new lineup developed material for a never-released second album. No recording by this lineup would see the light of day for another 40 years. The group disbanded for a time, but Wootton, Andy Hellaby and Bobbie Watson reformed the band with new members for their second album, To Keep from Crying, in 1974.
A complete box set was released in 2005; this features both studio albums, their only single, "Diana", and a previously unreleased track called "All the Colours of Darkness". The liner notes feature an exclusive interview with some members of the band. They reformed for the Mellotronen Festival in Sweden in March 2008. They have continued to perform occasional gigs, including some new material.
On 13 June 2009, Comus performed for the first time in the UK in 37 years, at the Equinox Festival at Conway Hall.
A reunion album, Out of the Coma, was released in June 2012. It contains three new tracks: "Out of the Coma", "The Sacrifice" (both written by Wootton) and "The Return" (written by Goring), plus a 1972 live recording of unfinished material from their abandoned follow-up to First Utterance, "The Malgaard Suite". Sputnik Music rated Out of the Coma 3.5 out of 5. Louder Sound rated it four stars out of five.
The members were active outside Comus. Wootton also appears on some recordings by Slapp Happy. Cooper went on to join Henry Cow. Reed player Jon Seagroatt is also a member of free-improvising trio Red Square. Colin Pearson went on to produce hits for other artists, including "Forever Young" for Alphaville. Seagroatt and singer Bobbie Watson married in 2003.
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Comus (band)
Comus are a British progressive folk band who had a brief career in the early 1970s. Their first album, First Utterance, has garnered them a cult following that persists to today. They reunited in 2009, and have played several festivals and released a new album called Out of the Coma.
Comus was formed in 1969 by art students Roger Wootton and Glenn Goring, who developed their musical style performing in folk clubs in and around Bromley in Kent. The band was named after Comus (a masque by John Milton), and also after the name of the Greek god Comus. The band grew from an early folk duo to a six-piece ensemble; in that later form, David Bowie came to appreciate them. They appeared regularly at his Arts Lab project in Beckenham, Kent. He also invited them to be his support act in a 1969 concert at London's Purcell Rooms.
Their first album, First Utterance, with cover art by Wootton and Goring, appeared in 1971. The music is largely acoustic music that blends elements of Eastern percussion, early folk and animal-like vocals. The lyrics involve violence, murder, mental disorder and the mystical. Tiny Mix Tapes rated First Utterance five stars out of five.
After the album, woodwind player Rob Young was replaced by Lindsay Cooper, and the new lineup developed material for a never-released second album. No recording by this lineup would see the light of day for another 40 years. The group disbanded for a time, but Wootton, Andy Hellaby and Bobbie Watson reformed the band with new members for their second album, To Keep from Crying, in 1974.
A complete box set was released in 2005; this features both studio albums, their only single, "Diana", and a previously unreleased track called "All the Colours of Darkness". The liner notes feature an exclusive interview with some members of the band. They reformed for the Mellotronen Festival in Sweden in March 2008. They have continued to perform occasional gigs, including some new material.
On 13 June 2009, Comus performed for the first time in the UK in 37 years, at the Equinox Festival at Conway Hall.
A reunion album, Out of the Coma, was released in June 2012. It contains three new tracks: "Out of the Coma", "The Sacrifice" (both written by Wootton) and "The Return" (written by Goring), plus a 1972 live recording of unfinished material from their abandoned follow-up to First Utterance, "The Malgaard Suite". Sputnik Music rated Out of the Coma 3.5 out of 5. Louder Sound rated it four stars out of five.
The members were active outside Comus. Wootton also appears on some recordings by Slapp Happy. Cooper went on to join Henry Cow. Reed player Jon Seagroatt is also a member of free-improvising trio Red Square. Colin Pearson went on to produce hits for other artists, including "Forever Young" for Alphaville. Seagroatt and singer Bobbie Watson married in 2003.