FolkWorld Issue 36 07/2008
Label:
EMI Capitol;
50999 5 04885 2 0; 2007
www.hevia.es
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Drakkar;
drpro 078; 2008
www.leandrasphere.de
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Strictly Country Records;
63; 2007
www.sikahn.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Vildsint Records;
Vild 2; 2006
www.albanfaust.se
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Sounds true;
M1229D; 2008
www.soundstrue.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Indies;
MAM411-2; 2007
www.hradistan.cz
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Own label; 2008
http://www.myspace.com/umnachter
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Snail Records;
sr66006; 2005
Label:
Snail Records;
sr66008; 2006
Label:
Snail Records;
sr66009; 2007
www.mostarsevdahreunion.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Indies;
MAM 810-2; 2007
www.raduza.cz
Eelco Schilder
Label:
ARC Music;
EUCD 2131; 2008
www.arcmusic.co.uk
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Fluxx Records 291.281; 2007
www.zizal.de
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Moon Sound Records; 1315-1514-19; 2007
www.tangologia.de
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Own label; 2007
www.stefangitarre.de
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Own label; BQ 2007 002; 2007
www.ballroomquartet.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Sounds true;
M1236D; 2008
www.yogitar.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Sounds true;
M1190D; 2008
www.pathaan.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Indies;
mam406-2; 2008
www.taliesyn.cz
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Culture Taxi;
18512 ctr007; 2008
Label:
Culture Taxi;
18512 ctr002; 2008
Label:
Culture Taxi;
18512 ctr001; 2007
www.culturetaxi.com
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Frea;
4058; 2008
www.mazzeltov.nl
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Own label; 2008
www.chuzpenics.de
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Jaro;
4286-2; 2008
www.warsawvillageband.net
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Temps; 2008
www.temps.fi
Eelco Schilder
Label:
Temps;
2008
The kantele is an ancient Finnish zither-like instrument. Kastinen plays three different kanteles with different playing techniques - one with ‘jouhikon troka’, the bow of the bowed lyra, which is a kind of archaic violin. The CD features ten different themes, which are improvised and named by old runes. Kastinen tried to translate the names into modern English.
The musical journey begins with a meditation “Under the Lush Pine” (alla pehkovan petäjän) played on the 14 and 15-string kantele. The track captured me instantly with its rhythmic timbre and its beautiful harmonies. Here the mystic sound of the ancient past meets the modern love to tradition and the outcome is an eclectic piece of art. The following parts are reflecting a silent and angelic atmosphere and make the listener fall into a deep pensive mood.
“Iron” (mura) takes again a rather rhythmic path and Kastinen plays the 15-string kantele with hilarious passion. “Autumn like” (sykysyisen) introduces us to the strange sound of the kantele played with bow, the ‘troka’. Another highlight is the traditional tune “The Bear” (kouki) played on the 15-string kantele. Hauntingly beautiful harmonies and brilliant musicianship distinguish this track.
The whole project took three days, one day for the recordings, one day for mastering and one day for editing. I can’t say that it could have been made better than this, even if it would have taken weeks to produce the album. The music is based on improvisation and improvisation doesn’t need more than an excellent musician, a professional studio with someone like Matti Kontio and love for the music in combination with inspiration and creativity.
www.temps.fi
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Archer Records; 2007
The album features 10 songs, three self crafted tracks, two compositions by drummer Paul Taylor and five cover versions. These include melancholic waltzes, rhythmic country dances, cool jazz ballads, funky soul tracks, as well as rock- and blues songs.
Taylor’s „People Get Mad“ stands out with a funky wahwah guitar, accompanied by steel guitar, drums and bass. On Carla Thomas’ „That Beat“ LaVere combines the sound of the gypsy fiddle with pedal steel guitar and brilliant rock and soul rhythms. My favourite track is „Killing Him“, a cool song inspired by the daily news. She sings about killing out of passion with devotion and puts it in a wonderful rhythmic jazz ballad. Here Amy proves that she’s a very good singer, although sometimes her voice lacks a bit of volume.
