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2 Alma Varieties (Rootbeat RBRCD32). Fid- dlers Emily Askew and John Dipper, in tan- dem with guitarist Adrian Lever, explore a cornucopia of music from European and Asian fiddle traditions. Dexterity and virtuosi- ty are balanced by elegance of phrasing in a keen recording of joyous presence.
www.almafiddles.co.uk
2 Fran Wyburn & The Indigos Postcards (EP) (Fran Wyburn & The Indigos). Captivating new alt-folk trio whose trademark is gentle, pensive original songwriting bathed in deli- cate, unearthly, spine-tingling vocal har- monies and subtle, ultra-sensitive guitar/harp/harmonium settings. Thoroughly charming yet not without substance – and rather beautiful.
www.franwyburn.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.
1 Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids We Be All Africans (Strut STRUT144CD). Afrobeat of the gritty and psychedelic variety, where the chunky rhythms are erratic but also some- how quite laid back. It’s coloured mostly by free flowing saxophones, synths, and cow- bells. The tracks with lyrics are wishy-washy in their sentiment, but overall the album has a dark and brooding mood.
www.strut-records.com
1 Guy Davis Kokomo Kidd (Dixiefrog DFGCD 8779). A mixed offering, successful when Davis sticks close to the acoustic raggy blues that he plays so well but not so hot when he attempts Dylan, Donovan or his own She Just Wants To Be Loved (which sounds like he’s taking off Mark Knopfler). He’s on safer ground with straight blues like Little Red Rooster (with Charlie Musselwhite guest- ing on harmonica).
www.bluesweb.com
2 The Leylines Along The Old Straight Track (Leylines). Seth Lakeman production, Metway recorded, Al Scott mixed. If you’re a roustabout, rootsy rock band with Levellers inclinations I guess it doesn’t get much better than that. Lots of pride and passion, shouts for individuality but best of all For Queen & Country, the sort of uncompromising anthem which should be causing righteous outrage in all who hear it.
www.leylinesmusic.co.uk
The Leylines
@ The Bully Wee Band Like The Snow (Slaughterhouse Productions SLP010CD). Still capable of a decent live show, but on their first studio album in 30 years cracks are beginning to show: vocal and fiddle pitching is erratic, and there’s a ‘going through the motions’ feel. Only 35 minutes, but enough!
www.bullyweeband.com
2 The Alan Hull Songbook Some Other Time (Belvue belv-001). Tip-of-the-iceberg selection from circa 150 previously-unheard songs penned 1967-69 by late lamented Lind- isfarne songsmith, now brilliantly authenti- cally realised by Hull’s son-in-law Dave Hull- Denholm with Ian Thomson. Less retro or déjà-entendu, more a beautifully reimagined zeitgeist of assured songwriting quality.
www.alanhullsongbook.com
1 David J Kelly Man And Mountain (David J Kelly). English singer-songwriter David J Kelly’s debut evokes the Dave Van Ronk and Ramblin’ Jack era, but tells his own immediate tale. Adept Piedmont and flat- picker, and no slouch on banjo, either. A real talent, revealed with modest integrity.
davidjkellymusic.com
2 Various Artists The Bruce 700 (Bruce 700) Ambitious suite composed and arranged by piper Allan MacDonald and cellist Neil Johnstone, for highland and small pipes, pipe band, vocals, orchestra and choir. Recorded live at Celtic Connections, with lots of familiar folk scene names, and pretty much a triumph.
www.birnamcd.com/promo-bruce700/
1 Melange Via Maris (Two Rivers). Laid back, measured, immaculately played compo- sitions and improvisations using Middle East- ern and Mediterranean sources by an eight- piece international band. Sounds like angels playing blue notes. A bit more bedevilment next time.
www.tworiversrecords.org
1 The Baboons Spanglish (Syncopated Sounds 88295–40534). Miami party band (vocals, guitar, tenor sax, flute, bass, drums, percussion, guests) covers the pan-Latin waterfront with original if unclassifiable Afro-Cuban, merengue, Balkan, funk-n-roll mélange, what you get when you feed the polyglot animal soul.
thebaboons.com
1 Rebecca Gilbert & Kellswater Bridge Origin (Spiritone 1041). The fairly yawn- inducing ‘why-bother?’ tracklist mostly com- prising traditional Celtic-folk standards may not inspire further investigation, but these rustic-styled performances are actually some notches above respectable, and Wisconsin- based Rebecca’s singing has character. Even so, the two original compositions mid-disc prove highlights.
www.spiritonerecords.com
1 Dana & Susan Robinson The Angel’s Share (Threshold Music TM1116). Charming, unassuming new collection (not whisky- themed, despite the title) from enviably sim- patico husband-and-wife team, their fresh- faced, unadorned rootsy-folky-oldtime set- tings again proving that less is more. This thoroughly convivial set breaks no new ground – but then it doesn’t need to.
www.robinsongs.com
1 Andrew John & Lissa At Home (Last Resort LRCD010). Performances recorded by AJ with Lissa Ladefoged (ex-Mosaic) cosily at home in Denmark. Vocals sometimes stilted, sometimes over-theatrical, and there’s a sur- feit of clangy parlour-piano. And the same twelve songs appear on CD, DVD and Blu-ray. Bizarrely, musically inconsistent too.
www.anyon.co
@ Bonfire Radicals The Albino Peacock (Bonfire Radicals). With tempting credentials, cross-cultural intentions, esoteric instrumen- tation and ability to write, this was eagerly slipped into the CD system. Something’s gone wrong in the execution though, the sum of parts never quite makes a whole. Individual tracks promise much, but don’t deliver what should have been a joyous, cavalier roots romp. No bonfire and not so radical. Maybe a rethink?
www.BonfireRadicals.com
1 Grunting Pigs Grunt Away (PMCD 007/2016). Hungarian Matyas Pribojski sure plays a lot of harmonica. Grunting Pigs is a duo project with guitarist Ferenc Szasz and their (mostly) acoustic album has lots played at breakneck speed but tempered with a few tastefully played pieces. Matyas plays both chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, and sings in heavily accented English… while Ferenc provides rhythmic guitar on a selection of blues based numbers.
www.gruntingpigs.com
1 Lizabett Russo The Burning Mountain (Folklore Noir). Russo is a native Transylvani- an singer-songwriter (resident in Scotland) with an astonishing vocal range. Her original compositions draw from jazz, indie and East- ern European folk music. Dramatic arrange- ments include trombone, saxophones, har- monium and generatorscope(!?) An artist well worth investigating.
lizabettrusso.com
1 Hodmadoddery Hodmadod Meets Gogmagog (Hodmadoddery). First proper effort from Bristol acoustic guitarists, record- ed and overseen by Ed Boyd and Mark Tucker. Corking version of Willy O’Winsbury, leads to a decent stab at Robin Williamson’s By Weary Well. Among the also-ran efforts, Roy Harper and Ivor Cutler. No thanks. Across The Uni- verse by a certain Liverpool group doesn’t get to lift off!
www.hodmadoddery.co.uk
2 Screamin’ Miss Jackson and the Slap Ya Mama Big Band I Heard The Voice Of A Donut (Little Paradise LPR 010). Lively and engaging mix of hokum, c&w and jazz/blues from Bristol seven-piece. April Jackson’s tremulous voice is their secret weapon, and in Any Old Town they’ve made an instant coun- try weepie classic.
ww.littleparadiserecords.com
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