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could imagine The Handsome Wave being performed by Basque maestro Kepa Junkera. There’s a Scandinavian quality to Marstein/Lammermuir and a klezmer touch to The Concert Hall, Out of the East, Samarkand and Desert Reel. We seem to be in Provence for the Le Couregant set, and there’s a medi- aeval-European courtly elegance to Valley Of Stones, Left At Werewolf and the graceful Davidson The Luthier. And there’s more gor- geous saxophone on Firedance.
Marwick’s compositions have an evoca- tive depth and a dramatic unpredictability, and it’s not surprising to discover that several of these pieces were commissions composed to accompany theatre shows. Indeed, this whole double album could be the soundtrack to a really interesting, eclectic road movie by Sean Penn or the Coen Brothers.
This album was launched at Celtic Con- nections Festival 2014 to a warmly-apprecia- tive capacity crowd who were dancing in the aisles. The same show goes on tour in April.
www.gavinmarwick.co.uk Paul Matheson PETE MORTON
The Frappin’ And Ramblin’ Pete Morton Fellside FECD261
Pete has a real gift for communicating with folk at grass-roots level. His latest release pre- sents several fresh, varied instances of his songwriting skill alongside an almost equal number of tracks that can more accurately be termed ‘frap’ (short for ‘folk-rap’). Whether viewed as a new sub-genre or in the tradition of the time-honoured talking blues, frap here brings us Pete’s own personal take on the state of the world and the human condition.
Frap turns out to be a logical step from
Pete’s tried and tested, steadfast weaving of his own concerns and percipient social com- mentaries into traditional frameworks in order to create fresh songs of true contempo- rary relevance. The various frap tracks are refreshingly well contrasted: Farmer’s Boy Frap, Manchester Rambler Frap and Ghost Of A Sailor each punctuate the affection and humour of Pete’s wry observations, as couched in his ramblin’ rapping, with a sung- along rendition of the chorus of the original folksong that inspired his out-loud-cogita- tions, whereas Corporatocracy fills the gaps in Pete’s own chorus with an unstoppable knitting-machine-speed rant.
A-Begging I Will Go Frap (arguably the most satisfying of the fraps) takes a less scat- tergun and more measured and chanson-like method of delivery (and snatches of different songs) as a springboard for a telling exposé of the situation.
The high word-count of the fraps proves no obstacle to their effectiveness, and only emphasises the impression that perhaps the history-lesson of Rambling Through Old Eng- land is just a touch over-extended. But the remaining songs all pack a considerable punch. Pick of them is probably The Journeyman, a determined would-be-manifesto for curing the malaise of the country which takes its railway system as a cue and metaphor. Heart Of The Land is a powerful commentary that shows just how much Pete really cares, and The Love Of You is a heartfelt anthem that recalls (and can stand proudly alongside) Another Train, while the tender, comforting Bedside Song is a per- fect way to wrap up the record.
Pete’s sympathetic, trusty fellow-trav- ellers on his passionate voyage through the folk process comprise Maggie Boyle, Chris Parkinson, Jon Brindley, James Dudden and Linda Adams; and once again, he delivers a stimulating album of lasting quality.
www.petemorton.com David Kidman Salsa Celtica
RONNIE LANE & SLIM CHANCE
Ooh La La: An Island Harvest Universal/Island
Hugely welcome two-disc compilation of the former (Small) Face who, in 1973, cast off his East End glad-rags, adopted the life of a gypsy rover-cum subsistence farmer, embraced the teachings of Meher Baba, and, with an ever-changing troupe of top-notch musicians (and boozers, clowns, fire-eaters and can-can dancers) created some of the finest rustic roots-pop music ever to grace the airwaves of Albion and beyond, before his tragically early death, aged 51, from multiple sclerosis in 1997.
While there’s sadly nothing from the 1973 Slim Chance debut, Anymore For Any- more, the material from the two Island releases Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance (1974) and One For The Road (1976), together with an April 1974 BBC In Concert live recording, represent an excellent collection of the great man’s finest moments.
The best-known songs are all included in unfamiliar versions. The title track, Lane’s sig- nature Faces song, features in both live and studio Slim Chance recordings; How Come (the sole hit) is included in the BBC set, while (almost hit) The Poacher appears as an alter- native studio take.
Fiddles, accordeon, mandolin, organ, piano, trumpet, saxophone and Lane’s own trademark resonator guitar combine in glori- ous, genre-defying harmony across a whole slew of memorable, melodic original songs (including Anniversary, Done This One Before, Harvest Home and Debris) and inspired covers (You Never Can Tell and Buddy Can You Spare Me A Dime). Stone is a concise, rock ‘n’ roll lesson in reincarnation(!)
Freed from the frustrations of writing songs for others to sing, Lane wrote many of his wittiest, most articulate and heartfelt songs during this period. While he may not have possessed the pipes of a Steve Marriott or Rod Stewart, there’s an enduringly engag- ing quality to his voice, nowhere more than on Country Boy on which the man sometimes known as ‘Plonk’ declares: “I am just a coun- try boy, and money I have none, but I’ve got silver in the stars and gold in the morning sun,” with a sincerity that is nothing short of heart-melting.
www.slim-chance.co.uk Steve Hunt
SALSA CELTICA The Tall Islands Discos Leon
They’ve been at it a while now – 15 years or something – but arranged on stage like some sort of renegade vagabond army, Salsa Celti- ca still take you by surprise with the irre- sistible joy that explodes out of their blend of Scots and Latino music.
While still a colourful all-singing, all- dancing carnival of rhythm, this fifth album makes something of a leap with the Celtica part of their DNA occupying much more of the attention. Specifically they’ve co-opted Kathleen Macinnes and Megan Henderson into the front line to deliver Gaelic vocals on tracks like An Danns Elegua, Fonn and He Mandhu, sitting so naturally in front of the shuffling Salsa bits you can only imagine a secret Latin enclave has been living happily in the Highlands and Islands for centuries. This fanciful notion is further suggested by an effortless delivery of the lovely fiddle tune Rolling Road which eventually gives way to the reassuring Cuban vocals of Ricardo Fer- nandes Pompa at full tilt.
Elsewhere we have dancing trumpets doing a jig with sashaying bongos as a grand total of seventeen musicians – Irish, Argen- tinian and English among them – ultimately combine on a feel-good collection that does as much for Gaelic music as it does for Latin American.
www.salsaceltica.com Colin Irwin VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rough Guide To Scottish Music (3rd Edn)World Music Network RGNET1310CD
The Scottish Diaspora Greentrax CDTRAX 380
The latest of the excellent Rough Guides to Scottish Music compilations, this one’s put together by Mary Ann Kennedy and ranges rather further afield than a ‘Folk’ compilation might do, and definitely majors on the younger and more innovative artists currently re-inventing Scottish music – folk or otherwise.
Setting a marker and opening with Latha
Math from Mànran (nearly the first Gaelic sin- gle to chart this century) followed by Katie Cruel sung by Salt House’s blessed Siobhan Miller, perhaps more familiar fare comes from Lau, Karine Polwart, Emily Smith (a brilliant Still We Dance On) and Breabach. A full-on
Photo: Archie MacFarlane
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