69 f


clarinet is lead vocalist, while the songwriting is unashamedly concerned with fusing ecstasy and despair into one breath.


“Music without frontiers,” said Le Monde, almost getting it right, and leading to the con- clusion that the band’s use of traditional music has made for a similar journey over the years to the Rolling Stones’ appropriation of the blues. Except Bratsch are still good.


They label themselves as “pre-tradition- al” – out of time, outside the limits of codify- ing and strict definitions of ethnicity, yet rele- vant. They revive lost music but they also influence it in fresh ways, as can be heard in the urgent triumph of their recent Urban Bratsch album. Siya Le, from that album and included here, starts with western soundtrack and ends in a series of brief but perfectly judged cameos by all the band members.


The accompanying book describes the band members as “five dishevelled horses”. Well, perhaps, but that isn’t quite the whole story. The book also tells us of “2300 concerts, 32 countries, 590 borders crossed, three years of work time spent just travelling,seventeen albums…“.


The earliest incarnation of the band actually busked Andean panpipe music dur- ing the summer of 1970, playing for tips and parties. A meeting with a slightly menacing bouncer outside a casino, however, changed everything. That bouncer was Dan Gharibian, and he not only joined the band, but also introduced his Armenian background and his knowledge of East European music. He also brought his guitar.


Bratsch are irrepressible masters of spon-


taneity, carousing with aplomb. But this mon- umental compilation also reveals how they have mapped viable and alternative rich byways for traditional European music.


www.bratsch.com John Pheby KEITH HANCOCK


This World We Live In Epona Records EPO007


Tardis back… Manchester mid-1980s, the roots circuit is hopping; Gregson and Collister are adopted, unplugged folkies; Gone To Earth meanwhile frantically punk up old Irish material; To Hell With Burgundy entertain packed venues with their modern take on Greenwich Village; Claire Mooney barks an unashamed feminist stance; Rattle’n’Reel mosh jig the city; Gordon Jones starts up Har- bourtown records in Didsbury, first release a certain Pete Morton; and in the folk clubs a bloke called Hancock wrings his squeezebox like he was fronting a rock band.


Keith Hancock’s debut is an eclectic beast, first surfacing in 1986, backed by chums like the aforementioned Clive and Christine, ex-members of Any Trouble and local worthies Hobson and Lees, recorded in Stoke. Gavin Sutherland – he wrote Sailing y’know – was also hanging about. Full of social comment on the times – South Africa; to the almost music hall Ee When I Were A Lad; the morris facsimile Dancing Jack and the way to Chasing The Dragon (drugs defi- nitely no good), The World We Live In is a indicator to both time and situation. Best of all though is The Eyes Of A Child, where naivety and innocence makes bigotry and prejudice seem all the more intolerable. KH always was a man who sang it like he found it. Now resident in Saigon – I kid you not – Keith Hancock is much missed in the north west; his was the voice of honesty and convic- tion. We need his like now more than ever. Fine archaeology from Epona.


www.eponarecords.com Simon Jones. Plu


PLU Plu Sbrigyn Ymborth SY016


Welsh language folk music now has as many shades as that of any other nation, and sib- ling trio Plu (pronounced as ‘plea’; meaning ‘feathers’) fall somewhere on the contempo- rary, alt-folk side of the spectrum, their debut album nodding to the tradition with the inclusion of a couple of classic ballads (Hiraeth and Tra Bo Dau) but otherwise com- prising a selection of original songs attribut- ed to the whole band, Elan, Marged and Gwilym Bowen Rhys.


Gwilym is familiar on the Cymric scene as frontman of Y Bandana, a talented indie outfit with many young fans. In his acoustic incarna- tion he is also probably the most exciting Welsh singer-songwriter since the days of Meic Stevens – his vocal delivery, confident guitar playing and authentically harsh Gwynedd accent all making for a striking persona much courted by the Welsh media lately (trac’s 10 Mewn Bws project, CD reviewed here helped send him soaring on a folky trajectory).


But if Gwilym is talented, the same is supremely true of his sisters, for whom the band is the perfect outlet for their delicately crafted lyrics and finespun harmonies. There are tinges of country and other influences in the music (the prominent autoharp recalls First Aid Kit, for example) but in its poetic intensity and unpredictable cadences I was reminded mostly of Bristol’s The Wraiths, who turn classic poets’ works into song. Plu’s words, speaking mostly of longing and per- sonal loss, are subtle and elusive, revealing their secrets slowly; anyone wanting to explore quality Welsh language writing may peruse the lyric sheet enclosed with the CD. More serious than pop music, more progres- sive than almost all Cymric folk, Plu have found a niche in their homeland that has brought them instant success and recogni- tion, and as long as they endure, they’ll be a hard act to follow. Live they are superb (I was fortunate enough to host their first ever gig at the Eisteddfod’s Green Field in 2012 and found it startlingly assured).


It is hard to know whether non-Welsh speakers will appreciate the sheer skill at work here, though musically they are clearly footsure and cultivated, if yet young. If they play near you, or at a festival this summer, go see. And if you don’t believe how fine these lyrics are: try learning Cymraeg! You couldn’t hope for a better introduction to its subtle - ties.


Nathan Williams FRESHLY GROUND


The Good Red Earth WildGoose Studios WGS 395CD


Freshly Ground is an eleven-piece community choir from the village of Cheddar. Its leader, Issy Emeney, has over the past fifteen years become known as an outstanding (and sensi- tive) melodeon player and a gifted composer of original tunes and songs in the tradition. Having made two well-received CDs with hus- band David, she’s now turned her attention to the enthusiastic exploration of the quite different discipline of arranging traditional songs for choirs. The principal impetus for this activity was when she was invited to lead Freshly Ground four years ago, since when she’s also been inspired to write new songs specifically for them, of which, happily, no fewer than five examples are included on this disc which was recorded live in Doug Bailey’s studio over just three days.


The choir’s special qualities are immedi- ately apparent: simple, proficient and confi- dent singing carried out with precision and obvious practice, and boasting careful (but neither stiff nor mannered) diction. With an infectious sense of lively, animated involve- ment, the choir truthfully communicates the unpretentious joy of singing, except, curious- ly, in the disc’s attractive final item The Cold Dark Days Of Winter, which is arguably too deliberate in ambience to convey the unfet- tered, cathartic feel of the Sacred Harp singing which, we learn from the booklet note, directly inspired its composition. But there’s no lack of vitality anywhere on this disc, for Freshly Ground’s approach involves a healthy and creative mixture of harmony and unison, and their evident well-drilled accom- plishment makes it sound very easy (but just you try singing along to some of their har- monies!)


The choir breathes new life into tradi- tional standards and makes a good case for Issy’s originals, notably The Reddleman and The Would-Be Lover. She’s also provided an interestingly different new tune for Roger Watson’s Watercress-O. There’s also the occa- sional touch of theatre, which by and large is welcome and effective, and finally, the choir also derives additional internal versatility from the emergence of individual members as highly credible soloists within the arrange- ments, which are invariably well tailored to make best use of those individuals’ vocal attributes.


www.wildgoose.co.uk David Kidman


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