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TIM LAYCOCK Sea Strands WildGoose WGS 376


It’s been a very long time since Tim’s last solo album (True Colours), but to be fair he’s kept himself more than fully occupied with the New Scorpion Band, not to mention his active paral- lel career in the theatre as an actor/ musician of some repute. For this new collection of songs and tunes with associations to Dorset (where he lives), Tim has enlisted the services of fiddle/viola player Colin Thompson (with whom he’d worked on the recent WildGoose disc of Hampshire Dance Tunes), fellow-NSB member Robin Jeffrey (Victorian and alto gui- tars, mandolin, laouto, percussion), and Gabriel Laycock (12-string guitar), to flesh out the already quite sumptuous sound of his own duet concertina, melodeon and harmonica.


Tim has long been recognised as a partic- ularly sensitive and thoughtful interpreter of traditional song who also has a winning way with original compositions in the idiom, while he has a real gift for researching and preparing for performance his chosen reper- toire which in this case is a well-balanced hour-long programme that contains some surprises nestled in the midst of its partially- familiar tracklisting. This ‘courtly’ version of Write Me Down, for instance, which comes from the singing of Joseph Elliott from Tod- ber, North Dorset, and an unusually jolly- sounding John Barleycorn (bravely collected by the Hammond brothers whilst on a cycling trip!). The Turtle Dove takes the collated ver- sion from Frank Purslow’s Marrowbones vol- ume, which itself was based around the brothers’ manuscript collections, from which come several other songs with distinctive and beautiful melodies, notably the closing item, the delightful Farewell She from the singing of Marina Russell of Upwey.


Aside from material from the Dorset song collections, Sea Strands contains three of Tim’s own settings. Dialect poet William Barnes’ evocative The Bwoat is as gently com- pelling as the setting of Hardy’s The Night Of Trafalgar is melodiously stirring, and both of these eclipse the lengthier ballad Death In The Nut, which takes its inspiration from Duncan Williamson’s story. The CD also inter- sperses three life-affirming tune-sets that are full of enjoyable touches and neat textural contrasts. Put simply, this is a wholly engag- ing disc, supremely well planned and per- formed, sympathetically recorded and well annotated: a veritable model of what a folk CD should aspire to.


www.timlaycock.co.uk David Kidman


MACIRÉ SYLLA Talitha Djembé-Faré DFCD05


SAYON BAMBA Dougna Cobalt 138833


You always know what you’re going to get with Maciré Sylla – funky Afro-European pop (as usual, she uses a mix of European and African artists) that’s vocally strong and with a muscular rhythmic touch. Building her sound around a brass section and coterie of electric guitarists – with trad touches from kora, balafon and flute – the Guinean griotte harnesses traditional melodies in slick arrangements that, through sheer dint of repetition, perhaps veer on the conserva- tive. A couple of intriguing ballads and the seeding of a handful of simpler melodies hint at a move to the musical centre-ground, which in many respects should be welcomed in lieu of treading water in the perfectly acceptable but slightly by-numbers area in which she finds herself.


www.maciresylla.com


that any attempt to tackle it risks being hack- neyed or redundant. Written in the 18th cen- tury, it is a reworking of an older song about the non-return of Scottish soldiers after the Battle of Flodden, when 10,000 are said to have perished along with their king and large numbers of the nobility. When I first saw this song listed on the album my heart sank, fear- ing the potential pitfalls of turning it into a nationalist dirge or an anti-English anthem. I need not have worried. Chloe has skilfully dusted down this ancient classic to present its true essence as a deeply moving lament. She inhabits the ballad, her poignant vocal carry- ing the anguish of women who have lost their husbands, sons and brothers. Underpin- ning the voice is Ewan MacPherson’s guitar accompaniment which pulses with the strong, steady, rhythm of those who rock themselves in grief. After numerous plays, I haven’t yet managed to listen to this track without crying.


