Tom Newman - Bayou Moon (1985)

Okay, in that cover image we may have a literal example of 80s New Age looming large over the artistic stylings of a musician/producer who'd been around since the 70s, but I do like this one for its guitar sounds and atmospherics.  Tom Newman is perhaps best known for helping a certain latterday space-botherer build the Manor Studio and launch the careers of Virgin Records and Mike Oldfield, and he released three prog-ish solo albums between '75 and '77.

Come the mid 80s, Newman signed with Coda (a new age imprint of Beggars Banquet) for a couple of releases, Bayou Moon being the first.  Intending to evoke "the swamplands and the everglades of the Mississippi Delta", the album has a fair bit of Paris Texas-esque guitar twanging that sounds very nice, particularly when the backing isn't too busy, such as on Fur Traders Descending The Missouri and Voodoo De Bayou.  Moonrise is a particularly interesting track in its arrangement, with a large synth swell midway through giving way to a jaunty harmonica/percussion/synth section.  In fact, the only real stinkers here are Gumbo Fling and its three reprises - seriously, it will get on your nerves so much by the end it's perhaps advisable to just skip each iteration.

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