Coal Porters "No. 6"
Prima Records, 2016
Coal Porters is a bluegrass band which was originally formed in the 1980s in Los Angeles, but relocated in this century to London. The band is centred around singer, songwriter and mandolin player Sid Griffin, who has also written and sings most of the songs on the album. With Sid's band featuring fiddle, banjo, double bass and guitar, the album “No. 6” presents bluegrass and Americana ballads, generally more on the gentle side. Produced by famed English folk rock producer John Wood, this is a pleasant and mature sounding album.
Damian Clarke "Something to say"
It is fair to say that Damian Clarke's artistic offering is pretty unique: he not only combines folk music and visual art (a taster of the latter is the colourful CD sleeve of this album), but he also has an unusual choice of music instruments that he plays to accompany his songs: Hurdy gurdy and hammered dulcimer. Before he embarked on this amazing blend of art styles, Damian founded in 1986 the folk rock band Pressgang - a band which he still sometimes plays with.
Mallebrok "Levende Brav"
This newish band is one of the those that pushes the boundaries of Danish folk music, in a pretty distinctive style: Mallebrok blends Danish folk with electronica, jazz and pop. This experimental approach provides interesting and overall rather appealing and impressive results. Most of the songs are traditional Danish ones, completed by a couple written by the band's Morten Musicus. The 5 piece band features various percussion instruments, electronics, accordion, bagpipe, trombone, cittern, hammered dulcimer and more - with the electronica effects being rather central in the sound of the band.
Fru Skagerrak "Fru Skagerrak"
Fru Skagerrak is a new pan Scandinavian trio bringing together three young talented handsome female fiddlers: Anna Lindblad from Sweden, Elise Wessel Hildrum from Norway and Maja Kjaer Jacobsen from Denmark. On their debut album, they present a mix of traditional and self-composed tunes in the styles of their respective home countries, plus a couple of attractive songs. Despite only featuring three fiddles, the trio's sound is powerful, energetic, elegant and beautiful. These excellent musicians take us on a wonderful journey through the rich fiddle traditions of Scandinavia.
Kim Edgar "Stories Untold"
“Stories Untold”, of Scottish singer/songwriter/pianist Kim Edgar comes across like a light warm summer wind - her warm soft voice gently flows through the songs, tastefully accompanied by piano, guitar, violin, cello, bass and some gentle percussion or brass instruments. However this warm summer wind tells of some chilling tales - of domestic violence, a boy lost to the sea, child soldiers and the death of a loved one. Most of these lyrics have been written by Kim. Known to German audiences from her work with the German based Celtic band Cara, the Edinburgh based songwriter has released here a very respectable solo album.
Nick Burbridge and Tim Cotterell "Resolved"
An intense and impressively presented album of songwriting. The songs tell about the darker sides of life, from the perspectives of many different actors - be it the pacifist putting a flower in the barrel of a gun, a daughter wanting to follow her father to jump down the cliff edge, the partisan dying in the war, or the song of a seafarer. The lyrics are always poignant and often hard hitting, and it's fair to say that there is a pessimist tone to all of these songs. Nick is an outspoken sufferer of endogenous depression, and this seems to be reflected in his songs. Between each song there's a series of two liner sung "tanka" verses. The arrangements are rather minimalist but highly effective, with clever arrangements by multi-instrumentalist Tim Cotterell. Nick's style is unconventional and perhaps because of that it reminds at times of Dick Gaughan, yet he has developed his very own unique style. An impressive album of song with a depressive edge.
