Music Arcades: Virginia Astley: From Gardens Where we Feel Secure

Whenever I hear the opening bars of Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel on the radio — usually on Late Junction — my immediate reaction is, "Oh, they're playing Virginia Astley's From Gardens Where we Feel Secure!" Until the violin comes in, and I realise my mistake. I used to think that the beardy Estonian might be guilty of nicking a motif from the title track of an '80s twee-ambient album, but I see he composed Spiegel in the '70s, so he's in the clear. As for Ginny…?

I bought the album just after Christmas, when 1983 was turning into '84. My mum, sister and I had gone up to London on a shopping expedition, and I remember being in HMV with this (£5.29) along with a Joni Mitchell album. I must have read a review in the NME because I'm pretty sure Peel didn't play it.

Today the Boy and I listened to Side 1 (Morning) while I was feeding him at 7am, and to Side 2 (Afternoon) during his evening feed at 7pm. I hope he enjoyed it; I did, and it's very calming, so I like to think he did too. It struck me that From Gardens… is like an English version of Roedelius. Being English, of course, calm is OK, but the element of zen you get with Roedelius is strictly verboten. Nevertheless I think the comparison holds, and, in my terms, it's a flattering one.

In fact I remember thinking the album was a little too twee for me, but I think I was wrong. I can see why I made the mistake: it's the recordings of English village and countryside life that sound impossibly nostalgic.

But evidently these recordings were not from some Betjemanesque archive or manufactured imaginings. They were contemporary and authentic. I'm not quite sure how I forgot that. I was reminded when I read the allmusic review which refers to the album as a "meditation built around field recordings Astley made of the ambient sounds of the rural English countryside". It was only after that that I spotted/recalled the notes on the inner sleeve that detail where each of the recordings — of meadows, church bells, birdsong, a creaking gate and what might be a donkey braying — were made: all within a mile of Moulsford in Oxfordshire. I wonder how many people have made pilgrimages there just on the strength of this record. We have friends only a 20 minute drive away, so I may pay a visit myself one day.

Virginia Astley's retirement from making music has been more complete than Kate Bush's, and — to those who know albums like this — she exerts an equally strong draw. They had a feature on her on the Freak Zone in June 2004, which I was bitterly disappointed to miss, because we were in Spain when it was broadcast, and the Listen Again online feature was broken when we got back. Just take a look at the prices on Amazon marketplace for the CD version of this album — over £90 (it was £160 yesterday) — and over £60 for the vinyl on MusicStack. Sorry to lower the tone.