„Anchors and Anvils“ is a very interesting album. It features a variation of styles that will find a great number of listeners. Producer Jim Dickinson and a punch of great musicians stand for high quality recordings and arrangements. And they perfectly fill in the gaps when Amy’s voice needs some support. I really like the album, what a pity it finishes after less than 40 minutes.
www.myspace.com/amylavere
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Arbor Records; 2007
Her band members are Randall Stoll (drums), Brian Minato (bass), Stephan Nikleva (guitars), Brenda Hanson and Kym Gouchie (vocals), and the recordings feature a couple of very interesting guest musicians as well.
Scofield sings together with Kinnie Starr „Faith“, a rhythmic rock song where Scofield’s beautiful singing harmonise perfectly with Starr’s spoken rhymes and backing vocals. The following hip-hop mix „Time has Come“ stands out with three names who guarantee a breathtaking groove: Eekwol, Green Tara and Manik. The words of “Money is the goal” are based on Native American philosophy: you can’t eat money but you won’t mention it before all natural resources are wasted. The title song includes some verses translated into Cree by Art Napoleon. Celtic harp, cello and a beautiful choir make this ballad a hauntingly beautiful sample of Scofield’s music. “Sophie’s Song” includes beautiful chanting, somewhere between Native American and African. And finally my favourite song is the spellbinding “Dig”, a breathtakingly beautiful sermon. Scofield and Joanna Chapman-Smith sing to the sound of Andrew Douglas’ bagpipe and Matt Griffin’s bass and guitar.
Sandy Scofield is the living proof that the Native American culture has already made the step into the 21st century. The fusion of the different music styles creates an extraordinary collection of world music. Here traditional music from North America meets African and European sounds, and Scofield assembles these elements to a top modern sound.
www.sandyscofield.com
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Whistler’s Music; 2007
Guest singer Chloe Green sings two songs: a song from Canadian born singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers and the hauntingly beautiful traditional song “The Snows They Melt the Soonest”. Green’s wonderful voice and Bauhan’s whistle are delicately accompanied by guitar, piano, bass and bouzouki. Gilles Lebigot’s sublime tune “Ker Jacob” is perfectly interpreted by Marko Murray on guitar and another lovely air is “Calum’s Road” by Donald Shaw, superbly arranged and played on whistle and guitar.
But the CD features also some exciting dance tunes from waltzes to jigs and reels. Here we can hear four excellent fiddlers, a talented piper as well as a great harpist. My favourite set of reels is “Robertson’s/Reel de Montebello/ Evit Gabriel”, where Bauhan plays whistle and flute and Russell Orzechowski accompanies her on the fiddle. And last but not least I’d like to mention the final set of waltzes. “April Waltz” by Albany based accordion player Selma Kaplan and Bauhan’s “Lathrop’s Waltz” melt together brilliantly and are dedicated to Sarah’s father Bill Bauhan.
Sarah Bauhan has collected some of the best traditional or contemporary tunes, written “in tradition”, from all over the Celtic world. Starting from her home in New Hampshire to Cape Breton in Canada, continuing from Brittany to Ireland she made her musical journey as far as to the northern parts of Scotland. I think this album is highly recommendable for lovers of Celtic music and friends of whistles and flutes.
www.sarahbauhan.com
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Vertical Records; 2008
They recorded eleven instrumental sets including self crafted tunes, traditionals and compositions from fellow musicians. Ainslie and Henderson play the pipes and whistles and the line-up also includes guitars, bass, piano and keyboards, Wurlitzer, cittern and percussion.
