127 f
CATARINA DOS SANTOS Radio Kriola ARC EUCD 2802
Lisbon and Setúbal to its south across the Tagus host people of Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Angolan, Brazilian, Guinean, Gypsy and Mozambican origin, and their musics and languages flow naturally together.
Catarina dos Santos grew up in Barreiro, a ferry ride from Lisbon in Setúbal district, and the album, subtitled Reflections On Por- tuguese Identity, celebrates that rich mix.
She has a light, silky, joyful voice, a hint of a sunny smile always there, that is reminis- cent of the Cape Verdean Portuguese Sara Tavares.
The songs, a mix of composition and tra- dition, move between the shapes and rhythms of all those cultures, including such as Cape Verdean funaná, Angolan semba and Brazilian fundu, with hints of Puerto Rican from her New York Latin-jazz study sojourn, accompanied by a fluid, fluent collection of musicians on guitars, cavaquinho, piano, bass, subtle percussion, touches of reeds, trumpet, accordeon and more, each track using just a few of them to make an unclut- tered, perfectly balanced, liquidly swinging sound.
She’s a prime example and exponent of the upsurge in rich, varied musics happening in, and increasingly emerging from, this part of Portugal, and with this album she deserves to charm a wide international audience.
arcmusic.co.uk Andrew Cronshaw
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Corn Mother A Year In The Country Artifact #10a
The latest instalment in A Year In The Coun- try’s ongoing haunt-jaunt around this spec- tred isle is a soundtrack for an imaginary 1970s folk-horror film. It’s a conceit that’s manifested before – most notably in Emily Jones & The Rowan Amber Mill’s 2014 The Book Of The Lost, but this is something far darker and more dreadful (in the good way).
Gavin Morrettii’s Ritual And Unearthly
Fire sets the opening scene on an insistently repeated two-bar phrase and wordless voice samples before Pulselovers introduce gen- uine shock with the dispassionately chanted lyrics of Beat Her Down: “Mother’s here / Don’t make a sound / Take the rod / And beat her down.” Slow, ominous, slithering tracks by United Bible Studies (The Last Sheaf On The Braes) and A Year In The Country (The Night Harvest) intensify the atmosphere. The Heartwood Institute’s Corn Dolly is strangely and satisfyingly intoxicating.
The lyrics of Widow’s Weeds’ title track
make effective use of the unspoken – “the fox is a witness to all you have done” – while Sproatly Smith introduce a little welcome acoustic guitar amongst the all-pervading electronic eeriness on Caught In The Coppice.
ayearinthecountry.co.uk Steve Hunt VARDAN HOVANISSIAN &
EMRE GÜLTEKIN Karin Muzeikpublique 10
Hovanissian is Armenian and plays duduk and shvi; Gültekin is Turkish and plays baǧlama and a variety of related instruments. Both live in Belgium, and with Karin they celebrate a
Vardan Hovanissian & Emre Gültekin
friendship which crosses the century-old rup- ture between the two peoples. On this acous- tic album they play, joined by several other musicians and singers, a mixture of Caucasian and Turkish pieces. About a third of the twelve tracks are songs, and the balance are instrumentals. The album comes with a book- let in English, French and Dutch including useful, well-written notes.
Musically, the two musicians seem to have fallen into the trap of contemporary
Anatolian melancholy of which Erkan Oǧur is the master; a kind of subduction where emo- tions are swallowed by over-respectfulness. Where we drift into a feeling akin to hope- lessness – presenting the losses of the past (the Armenian genocide, the Sivas massacre) as well as the awfulness of the present (the deaths of migrants) like forensic scientists in well-intended detachment but failing to bring the dead back to life. Where the other sense of ‘play’ is lost in musical tiptoeing, which is nice rather than mournful or angry or simply expressive.
My favourite track is Qalma Damtskevla, a lovely Georgian song, warmly sung by the group Ananuri and a relative of the Chechen song Daymohk on the Karde Türküler album Çocuk Haklı.
muziekpublique.be Nick Hobbs THE ALISTAIR McCUL-
LOCH TRIO Off The Hook Rostral Records RTRLCD015
HAMISH NAPIER The Railway Strathspey Records SRCD002
MIKE VASS Notes From The Boat Unroofed UR004CD
For some time now, Alistair McCulloch from Ayrshire has built up a reputation as one of the finest Scottish fiddlers and tunesmiths going. These days, a CD to sell is usually the reason for a tour, but for quite a few years he’s toured annually as a trio with Marc Duff (ex Capercaillie) and the ubiquitous and excellent Aaron Jones (Old Blind Dogs and Kate Rusby Band to name but two), but sur- prisingly this is their first album together.
And what a great album it is. Whether reworking waltzes, playing slow reels or
powering through a jig set, McCulloch’s fid- dle and Duff’s whistles weave around each other seamlessly while Jones’ bouzouki and guitar provide exactly enough power in the engine room to hold it all together. The tunes come from the tradition, McCulloch himself and worthies like Johnny Cunning- ham, Duncan Chisholm and Johnny McCusker. And for those who don’t like entirely instrumental acts, Jones – a fine singer too – contributes three songs includ- ing a thoughtful minor key version of Wild Rover. Definitely one for the present list.
alistairmcculloch.com
From road trips to trains, Hamish Napier was commissioned to produce a suite of material related to the past history of the Strathspey Railway and its staff. Such albums are normally of limited interest, but this one is a gem. His whistles, flutes and keyboards are augmented with a fine crew including Fraser Stone (drums), Ross Ainslie (pipes), Patsy Reid (strings), and it’s the first time I’ve seen sheep credited with vocals. Somewhat a family affair, brother Findlay contributes a couple of songs, Gillian Frame and Lucy Napi- er pop up on backing vocals, and The Cheery Groove was composed for his parents. There’s an interesting booklet with lots of pictures of trains and stuff, but don’t let that put you off – The Railway is an album full of really great music in its own right and Napier’s tunes evocatively conjure up the past. It’s well worth seeking out.
hamishnapier.com From trains to boats – a couple of years
ago fiddler, composer, producer and teacher Mike Vass bought a boat to live on and installed a recording studio, as one does. He then invited some friends to each come on board and record a tune of his, while he con- tributed fiddle, tenor guitar, mandolin and so on. The environment contributed creaking rigging, rain and hail and a variety of other ambient noises, all used judiciously to great effect. Said friends included Gillian Frame, Duncan Chisholm, Innes White, Ali Vass, Maireread Green, Anna Massie and others. The result is a delightful if slightly low-key album chock full of lovely tunes and superb musicianship.
Without wishing to upset Burt Bacharach, there are no planes here.
mikevass.com Bob Walton
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
