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ENSEMBLE ÉRIU
Imbas Ensemble/Raelach Records ESM0002/ RR007
Ensemble Ériu are a band without walls or ceilings. With Imbas, they assert their confidence with their win- dows-wide-open approach to tradition in which they dipped their toes with an impressive eponymous release in 2013. The seven-
Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band
ELIZA CARTHY & THE WAYWARD BAND Big Machine Topic TSCD592P
Boldness, irreverence, adven- ture, skill, ambition, daring… Eliza Carthy has never want- ed for any of these things throughout a game-chang- ing career that’s had a pro- found impact on the musical landscape which nurtured her. She’s had her failures,
too, but the important landmarks along that path – The Kings Of Calicutt (1997), Red Rice (1998) and Anglicana (2002) – not to mention significant collaborations with Waterson:Carthy and The Imagined Village, still shine brightly.
We can certainly add the name Big
Machine to this proud and influential list. No quarter is spared in the pursuit of the grand gesture designed to sweep all before it in an exhausting whizz-bang barrage of sounds, ideas, technique and colour. A twelve-piece band including the likes of Barn Stradling, Dave Delarre, Saul Rose, Beth Porter, Lucy Farrell and Sam Sweeney, brass-a-go-go and guest vocals from Teddy Thompson, Damien Dempsey and MC Dizraeli offers a surfeit of appetising promise by anyone’s standards and the first cap-doffing should go to Jim Suther- land, who’s done miracles at the production end making such a sweepingly broad source of musicians, material and arrangements sound so coherent, organised and vibrant.
Comparisons with Bellowhead are natu- ral enough, but even Bellowhead perhaps never quite mastered the conversion of an irresistible, all-conquering live appeal into recorded form as satisfyingly as this. Much thought seems to have gone into the pro- gramming as a brilliant take on Ewan Mac- Coll’s The Fitter’s Song – full of wailing brass and thunderous drums – segues into an infec- tiously rhythmic bout of scat singing before exploding into the ferocious instrumental Love Lane which, all guns blazing with demon- ic guitar and basslines, flying fiddles and head - banging drums, really could be Bellowhead.
Even if Eliza’s own song, You Know Me, was the only decent track it would still be a great album. An anthem for sanity in an increasingly scary world, it’s a beautiful response to the hysteria surrounding the refugee crisis, with a funky rhythm and a highly effective Dizraeli rap. But there’s plen- ty more here to get you jumping, including inspired arrangements of several Broadside ballads gleaned from Manchester’s Chetham’s Library, notably Devil In The Woman, a study of domestic abuse with galloping percussion and a morris tune in the middle.
Songs of the sea are a primary ingredi-
ent. Great Grey Back deliciously recalls the shanty glories of Rogues Gallery, while there’s an ingenious arrangement of Rory McLeod’s Hug You Like A Mountain with Teddy Thompson and a sombre I Wish That The Wars Were All Over, on which Damien Dempsey gives a master class in emoting.
The only thing I dislike about it is the cover photo. Hear a track on fRoots 62.
www.eliza-carthy.com Colin Irwin Ensemble Ériu
strong band, led by double-bassist/flautist Neil O Loghlen and concertina player Jack Talty, offer up a thoughtful and engaging modernist take on Irish traditional music, rooted in the styles of west and north County Clare, but drawing on a deep and diverse well of musical and creative inspiration, sources and moods: minimalism, improvisa- tion, experimental jazz, organic ambience.
Imbas feels more cerebral than heart-led in construct, but is none the less beautiful for it. In part the instrumentation dictates effect: the core of pure drop fiddle, lilting concerti- na, flutes and whistles set in a bed of louche jazz percussion, billowing Bonobo-esque clar- inets, earthily resonant marimba, minimalist guitar lines and rolling bass.
But more so, the effect is created by a determinedly experimental attitude, includ- ing the players from more traditional back- grounds. The six tracks each offer a fulsome exploration of ideas (up to ten minutes per track) built from an exposition. The Tempest rises (and fades) from minimalist, tongued clarinet motif, underpinned by a rolling marimba, into meandering unison fiddle and concertina-led melody over softly-syncopated drums. There’s almost a sense of parallel play, with them all staring out in different direc- tions but aware of the same horizon.
Elsewhere tracks are launched with familiar and rooted lilting traditional tunes before wandering into uncharted experimen- tal soundscapes, rife with dynamic contrasts: perky concertina vs pentatonic string pluck-
Photo: © Judith Burrows
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