Yudu - fRoots October 2015

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suspect, largely down to the involvement of keen-eared producer Mark Tucker. A major new dimension characterising the sound- scape of Conflict Tourism is an often-promi- nent element of drum programming which overlays the predominantly acoustic base with an insistent energy. This is most apt for songs like Peggy Airey (the tale of a local Barnsley woman and 18th Century ‘charac- ter’) and Stumble On The Seam (the true story of a Castleton miner’s quest for a lost seam), but on some other songs (eg open- ing track Cecilia) the degree of industrial weight in the instrumental arrangement can seem a touch relentless, bordering on deafening, occasionally at odds with the sensitivity of the imagery. Having said that, you do kinda get used to it after the initial shock, and the remaining inner layers of sound and instrumental line are always very well defined, even when there’s rather a lot going on in the texture.

Contributions from Phillip Henry (dobro, lap steel) and James ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and Matt Downer (double bass) both greatly enhance and complement Katriona and Jamie’s signature percussive mandolin and guitar, while Katriona’s passion-fuelled fiddle playing is as persuasive as ever. Mark’s pro- gramming is arguably at its most effective when reined in and used more subtly, as on the more sparsely populated territories of Balance/Imbalance, Time Soldiers On and She Doesn’t Like Silence, while the album’s final stages prove even more telling with restraint and reduced scoring (the limpid, fragile clos- ing song Ghost Of A Ring being a specially haunting moment).

Conflict Tourism is a formidable new col- lection of songs that will ensure Katriona and Jamie maintain their place at the forefront of contemporary roots-folk songwriting.

www.gilmoreroberts.co.uk David Kidman

BALLAKE SISSOKHO & VINCENT SEGAL Musique De Nuit No Format! NOF30

The improvisational equivalent of chamber music – which was in fact the title of their last album – this two-piece, consisting of cello and kora, is elegant, focused and instantly evocative of the warm West African night. Part of the reason for this is that half the album was actually recorded on Sissokho’s Bamako roof, with ready-supplied ambience. The distant murmur of traffic, the nearer crowing of a rooster – a perfect backdrop for the euphoric sound of the world’s most sen- suous instruments. Cello and kora, you’re already switched out of everyday mind. Lucki- ly these two musicians have the artistry and nous to take full advantage of the mood.

www.noformat.net Rick Sanders

JOHN JONES Never Stop MovingWestpark 87277

Chest puffed out, head held high, voice rich and full-blooded, expression intense, John Jones always makes a big impression within or without his day job with Oysterband.

As anybody who’s followed him since his debut solo album in 2009 album knows only too well, Jones is a passionate rambler, taking to walking to gigs and calling his band the Reluctant Ramblers. This view from the path- ways and pavements of Britain has clearly invested the colourful stories we find here, emanating from the sometimes murky back- waters of small towns and lonely tracks around the countryside to create an album of what Jones calls “big songs from small stories”.

He’s had his trials since that last album – notably a scary encounter with colon cancer – but it certainly hasn’t affected his voice, which sounds as persuasively determined as ever; or his imagination, building on little incidents and conversations to construct mini- epics. And so, with a formidable supporting cast that includes Benji Kirkpatrick, Al Scott, Boff Whalley, Francois Deville, Tim Cotterell, Lindsey Oliver and Rowan Godel, we get a multi-coloured array of vignettes of modern life, mostly when it’s turned sour.

Down By The Lake is a tough tale of a random youthful murder; Pierrepoint’s Farewell takes its starting point from the internal conflicts of one of Britain’s last hangmen; The Black & White Bird is a spooky tale of a mysterious magpie. Dramatic tales all. Yet while it’s dark, it’s not remotely gloomy. Ghosts Of The Village may reflect ruefully on communities being submerged by rich outsiders but there’s an anthemic defiance to its chorus, while there’s a certain joyousness within the poignant theme of She Wrote Her Name Today.

