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fRoots 46
The latest in our series of sought-after compilations, which you can download to enjoy on your computer or mp3 player or burn to CD –the download includes artwork for a slimline case and label.
H
ere’s the latest in our long series of carefully crafted and sought-after compilations. They’re designed to let you hear the music – mostly on
small independent labels – that our writ- ers get enthusiastic about in the pages of fRoots. Mainstream radio and press largely ignores the majority of this, so we urge you to support the artists and labels by buying the original CDs.
Chlopcy Kontra Basia take tradi- tional Polish music from archival record- ings, ritual songs, and melodic ballads as their roots, then mix them up with modern folk, drum & bass and jazz arrangements, with original lyrics by singer Barbara Der- lak evoking legends and fairy tales.
All the way from exotic Deal in Kent, multi-instrumental seven-piece Cocos Lovers combine English, American and African roots influences in a gloriously har- monic acoustic mixture, much acclaimed for their live performances everywhere from folk festivals to Glastonbury and beyond.
Six years between albums is pushing it a bit, but the wait proved well worth it when Lisa Knapp’s second one finally materialised. The track we have here, a song about Alzheimer’s, features the man they call ‘Eliza’s dad’ on guitar. You read last issue’s cover feature, yes?
UK resident Turkish singer Çi˘ gdem
Aslan has been working with various bands, but finally got to make her solo album and it’s major – exploring the com- mon Greek and Turkish music at the roots of rebetika from the first decades of the 20th Century.
As our Mr Cronshaw put it last month,
Pekko Käppi is “Finland’s wild man of the jouhikko (bowed lyre), its rasping abrasion and plucking heavily processed, multiplied and fuzzed in insistent, dark swamp-blues grooves… a punky extension of the runo- song tradition.” Quite.
Just when you thought you’d maybe heard enough desert blues, younger gen- eration Tuareg rockers Tamikrest, from the war-torn north of Mali, have cranked up the action on their latest album, pro- duced to good effect by Walkabouts/ Dirt- music musician Chris Eckman.
The Young Tradition – Peter Bellamy,
Heather Wood and Royston Wood – could flatten you against the back wall of a club with the sheer power and attack of their delivery of songs like this from the Copper Family repertoire. Recorded live in 1968, a gauntlet thrown to current twee-folkies.
Part of a music theatre group from
Turin, Le Tre Sorelle’s rather fabulous debut album is a panorama of traditional vocal harmony-led songs from the south of Italy – Puglia, Calabria, Campania and Sici- ly – all put across with what is obviously genuine enthusiasm and real skill.
Scotland’s veteran Capercaillie have been quiet of late, perhaps because their members have been so in demand for other projects, but ten years after their last album they celebrate their 30th anniver- sary with what might well be the best one of their illustrious career.
At the other end of the career longevity stakes, Derby’s Lucy Ward made such a startling jump between her 2011 debut and her second album Single Flame
that one wonders whether midnight deals at the crossroads may have been involved! Yes, it really is that good.
Scottish-born, Canadian resident acoustic steel string guitarist Tony McManus doesn’t make that many records but they’re always a treat. His lat- est one finds him applying his celtic guitar technique to pieces sourced from classical music, in this case an Erik Satie gem.
Cornwall-based duo Corncrow–Kim Guy & Steve Hunt – sadly called it day straight after releasing their latest CD, a homage to the legends of the earlier Cor- nish folk scene. This track comes from the pen of Clive Palmer and features the gui- tar of Pete Berryman.
Swedish fiddler Ellika Frisell and Sene- galese kora player Solo Cissokho burst on us with their 2003 duo debut that gained them a BBC Award For World Music. Now they’re back in the trio Ellika Solo Rafael with Mexican percussionist Rafael Sida Huizar, sounding as good as ever.
Another artist who made waves in an earlier format was Lala Njava, singer with her family band Njava from the deep south of Madagascar. They all feature on her solo album, notably her virtuoso gui- tarist brother Dozzy, along with guests like celebrated accordeonist Regis Gizavo.
There’s a growing field of new instru- mental acoustic music with traditional roots, including bands like Lau, Penguin Café and at the English end, Three Cane Whale and this issue’s cover stars Spiro, admitted by Kent-based Arlet as a “mas- sive influence.” Add one more!
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