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1 The April Maze Sleeping Storm (A- MAZE 006). Australian duo confidently stride toward the big-time with a sound “bent in the spirit of Mumford And Sons with a dreamy darkness akin to Fleet Foxes and First Aid Kit” with enough originality to succeed on their own terms.
www.theaprilmazemusic.com
1 Romano Drom Colors (Fono FA352-2). Vibrant playing, singing of wild and incanta- tory emotion, and traditionally drab packag- ing, from exuberant ambassadors of Hungari- an Roma / Olah music. There’s inevitable Balkan influence, mostly on tambura, but the rumba of Catalonia on guitar is the most impressive rumble, through a wide array of domestic percussion.
www.fono.hu
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.
1 Various Artists Rosekolla: Vokal Folkemusikk Fra Seterlivet (Norsk Folke- musikksamling NFS-3). This is niche, even by our standards. Beautiful, clarion cattle-holler- ing for Norwegian cows. 57 tracks thereof. Grieg couldn’t get enough of it but he’s been dead some considerable time, and what with cattle not having CD players, not sure of the target audience demographic.
www.facebook.com/pages/Norsk-Folke- musikksamlingNorwegian-Collection-of-Folk- Music/167182869979460
@ Razia Akory (Cumbancha CMB-CD-33). Many studio hours and plane tickets went into this, but not much came out. Eco cam- paigner from Madagascar struggles to impose her voice over all kinds of elaborate musicianeering.
www.cumbancha.com
1 Noel McLoughlin 20 Best Irish Songs (ARC Music EUCD 2556). Limerick-born multi- instrumentalist and balladeer McLoughlin traverses popular ballads with subtle well- informed backings. Vocally redolent of Christy Moore betimes, he ruffles no feathers but quietly updates a forgotten aspect of the Irish folk ballad canon. The results are pleas- antly satisfying.
www.arcmusic.co.uk
1 Cuig Cuig (Own label no cat no). Newry- based teenage quintet playing traditional music with unexpected melodic twists. Such a powerful grasp of group dynamics and musi- cal finesse defies their youth, and borders on the prodigious. Good instrumental interplay and an imaginative touch in their arrange- ments allows for plenty of creativity.
www.facebook.com/cuigmusic
2 The Ragtime Skedaddlers The Latest Popular Mandolin And Guitar Music (Mandophone CD0903). Fourteen string- tickling delights from this twin mandolin- and-guitar trio who favour those once loved, delicately composed, instrumental works that flourished between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Informative booklet notes comple- ment the expertly performed music.
www.facebook.com/RagtimeSkedaddlers
2 Corn Potato String Band Volume 2 (Agilest Music no cat no). Multi-instrumental- ists Aaron Jonah Lewis, Lindsay McCaw and Ben Belcher, like Spinal Tap’s Viv Savage, ‘have a good time all the time’, swinging like the hairy clappers of hell on authentic Ameri- can fiddle ’n’ banjo music. Virtuosic, old-time fun.
www.cornpotato.com
1 Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson Do Tell (Hat- man 2033). Live, Australian Hat Fitz (vocals / guitar / banjo) and Irish Cara Robinson (vocals / percussion / fife / flute / acoustic guitar) are really sparky. Smoothly recorded, this CD has many quality moments, some strong original songs, but doesn’t quite capture the duo’s raw individuality.
ww.manhatonrecords.com
2 Jon Palmer Acoustic Band Where The Mountains Meet The Sea (Own label JPABCD02).Why can’t more people write like Jon Palmer? Here’s a bloke who lets a wide spectrum of rootsy genres inform his already canny work. Where The Mountains Meet The Sea is a decent creation and, given that they’re unplugged, the band come over with envi- able amounts of energy and melody. Smart all round.
www.jonpalmeracousticband.com
1 The CharFlies Linoleum Angel (Own label no cat no). “Harmony-based Appalachi- an bluegrass folk-pop” group with an appeal- ing, multi-layered sound and some intelligent, witty lyricism. Faint echoes of Imagine and the James Bond Theme among the chord changes merely disclose an admirable allegiance to classic melodic forms.
www.charflies.com
1 Nathan Gourley & Laura Fedderson Life is All Checkered (Own label GF 001). Fiddlers from, respectively, Minnesota and Indiana show a touch of flair in their playing of Irish traditional tunes, but wander off in too many evocations of local styles rather than developing their own interpretations. Brian Miller accompanies tastefully on guitar and bouzouki.
www.nathanandlauramusic.com
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