I can understand the Shirley Collins reference (though personally, much as I like JADD when I'm in the right mood, I'd take one Shirley Collins album over a thousand Vashti Bunyan albums). Where the reference makes sense is the strange otherworldliness of Shirley's voice, especially when set in the context of Dolly's portative organ. I was listening to 'The Power of the True Love Knot' last night and was yet again struck by what a strange and lovely thing it is - the dreamlike quality is what I think it shares in part with Vashti's first album (Lookaftering's a different matter entirely). I think that is why many in the 'wyrd' folk world love Shirley's music where they wouldn't necessarily be interested in a lot of other traditional or traditionalish music.

For more on the psych/wyrd/whatever-you-want-to-call-it folk world, including plenty of artists who share some traits weith Vashti, you could do a lot worse than check out Mark Coyle's site, the Unbroken Circle which is a fascinating place to poke around.

Now please don't shout at me for liking other things than just traditional(ish) folk music...

Cheers

Nigel