Fallout Rec. 
Lily & Maria : (US,1968,re.2008)****'
Ah, it was a time and atmosphere when everything seemed possible, or like in the liner notes by Lily, says, where “men were long-haired” (and wishful thinking), and “women wore beads and flowing dresses” ; in the midst of this, two young women started to sing together, with a mutual understanding like sisters, vulnerable and fragile like young virginal angels, knowing that there were protest songs from Joan Boaz and Bob Dylan, and soft sounds from Simon & Garfunkel or Peter, Paul & Mary, and who suddenly, hardly experienced with music, were suddenly picked up to make an album. The producers looked for contrasts to fill up, against the beauty of the soft sounds, and even worked three months on the result, then printed the album and just left it for what it was, perhaps too much wondering that after having so much effort and dedication to work for creative perfection, it might have brought an equal shared and matured knowing of what really had happened with it. From the liner notes, today, it seems that the duo thinks even now that their lonely voices with the bit of subtle guitar was all they knew they had for sure, and with the arrangements this had become something different as how people knew them. I personally think the voices come out well, even with a few rockier tracks (in a psychedelic way), and the arrangements work very well with them too. Personally I also don’t care very much if people might notice any naïve lyrical beginnings, because even taken out of this context they are still better than the average modern pop song I hear on national radio today. This is the expression of a nice, sweet and innocent protected area which was possible at that time. They had a reason to believe in at least certain, vague possibilities. When I hear the bonus track of “Everybody knows” with bird whistling flute I understand the perfect attraction.
(The only thing I do not like is the too vague, thin and over-exposured front cover. It says however something of how thin and volatile the duo in consciousness saw themselves, while the final result on the album had much more fronting and mature qualities).
