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1 The Stray Birds Echo Sessions (Stray Birds TSB 003). Well above average bluegrass trio from North Carolina with mini-LP featur- ing carefully selected songs from Van Zandt, Louvin and others.
www.thestraybirds.com
2 Simon Mayor The Art Of Mandolin (Acoustics Records CDACS065). A peerlessly produced, flawlessly executed personal jour- ney through 400 years of music history in the expert hands of one of our premier mando maestros. Simon’s own compositions sit well alongside his skilful arrangements of any- thing from Reinhardt and Joplin to classical and baroque. Constantly entertaining.
www.acousticsrecords.co.uk
1 Lani Singers Nimalik Arirak (Dancing Turtle DTR010). Second album of gentle string-band music and defiant lyrics from UK exiled West Papuan activists. Musically limit- ed and attempts to sing in English don’t really work, but not without its charms all the same.
www.thelanisingers.com
The albums – good (2), adequate (1) and bad (@) – which didn’t get the full-length treatment, contributed individually by a selection of our various reviewers cowering under the cloak of collective anonymity.
2 Various Artists Music From The Source (Riverboat Records TUGCD1082). As us old- timers at fRoots pass our 35th anniversary, those wet-behind-the-ears young whipper- snapper new-kids-on-the-block Riverboat Records turn 25. To celebrate, they've put together this world-spanning two disc compi- lation of music from their illustrious past and exciting present. Happy birthday Riverboat!
www.worldmusic.net
@ Jackson C Frank Fixin’ To Die (Secret Records SECCD086). Sixteen sadly undistin- guished home demos, never intended for release at the time of their creation. Fans seeking buried treasures can expect moments of morbid interest, at best. “Oh mystery, why do you treat me so?” croaks Frank, on Mys- tery. Quite.
www.secretrecordslimited.com
2 Catriona McKay Harponium (Glimster Records, GLMCD3). Innovative Scottish harpist’s newly-composed music contrasts the crisp, bright, tangy sound of solo harp with the deep ochre reverberation of the harmoni- um. The rhythmic pieces have zest, pace, intriguing chromaticism and percussive sound-effects. The slow airs are poised and graceful.
www.catrionamckay.co.uk
1 DB Rielly Cross My Heart Hope To Die (Shut Up And Play, no cat no). Last CD from this guy arrived in a tin. Now it is in a wooden box. Twangy guitar, strong rhythm, tuneful original country-ish songs catch attention, if not the box it came in.
www.dbrielly.com
Emily Wood
1 The Knights Of Mentis New Pound Coin (Mentis CD001). Oxfordshire collective with a shared love of string band, country, roots and old-time. This is varied with just the right amount of back porch, and rather catchy. Decent.
www.facebook.com/knightsofmentis
1 The Black Feathers Strangers We Meet (Bird In The Hand Records, no cat no). Mark with a sticker ‘could go places’. The Black Feathers are acoustic, yet with enough power and force to drive a sledgehammer. Their debut EP is a piece of smart work and deserves to be heard well beyond occasional support slots and Gloucester environs.
www.theblackfeathers.com
2 Sousou & Maher Cissoko Africa Moo Baalu (ARC Music EUCD 2485). West African and Swede combine two immaculately accu- rate koras and voices – result is transparent and atmospheric, the melody lines simple, the general feel full and uplifting. Sounds unlike- ly, but imagine a Nordic African Enya.
www.sousoumaher.se
@ DJ Click Click Here: Jaipur Remix/Dub (No Fridge NO16). French DJ/remixer Click and mates (including Transglobal Under- ground, Smadj and Brian May!) muck about with Rajasthani musical roots recordings to no great effect.
www.nofridge.com
2 Emily And The Woods Then We Collide (Own label EATW003). Four track EP of soul- fully melodic indie-songwriter pop from excellent singer (and sometime Laura Marling collaborator.) Less acoustic than previous offerings, sibling Benedict weighs-in with potent lead guitar, especially on closer Doorstep. A precursor of bigger things ahead.