Beoga "Before we change our mind"
Beoga have established themselves as one of the premier bands on the Irish folk circuit - and rightly so. Their music is beautifully arranged, deeply rooted in Irish traditions yet given a fresh appeal. The combination of piano (Liam Bradley), accordion (Damien McKee), fiddle (Niamh Dunne), guitar / second accordion (Sean of Graham) and bodhran/ percussion ( Eamon Murray) is a clear winner, and the interplay between the musicians is superb. The tunes burst of energy; all of them have been composed by either Sean or Damien, and they have a real feel good factor - driving yet harmonic, gentle yet powerful. For some added variation, three songs are in the mix too: Niamh presents with her light gentle voice "The bonnie ship the diamond", "Farewell to Carlingford" and "Wexford Town". Kaela Rowan "The fruited thorn"
Scottish singer Kaela Rowan has first come to my attention on the latest album of Scottish top group Shooglenifty, where she surprised fans with providing vocals, the first time the band featured a singer in its history. Naftule's Dream "Blood"
This is the first recording since 2002 of this long-established US based band. The starting point of Naftule's Dream is Klezmer, yet they venture quickly away from it into a world of free style jazz, improvisation, rock and experimental ambient music. The dominant instruments are an at times cheeky clarinet, a cornet and a tuba, which are backed by drums, accordion and electric guitar. The music moves from atmospheric via danceable klezmer music to free style - and from melodic to what you could call experimental noise. It is an album that fascinates me and that can take my full attention - although when not in the mood it can equally be plain annoying.
Spook Handy "Pete, Woody and Me Volume 1 - Keep the flame alive"
An album that states it is "much more than a tribute to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie" - as it's based on the values and style of those two legends, yet Spook Handy tries to bring their songs and spirits to modern times. Kraja "Isen sjunger"
Having just finished packing away the Christmas decorations into the attic, this seasonal album arrived for review. To publish an album of Christmas music on the 13th of January is an interesting idea, and gives the reviewer the challenge to put themselves back into a Christmas mood to give it a fair play. Ostinat Expressen "Spor 2"
After a long break, this Danish band got back together in 2012, and now, some 18 years after their debut album, we can be delighted that we have their second album in our hands. The band's music shares its successful approach with other Danish bands such as Phoenix, playing happy acoustic instrumental music, largely self-composed but in a Danish and Scandinavian tradition. The sound association with Phoenix is not fully coincidental - as both bands share the same accordionist, wonderful Jesper Vinther Petersen. The other four in the band play violin, clarinet, double bass and percussion. This is happy danceable music, with enjoyable arrangements - music that makes you smile.
London Klezmer Quartet "To the tavern"
The four ladies in the London Klezmer Quartet play confidently and skilfully old and new Klezmer tunes and Jiddish songs, on violin, clarinet, accordion and double bass. Most of the tracks are composed by one of the band members, in a traditional Klezmer style. The music has a lovely and relaxed swing to it. My personal highlights are the songs on the album, sung in Jiddish with an attractive dark and slightly smoky voice, and talking of food, drink and love. Recommended listening.
Bilja Krstic & Bistrik Orchestra "Traditional songs from Serbia and the Balkans - Svod"
Ignore the cheesy design and picture on the cover, and forget about the unimaginative title – both unfortunately oh so typical of the ARC Music approach. I additionally had to again step beyond my own belief that I am not much into music from the Balkans… and you will discover, as I have, highly appealing and charming music on this album. The Serbian singer Bilja Krstic looks back at a successful pop music career, but since early on in this century she has dedicated herself to the folk music of the Balkans. Her pop music background might be what makes her singing so accessible- neither her very attractive voice nor the music arrangements ever go into the shriller modes that Balkan music quite often enters. The music, while deeply rooted in traditions, comes across in a contemporary and highly enjoyable swinging way. The music features violin, piano, guitars and percussion, plus a few guest musicians. It is an album that surprised me in how much I like it. Shame that the way the album is presented may turn off many other people like me to give the CD a try.
Bark & Blik "Vildskud"
This is an extremely well-crafted blend of Danish folk music and jazz. You might guess from the band’s name that Bark & Blik is a duo – wrong guess as they bring together four versatile young musicians - Kristine Heebøll on violin, Siri Iversen on clarinets, Cecilie Strange on sax and Simon Krebs on guitar. The tunes on this album have all been composed by band members. At their core are traditional sounding Danish melodies, but the music regularly ventures into playful improvised jazz passages. “Vildskud” is groovy, cool and spontaneous, it sounds fresh yet stays in a natural way true to Danish roots. While until that point the album has been all instrumental, the very last track "Farvel" is a gentle song – a great way to finish off this wonderful album.
