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MORIARTY Fugitives Air Rytmo 1618033991


Well now, here’s something that instantly catches my eye. Any act that chooses to adorn their CD cover with portraits of Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, Hank Williams and Blind Willie McTell is clearly (a) pitching their wares directly at my


market demographic, and (b) not lacking in self-belief. The band (named after the hero of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road) is a collective of five artists of French, American, Swiss and Vietnamese origin, mainly born in France to American parents, who, Ramones-like, all adopt the surname Moriarty.


Fugitives is a “collection of songs at once archaic and modern, that together compose a tale of love and relinquishment, seduction and addiction, crimes of passion, revenge, and desperate escapes”. While countless acts have already recorded these old songs – Candy man, Pretty Boy Floyd, Saint James Infirmary, Moonshiner and the rest, it’s Mori- arty’s facility to join the dots that really sets them apart. Opening the double-gatefold recycled cardboard CD package reveals both a beautiful fold-out poster (by bassist and guitarist Stephan Zimmerli aka Zim Moriarty) and a hand-scribbled diagram with a plethora of inter-connected notes magically linking song titles, artists, dates and cultural touch- stones. All very folksy and artsy-crafty, but visit the website and every link (and more) becomes a clickable portal for the easily-distracted, leading to long-hours lost in Hokum, BB King, Belle Starr, Steve Roud, Betty Boop…


The music itself more than lives up to the promise of the visuals with some superb gui- tars, piano and harmonica and the soaring, seductive voice of singer Rosemary. Their arrangements successfully retain the spirit of the originals without resorting to pastiche: Moriarty obviously know and love this music well enough not to pussyfoot around. Wayne Standley, Don Cavalli, Moriba Koita and Mama Rosin guest, and both English and French vocals are featured.


A concept album of sorts, Fugitives con- nects ancient and modern, physical and digi- tal, academic and instinctive, and joyously rocks the house in the process. Check out their video for Matty Groves (sourced from Doc Watson rather than Fairport Convention) on YouTube for a taste of what could be your next new favourite band.


www.moriartyland.net


Steve Hunt Moriarty


NOURA MINT SEYMALI Tzenni Glitterbeat Records GBCD 016


MALOUMA Knou Kamiyad Kam 1401


Noura Mint Seymali, coming as she does from the griot tradition, has led a life steeped in music, whether it be the songs traditional to her native Mauritania or more western sounds carried to her by the forces of globali- sation. Despite a number of previous projects and EPs however, Tzenni is Noura’s first full length release.


It’s a record that successfully captures the fusion that has defined Noura’s musical jour- ney. Her style is distinct throughout, mixing as it does a scratchy, paranoid style of guitar with lazy but effective rhythms and Noura’s powerful evocative voice.


Opening track Equetmar is a case in point – a song about being cast into a foreign land which captures well the mixture of excite- ment and anxiety such experience engenders. The record continues in the same style throughout which, while occasionally leaving the listener craving for something more, hints at an authenticity sometimes lacking in music claiming to be ‘fusion’. The style here is what draws you in and the scatty, freaked-out instrumentation soon becomes hypnotic.


Tikifite, a track named after a herb renowned for its healing properties, stands out as a peak on this record; a moment where Noura’s musical past, present and future real- ly fuse. And while Noura’s style is sometimes challenging, this record hints at talent com- parable to healing herbs.


www.nouramintseymali.com Knou, the latest release from Maurita-


nia’s rebel songstress Malouma, is a mishmash of styles and genres which doesn’t always live up to the promise of some of her earlier work. Her vocal style and musical ability remain as powerful as ever but, on Knou, it feels like Malouma has lost something of her direction.


There are some fine moments. The deli-


cate Tidinit riffs on Athay for example, or the haunting recording of Malouma’s deceased father interspersed with Malouma’s own voice on Goureyed. For every such moment though there is a misjudged, contrived-feeling rap or drum loop, Carla Bruni-style ballad, as on Achikna or sickly jazz croon as on With Mike.


Unfortunately the bad parts outweigh the good parts. There is no doubt Malouma is a fine talent with a powerful song to sing but Knou is not her best work.


www.turnagainmusic.com Liam Thompson


STEVE DAWSON Rattlesnake Cage Black Hen BHMCD 72


JIM BYRNES St Louis Times Black Hen BHMCD 73


Canadian Steve Dawson spends a lot of time as a producer working (sometimes playing) on other artists’ records, including three albums for master guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps. Rattlesnake Cage clearly demonstrates that Dawson is also a highly talented guitar play- er. He can sing, but for this all-instrumental album he lets his guitars do all the talking, and in Dawson’s hands they’ve got a lot to say, and very clearly too.


Recorded through a single vintage Neu- mann M49 microphone, Dawson captures the full sound range of each of his acoustic gui- tars to great effect (and with just the right amount of reverb). His fingerpicking is very impressive and his slide playing is very pre- cise. There’s a flow of dynamics both within each number and from track to track. The production and performance are quite fault- less, but anyone listening to this CD who is familiar with the guitar music that emerged in the ’60s on John Fahey’s Takoma label will certainly get a feeling of déjà vu. Acknow - ledging that his influence for this project does indeed come from the Takoma guitarists (including Fahey, Peter Lang and Leo Kottke), Dawson absorbs, amalgamates and replicates their individual styles, but an injection of originality, a bit more of Steve Dawson him- self, would have made this album even better than it already is. Steve even mimics the Tako- ma artists’ habit of obscuration via composi- tion titles (among this album’s eleven pieces are such titles as The Flagpole Skater Laughs From Above and While The West Was Won, The Earth Didn’t Know It). One track, at least, The Medicine Show Comes To Avalon, hints at the infusion of some Mississippi John Hurt guitar figures, giving some clue as to the music lurking beneath its title.


There are some video clips viewable on


YouTube of Steve Dawson playing alongside his friend Jim Byrnes. These clips reveal Mr Byrnes to be somewhat the senior partner, but age difference is no barrier to a good musical partnership and these two really do comple- ment each other. Born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1948, Byrnes has been living in Vancouver, British Columbia, since the mid-’70s. He’s won the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year three times and gained Male Vocalist of the Year Awards at the 2006 Maple Blues Awards and at the 2006 and 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards. St Louis Times is Byrnes’s tenth album to date and the sixth of his produced by Steve Dawson, and is good enough to win more awards. It’s a pleasing 50/50 mix of reworked blues standards (including St Louis Blues) and originals from Byrnes and Dawson. Byrnes’s throaty vocals fit the range of blues material as well as the ragtimey The Duck’s Yas Yas (alternating verses with guest John Ham- mond), the uptown funky You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone), the soulful I Need A Change, or Chuck Berry’s catchy Nadine.


The tight ensemble of musicians effec- tively creates each of the musical settings, with organ, piano or a horn section adding colour when required. As well as on The Duck’s Yas Yas, John Hammond adds his musi- cal personality to various other tracks, his high-blown harmonica especially effective on Somebody Lied (a slow slippery snake of a blues). And, on every track, Steve Dawson plays lots of very nice guitar accompaniments and some stand-up solos. Producer, recording engineer, guitarist, and songwriter… some people just have too much talent. Lucky Jim Byrnes to have such a friend.


www.blackhenmusic.com Dave Peabody


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