emilyandthewoods.tumblr.com
2 Dylan Fowler A Passionate Landscape (Acoustic Music Records 319.1506.2). Ten newly composed (and one trad) ensemble pieces from virtuoso guitarist and composer which combines Welsh, Arabic and Scandina- vian themes in a musical exploration of iden- tity and place. Highbrow stuff for sure, but of the most engaging and accessible kind.
www.acoustic-music.de
@ Nua Bold (Own label, no cat no). This Canadian fiddle/guitar/bodhrán trio has lis- tened to far too many Lúnasa albums for its own or anybody else’s good. Its self-com- posed tunes are about as memorable as the last day it didn’t rain and are played with all the nous of a brain-dead sheep.
www.trionua.com
1 Martin Bagge & Trio Isagel Vägen Ut (Footprint FRCD 072). Poems by 1974 Nobel laureate Harry Martinson set to music by singer-guitarist Bagge. His breathy stagey- emotive vocals would connect best with Swedish speakers, but gutsy, atmospheric instrumentals strongly feature Mats Edén’s fiddles, trumpeter Arve Henriksen, percus- sionist Tina Quartey et al.
www.footprintrecords.com
1 Blazin’ Fiddles Six (Blazin’ Records, BRCD2013). Four fiddlers (Jenna Reid, Bruce MacGregor, Allan Henderson, Iain MacFar- lane) perform tunes fast and slow from Scot- land, Shetland, Ireland and Canada, with bold piano and sprightly guitar accompani- ment. A gorgeous 18th Century slow air from William Marshall steals the show.
www.blazinfiddles.com
2 Yankele Rhapsodie Klezmer (Buda Records 3750256). An illuminating and atmo- spheric klezmer take on Gershwin, highlight- ing his musical preoccupations and influences in the process. Sophisticated and quietly mis- chievous arrangements and rearrangements subvert the familiar oeuvre into virtuosic melancholy, resonant murmur and reserved but strong understanding of inspiration and
source.www.yankele.net
1 Tom Rennie & Caitlyn Densmore Trib- utaries 2 (Rennie Music, RM72). Tom plays six and twelve-string guitars and flute, Caitlyn plays viola. Together they perform ultra-simple, pared-down instrumental renditions of Scot- tish folk standards (Peggy Gordon, Mingulay Boat Song, Garten Mother’s Lullaby, etc). Anyone learning these tunes may find this recording helpful.
www.tributaries.co.uk
2 Bonnie Rideout Scotland’s Fiddle Piobaireachd Volume 2 (Tulloch Music, TM506). A profoundly moving programme of Scottish fiddle music that comes from (or was inspired by) the ancient repertoire of the Highland bagpipe. Viola and fiddle are some- times accompanied by bagpipes or by Gaelic vocal, highlighting the music’s 16th/17th Cen- tury origins.
www.bonnierideout.com
2 Calum Stewart & Heikki Bourgault Hunter’s Moon (Calum & Heikki, CD CH2). Calum plays wooden flute and uilleann pipes, Heikki plays guitar. Performing mainly tradi- tional Scottish, Irish and Breton material, this young duo creates a big, powerful, toe-tap- ping sound. Put the CD into your car’s CD- player to make your vehicle fly!
www.calumheikki.com
1 Raya Brass Band This Is Now (Own label, no cat no). Balkan style brass band from New York, delivering decent sounds that probably catch fire in a sweaty club or festival stage.
rayabrassband.com
1 Anne Hytta Draumsyn (Carpe Diem CD- 16301). Hardanger fiddle is more than a dance music tool; its dronal double-stopping and ringing sympathetic strings fascinate players, and here Anne Hytta celebrates them in new-composed, rich-toned reflective solos in various tunings on four and five-string hardingfeler, viola d’amore and low-pitched vielle.
www.carpediem-records.com
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