Now I first heard of this 2002 five-track CD EP via the Stephinsongs email list on account of it featuring a cover version of a song by Stephin Merritt. All the other tracks are covers, too: of the Incredible String Band, Ewan MacColl, Vashti Bunyan (whom I didn't know then) and Cyril Tawney (whom I still don't know).
The Merritt cover is fine, but the MacColl and Incredible String Band are particularly special. The coda to A Very Cellular Song is just one lyric repeated throughout: "May the long time sun shine 'pon you / All love surround you / And the pure light within you / Guide your way on". It becomes a hypnotic mantra with a feel a bit like the Pink Floyd of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Today I tried to count how many times the lyric is repeated, but it's difficult — like counting the rotations of a wheel with spokes — and I counted 23 once; 21 the second time. By the end, I find myself wishing for another 20 repetitions.
I ordered this CD from Cheap or What! in August 2002 for £7.26. it grabbed me by the short and curlies and marked the start of buying other Appendix Out CDs and — since they've split — becoming a big fan of Alasdair Roberts. His voice and playing have a texture and a quality which capture the curse that the past casts over the present. I think he's head and shoulders above the other contemporary young folkies.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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