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2 Doyle Lawson & Quiksilver Lonely
Street (Rounder 11661-0635-2) These guys
are slick. Bluegrass with every note, every lick
close to perfect. From the land where cellar
gets to rhyme with yeller and it all sounds
natural.
www.rounder.com, via Proper in UK.
1 Angélique Ionatos & Katerina Fotinaki
Comme Un Jardin La Nuit (Accords Croisés
AC128-129) Comme Un Jardin La Nuit is an ele-
gant album. Traditional Greek folk songs sit
alongside arrangements of poetry by Sappho,
Odysseus Elytis and Nikos Gatsos. It’s pleasant
and occasionally interesting, but a bit too aca-
demic to be genuinely moving. www.accords-
croises.com, distributed by Harmonia Mundi.
2 Sytyke Tulipunapalsami (Ääniä AANIA-
8) In the Saarijärvi area of central Finland kan-
teles were traditionally plucked with a twig or
matchstick rather than fingers. Sytyke, includ-
ing Saarijärvi kantele maestra Pauliina Syrjälä,
is unique in using only the pleasing interlock-
ing chiming of six 19-20 stringed Saarijärvi
kanteles in its tunes and accompaniments to
5-female, 1-male group vocals.
www.aania.fi
2 Tom Doughty Have A Taste Of This!
(Corker Music CD003) More blues and folk lap
slide from probably Britain’s best exponent.
Novalima
Here, original songs and covers of Dylan and
Randy Newman sit nicely against sharp instru-
1 Novalima Coba Coba Remixed (Cum- 2 Red Chamber Redgrass (Za Discs N-13)
mentals and gutsy Charley Patton-inspired
bancha CMB-CD-11) Hit and miss selection of Vancouver-based Chinese female plucked-
slide work; Lord, there’s even some Billie Holi-
DJ remixes of the Afro-Peruvian’s last CD. string quartet, led by zheng player Mei Han
day in there. All held together by Doughty’s
There’s hardly a whole album’s worth of with the lutes pipa, liuqin, ruan and sanxian.
smooth vocals, it’s a good, solid album.
interesting stuff here, but a handful of rein- Muscular, spirited arrangements of Chinese
www.tomdoughty.com
terpretations hit the spot.
www.novalima.net trad pieces plus one from Borneo, a waltz, a
@ Various John Armstrong Presents
1 Irmelin Gyldene Freden (Blue Sparrow
bluegrass collaboration that’s probably more
¡Cuban Funk Experience! Funky Sounds
BLUE 0801) Swedish female a cappella vocal
fun live than interesting on record, and a
From Cuba & Miami 1973-1988 (Nascente
trio – Maria Misgeld, Karin Ericsson Back and
remarkably effective treatment of a Bulgari-
NSFUNK001) Still flogging the Cuban archives
Malin Foxdal – mixing lyrics and tralling-style
an horo.
www.asza.com
after all these years, as if anyone on the planet
vocalisation in songs from tradition, Evert 1 Mariachi Real De San Diego Mariachi
requires yet another scattershot compilation
Taube, Bellman, Cornelis Vreeswijk and oth- Classics (Mardi Gras Records MG 1120) For
of 1970s and 1980s Cuban and Miami Cuban
ers, joined for one by male guest Peter Carls- over 30 years, Mariachi Real De San Diego has
dance numbers. Enough already. ¡Basta ya!
son.
www.irmelin.nu been a genre mainstay in southern California
www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/nascente
1
2 Roger Lasley Flatpick Vacation (own
– like the title says, 16 piping mariachi chest-
Uxu Kalhus Transumâncias Groove
label RL-20090401) The eighth album from
nuts.
www.mardigrasrecords.com
(Uxu Kalhus no cat. no.) Presented as a concept
Minnesota’s best-kept secret and his big Mar- 2 Sandra Kerr Hi! Said The Elephant
album about musical migrations, but in sound
tin guitars, this shares with its predecessors (Fellside/ Smallfolk SMF2) This “celebration of
generally high-energy heavy Portuguese folk-
lovely, relaxed flatpicking and strong original creatures great and small” from the “house
jazz-rock – electric guitar squee, flutes, rausch-
tunes with bits of blues and country. There’s a of Bagpuss” is a charming collection of songs,
pfeife, fuzz, slap-popping bass guitar and
welcome absence of flash for its own sake – tunes and stories. Sources range from trad to
drums – elevated by the rather fine, authorita-
what you get here is a supremely confident Native American, Appalachian to Causley,
tive singing of accordeonist Celina Da Piedade,
set of tunes with great good humour. Who Guthrie, Rosselson. Delightfully performed by
plus guests including regional trad vocal
needs fingers?
