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able band has now become one of its most stable, even enduring. There is nothing astonishing or revelatory here – you wouldn’t expect there to be – rather a gentle assur- ance, a knowing familiarity, a standard met, a nudge, a wink and a The Boys Are Back In Town feeling. Festival Bell is the sound of a band who knows what works and have played to strengths delivering a relaxed album which is probably their most complete in many a moon. This being Fairport however you know wit, wisdom and whimsy mix with heritage and cavalier musicality. All bases covered then, and the accent perhaps tilted slightly to the unplugged. What’s in store?
Having thrown my hat into the ring and made the bald statement that here is a rounded offering, I must confess it took a while to play in. Seeing them live signalled the durability, even plain catchiness of the songs, but on returning to the CD a third or fourth sitting made things clear.
Tracks which will endure: Mercy Bay,
Wouldn’t Say No from Chris and London Apprentice, Around The Wild Cape Horn, both McTell contributions; great storylines, rolling melodies, catchy chorus. Tracks which made me smile: Ukulele Central (cue guests Joe Brown and Frank Skinner), Albert & Ted – two impossible melodies fused in tribute to departed patrons, whilst lastly, though most significantly the title track, a rousing singa- long noting the fact that Cropredy church now has a Fairport bell in its tower. What other band do you know has that honour?
It’s all neatly packaged in foldout cover, notes, laughs and background throughout the booklet, and a new producer too in John Gale who brought more technology to bear on the recording – thumbs up young man. Fairport Convention are a band at ease with themselves, who hope you have just as much fun listening to this as they did in creating it. Now that isn’t a bad philosophy at all.
www.fairportconvention.com Simon Jones JENNIFER CROOK
Merry-Go-Round Transatlantic Roots TRJC007
Jennifer’s second solo CD in the capacity of singer-songwriter might appear at first sight to find her moving even further from the ambit of harp music which gained her the sta- tus of BBC Young Musician award finalist quite a while back. But as it turns out, the sounds of harpistry are seldom far away in this delicate concoction of sound, and Jen- nifer’s signature instrument ripples promi- nently through the texture from time to time.
This new disc was produced by Boo Hew- erdine (at whose 2002 workshop Jennifer originally discovered the joys of songwriting), and features the additional, and subtle, instrumental talents of Boo himself, Darrell Scott, Kevin McGuire, Bethany Porter, Andy May and (Jennifer’s erstwhile Cythara part- ner) Maclaine Colston, together with backing vocalists Eddi Reader and Dorie Jackson. Here we’re presented with a set of ten quite charming new songs on which Jennifer clear- ly feels entirely at ease with herself, her craft and her support crew – almost to the point of cosiness, I felt, but just staying the right side of predictable with some typically appealing melodies that you swear you know from somewhere but can’t quite place.
Even so, there are also times when an
over-familiarity of structure or metre can’t be entirely disguised by the abundant creativity of the musical arrangements (instances such as the tinny stride-piano singalong of Proba- bly The Rain coming straight after the reflec- tive Coming Down The Road). Jennifer’s gen- tly judged singing again proves ideal for her
The FLK (it says here)
material, and she also eagerly seizes the chance to duet with her songwriting mentors (Darrell on Cowboys, and Boo on Baltimore).
It’s a lovely CD, at its best sweetly rumi- native in overall character, but it does leave a more fleeting, even slightly ephemeral after- taste compared with its predecessor; on fur- ther plays it might go either way through my affections, but somehow I doubt I’ll end up disliking it.
www.jennifercrook.com David Kidman
THE FLK The FLK FLK
Well, there’s a nice picture of a cow on the front and… er… that’s about all I can tell you about this little curiosity. No names, no info, no details, no nothing… just wall-to-wall samples, beats, random effects and teasing snippets of conversation which – given the name – suggests a left-field guerrilla project along the lines of a folkie KLF.
Opening with Steeleye Span singing All Around My Hat over the sound of a vigorous thunderstorm, it drifts into Mike Harding pontificating about folk music over train noises, while snippets of Chris Wood, Bert Lloyd, morris dancers, cows moo-ing, Emily Portman coo-ing, aeroplanes, morris men and June Tabor incongruously singing Lay This Body Down while Nic Jones plays his famous intro to Canadee-i-o. Snatches of Dexys Mid- night Runners, Kate Bush and Simon & Gar- funkel make recurring appearances as the CD meanders without apparent break, theme or direction as seagulls squawk over the sound of a fairground, waves and phones ringing. It certainly keep you listening because you want to know what the hell will pop up next.
There’s probably a serious message in there somewhere… it’s probably a comment on the struggle of folk music trying to hang on to its roots amid the hectic pace and impersonality of modern society or some- thing. Oh, hang on, here come The Water- sons singing Hal-An-Tow while what sound like step-dancers in hob-nail boots using pneumatic drills instead of sticks bang out the rhythm and… is that Barry Dransfield in the distance? Surely that’s Louie Fuller singing Hopping Down In Kent? Oh and lis- ten, there’s Steeleye again with a souped up Gaudete! And yes, Ralph McTell’s guitar accompaniment to Streets Of London before police sirens arrive to disturb the peace, and there’s those trains and planes again before Jackie Oates arrives to restore tranquillity.
STEVE MARTIN AND THE STEEP CANYON RAMBLERS Rare Bird Alert Rounder 11661 06602 1
SARAH JAROSZ Follow Me Down Sugar Hill SUG CD 4062
LAURIE SHEEHAN
Rose City Ramble Wilson River Records 8 80074 20032 8
Three recordings of American acoustic music with, I suspect, production budgets at the top and bottom of the scale. Steve Martin has his film star background, so money is no object and he even manages to recruit that well- known bluegrass icon Sir Paul McCartney to sing on one track. Martin’s songs and banjo tunes are neither bad nor outstanding with just one exception. Atheists Don’t Have No Songs is even better than the title suggests. It is hilarious, superbly performed and a wel- come message for this bluegrass-loving athe- ist, if no one else. I hate to use the cliché, but this one track is worth the price of any CD.
www.stevemartin.com
Writer, singer, player Sarah Jarosz is able to hire the best players and offers a well pro- duced selection of music that unfortunately too often vanishes up its own axis. The out- standing track, by a mile, is a great version of Dylan’s Ring Them Bells with Jerry Douglas licks to die for but unwisely this is followed by the one of the longest, least interesting, original songs, My Muse. A couple of nice instrumental tunes help things along, but too often I am listening to Jerry Douglas and Stu- art Duncan. More crispness of purpose and music would have helped.
www.sugarhillrecords.com
At the cheap end, but with by far the most enjoyable recording of the three, is Massachusetts-raised Lauren Sheehan who is a singer, player, occasional writer, but primar- ily interpreter of older songs. Songs from the Stanley Brothers, Memphis Minnie, Hank
Whoever’s behind this knows their onions and, as the likes of Martyn Bennett and Chumbawamba have already proved, traditional song does sounds great when it’s sampled.
What’s it all for? Is it legal? We may
never know. But it’s a talking point…
www.theflk.com
Colin Irwin
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