We get fist-pumping rebellion, too, in some of the traditional material, with out- standing interpretations of Jim Jones, Banks Of Newfoundland and Rambling Boys Of Pleasure, while the overall themes encapsu- lated by the title track offer a vigorous paean to individuality, freedom and escape. The rambler’s tale has many meanings.

www.westparkmusic.de Colin Irwin

THE SHEPHERDS An Audience With… Veteran VT159CD

Compared with her Celtic neighbours, Eng- land has relatively few recorded dance tune musicians who learned their tunes and style before the folk revival. Recordings of three such musicians playing together are even less frequently heard. Hearing a trio of English traditional musicians playing functional dance tunes at this high standard makes this album even more rare and more of a delight.

The three are a fiddler, a mouth-organ player and a Northumbrian piper – Willie Tay- lor, Will Atkinson and Joe Hutton. The two Wills are cousins and Joe is related to them through marriage.

The main part of their repertoire is from their native Northumberland, traditional or composed locally including some of their own tunes. A good sprinkling of Scottish tunes has also been chosen but characteristically, they are played in the manner and style which the musicians find comfortable.

John Jones

The sixteen tracks are mainly of tight ensemble playing but solos of all three are also included. Some tracks include their straightforward, no-nonsense introductions.

We owe a great debt to Alistair Ander- son as the prime advocate for these three musicians. Once he had introduced them to a wider audience in the 1980s, they became much busier and more widely travelled in their retirements than they might otherwise have been. Great thanks are also due to John Howson for seeking out these private record- ings, selecting these gems from them and then releasing them in a manner so well designed, well programmed and informative.

The album serves as a reminder to those us who were privileged to hear them playing together live, of what a privilege it was to be in their company.

www.veteran.co.uk Vic Smith

CIMBALIBAND Moldva Fonó FA3652

In an album of many precious moments – instants that are invariably interrupted by shocking and unexpected bursts of gasp- inducing cimbalom – the standout is on Libadör, when singer Eszter Szita, revelling in a sudden lack of hurried accompaniment, eschews her usual appropriate austerity and breaks hearts with unsentimental drama.

Breathily evocative and restrained, Szita softens and overfills a cavernous space with sombre simplicity. When one is sufficiently lulled and adrift, there’s another cimbalom- led storm to bring back huge life.

The band’s recent last album, Vidám-

park, a fine nostalgic celebration of traditions and retro Eastern European rock and roll party music, was resolutely lacking in ambi- tion beyond the need to move feet and soundtrack a thoroughly good time. It did not hint at the vast sweep of this dreamy fol- low-up, in which the same personnel play and think through a plethora of old tunes and new ideas. Here they clearly announce their devotion to the Balkan Brass big band sound. But they don’t have a brass orkestar at their disposal which makes for interesting imper- sonation and skewed homage. The cimbalom is revealed as beat and lifeblood and even golden trumpet section.

Located in Transylvania, listening to Ser- bia, learning from the masters of Moldavia, considering the vast musical spaces and culture clashes that exist between and through their mountains, this ultimately focused recording is respectfully authentic but also has one eye upon the future. Moldavia is notionally in Romania, but it’s also a particular time, time- lessness, tradition and debate, which can be heard here in often disjointed and fascinating rhythms, harmonies and popular leanings. Band leader and cimbalom maestro Balázs Unger looks back on his original research and osmosis of decades ago, when he took his trusty Trabant back into the region and its past in order to study, collect, and later hone this tribute to the Csángó people.

Hazám, Hazám is a kaval-led ritual, where cimbalom harries warm singing at the edge of the dance, local, but with familiar hints of Guca and Kusturica. Bákói Fanfár is also recognisable, an underplayed Markovic tribute caught on saxophone and manic cim- balom. Elsewhere there are swathes of corus- cating strings, Taraf de Haïdouks subverted into miniature with the momentum and shimmer that are essential components of this wonderful album, ostensibly of music from Romania, Hungary and the Balkans, but also none of the above.