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NOVAR Emerald Appel Rekords APR1370

The first few notes of Emerald give you a mighty punch; they grab your attention and you realise quickly that you are in for some- thing special.

All the compositions, all in various Euro- dance rhythms, are by the quartet’s bagpiper/ accordeonist Toon van Mierlo and there are some really fine, memorable, totally dance- able tracks on offer. These are presented in excellent arrangements with some lighter phrases, but the main impression is one of powerful attack, sometimes a tad remorse- less, but all very exciting and listenable.

Three of the musicians have a multi- instrumental presence leaving Thierry Nouat to concentrate on the hurdy gurdy and, sur- prisingly, it is this instrument that provides most of the power in this mix.

The melodies that really remain in the head after a few playings are a complex waltz, Blue Ciel Belge, with Toon’s accordeon in the lead and another waltz Bateau Bleu led by the hurdy gurdy.

The short biography shows that the members have previously played in some of Belgium’s finest outfits including Naragonia and Snaarmaarwaar, but on this evidence Novar have the potential to be amongst Europe’s finest dance instrumental bands.

www.denappel.be Vic Smith U TIN

Music of Burma, Burmese Guitar Rollers ROL-003

AUNG NAING SOE

Music of Burma, Burmese Guitar Rollers ROL-001

AUNG KYAW MYO

Music of Burma, Burmese Piano Rollers ROL-002

One recent, positive development in the roots/world music scene in Japan is the rise of DIY labels. Often with little or no marketing, no distribution, not even a functional web- site, they appear to be run by enthusiasts or collectors happy to make a few CDs for any- one interested enough to search them out. Here are three albums from one such label, called Rollers, who have now released three CDs of Burmese music.

The music isn’t what you might expect, but leftfield recordings made in Burma of musicians playing traditional music on instru- ments that are clearly not traditionally Burmese. I’m sure a fascinating story still needs to be told properly of how the Hawaiian steel guitar spread around Asia. Much can be traced to the Tao Moe Family who toured around Asia from the late 1920s, and perhaps their influence spread to Burma as well.

U Tin plays two types of slide guitar, mostly of traditional tunes with some impro- visations. One looks and sounds more like a banjo, the other a regular steel guitar. Entire- ly instrumental, the music doesn’t appear to have many Western influences, rhythmically or melodically, although not surprisingly it resonates with a feeling of the blues. Appar- ently slide guitar was popular in Burma before the Second World War, and the story goes that U Tin fled to the jungle from Ran- goon during the war where he lived and per- fected his style. On his return to Rangoon he discovered the guitar wasn’t popular any more, and joined an orchestra that accompa- nied silent films.

Aung Naing Soe is a disciple of U TIn, and possibly the only other slide guitarist in

Burma. His album is a similar mix of tradition- al tunes and improvisations, with possibly more outside influences. Burmese music played on a zither called the don min has always sounded African to me, and so does this in some ways. It’s not difficult to imagine a West African griot singing over the top.

Just as remarkable is an album by Aung Kyaw Myo who plays traditional tunes on piano. The piano has been tuned to a penta- tonic scale, and although as an entire album this probably shouldn’t work, for some rea- son it does. Its nearest reference point is probably the piano solo album by Tse-gue- Maryam Guebrou on the Éthiopiques series, although this is far more traditional.

These CDs are not going to win any awards for packaging and quite frankly leave me with a host of unanswered questions. For- tunately there are some videos on YouTube made during the recording last year which add a fascinating visual context. That they are here at all, however, is something to be lauded.

Available via www.farsidemusic.com Sebastian Spiller

THE SAVAGE PRUNES Straight Line Talking The Savage Prunes

The picture of the three young men on the album cover looks like a straightforward folk music trio. There is John-Francis Goodacre with his fiddle, Callum Armstrong with his border bagpipes and George Pasca with his cello. Well, you might not expect the cello but there are more people using this instru- ment in folk bands than there used to be. The names might not suggest it but we are told that they are all based in England. Play the album and immediately you get a different impression of what this is all about.

This album, their debut, is full of creative playing of carefully structured and arranged compositions written by the band, mainly by Callum. He has a wide experience as a piper on a range of instruments, though he also plays classical recorder John-Francis has a wide experience of playing for English and Euro- pean dances and Romanian-born George has classical training on the cello. All these ele- ments can be heard in the blend of their music. It has the drive and rhythmic push of dance music but also the complex interplay of sounds that you would hear from a chamber trio.

The Savage Prunes

Looking for another outfit to compare them with to get an idea of their sound, Spiro comes to mind as a unit that also takes an innovative approach to purely instrumental playing, but the bands structure their arrangements in rather different ways. There would be more chance of a direct comparison with some younger bands currently emerging in Belgium and France. It comes as no surprise to note that they have already turned heads when playing at festivals across the Channel.

At 31 minutes and seven tracks, this is shorter than the average CD but never mind the length, feel the quality

www.thesavageprunes.bandcamp.com Vic Smith

MICHAEL SHEEHY The Cat’s Rambles Veteran VT160CD

The wonderful and unique music of Sliabh Luachra forms the repertoire of Michael Sheehy. Much of his repertoire comes from the playing of his father who came from West Limerick to work in Manchester. Though he had a period away from the music in his art college years, Michael has now returned to the music and this album shows that he has become a master of it.

The big surprise when listening to these recordings is that you are listening to a piano accordeon. His father played the push-pull button box and somehow Michael has been able to mimic this on the instrument that is anathema to many Irish musicians. His con- tact on the melody keys is light and nimble with the staccato touch that brings discern- able gaps between each note. His subtle use of the bass end is delightful with the typical stabs of individual buttons rather than a pat- tern of accompanying chords. His playing is bound to astound many who are not used to the accordeon being played in this manner.

The producer John Howson plays guitar accompaniment on a couple of tracks and John is to be praised for an excellent and informative folding digibox design that incorporates a couple of Michael’s cartoon illustrations. One or other of Michael’s two fiddle playing mates joins him in duos on a few tracks.

www.veteran.co.uk Vic Smith