AUSTRALIAN

In late 1970 Richard Lockwood and Ken Firth contributed to the debut LP Hush by Sydney band Extradition, released in June 1971 and now a rare collector's item. Both bands had been closely associated for some time, and shared similar musical outlooks; this led to Extradition members Colin Campbell and Shayna (Karlin) Stewart joining Tully at the start of 1971. Campbell played an important role in the later career of Tully and he wrote or co-wrote a considerable proportion of the material on both the Sea Of Joy and Loving is Hard albums.

Terry Wilson and Robert Taylor both left the group in December 1970. According to rock historian Noel McGrath, this was largely due to the fact that Carlos, Firth and Lockwood were adherents of the Meher Baba sect (popularised by devotees like The Who's Pete Townshend) -- an interest Wilson and Taylor reportedly did not share. Taylor was not replaced, and Tully continued to perform without a drummer.

Extradition – “Hush” {Australia} [1971] @320 kbps - (Aussie Primeval Folk Brotherhood)

Extradition was an Aussie hippie brotherhood, they belong to the earth and surely they showed it. Our cycle begins with water, pure and crystalline, as the first title “A Water Song” claims, you can actually hear calm water flowing mixed with the sounds of acoustic guitars; wooden sticks hitting each other accompanying the wind, distant flutes and of course the unearthly lush vocals of Shayna Karlin.

“A Love Song” opens with the same lush vocals with some quiet guitar, but then a shamanic beat of a mute drum and a harpsichord appears in this litany of love.

For me “Original Whim” it’s the earth speaking, screaming and singing by herself, I know, I know… it sounds extremely hippie, but you can actually feel a very deep and organic vibe (no bullshit pal). Gerald Van Waes describes this piece better than I can possibly do ever: “It's an experimental meditative track, again as if driven and carried forth from the elements itself, starting from a more aerial element, like wind, with wood clicking sounds (Actually, according to the booklet, these must be stones, sticks, palm leaves, a tree, a Lebanese bell, Chinese and Turkish gongs, with some percussion instruments), becoming more melodic through Tibetan bells and chimes, and ending with the more deeply penetrating gong, all with the effect of an introductory musical "OM" for the next track.

… Thanks Gerald!, the next track “Minuet” it’s a transitional piece, a very simple but effective and beautiful tiny classical repetitive dance with a piano laying in an harmonium, a joy for the spirit!

A static holded note appears at the beginning of “A Moonsong”, sonically I interpret that holded whistle as a unique concentration point for what it comes… a litanic repetitive kinda prayer-chant, with a tabla marking the beat an a chorus repeating the prayer… mystical.

“Dear One” is the lengthiest track of the lp, again quoting Gerald Van Waes: “On this track, Richard Lockwood sings as well”… “This is created with piano and harpsichord mostly, with similar balancing and slowly evolving individual notes, on chord organ near the end, and with some acoustic guitar”

“A woman Song" is a melancholic theme with some violin indian vina.

In the beginning “I feel the sun” It’s a classic woman vocals folksy song a la Anne Briggs with piano and Harpsichord, but surprisingly at the middle it turns into “Ice” certainly a Hammillean epic tour de force with solid male vocals, developing with drums, keyboards organ, cello and choir into an kind of anthem.

With "Song for Sunrise”, the cycle ends as calm as it begins with the primeval wind blowing his message.

Extradition’s Hush instead of be just a folk album, it’s a tradition breaker using the tradition itself, an “Ouroboros” (snake swallowing its own tail), a perfect circle amidst the chaos, creator and destroyer itself. I mean, you got all the traditional folk elements, but used in an innovative and effective way… this is no crappy “elfish” stuff, as I said previously, this is the Earth speaking, screaming and singing herself, The Real Deal!


IMPORTANT: THE SONG "ICE" IS INCLUDED INSIDE "I FEEL THE SUN"