75 f


I know that this is just personal taste but the couple of songs included– Thile duetting with Crooked Still’s Aoife O’Donovan on Here And Heaven and Noone But You – seem a bit insipid by comparison with the instrumental potency and gutsiness of the four main players.


sonymasterworks.com Sarah Coxson N’FALY KOUYATE


Kora Strings Featuring Mamady Keita Namun Records


Afro-Celt kora player N’Faly Kouyate is a stylish musician in a classical Guinean mould. In this setting, his dynamic playing and sit-up- and-listen vocals are immersed in lush strings, trilling flutes and sugary-sweet layered har- mony vocals.


His musicianship and versatility are never in doubt, from the brilliantly sparkling kora solos to his fluid balafon playing on N’Toman and real vocal dexterity, particularly tren- chant on N’Diyanamo. What I find somewhat dizzying, however, is the relentless Kassav- style pace which rules like a rod of iron throughout the CD.


Upbeat from the outset, there’s no doubt that the opening classic, Diarabi, swings. But by the time we reach track six, La Guineka (for me the standout track due to its stripped down showcase of kora and voice) I felt palpable relief at the change of tempo and drive. The lyric, “There are some who have a lot of money or lots of gold but they are not dignified” also has a contempo- rary resonance.


Musically, there are some sweet moments in addition to N’Faly’s playing: Mamani Keita’s virtuosic and spirited djembe solo on Djigui, the way in which the string ensemble swells and tumbles, mimicking the waterfall cascade of the kora, and the tex- ture-rich interplay between the cello and kora on N’Diyanamo (the other refreshingly pace-slackened track.) Just lovely.


A shame that the somewhat over- produced vocals and the breakneck-tempo can overshadow what is clearly a class act. Bright and full of sunshine, I could just do with the occasional moment of respite in the shade.


www.nfalykouyate.com Sarah Coxson MERRY HELL


Blink And You Miss It Mrs Casey Records MCRCD1103


Amid a year in which much remarkable music has been circulating there was always the promise of something more than special com- ing from this crew. It wasn’t horse feathers either; as soon as they began pushing a low- profile demo EP, management, agency and recording were secured within what seemed like minutes. Normally sane individuals not given to hyperbole became wide-eyed prophets and cult believers – not that I blame them. For those of you who follow the line, read no further, Blink is essential. For those who want more, OK – you asked for it.


Blink And You Miss It is a perfect cocktail of pop, rock and English roots. Its beginnings clearly belong in the north west of England yet the messages it carries are universal. The music is lyrically intelligent, home truth after home truth, most tracks brim over with melodies meant to be at the very least hummed and insanely catchy mandatory dancing should ensue on first exposure.


Here are six survivors of The Tansads very much at home with two new recruits. Aware that the previous band had almost touched the sky but ultimately fell achingly short,


lessons have been learned. Thank God the genius touch has been sharpened and honed. Where before they could be gloriously rough, this time they’re just glorious. The sound is cleaner, more unified but still with the same spirit and belief. The belief aspect is crucial as writing is shared throughout the group so that the front is maintained, and it’s almost impossible to tell who wrote what, so seam- less are the joins.


To be totally truthful I’m hard put to pick one cut over another. They range from fire- side intimacy on a simple strummed guitar with a plaintive vocal, It Won’t Be Long, to almost rampant protest The Crooked Man; from wry observation with driving guitar lines, War Between Ourselves to the gentle but heartfelt life experience of Pendle Hill; and even a rollicking ballad or two, Drunken Serenade and Over The Border. The Gentle Man is a jig married to fond memory whilst Lean On Me Love is one huge, glorious rush, rising and falling harmonies from the ever- improving Virginia Kettle and brother-in-law Andrew, whose Lancastrian rasp and growl is sandpaper to her velvet.


A bewitching collection then which if you’ve an ounce of soul or sympathy will become your constant companion. Some- body once said it’s grim up north, but some- body else said the north will rise again. It just did as Merry Hell. You have been warned, they are more than just a bit stupendous and they’re coming to get you. Don’t run, just face the inevitable.


www.merryhell.co.uk Simon Jones LITTLE AXE


If You Want Loyalty Buy a Dog On-U Sound ON-UCD1019


Little Axe is the project in which guitarist Skip McDonald and producer Adrian Sherwood explore the former’s blues and gospel roots, filtered through the dub and electronica favoured by the latter. Their debut, 1994’s The Wolf That House Built pointed to a radical new direction for blues and US roots music. Subsequent releases have been variations on the initial template of dubby rhythms, vintage samples, smoky vocals and McDonald’s sting- ing blues guitar. This amusingly-titled latest album (their sixth since that initial release) doesn’t herald any radical departures but is as entertaining as anything Little Axe have ever put out. The emphasis is on reggae, specifical- ly the spare, springy rhythm tracks laid down


Skip McDonald – Little Axe


by premier Jamaican band the Roots Radics back in their early 1980s heyday, which form the basis for much that is on offer here, with the other ingredients layered over the top. The move to live backing tracks serves McDon- ald and Sherwood well, the sound is lighter and fresher, but still blessed with characteris- tic swathes of the bluesy darkness. I Got Da Blues combines a crunchy Radics rhythm, vari- ous atmospheric samples and Alan Glen’s har- monica. Down And Dirty features some typi- cally crisp, potent licks from McDonald. Much of what’s on offer here should go down well with lovers of both authentic blues and real reggae. If you’ve lost touch with Little Axe, this is the album to get you hooked back up with them again.


www.on-usound.com Jamie Renton


FIONA CUTHILL & STEVIE LAWRENCE A Cruel Kindness Fellside FECD244


KEVIN HENDERSON


Fin Da Laand Ageen Sungaet Records KEVHENCD001


CHRIS STOUT’S BRAZILIAN THEORY


Live In Concert Chris Stout Music CSMUSCD001


Here are three very different fiddle albums from Scotland.


Fiona Cuthill (fiddle) and Stevie Lawrence (guitar, bouzouki, bass) have been the mainstay of several folk bands (Real Time, Rallion, Canterach). On this, their first ‘solo’ CD, they are accompanied by guest musicians on harp, whistles, pipes, harmonica, cello and banjo. A major feature of this album is that it showcases Fiona’s talent as a composer. Her romantic composition Waiting For Dawn, with its wailing harmonica and sweet fiddle melody, would be perfect material for a movie soundtrack. The ingenious Back On Track has a clever melody that keeps you guessing. But perhaps the standout track is the exhilarating Fez Set, with its complex rhythms and Eastern European flavours: a barnstormer at live gigs.


www.fellside.com


Shetland fiddler Kevin Henderson is a long-standing member of Fiddler’s Bid and Boys of the Lough, and this debut solo album


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100