f132
2 Various The Rough Guide To Scottish Folk (Rough Guides RGNET1368CD) Sixteen of Scotland’s current brightest and best, from Saltfishforty and The Furrow Collective to Mischa Macpherson, Siobhan Miller to Battle- field Band, Findlay Napier to Karine Polwart and more. There’s a distinct emphasis on female and Gaelic singing this time around. Excellent.
worldmusic.net
@ Antoine & Owena Hands, Hearts & Hangings (Antoine & Owena) Wiltshire- based partnership of Antoine Architeuthis (bouzouki, guitar) and Owena Archer (fiddle) combine original songs with (fairly routine) takes on traditional songs and tunes. Charac- terful playing and capable harmonies, but their performances are more fiery than the material.
antoineandowena.co.uk
2 Piccola Banda Di Cornamuse Siamo Qui A Cantar La Stéla (Felmay FY8249) A lit- tle bagpipe band with a big sound and a Christmas theme. The singer is good but too polite, and it needed something more robust to balance their sound. I dislike the synthetic keyboard. Glorious in parts.
felmay.it
@ The Helen Flaherty Band Gazing At The Moon (Appel Rekords APR1385) Bel- gium-based Celtic acoustic outfit fronted by Shantalla’s Scottish singer, with a bunch of Scottish and Irish traditional songs and tunes. Making a reasonable fist of things, they’re pleasant enough but a tad mechanical and lacking in emotion and magic.
denappel.be
2 Jimmy Rankin Moving East (True North TND692) Formerly of the Rankin Family, now out there on his own but here has stellar sup- port – J.P Cormier and Ashley MacIsaac among them – on what is essentially a mix of east Canadian roots with story songs. Switch- es with ease between kitchen jigging and theatre rocking. Assured stuff from an artist who’s secure and grounded.
jimmyrankin.com
2 Windjammer EP (Windjammer Music) Plymouth-based trio (Fran Rowney, Jake Sonny Rowlinson and Jeremy Bunting) deliver a well-tuned, energy-filled, charismatic and enervating programme comprising three songs (two self-penned, one MacColl cover) and a pair of evocative, contrasting instru- mentals.
windjammerband.co.uk
1 The Blue Dahlia La Tradition Améri- caine (The Blue Dahlia Music) Dahlia Dumont (French and English vocals, ukulele, kalimba, percussion, compositions) convenes some 30 Brooklyn artists (accordeon, guitar, bass, sax, trombone, strings, piano, drums, percussion) with a solid blend of rock, gospel, reggae, klezmer, Latin, chanson and Eastern Euro- pean influences.
thebluedahliamusic.com
The Blue Dahlia
1 Jon Bickley 1918 (Tiger Ltd.) The Buck- inghamshire singer-songwriter-poet’s well- intentioned contribution to the WW1 com- memorations, many of its songs directly inspired by letters and diaries of soldiers serv- ing in that conflict. Possibly one of his strongest collections, despite occasional laps- es into sentimentality.
jonbickley.com
1 Megan Wisdom Tracery (Megan Wis- dom) This five-track EP shows Megan to be a sure-voiced singer who has a fine way with traditional songs. The three unaccompanied tracks come over better than the two where her voice is mixed too far back against the droning chords of the shruti box. meganwis-
dom.co.uk
1 Ribbon Road Paper Dolls (Shipyard RRD011) Most of the songs are from a project with Newcastle University looking into domestic violence and its after-effects, many of the words paraphrasing testimony from survivors. So there’s not much variety in the subject matter although the songs them- selves are well constructed and melodic. Arrangements are rather lacklustre, but Bren- da Heslop has a really beautiful voice.
ribbonroadmusic.com
2 Katalena lovek Ni Zver [Man Is Not A Beast] (Zoložba Pivec 830052–610196) Playful, spirited, poignant singer Vesna Zornik fronts Slovenian ensemble Katalena (guitar, banjo, bass guitar, guembri, piano, keyboards, clar- inet, saxophones, flugelhorn, trombone, ukulele, whistles, theremin, drums, percus- sion, chorus), hauling a trad folk repertoire kicking and screaming into the war-wracked 21st century.
zalozba-pivec.com
1Out Of Nations Quest (Riverboat TUGCD 1115) Recorded in Berlin, Cairo and NYC. Col- laboration between US-born reeds player and composer Lety ElNaggar and producer Khalil Chahine. A mix of Middle Eastern, Jazz and Latin influences. More a well-produced and enjoyable political statement than anything radically new musically.
