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1 Pete Clark & Ron Shaw Jig Of Chance (Inver Music, INVER228). Clark (fiddle/viola) and Shaw (cello) perform elegant Scottish Baroque compositions from 18th and 19th Century fiddle masters Niel Gow, Nathaniel Gow, Robert Petrie, William Marshal, James Scott Skinner. Plus some traditional Gaelic and Shetland melodies and some tunes of their own.
www.musicinscotland.com
2 Korrontzi Tradition 2.1 (Baga-Biga BBCDDVD110-111). Big project, nicely book- packaged, from Agus Barandiaran on trikitixa and txalaparta, with musicians including Eliseo Parra, Riccardo Tesi, Justin Vali, Asturi- an José Manuel Tejedor, Galician Susana Seivane, Leturia, Ibon Koteron, Mike McGoldrick, Phil Cunningham, Javier Limón, Arabic strings, Sardinian tenors, Sicilians, Zim- babweans, in still Basque-sounding tunes and songs.
www.baga-biga.com
@ Julie & Gavin Atkin Sentimental Jour- ney (Red Admiral Records REDAD CDA602). Classically-trained Julie clearly enjoys singing nineteen of one’s least-favourite “old-fash- ioned popular songs” (read ‘over-familiar standards’). Gavin accompanies her ably on duet concertina and melodeon. So far so good, but only if you really (really) like that kind of thing… Verdict: talent wasted on trite material.
www.redadmiralrecords.com
1 Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola (Dell Daisy DELL003). Fiddler Sarah-Jane, ex- Fribo, now of Rant, lives in Norway these days but her home’s still in Scots Highland fiddling, with a fine command of it as well as Highland piping’s tight grace-noting, snaps and reitera- tions.
www.sarah-janesummers.com
@ The Jake Leg Jug Band Next Stop (Lake LACD 33). Once exuberant music that has had the life drained out of it. Four-piece recorded in Cumbria all in tune, but unable to create energy this music demands.
www.fellside.com
2 Parne Gadje Po Drom(Smoked Record- ings SR016). Satisfyingly murky Balkan crossover. A brilliantly produced, faltering and sonorous groove, in a Tanase and rebetiko-inspired set of fascinating gloom. The band uses its background in industrial punk to promote a highly original take on this magical and tragic music of the ’30s. Smouldering.
www.parnegadje.com www.smokedrecordings.com
2 Jitka Šuranská Nezachod Slunecko (Indies MAM685-2). Moravian traditional singer and fiddler’s solo album brings in rich resources – the hot traditional and jazz fid- dle/mandolin, cimbalom and bass of Pacora Trio plus duduk, tárogató, bagpipes, kaval, concert zither, her former duo partner man- dolinist Jirí Plocek and more – for an attrac- tive variety of new, sympathetic arrange- ments of Moravian traditional songs.
www.indiesrec.eu
1 Chirimía Del Rio Napi El Pajarillo (Sonidos Enraizados, no cat no). The Gran Cauca of southwestern Colombia is home to an African-descent population whose evoca- tive choral, woodwind and drum chirimía music combines African percussion and the indigenous Andean transverse flutes.
sonidosenraizados.com
@ Hanni Autere Krazem (Sibelius Academy HM2CD-02). Single-voice and ensemble vocal- ising, much of it wordless, combined with fid- dling in project by Finn Hanni with other mostly female singing fiddlers. Instrumental aspect fine, but the vocal improvising can get dodgy.
hanni.autere@
gmail.com
@ Corvus Yhdeksän Sulkaa (Own label, no cat no). Folk-influenced songs from Finnish trio. Female and male vocals with electric and acoustic guitars, recorder, keyboard, bass etc plod with good intent but dubious intona- tion and don’t hang together, not helped by the dry lack of production.
facebook.com/pages/Corvus/132202476795701
2 MaLituanie MaLituanie (One Root Music, no cat no). Outstandingly natural, live- in-studio musical conversations of gorgeous serenity between griot Baba Sissoko’s Malian songs and the hypnotic melodies of Lithuani- an traditional songs from four leading female and male Lithuanian singer-instrumentalists.
www.onerootmusic.com
2 Shutka Roma Rap Me Sijum Under- ground (Fono FA 286-2). An obvious conflu- ence of super-tight Macedonian Roma wed- ding band and zesty Romani rap, born in the music-filled streets of Shutka, Skopje. Kudos to Hungary’s great Fono label for releasing this remarkable musical crossroads, where tradition meets cutting edge noir soundtrack meets melodious rhyming slam.
www.fono.hu
2 Various Artists Rembetika – Rarest Recordings from the Greek Underground 1920-1950 (JSP Records JSP 77165). If you want to join the discussion as to whether rembetika has anything to do with blues you could do worse than this four-CD box set con- taining 89 more tracks of this urban pop music from Greece. A wonderful collection; great packaging with lots of photos and informed notes from Charles Howard. This music is enjoying a renaissance at the moment amongst young people in Greece as they try to weather the financial storm. All the great rembetika artists from 1920-1950 are represented.