Starting off with a set of three terrific Irish traditional reels, “Old Bush/Jolly Tinker/Richard Dwyer’s”, sets the path and makes instantly clear what the listener is up to. Ainslie’s border pipe matches perfectly to Henderson’s uileann pipes and the guitars accelerate the rhythm to the excess. The following self made tunes, “Break Yer Bass Drone Again/The Crackin Fiddle”, are a perfect showdown for the playing together of whistles and pipes accompanied by great piano playing. So one musical highlight follows the other and the guys show passion, talent and virtuosity in their playing. But they also play some hauntingly beautiful airs like Ainslie’s “Absynthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder”, brilliant how the two guys play the whistles together.
Ross and Jarlath have joined Irish and Scottish forces to play some of the finest traditional music from the Celtic world including Brittany and Cape Breton. Accompanied by brilliant guest musicians the two young pipers establish themselves in the folk music scene with an album that is in my opinion certainly within the best recent instrumental albums.
www.myspace.com/ross&jarlath
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Corazong Records;
2007
Her latest album is produced by her partner David Weber, who also sings harmony voices and plays guitar and Cajun. Twelve self crafted songs have been recorded by Detor and Weber with the help of a bunch of highly talented guest musicians. The arrangements are perfect and the line-ups are rich and varied.
The title track is a melodic and dreamy song with wonderful piano playing and hauntingly beautiful singing by Detor. The song starts off with piano, voice and guitar and gradually the line-up gets fuller, which gives the song a dramatic touch. “Anemic Moon” is a gorgeous rhythmic Country song featuring banjo, harmonica and mandoline and Detor’s cool singing. Cool and melancholic is “Dinner with Chantel”, a brilliant jazzy song with piano and violin in perfect harmony embracing Detor’s singing. Guest singer Carrie Newcomer joins Detor on the final track, “Lay him down”. Listening to this you feel like having landed in New Orleans. Violin, dobro, banjo, accordion, drums and bass accompany the two inspired singers to the typical sound of a New Orleans Blues.
Krista Detor’s new album is certainly one of the best albums in Americana I’ve been listening to lately. She’s a gifted songwriter, an exceptional singer and the album features virtuoso musicians. Attention this music is highly addictive; I couldn’t stop pressing the replay button.
www.kristadetor.com
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Vertical Records; 2008
Twelve songs have been recorded and mixed at the Tradhouse & Parklane Studios in Glasgow, with some additional recordings in Donegal and Sydney. Shaw contributed the only self composed song and a few tunes. Other composers include John Martyn, Murdo MacDonald and Duncan Ban MacIntyre for the songs and Michael McGoldrick, as well as Gilles LeBigot for the tunes. Most of the materiel is from traditional Gaelic origin with the brilliant arrangements of these exceptional musicians.
The CD starts with a rhythmic traditional song, “him bò”, including LeBigot’s tune “Aman”. The playing together of McGoldrick on flute or uileann pipes and McKerron on fiddle is exceptional. Driven by the rhythmic section with Vernal, Beresford and Robertson and surrounded by Lunny and Shaw, Karen Matheson sings with passion and feeling. Waulking songs are followed by melancholic ballads and terrific dance tunes.
“The Quimper Waltz” by Shaw and “An Damez Kozh” by Bigot reminded me of LeBigot’s project “les voix de la terre” which assembled musicians and singers from Brittany, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. These wonderful dance tunes are my favourite instrumentals on the album.
John Martyn’s “Don’t you go” is a beautiful romantic song. Matheson’s singing, McGoldrick’s pipe playing and Shaw’s piano are awesome.
Finally Shaw takes the accordion and kicks off Murdo MacDonalds “Leodhasach an tir chein“ (a Lewisman in a foreign country). Often heard live the song now also features on a studio album.
