65 f


PBS6 PBS6 Victoria Tunnel Mushroom VTMCCD002


Sorry. This should have been reviewed months ago. All my fault. I keep playing it and then sticking it back in the pile because… I dunno… maybe because I’ve no idea what to say about it. The portents are certainly good. Percussionist Will Lang’s adventurous leap from former band Park Bench Social Club into a dizzying clash of styles, embracing jazz, hip- hop and various random tangents between with Shona Kipling’s wondrous accordeon gloriously occupying the hinterland, tracks linked by speech, poetry and newscasts. All this and explorations of common ground between Australian and English folk music, some powerhouse rapping; attractive singing from Tessa Smith and Katie Wighton; and a fierce no-nonsense attitude about its presen- tation. I want to love it. I should love it. And each time I return to it, it’s in the belief that this time I will love it. God knows we could do with a new band mixing cultures, taking risks and shaking things up a bit.


And yet, it still doesn’t quite work for me. There is much to be admired. The techno stuff is great with some stirring beats and beatbox- ing from Jason Singh and convincing raps from Crystalize (though it somehow doesn’t seem right to hear a rapper use the term ‘peeps’) and the theory, energy, enterprise and a healthy sense of humour, too, is all to be heartily applauded. And, like I say, Kipling’s accordeon work attempting to link it all together is a joy. But, despite its bursts of gen- uine excitement and imploring dance sensibil- ity, there’s still an odd coldness about it all and the various elements don’t gel as convincingly as they need to make it work. There’s a self- consciousness about the way it bends over backwards to surprise us with its cutting edge posturing and it ultimately founders in a way that another recent album operating with vaguely similar notions – Burns Unit’s Side Show –sounds far more natural and satisfying.


The Oz-Brit theme is somewhat lost but when the concoction does hit the mark – the Eastern feel permeating through the drum- heavy arrangement of Blind Fiddler, the rein- vention of Byker Hill as a dark, urban grime social commentary, Lang’s bodhran intro to the flying instrumental Ainsley’s and the ghostly interpretation of Ewan MacColl’s Moving On Song – it’s brilliant. Maybe there’s just too many ideas here competing for atten- tion to the detriment of what is undoubtedly a potentially significant concept.


www.pbs6.com Colin Irwin Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller


VARIOUS ARTISTS + KOLPAKOV DUO


The Rough Guide To The Music Of Russian GypsiesWorld Music Network RGNET 1214CD


The main course here is the bonus CD, The Art Of Russian Gypsy Guitar by the Kolpakov Duo. Recorded back in 2003, before their appearances on Madonna’s 2008 and 2009 tours, it’s a very appealing previously unre- leased album by uncle and nephew Sasha and Vadim Kolpakov, in lyrical, liquid interplay on their pair of nylon-strung 7-string guitars. While indubitably Russian, the flow of the music and the ringing, quivering high notes evoke Portuguese fado, and Sasha Kolpakov’s passionate vocals are very reminiscent of the late Saban Bajramovic and Bosnian sevdah.


The Russian Gypsies CD itself is a compi- lation from 12 CDs by various groups, plus three previously unreleased tracks. Loyko opens and closes – violinist Sergey Erdenko of that band is a co-compiler, and other Loyko alumni and members of his Roma musician


family feature on other tracks – and for a while it seems it’s to be a display of flashy, sobbing café-style violin, accordeon or zippy guitar in show-piece tunes, some of them familiar international chestnuts; the playing is hot but the passion seeming more profes- sional than felt. But after the first few tracks more character and grit emerges, with some spirited vocals such as L.P. Mikhay and T. Mikhailova’s unaccompanied Opai, Dad and guitar-accompanied ‘dubadubaduba- dubadubada’ refrain of Britiyano.


Even if one sees the Kolpakovs as the meal and the latter as the bonus sampler, the pair of them (and on-CD files including a pot- ted Russian history and something about Rus- sian music) can be had for only the cost of a mid-price single CD. www.worldmusic.net


Andrew Cronshaw


JEANA LESLIE & SIOBHAN MILLER Shadows Tall Greentrax CDTRAX352


Two fine vocalists sing Scottish and Irish tradi- tional songs plus contemporary material. In 2008 Siobhan and Jeana won the BBC’s Young Folk Award and the Scots Trad award for Best Up & Coming Artist. Siobhan is from Penicuik in Lothian and plays piano. Jeana is from Orkney and plays fiddle, piano and Hardanger fiddle. They are joined by Ewan MacPherson (guitars), Mattie Foulds (cajon), Kevin McGuire (double bass) and Signy Jakobsdottir (tuned percussion).