www.jsprecords.com
2 Alun Parry When The Sunlight Shines (Parrysongs PARRY003CD). ‘Liverpool’s Woody Guthrie’ delivers further collection of accessible, catchy-chorus-bedecked folk- anthems with an inclusive, optimistic bent, rather like an even more friendly Robb John- son. Proudly and openly left-wing but non- preachy, Alun champions the stories and caus- es of ordinary people.
www.parrysongs.co.uk
2 Almoraima Banjara (AnimaMundi Edi- zioni 28). India, North Africa, Italy, Catalonia and Andalucia meet on this lyrical, understat- ed cross-musical encounter whose effortless gitano-inflected artistry (voice, guitar, oud, viola, fisarmonica, traverse flute, bansuri, contrabass, percussion, palmas) sustains an improvisatory work of longing and plaintive beauty.
www.suonidalmundo.com
1 Martin Ledner Commonwealth (Hood- en Records HDN825). Twisting folk songs to be a grittier reflection of themselves, no doubt lyrically there’s bags of research and wit to Commonwealth. The delivery though is under - whelming, even with some mates along to bang percussion, push’n’pull a squeezebox and tootle on a keyboard.
www.martinledner.com
1 Bird Radio The Boy And The Audience (Strike Force Entertainment SFE027). Gold- smiths music graduate and futuristic busker Mikey Kirkpatrick declaims portentously over looped kick-drum pedal on suitcase and Jethro Tull-inspired flute, with the theatricali- ty of a lo-fi Adam And The Ants. An acclaimed live performer, this warrants inves- tigation.
www.birdradio.co.uk
1 Blanche Rowen & Mike Gulston The Dance Goes On (Pipe Dream Music PDM007). Traditional and contemporary songs of turning seasons and calendar cus- toms. Excellent harmony vocals (in English, Welsh and French) and dexterous guitar, mandola, psaltery and recorder. The odd clunker of ‘the wind it do blow’ variety aside, this is classy stuff.
www.rowengulston.co.uk
1 Various Artists ¡Así Kotama! The Flutes Of Otavalo, Ecuador (Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40564). Artists from the Hatun Kotama cultural center of Otavalo per- form in the regional gaita tradition, with a mix of transverse flutes, conch shell, cowhorn, harmonica, melodica, guitar and a staccato form of call-and-response singing, whistling and foot-stomping. www.discovery-
records.com
Sarah Jarosz
2 Sarah Jarosz Build Me Up From Bones (Sugar Hill SUG CD4093). Well constructed, classy and original acoustic-derived music from Jarosz. Some outstanding songs, in particular title track and Mile On The Moon. Nashville at its best.
www.sugarhillrecords.com
1 Duane Andrews And Craig Young Charlie’s Boogie (No label). Tidy collection of acoustic guitar duets. Well played and recorded with a nice range of tunes.
www.charliesboogie.com
1 Phil Lyons Time And Tide (Own label, no cat no). Committed, mainly vox-and-guitar renditions of a range of material (Anne Lister, Pete Morton, trad street ballads and broad- sides) and a couple of instrumentals. Phil’s vocal delivery’s insufficiently varied, even slightly stiff, so lacks the final distinction that would set his interpretations apart. A respectable gig-purchase nevertheless.
philyons50@hotmail.com
2 Clutching At Straws Come What May EP (Straws Music, no cat no). Assured, confi- dent, energetic six-track debut from Stafford- shire-based quartet, much in the approved alt-folky-stomp vein with an ear for the Mumfords market and the multi-instrumen- tal versatility to match. Appealingly savvy self-penned lyrics based on real-life observa- tion, if a touch frenetically delivered.
www.clutchingatstraws.com
1 Rakish Rakish EP (Own label RAK001). Trademark of this young York-based four- piece is expansive piano-and-fiddle-dominat- ed conflagrations of vocal and instrumental items. The mellow, controlled lyrical ambi- ence is offset by some occasionally strident singing from Kirsten Mercer, whereas the quartet’s two other good singers (Paul Davies and melodeon/guitar player Paul Young) remain under-utilised.
www.rakishfolk.com
2 Martin Young Watergrain (Red Admiral REDAD CDA598). Martin celebrates renewed good health with the “new album he wasn’t going to make”, with help from Graeme Tay- lor, John Kirkpatrick, Tim Edey, Ben Paley et al; a strong set of self-penned material with plenty to say and sly nods to tradition, this is a highly commendable return to the fold.
www.martinyoung-bowstring.co.uk
1 Alister Atkin & The Ghost Line Carni- val To Evangeline (Own label, no cat no). Pleasant (if ultimately slightly anonymous) second album, Alister betrays honest inspira- tion from frequent visits to Nova Scotia and benefits from a warm live-in-the-studio feel and minimal production. Tight support from five-piece band including Aidan Shepherd, Penguin Café’s Geoff Richardson and Annie Whitehead.
www.alisteratkin.com
Photo: Scott Simontacchi
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