What shines through this album is Chloe


Matharu’s deep love of traditional songs, and her total belief in their self-sufficient beauty.


www.chloematharu.com Paul Matheson Sayon Bamba


Fellow Guinean songstress Sayon Bamba is, if anything, an even slicker operator, laying mandolin, ngoni, balafon and acoustic guitar over electronic beats and effects on an ele- gantly structured exercise in pan-African pop- rock. Sounding as if she’s influenced by a wide range of all those funkily modern West African chanteuses (Kidjo, Gnahore, Rokia etc), Dougna is a far cry from Bamba’s past role as a singer with Les Amazones de Guinée. No blasting funk here, little in the way of electric guitar, and even if Bamba’s admirable restraint mostly works well within the sleek arrangements here, it would be nice to hear her really let go once in a while (the Angelique-like Aborongo comes closest) . Nevertheless, a good album and an artist to watch out for in the future.


www.myspace.com/sayonbamba Con Murphy CHLOE MATHARU


Next Market Day Jonesy & Jock Records, 150464


This is the beautiful debut album from a 19- year-old Edinburgh singer with cultural roots in Wales, India and Scotland. Chloe’s pure, heartfelt vocal is influenced by the Folk Revival of the 1960s and ’70s, and her album presents fresh treatments of classic British folk songs like Bold Gardener, Hares On The Mountain and Come By The Hills. She is accompanied superbly by Ewan MacPherson (guitars), Lauren MacColl (fiddle) and Ailig Hunter (double-bass and sitar). Throughout the album the musical arrangements are inventive, engaging and surprising, while remaining sensitive to the need to accompany each ballad, not overwhelm it.


With a nod to Chloe’s Indian heritage,


her sitar-accompanied version of The Trees They Grow High is an utterly compelling interpretation of this achingly sad song. The decision to use the sitar was a stroke of genius: its striking soundscape evokes the song’s relevance to India and invites us to view the ballad from the perspective of a South Asian woman. At the same time, the sitar’s distinctive drone-strings also conjure associations with piobaireachd and highland bagpipe music, taking our thoughts back to Scottish tradition.


The Flowers Of The Forest is one of those classic songs that can be so intimidating to singers of any age, who may fear (rightly)


DJANGO ET RIEN D’AUTRE


Live At Les Nuits Manouches Le Chant Du Monde 274 1886 87


Do you want the CD equivalent of an energy drink? Well here it is. Yorgui Loeffler, Steeve Laffont, and Raphaël Fays (who make up the trio Django Et Rien D’Autre) are gifted expo- nents of the style invented by the Gypsy gui- tar genius, Django Reinhardt. A style now usually referred to as ‘jazz manouche’. On Sat- urday 23rd January 2010, the centenary of Django’s birth, the Alhambra in Paris hosted a series of concerts entitled ‘Les Nuits Manouch- es’. With the help of Rudy Rabuffetti on rhythm guitar, and various bass players, the three stars stormed their way through a series of Django’s compositions. This double CD has been selected from three nights of live record- ing from those concerts. The result is spectac- ular guitar work, excitement and swing. An inspiration for those who aspire to play this style, and an adrenalin shot for any listener.


Buy this CD, or book for next year’s con- certs (3rd – 7th May 2011) – or both.


Distributed by Harmonia Mundi. Jon Moore CARA Long Distance Love Artes


Cara was once a German band playing a Celtic repertoire but now with Scottish and Irish membership has become a fully pan- Celtic unit. Long Distance Love, their fourth album, rings the changes introduced by the addition of Jenna Leslie and Ryan Murphy. The vocal mix is richer with Leslie and founder Gudrun Walter harmonising on The Brewer Lad complemented by a full-on ensemble backing.


The opener, Mary Reid, a Gudrun Walter- penned piracy tale, ransacks traditional con- ventions with unusual results, not least of all a folk-rock treatment more in the Steeleye Span domain. Piper Ryan Murphy also adds a stronger instrumental focus, evident on Inish- turk where a fuller, more robust attack emerges and Dochno inhabits Breton/ Hiber- no jazz cadences like Moving Hearts and Den.


Long Distance Love sees a band gather- ing its diverse forces and musical influences together to create a powerfully effective whole which is their best effort to date.


www.cara-music.com John O’Regan


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