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TERES AOUTES STRING BAND
Lo Rock’N’Roll De La Mountagna Teres Aoutes String Band
Here’s an interesting oddity! Using the classic American string band line-up of fiddle, man- dolin, guitar, banjo and bass, the band set out their stall… but wait a minute… the title of the album sounds more like it comes from Italy than the USA. The lead instrument, the mandolin, sounds more like the mountains of the album title might be from the Alps rather than the Blue Ridge and the player is Mario Poletti. Time to investigate this unit’s back- ground.
They say that their aim is to create an original musical project aimed at reinterpret- ing the songs and dances of the musical tradi- tion of the Western Alps and exalting the expressive potential of stringed instruments. Well yes, but surely the track that they give the main title of Mi L’hai Basà is in fact Dirty Old Town. Has Salford been re-located to the Maritime Alps?
If this review sounds dismissively jokey, it is not meant to. It is just an attempt to convey the feeling generated by this album. There is nothing profound or challenging here but it does sound like enormous fun played by very good musicians who sound as though they are having the time of their life.
Little infomation comes with the CD and the internet does not help much. One short statement in English says that they are work- ing with “a tradition that is still well alive and interpreted in a contemporary and original way”. They might add that they added dol- lops of commitment and enthusiasm as well.
mariopoletti@tiscalinet.it Vic Smith SINAN CEM EROĞLU &
MUHLIS BERBEROĞLU Hemdem Ahenk 2018
Ero˘glu plays acoustic and electric ba˘glama; Berbero˘glu plays (fretless) acoustic and elec- tric guitar, kaval and sings (well) on one track. Twelve of the thirteen tracks are instrumen- tals, some composed by other writers but also including a couple of self-penned pieces and several folk tunes. To my ears, three influ- ences come to mind: Taksim Trio, Erkan O˘gur, and Ne¸set Erta¸s. I’m happy that Erta¸s is there as he’s the Hendrix of Anatolian folk – he played and sang like an exploding volcano, while Taksim Trio and O˘gur are much more about jazz-influenced sonority – at times beautiful but hardly ever earthy.
The album is nicely recorded and pack- aged, and the two very capable musicians are in balance weaving around each other and playing with different qualities – Anatolian- folk, Euro-jazz and light space-rock. They do this without sounding like a fusion project, rather they have a wide palette and approach each piece individually. The clean, jazzy pieces, though well-played, move me less, while the more rock-influenced pieces move me more because on those they give them- selves some freedom to explore through sound and be less confined by the perils of virtuosity and conservatory folk.
Fave track: Bitlis’te Be¸s Minare (Five Bitlis
Minarets) for its fierce, breathy kaval solo and its raga-like ba˘glama playing. I hope they make another album and work at forging more of their own sound but in the mean- time Hemdem is a very listenable and accom- plished record, of particular interest I think, to fans of the aforementioned influences.
ahenkmuzik.com.tr Nick Hobbs Delyth & Angharad
DELYTH & ANGHARAD Llinyn Arian Sienco SIENCO001
The second album of Welsh traditional music and original compositions by the mother- daughter duo of Delyth Jenkins (Celtic harp) and Angharad Jenkins (fiddle, octave violin) once again sees delightful interplay between fiddle and harp as they alternate melody and harmony. The addition of guest Jordan Price Williams’ cello adds sonic and emotional depth to the arrangements, and enhances the folk-baroque feel of compositions such as Delyth’s beautiful tone-poem Cofio (Remem- bering).
This album gives us an insight into the
DNA of Welsh traditional music: its medieval roots, its European courtly and baroque influ- ences, and the inflow of English and Irish musical forms.
Rhisiart Annwyl is an uptempo tune set with satisfying contrast between the bright notes of the harp and the darker, gristier notes of the richly textured fiddle and cello.
Viva Cariad (Long Live Love) is a sweet, lilting tune composed by Angharad to cele- brate her friends’ wedding: the fiddle melody aches with love and longing.
Sourced from a 1752 music book, Y Grim-
son Felfed (Crimson Velvet) is a graceful, ele- gant tune that dates back to the 16th centu- ry: you can easily imagine the Tudor Court dancing to it.
Cwsg (Sleep) is a lullaby set: Delyth’s opening tune has soothing harp arpeggios that underpin an undulating, gently rocking melody on fiddle. This segues into the beauti- ful traditional lullaby Suo Gan, in which the crystalline harp gently drops the melody into a rushing stream of fiddle arpeggios, note by splashing note, evoking the river of sleep car- rying a dreaming child into a magical land.
dna-folk.co.uk Paul Matheson
KARAVAN SARAI Painted Sands Karavan Sarai
The latest release from Karavan Saria will not disappoint followers. Dense, mystic layers of sound, beautifully recorded. Well-defined songs inspired by cultures along the silk road followed by ethereal instrumentals from totally another time and place. Their big sound is hugely festival friendly. World music zealots may find some of their music unau-
thentic, but I love their hypnotic reconstruc- tions of North African and Indian themes. In lots of ways their modal inventions are truer to the spirit of Mediterranean music than some of their major/minor contemporaries. Their sound may well be familiar if you have listened to many Real World releases or even Morcheeba. For this reason they could also be criticised for being dated, or belonging to another era. But, if you have a good sound and people like it why not continue to use it? Besides which, I like Real World recordings and Morcheeba.
karavansaraimusic.com Mark T DREAMERS’ CIRCUS
Rooftop Sessions GO’ Danish Folk Music GO1517CD
The fourth release from the Danish/Swedish trio finds them subtly expanding their core sound, with instruments like Farfisa organ, guitar, and synthesizer added to the mix. Used sparingly, they add to the colours and textures that fill the eleven all-instrumental tracks. After nine years together they’ve built a strong rapport, with arrangements that shift and change (as in Kitchen Stories, where hectic busyness finally gives way to dreamy release), and move at times into something approaching classical music, in the stately for- mality of Then We Waltzed. Thankfully, they understand that less can often be more, with some beautifully slow tunes that let single notes spin out, and the quiet virtuosity of the players rings through, something especially true for violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, who captures some stunning harmonics at times on Mormor. But it’s all very much a group effort, where each piece of the puzzle complements the others.
It’s fascinating to hear how they’ve grown in their time together, adding some things, subtracting others, until with this, they don’t put a foot wrong, with Rooftop Sessions Parts 1 and 2 offering delicious bursts of sound to pile on top of the melodies that fill the entire disc. The members all have their roots in folk music, and they still shine through, but they’ve created a musical lan- guage whose roots might be Scandinavian, but whose vocabulary is international – and the satisfaction is quite universal.
dreamerscircus.com Chris Nickson
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