Will Pound & Eddy Jay "Ignite"
Combining the amazing talents of incredible harmonica player Will Pound and great accordionist Eddy Jay, this duo's music is breath-taking indeed. There is such an immense energy and an extremely tight interplay between these two English musicians. It's music that is in the broad Celtic folk spectrum, and is interpreted in a very playful, creative and improvised way as you would normally find in jazz music. This album is impressive, and I can imagine that in live this duo must be amazing indeed.
Gruberich "Ohrenzwinkern"
So where in the world should the listener place this music? Other than guessing that it might be some wonderfully harmonic fairy land, there are only very few clues on this album. Most of the time Gruberich create their very own beautiful sound - combining folk, classical, jazz and other influences. It is only on a few occasions that the trio plays tunes which are distinctive to their lower Bavarian home – like a Zwiefacher or the “Niederbayerische Arien”. Much of the music is composed by the band’s Thomas Gruber, but there are also a few traditional tunes as well as tunes by Astor Piazzolla and Yann Dour. Ange Hardy & Lukas Drinkwater "Findings"
Ange Hardy first appeared on the folk scene in 2013, and since then her warm and intimate singing, alongside her guitar and harp playing, has made her already something of a household name on the English folk scene. On this album, she is joined by duo partner Lukas Drinkwater on guitar and double bass. Together they have written most of the songs on this album. The lyrics are captivating – they tell meaningful stories as you would expect of great ballads. Many of the topics are around family roots and links, but there are also lullabies as well as songs about hard hitting contemporary topics – such as young family carers (under 7 year olds who have taken over the caring responsibilities for a family member) or the tragically lost lives of refugees in the Mediterranean in recent years. A number of illustrious guests have joined the duo for the album, including Ciaran Algar on fiddle, Archie Churchill-Moss on accordion and guest vocals from Nancy Kerr and Kathryn Roberts. Ange's performances are memorable intimate affairs, as I was lucky to experience at “Folk at the Froize” last year. An album of songwriting with a lot of depths.
Le Bour - Bodros "Chadenn"
This duo from Britanny play their own compositions on saxophone and accordion, and on this album, you will hear largely just the two of them (with occasional addition of percussion). This may surprise the listener as the duo's sound is incredibly full and sounds like a full band. In the tunes, the guys combine Breton dances with a strong dose of jazz; their interpretations are full of improvisation and remind in their free style raw energy of gipsy music. The dominant element of the CD are instrumentals but for a couple of songs they are joined by Breton singer Rozenn Talec.
Saulius Petreikis "Lowlands"
This is a curious album that finds the uninitiated listener in places he is never quite sure where they are. There's world music of undefined locations, ambient soundscapes, a dose of Celtic folk, pop, jazz, African style chants... Rosie Mackenzie "Atlantic"
Cape Breton fiddler Rosie Mackenzie beautifully showcases on this album not only her skills on the fiddle, but also as a highly talented composer. Principally all tracks on the album have been written by the young musician, in a traditional Cape Breton and Irish style (and the Irish element on the album may be down to the fact that the album was recorded in Dingle in Ireland, with a number of Irish guest musicians). The fiddle tunes, a mix of calm beauty and forceful energy, are accompanied by guitar/mandolin, drums, bodhran and viola. And if her talents on fiddle and as a composer were not enough, Rosie is also a beautiful singer, which she showcases in two lovely contemporary songs, with a bit of an Americana feel to it. A cracking album.
Etienne Grandjean & Soig Siberil "La tempete"
Brittany's best known folk guitarist Soig Siberil teams on this album up with talented accordionist Etienne Grandjean - a perfect match of superb musicians. Principally all the tunes on the album are composed by one of the musicians; traditional in style, they have a beautiful swing and a light flow, creating a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. While the album focusses on instrumentals, there are also a few lovely traditional Breton songs on the album, sung by Etienne. Enjoyable from the first to the last minute.
