?In the Village of the Apple Sun? is one of two albums that Northern Cali multi-instrumentalist Anton Barbeau hatched recently. This one?s the psych pop concept album, while his other ?Drug Free? is more Kraut-glam infused. The most obvious reference point that comes to my mind is when XTC reinvented themselves as the Dukes of Stratosphear to indulge fully in a love of mid-late 60s psych pop maneuvers with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Barbeau is a witty, surrealist songwriter that?s learned a lot from John Lennon, Julian Cope and even Joe Meek, as his music has an odd charm that?s not instantly accessible but undeniably catchy, bizarre and even British, albeit from the removed modern day West-coast American perspective. Tracks like ?This is Why They Call Me Guru 7,? ?Mushroom Box, 1975? and the fantastic title song combine absurdity with nostalgia, modern day concerns, big shiny hooks, head-tickling arrangements and a burly psych guitar edge into fully compacted psychedelic symphonies for the expanding mind. Not a reinvention of the wheel by any means, but Barbeau is successful every second of this free-wheeling head trip and manages to conjure visions of those aforementioned gurus along with California?s gone-but-not-forgotten Paisley Pop underground right on up to the Elephant 6 heyday or more recent times. The results are nostalgic without the retro, plus enough modern flourishes to make ?In the Village of the Apple Sun? sound almost out of time completely. Only in California? 8/10 -- Lee Jackson (17 April, 2007)