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MARTIN SIMPSON Vagrant Stanzas Topic TSCD589
Attitude. I’ve been hearing a lot about attitude – or the lack of it –among modern performers lately.
Martin Simpson has always had it in abun- dance and it’s ever more prevalent when, in dramatic contrast with the full-on band approach adopted on last album Purpose & Grace, he vigorously slaps us around the face on this entirely solo album.
Co-produced by Simpson with American Peter Denenberg and fellow Sheffield resi- dent Richard Hawley, it swerves lithely between trad classics like Waly Waly, a gor- geous instrumental arrangement of Come Write Me Down, a couple of stirring new songs of his own (Jackie And Murphy in par- ticular is an epic story) and characteristically impassioned covers of edgy material like Chris Wood’s atheist hymn Come Down Jeho- vah, Leon Rosselson’s resigned anti-establish- ment tirade Palaces Of Gold, Leonard Cohen’s vividly told Stranger Song and Bob Dylan’s strongly Guthrie-esque depiction of a mining community’s demise, North Country Blues. His innate gift for identifying brilliant songs past and present with something pertinent to say about the modern condition is uncanny, but that would be nothing if he didn’t then get inside the bones of those songs, re-moulding them and almost making you forget they were ever done by anyone else. Considering we are talking about a series of classic song- writers, it’s an audaciously ambitious trick to attempt and frankly astonishing that he con- sistently pulls it off.
There’s a sharp grittiness about the way he tackles everything here from the raw banjo accompanying opening track Diamond Joe to the graphic telling of another banjo- led ballad Lady Gay, his voice earthily com- pelling as the story unfolds. The procession of striking narratives is effectively interrupted by thoughtfully evocative arrangements of everything from Shepherds Rejoice to the American Civil War favourite Lorena.
One man with guitar and banjo and an acutely attuned ear for a good tune and a powerful lyric can certainly whip up a lot of different moods and styles. It’s all down to attitude.
www.martinsimpson.com Colin Irwin Monsieur Doumani
MONSIEUR DOUMANI Grippy Grappa Own Label MD001
Greek Cypriot folk roots updated, rear- ranged and delivered in style. Monsieur Doumani are the trio
of singer/guitarist Angelos Ionas, Antonis Antoniou on tzouras (a close relative of the bouzouki) and vocals, plus Demetris Yiasemides who plays all things woodwind. They’ve been gigging around the island and beyond for a couple of years and this is their debut. Eleven traditional Greek Cypriot songs plus three originals very much in the same rootsy style, delivered with flair and imagina- tive arrangements.
They range from fiery acoustic instru- mental workouts to songs that sound like Cypriot folk rock and even the odd bit of what the sleevenotes describe as “electro - acoustic manipulation” provided by Anto- niou and most evident on the self-penned Young Upwardly Mobile Professional which features guest vocalist Maroulla Konstanti- nou and probably wouldn’t sound too out of place on an Imam Bayildi album. The title of that song suggests some satirical intent and I suspect we’re missing something by not understanding the lyrics (it’s all Gre... well, never mind). But the band’s sense of fun and mischief shine through anyway and as pure sound this goes down a treat, the stringed instruments winding round each other and the clarinet, flute etc pumping and soaring away. I hear echoes of blues, swing, jazz and various folk traditions in their sound but their local roots are felt strongly enough to hold all this in place. An unexpected delight.
www.monsieurdoumani.com Jamie Renton VARIOUS ARTISTS
Stand Up, People Asphalt Tango Records ATR 4113
‘Queen of the Gyp- sies’ Esma Redzepova was apparently some- what nonplussed when two London
vinyl collectors, Philip Knox and Nathaniel Morris, turned up at her Skopje home last year seeking the whereabouts of her very early recordings. These were releases that
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