Raabygg "Ein etter far"
Raabygg present Norwegian traditional music and songs from the Setesdal area in Southern Norway. The three young ladies, Sigrid Kjetillsdotter Jore, Tuva Faerden and Johanne Flottorp, play two hardanger fiddles and harpeleik (the Norwegian version of the German zither). Yet the trio's trademark is its harmony singing - their vocal arrangements have a simple yet stunning beauty. An album of enchanting interpretations of traditional songs and tunes.
Vox Pop Records, 2016
The songs on this album, many with Damian's own lyrics, are dreamy and charming, presented in a minstrel style, and feel like a piece of art in themselves. Some of his song lyrics have also been incorporated into his paintings, which you can admire on his art website.
Go Folk, 2016
Go Folk, 2016
Own label, 2016
Own label, 2016
Own label, 2016
There's no chance that the listeners will change their mind - "Before we change our mind" is exquisite and will remain just that.
P.S.: Co-hosting the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Yorkshire born singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has described his new album as "schizophrenic"
with "lots of different sounds" and confirmed that an Irish traditional/folk band would appear.
"They're called Beoga," said Sheeran. "They're from Northern Ireland; they are really, really talented.
They came to my house to stay and we made some songs. Two of them have made the record. It's jammy, it's folky."
Own label, 2016
This solo album has also some Shoogle influence, with James Mackintosh as producer and on guitar and percussion, and Ewan Macpherson on guitars, mandolin and Jews harp. However the sound is far from a Shoogle sound, as the album has a calm atmosphere, with mostly quiet songs. There is a modern edge to the album, with atmospheric and experimental arrangements, and a touch of cool jazz brought to the Scottish trad music. The music also ventures a couple of times into a world music theme, blending Kaela's Gaelic singing with African chants by Dayam Khan Manganiyar. The remaining songs are mostly in English language, and see occasional famous guest musicians, including John McCusker, Patsy Reid and Dave Milligan.
Own label, 2016
Own label, 2016
There are a number of old favourites such as the "Hobo's Lullaby" or "Where have all the flowers gone". Then there's new songs about topics of today - be it about oceans of individual debts or a call to vote - and of yesteryears - such as an impressive song version of the story of Moses. The cheesy picture on the CD cover - Spook Handy, Woody and Pete in front of a fire place - seems appropriate: As the album has the warmth and cosiness of a singalong around a fireplace, and while overall the album is charming, the music does occasionally drift into cheesy territory. Yet overall it has the warm feel of the familiar with some new stories.
West Park Music, 2017
This should though not deflect from the quality of this album. Kraja are internationally renowned for their stunning harmony singing, and it seems an obvious idea for these four Swedish ladies to record an album of Christmas and winter songs. On "Isen sjunger" (ice sings) they present twelve songs, largely a Capella, with beautiful vocal arrangements. While the album starts with the Swedish version of "O come all ye faithful", there are not many further songs that will sound familiar to English audiences. I for one will look forward to get this CD out again in December to enjoy it then at the right time of the year.
Go Danish Folk Music, 2016
Own label; 2016
Arc Music; 2017
Go Danish Folk Music, 2016
Own label; 2016
Own label; 2016
What makes Gruberich’s music exceptional is the unusual combination of instruments: the trio features cello, harp and hammered dulcimer or accordion. The music of Sabine Gruber-Heberlein, Maria Friedrich and Thomas Gruber is very distinctive, and takes the listener into a dream world, where different music styles merge and surprise in their improvisation, often with a twinkle in the eye. An amazing album of three highly talented musicians.
Story Records 2016
Paker, 2016
Own label; 2015
The sleeve notes reveal that Saulius is from Lithuania, and that he has assembled a huge array of wind instruments from around the world - and not only does he collect them, he also knows how to play them. The music, all composed by the musician, is supposed to show Celtic, Armenian, Persian and Lithuanian origins. Recorded in Scotland, the musician has gathered a huge orchestra from a variety of countries. Despite being recorded in Scotland, I found the Scottish and Celtic elements comparably weak. While I have founded the album a bit too ambient, it does provide a fascinating musical journey where you never quite know where the music takes you next.
Own label, 2016
www.coop-breizh.fr, 2016
Etnisk Musikklubb, 2016