This CD follows up their well-received, promising debut In A Bleeze (2008) and what a difference two years make! They’ve stepped up a whole level. The song selection is more diverse and their vocals are more confident, resonant, richer, more expressive. The emotional texture of Siobhan’s brood- ing mezzo voice reminded me more than once of the great Julie Murphy. Siobhan’s intense performances of Kate Rusby’s Who Will Sing Me Lullabies? and Richard Thomp- son’s The Great Valerio are alone worth the price of the album.


The musical arrangements are excellent throughout: sparing, rhythmically interesting, and always embroidering the message of the songs in a way that adds flair and drama. The colourful use of electric guitar on The Trooper & The Maid conveys the pregnant girl’s emo- tional turmoil. Jeana’s fiddle-tune on The Great Valerio conjures up a phantasmagorical circus. The fiddle and piano breaks in Alexan-


der are thrilling. The piano pulses through the epic Johnnie O’ Braidisleys, ramping up the tension like the accompanist at a silent movie. Jeana’s syncopated Orcadian fiddle in The Giant Set is a cracking tribute to their compos- er, Orkney maestro Jennifer Wrigley.


And finally, the powerfully moving ren- dition of the anti-war ballad The King’s Shilling is a showstopper. I never expected to hear a better version than Karan Casey and James Taylor’s (on Transatlantic Sessions series 4), but Siobhan and Jeana have proved me wrong. Wow! www.greentrax.com


www.jeanaleslie-siobhanmiller.co.uk Paul Matheson


MOSI CONDE Kaira Kora Afrika own label MC 200410K


A sparkling debut from this London-based kora player and singer originally from Conakry in Guinea. Mosi Conde is the nephew of Mory Kante and ol’ Diamond Fingers himself, Sekou Diabate, so certainly has a lot to live up to.


It’s the former that he most resembles, the tracks here being mostly brisk and melodic comprising Mosi’s bright kora, decent if not outstanding voice, bolon, excel- lent sparingly applied flute from Baba Galle Kante, and rhythmic decoration from cal- abash and djembe.


With eight shortish and sweet songs and under 40 minutes long, it never wears thin. And despite its mostly sunny disposition, it’s the spiritual closing track Tooba that really stands out, not least because Conde’s vocals are at their plaintive best. It’s all very alluring, although the packaging could best be described as economical. It would be good to see this album picked up by an established dis- tributor, buffed up and put on show at what will, on the strength of this release, surely be an increasing live presence. It’s the least this hugely encouraging first effort deserves.


mosiconde@yahoo.co.uk Con Murphy


LOUISE EBREL Ma Zad Ma Mamm Keltia KMCD523


ANNE AUFFRET & FLORIAN BARON Gwerz & Soniou E Breizh Keltia KMCD518


VARIOUS ARTISTS Nuit De La Saint Patrick Keltia KMCD519


COCKTAIL DIATONIQUE Cocktail Diatonique Coop Breizh CD1030


Louise Ebrel comes from the first family of Breton traditional singing. She is the daugh- ter of Eugénie Goadec, of the famed Sœurs Goadec and a leading performer in her own right. Here she focuses on the two main strands in Breton traditional singing, the laments (gwerz) and the call and response singing for dancing (kan ha diskan). On sev- eral tracks her rich, expressive singing is sen- sitively and sparingly accompanied by accordeon, bass and guitar and this is partic- ularly effective on Ar Plac’h An Daou Bried. She also has singing partners on some tracks; usually singing in unison with Sylvie Riivoalen and with her regular stage part- ner, the much younger Ifig Flatrès, she rat- tles off some fine dance tunes, some hard consonants defining the beat.


Anne Auffret is another prominent singer who has sung traditional Breton songs since the 1970s. Her finest recorded work was in the 1990s with Yann-Fañch Kemener. Here her recording companion is from another


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