worldmusic.net
2 Joan Frances Tisner Tralhaires, Sur Les Pas De Felix Arnaudin (Tralhaires LN003) Intriguing tribute to Felix Arnaudin, an early folklorist specialising in the people of the Haute Lande region in SW France. Songs, spo- ken links and folk tales with 'electro-acoustic' interludes. Arcane, atmospheric, often a little weird, but always interesting!
joanfrancestisner.com
@ Preston-Wild Along The Way (Preston- Wild 191924918656) Timothy Preston plays all of the acoustic instruments, Colleen Wild sings and all of the songs they wrote them- selves. Tidy but totally uninspiring.
timothyjprestonmusic.com
1 Sam Slachter & The Sanctuary Seek- ers Stories Of Sanctuary (Stories Of Sanctu- ary) An Arts Council England -unded project arising from workshops in Durham with Syri- an refugees. The songs don’t impress greatly, but there are some nice instrumental pieces and some particularly fine viola playing from Raghad Haddad of the Syrian National Orchestra.
storiesofsanctuary.co.uk
1 Bixiga 70 Quebra Cabeça (Glitterbeat GBCD063) Straight outa São Paulo, instru- mental nonet Bixiga 70 (guitars, bass, key- board, flute, tenor and baritone sax, trumpet, trombone, drums, percussion) unleash a head-banging African-Brazilian Afro-beat mélange.
glitterbeat.com
1 Plaza Francia Orchestra (Because Music 060525–434457) The intellectual authors of this atmospheric Paris tango outfit are Gotan Project producers Christoph Müller and Eduardo Makaroff, fronted by bandoneonist Pablo Gignoli and Argentine singer Maria Muliterno, with an ample string ensemble and cameo by Cape Verdean singer Lura.
2 Lotta-Maria Saksa You’re The Cream In My Coffee (Acoustic Music 319.1588.2) A somewhat bonkers project, that of transcrib- ing old piano rolls for two guitars and then playing both parts by overdubbing herself, made beguiling and delightful by Finnish classical guitarist. Standards to charm the soul…
acoustic-music.de
1 Mai Khôi Chém Gió Dissent (Lidio SMCD 1001) Mai Khôi (acoustic guitar, Viet- namese and English vocals) heads a Hanoi trio (sax, traditional flute, percussion) decrying authoritarianism and sexism on an original folk-rock-inflected repertoire, with provoca- tively titled offerings like Re-education Camp and Cuffed In Freedom.
lidio.no
1 Z Bent (Lidio SMCD 1000) Z Bent (Iranian composer-singer-synth player Farzane Zamen), singing in Farsi and English with female Arabic and English backing vocals, takes on religious orthodoxy, sexism and vio- lence toward women on this five-track EP, supported by residencies in Norway, Sweden and Scotland.
lidio.no
1 Foghorn String Band Rock Island Grange (Foghorn String Band) A foot-stomp- ing string band that really locks into the rhythm of the music. Led by fiddle and man- dolin and though a few vocals are a little uneven it does not detract from an enjoyable listening experience.
foghornstringband.com
@ Naming The Twins Sing The Winter Away (Duet Right DRR-004) Self-penned sea- sonal songs by Nova Scotian “acoustic, har- mony-rich guy-gal folk duo” who, while accomplished and sincere, appear to have sprung from A Mighty Wind. “O Christmas twee…”
namingthetwins.com
1 Vishten Horizons (Vishten 0 61297 60095 0) High-energy trio from francophone eastern Canada display a range of interesting modern and traditional songs and tunes. Compared with their earlier releases, the addition of electronic effects give the album a fuzzy, over-produced feel at times.
vishten.ne
1 Various Lusafrica 30th Anniversary Album (Lusafrica 762802) Ten vault rediscov- eries and radio remixes – two each by Bonga, Boubacar Traoré, Cesaria Evora, Polo Mon- tañez and Tito Paris – standouts among the artists who made Lusafrica the world music label it is today.
lusafrica.com
2 Thickets Four Last Words (Thickets) Intriguingly spooky four-song debut EP by London trio whose songs burrow the dark, quiet spaces between rapture and melan- choly. Rebecca Lavery and Emma Hamilton harmonise beguilingly over autoharp and cello, while Kieran Lavery’s drums add wallop to the whimsy.
thickets.co.uk
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