www.cdbaby.com/all/lasley Sandra Kerr and young folky friends (Emily
groups.
www.uxukalhus.net
@ Kari Tauring Völva Songs EP (Omnium
Portman, Rachel Newton, Dave Newey et al.),
2 Various Local Customs – Downriver
OMM 2105) Minneapolis bronze-age cos-
this will appeal to all ages.
www.fellside.com
Revival (The Numero Group Numero 026) A
tume-wearing Nordic ritualist sings three 1 Blackwater The Black River Bridge (Irish
wonderful and engaging portrait of home-
Norwegian songs, one Votic and two self- Connection BW002) Fourth album from skilled
grown gospel, soul and funk recording activi-
composed, accompanied by her banging French six-piece with a Celtic fixation, mixing in
ty in Michigan in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
wooden staff or a guitarist. Her cultural and pipes, percussion and various stringed things, is
There’s some lovely gospel and hard soul per-
vocal enthusiasm outweighs her musical skill. competent without getting too heated.
formances here you’ll never have heard
www.omnium.com Singing in English (dodgy) and French they are
before, and the huge booklet offers a full and
2 Betse Ellis Don’t You Want To Go? (Free
emotive, but it’s the instrumentals that really
illustrated history of the whole saga. Fascinat-
Dirt CD 0058) First solo recording by Ellis, who
catch fire and would end up knackering even
ing and enjoyable.
www.numerogroup.com
was a founding member of alt. country outfit
the most committed whirling dervish.
1 Various The Sword Dance And Other
the Wilders, and is a superb old-time fiddler.
www.myspace.com/blackwateririshconnection
Mysterious Pieces (Nesma Music ND 0802)
Great tone and not a note out of place on a
2 Various Banjo – An American Five-
At the height of the dance boom, when every
collection of old-time and original tunes where
String History 1901-56 (Frémeaux & Associés
male under 30 spent his money on vinyl to
it is impossible to see the join. She also sings
FA 5179) A fascinating 2-CD compilation tak-
play at home, pretending to be a DJ. Surely
and is pretty good at this as well. Quality musi-
ing banjo from its recorded origins as classical
dance music is for dancing? This highly func- cal entertainment.
www.freedirtrecords.com
banjo by virtuosi like Fred Van Eps, through its
tional release of an Egyptian orchestra and
2 Various Eesti Rahvapille (Ajakirjade Kir-
role in old-time country music via Doc Boggs,
synths for the bellydance crowd emphasises
jastus ISBN 978-9949-443-41-3) All Estonia’s
Charlie Poole and others through to bluegrass
atmospherics to back your culturally dubious
traditional instruments in a beautifully pro-
and Earl Scruggs. Calls in at obscure Library of
sword dance.
www.nesma.com, via Proper.
duced 140-page hardback book with, set into
Congress recordings and is a well annotated
2 Duke Robillard Duke’s Box (Dixiefrog the front cover, a 26-track CD of many being
and thoughtfully compiled package. www.fre-
DFGCD 8657) Excellent 40-track, 3-CD set played. Text, by player-researchers including
meaux.com, via Discovery in the UK.
compiled from Duke’s recordings of the last Igor Tõnurist, Tarmo Kivisilla, Meelika Hain-
20 years. Backed by a host of top-notch musi- soo and Cätlin Jaago, is in Estonian but pro- DVDs
cians, Duke demonstrates his versatile guitar fuse colour and b/w photos and the CD make
2 Eric Bogle Live At The Stonyfell Winery
prowess in the areas of blues, jump/ swing, it useful even to a non-reader
(Greentrax DVTRAX 2022) Eric’s first (and last?)
and blues-rock – and his vocals are pretty
1 Jeff Kavanda Tam-Tams D’Exil (own DVD, where in March 2009, before embarking
good too. Via Discovery in the UK.
label bar code: 8 81295 55110 7) Pretty much on his final tour, he recorded for posterity this
2 Ensemble Al-Asdeka Ensemble Al- a one-man band: for his third album this Con- two-hour concert (with John Munro et al.) that
Asdeka (own label no cat. no.) Surprisingly golese living in Belgium plays practically demonstrated exactly why he’s such a com-
entertaining instrumentals from US Arab- every instrument, starting with drums, and pelling songwriter and performer. This highly
music enthusiasts. Check out the zingy guitar sings with a soft, pleasantly rough tone. Tra- treasurable memento contains 21 of Eric’s most-
and Egyptian melodies played on the alto sax. ditional rhythms to soukous and atmospheric requested songs, all performed with dedication
www.al-asdeka.com mood pieces.
www.jeffkavanda.be and still-evident passion.
www.greentrax.com
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