Good things take their time, tells a German saying and with regard to Capercaillie’s latest album the saying proves right again. A must for fans of Capercaillie and a good chance to get to know one of the most innovative folk bands of our days.
www.capercaillie.co.uk
Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup
Label:
Vertical Records; VERTCD 084; 12 tracks; 56 min
Capercaillie have stuck to their very successful recipe of mixing mouthmusic and modern instruments. Roses & Tears for me drifts slightly too far into the bass'n'drums arrangements, and if you've heard them before then there aren't enough surprises on this album. The percussion is consistently high in the mix, the arrangements are often quite similar, and the instrumentals sit at a constant tempo. A bit more light and shade would go a long way to making this a repeated listening CD. The two English anti-war songs are handled in a very bland way - they don't stand out from the rest, and they certainly didn't get their message over to me, so I'm not sure why they're there. Despite all that, Roses & Tears is a very pleasant recording and Capercaillie fans will enjoy it: just don't judge the band by this release alone.
www.capercaillie.co.uk
Alex Monaghan
Label:
Own Label; 10 tracks; 38 min
The Gift mixes rustic modal melodies with the world music sound of Barely Works or Oyster Band numbers. Smallcoalpiper is a contemporary Northumberland showpiece, full of pops and stops, with a driving topline and a strong beat, finishing on the classic Small Coals. The air Mable strays across the Celtic rim, somewhere along an imaginary line between Callanish and Compostella. When It's All Over is a little further West, halfway across that Ireland bridge; a pair of breakneck whistle reels a la Finnegan or McGoldrick. Track 6 is firmly on Irish soil, Carolan's Captain Kane. The traditional jigs Red Haired Polly and Rattle the Cash keep us there, and The Lady's Cup of Tea adds some very fine Irish piping. Becky's style is open and uncomplicated, and the melody comes through strongly. The stately air River Rose leads into an impressive whistle solo. Can't Help Smiling rounds off this recording with a medley of jigs, leaving no doubt as to Becky Taylor's abilities: a fine command of her instrument, a repertoire as wide as these islands, and a gift for contemporary composition. Ireland Bridge is good solid pipering from start to finish, and should broaden the horizons of most traditional musicians.
Www.beckytaylor.info
Alex Monaghan
Label:
Own Label; 8 tracks; 44 min
Crazy Street kicks off the recording with an Innes session favourite, shifting into a dark Green reel. Polkska has a distinctly non-celtic feel until Neil and Fiona's injects some Kerry magic. Teabaggin is a pair of big meaty strathspeys, Gary's Troon Sniper and the traditional Earl Grey. John's No.62 is a whirling modern triple bourree.with more twists and turns than the Clyde. The two waltzes in TotAly Modest are lovely, Tony Rasmundson's tribute to Aly Bain just shading it over Mairearad's Total Modesty. Angus contributes a couple of cracking jigs, the very familiar Stuck in Port Askaig (what a way to go!) and the surprisingly tasty Cold Chips.
This is a very enjoyable wee album. Benism and the final Extensions set are pretty hard-core accordion, but overall Box Club's music is great fun. The four accordions cover Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian and Central European styles. Guitar, drums and bass complete their already full sound. Be very careful of the website: www.boxclub.co.uk with samples and pictures, don't get it wrong!
www.boxclub.co.uk
Alex Monaghan
Label:
Ten Thousand Lakes; SC 127; 11 tracks; 53 min
The piping is fluent and assured, the old staccato style played mainly on a good set of 13-key pipes in D. Dick Hensold brings in some more open playing at times, especially on the Irish pieces. I find his style rather straight and cerebral at times, without the passion and spontaneity of some players, but his technique is impressive and most of the pieces are delightfully interpreted. Harp, fiddle and whistle join him on First Leaves of Spring, stretching to a string quartet on the big finish Lance Robson's Jig. Elsewhere Dean Magraw plays guitar, and Troy MacGillivray's piano powers the two Cape Breton sets. Rheung Knome Jop Hai stands out not just because of the spelling: Cambodian pop music appears to fit perfectly on the pipes, and is actually not so far from the sound of modern compositions in the bellows-blown piping world, but the combination with Cambodian dulcimer is a fabulous addition to this recording. Big Music indeed, and highly recommended for piping purists and open-minded experimentalists alike.
Www.schubert.org
is the place to look online - where else? - and www.dickhensold.com
should be up and running by the time you read this.
www.dickhensold.com
Alex Monaghan
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© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 07/2008
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