Vashti Bunyan – Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind

Vashti Bunyan – Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind / 2007 Dicristina / 25 Tracks / http://www.dicristina.com /

We at NeuFutur have reviewed Bunyan’s works before. Eir career in a quick nutshell: “Just Another Diamond Day”, eir debut LP, was released in 1970. “Lookaftering” was intended to come out soon after “Just Another Diamond Day”, but was unreleased until Bunyan finished it up and Fat Possum released it in 2005. 2006 saw Bunyan go out and tour to completely new audiences, while a new track (“The Fire”) was released for the compilation “Ballads of the Book”. This year (2007) marks the release of “Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind”, which is a compilation of singles and demo versions of other tracks by Bunyan stretching forward from 1964 until 1967. The only thing that I could construe as a weakness with “Some Things” is the fact that there should have been a more steadfast use of chronological ordering to the tracks on the discs. The songs here bounce back and forth between all four years, and I know that I personally would have liked to hear the evolution in Bunyan’s style throughout the four years sequentially. It’s a minor complaint, but still one that bears mentioning. 

The success of “Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind”, plus the fact that Bunyan conveniently cuts off the compilation at 1967, means that a similar compilation will undoubtedly be present for the period 1968 until 1970. The fact that there is such a story to be told with the tracks on “Some Things” ensures that fans of Bunyan need to pick up this album, even if it is just to understand how eir music grew and changed from the demo to the finished stage of the recording process. Individuals that are Bunyan completists outside of those fans that somehow got a hold of first-hand copies of some of John Bunyan’s tapes will find a number of different tracks will find a number of “new” tracks to mull over as well.

It has been a little bit over 5 years since Bunyan started getting involved again with music, and it seems that each year brings individuals into contact with another facet of Bunyan’s work. Who knows what 2008 will bring, whether it be more in the way of touring, another compilation album in the vein of “Some Things”, or if there may even be a new album in the pipeline. Regardless of what happens, it will allow Bunyan to spread eir wings that much further and for fans of Bunyan to understand this previously  mysterious musician all the more.

Top Tracks: Train Song, How Do I Know

Rating: 7.2/10