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No Border Orchestra is a powerful new venture, an eight-piece instrumental band bringing together Pavlovic and Bulgarian fel- low-accordeonist Petar Ralchev with Norwe- gian musicians and others initially for a tour across into eastern Europe. It’s a big, impres- sive sound, the two accordeons joined by a string section of violin, viola, cello and bass, plus Harald Devold’s sax and Helge Nor- bakken’s percussion. There’s surging strength, fiery intricacy, quirky innovation and dark corners in these tracks, most of which are compositions by Pavlovic or Ralchev reflecting the former’s experience with classical music and the lightness of touch and inventive flair of his and Ralchev’s Balkan roots. Ralchev is right at the top of Bulgaria’s accordeon pantheon and with the strings often giving a truly orchestral sound, their players working finely as a unit playing inge- nious arrangements that really get inside, topped off by Devold’s sax and propelled by the gutty throb, smack and click of Nor- bakken’s ever-unusual drumming, it’s a remarkable, rich and involving piece of work.
www.myspace.com/noborderorchestra Andrew Cronshaw
JAMES FINDLAY Sport and Play Fellside FECD238
From time to time a CD lands on this review- er’s doormat which raises a smile because it brings with it a breath of fresh air. Having met James Findlay in person, this is very much in character. Here is a young performer who wears his heart on his sleeve, equally happy to lavish his affections on short, punchy, mod- ern settings of traditional themes or on long Child ballads. This CD contains both, and all are performed with integrity and respect. He gives us sleevenotes which reveal his influ- ences and sources (even including Roud num- bers) and the sleeve design and photography reveal a similar attention to detail and a pur- suit of high standards.
So, to the tracks themselves. There are, as one would expect in a young performer, moments where the influence is to the fore. It is easy to hear Peter Bellamy, Mike Waterson and Tony Rose, to name but three. What is interesting though, is the way that these are being assimilated by this developing musician. Tam Lin, for example starts out as Mike Water- son’s but ends up as James Findlay’s and is a tour de force performance which leaves one in no doubt that he is well capable of taking on the big ballads. Similarly, his George Collins is neatly done and shows how by taking ele- ments from different versions he can create his own unique take on a song.
Few of the 12 tracks on this CD fail to
convince. Sorry The Day I Was Married is per- haps one. Firmly in the female voice, it takes a very experienced male performer to give it credibility. That aside – a minor niggle – from Dives And Lazarus to The Lake Of Shillin the overall impression is of grown-up music demanding that the listener engages with these timeless stories.
James is a convincing fiddler and a good guitarist whose accompaniments support but never dominate his songs. This CD reflects exactly his live performance which is not only honest but reassuring in that he doesn’t need a plethora of established artists to provide backings, support and musical credibility. Instead there are light touches from Alex Cummings on accordeon and a tantalising taste of Lucy Findlay singing some lovely har- monies.
James Findlay is a good solo performer who is not afraid to stand alone with the songs that he clearly loves. He deserves every success and this CD deserves the same.
www.myspace.com/jfindlay Paul Davenport
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rough Guide To Flamenco Dance World Music Network RGNET1248CD
This is an excellent and varied compilation of current flamenco artists. Calling it Flamenco Dance, however, is a little confusing as it includes some tracks that are not particularly suitable for dancing, such as Rafael Riqueni’s virtuosic guitar playing, the flamenco-jazz flute of Jorge Pardo and songs by Mayte Martìn and Dolores Agujetas. There is also a superb bonus CD that contains a compilation of material by guitarist Eduardo Niebla, although the intricate solo guitar pieces and funky flamenco-jazz fusions that make up these recordings are even further removed from the dance aspect of flamenco. Presum- ably this title was chosen to distinguish it from the previously released Rough Guide To Flamenco. It is ironic that an album titled Fla- menco Dance actually demonstrates how far flamenco stretches beyond the image of the swirling dancer of the cover art.
www.worldmusic.net Michael Hingston
NATHALIE NATIEMBÉ Karma Sakifo Records 3209732
CHRISTINE SALEM Lanbousir Cobalt 138832
It feels like years since we heard from Natiembé, an intriguing singer of Mozam- bique heritage from La Réunion and (forgive me if I’m misremembering) in past incarna- tions she seemed to draw heavily on her per- cussive creole maloya roots. There’s little left of that on Karma, a moody, effects-laden meeting with genre-defying French sound- sculptors Bumcello.
Natiembé has a tough, forceful vocal style pitched somewhere between a rap and a chant (a rant?), set against Vincent Ségal’s portentous dubbed-up bass and Cyril Atef’s trippy percus- sive effects on an album that often intrigues, but which almost drowns the singer’s Indian Ocean and African roots in its artfully-rendered wall of sound. Readers of this magazine are warned to approach with care.
www.myspace.com/nathalienatiembe
Christine Salem is more in the mould of the Nathalie Natiembé of old; a singer also from La Réunion who dampens rhythmic mal-
Christine Salem
oya percussion with the evocative rattle of her kayamb shaker. The songs are mostly call- and-response chants – Salem’s vocals a glori- ous controlled belt, too forceful to be described as soulful, too assured to be described as raucous – against a sparse rhyth- mic backdrop.
Energetic and repetitive, there’s a hyp- notic feel to the music that contains traces of the Brazilian Bahia style (Ila and Maméléo go further, bordering on the exultant chore- ographed thrum of samba rhythm) and although Christine has been brought out from behind the Salem Tradition name by which this thrilling collective is usually known – presumably in an attempt to modernise the appeal, the music remains vibrantly rooted in a sound worthy of that original classification. Traditional music with a modern sensibility - Lanbousir works, and works well.
www.myspace.com/salemtradition Con Murphy
PETER STAMPFEL & THE WORM ALL-STARS
A Sure Sign Of Something Acidsoxx Musicks XX216
Ah, Stampfel! You never quite know what you’re going to get from the original Holy Modal Rounder and one-time Fug, from sheer genius to excruciating godawfulness, but I’m very pleased to be able to report that this one falls squarely into the former category.
Arising out of a 2007 encounter between Stampfel and the Rotterdam-based ensemble (Nina Hitz, Alan Purves, Lukas Simonis) at the time he was over to promote the cinematic car crash that was the Rounders’ aptly titled Bound To Lose documentary, this inspired col- laboration provides Stampfel with one of his best ever settings. Traditional old time songs and tunes like Wake Up Jacob sourced from Harry Smith’s archive, things misremembered from the radio of Stampfel’s youth, revisits of earlier classics like Antonia’s Fucking Sailors In Chinatown, Michael Hurley’s Midnight In Paris (Unholy Modal Rounders), and Steve Weber’s One Will Do For Now (from The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders) and a selection of originals from the partici- pants get a joyfully ramshackle semi-acoustic mosh pit of a treatment featuring fiddles, banjo, cello, keyboards, bass, percussion and Peter’s endearingly creaky yelp of a voice.
Photo: Ian Anderson
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