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MAEVE MACKINNON Strì Maeve Mackinnon MM003
Maeve’s third studio album sees her perform traditional Scottish Gaelic songs (plus a song of her own, composed in English) with musi- cal support on guitar, piano, keys, accordeon, fiddle, strings, bodhrán, bagpipes, whistle, uilleann pipes, drums, bass guitar, double bass, analogue synth and programming.
The best tracks here are the ones with sensitive, measured musical arrangements that really showcase Maeve’s low, husky, subtle vocal: songs such as O Mo Cheist Am Fear Ban and Ceann Traigh Gruinneart and the magnificent Roisin Dubh (which con- tains a fine uilleann pipes solo spot by Jar- lath Henderson).
Less successful are the over-produced tracks where the prominent use of synths, programming, drums, bass guitar and keys creates a muddy sound texture that threatens to overwhelm Maeve’s vocal.
maevemackinnon.com Paul Matheson
JACK THE LAD It’s Jack The Lad Talking Elephant TECD397
The Old Straight Track Talking Elephant TECD398
Rough Diamonds Talking Elephant TECD399
A king’s ransom in three small packages! Billy Mitchell and former Lindisfarne alumni creat- ed a blueprint for witty, melodic, rockin’ folk, originally with a contemporary focus as on It’s Jack… where highlights include hymn to the seasons Turning Into Winter, Maddy Prior charming with the chorus of Song Without A Band, as well as the thud’n’stomp of Why Can’t I Be Satisfied?
An abrupt left-hand turn came with meeting the JSD Band who suggested juic- ing up Northumbrian trad. The Old Straight Track duly delivered, (Melody Maker’s Folk Album of 1974). It’s a gem, full of vim and vinegar, the superb Weary Whaling Grounds, jigs that have real bite, the forlorn tale of Peggy and even a song about brushes that manages to be canny as it winds up with When The Boat Comes In!
Fortunately line-up reshuffles had injected a healthy dose of Hedgehog Pie which saw a return to the good-time of their debut while lingering folk intentions appeared amongst Beatles harmonies and other surprises on Rough Diamonds. Pro- duced by Simon Nicol, between Fairports and Albions at the time, this remains the best stu- dio representation of what Jack The Lad delivered on stage. All remastered, all deliver in spades. Real class.
talkingelephant.co.uk Simon Jones
VINGEFANG Tidens Ekko Go’ Danish Folk Music GO0218
The second album from this Swedish-French duo absolutely sparkles with life. Piano, gui- tar, violin and shared vocals (plus a tiny sprin- kling of guests). They started playing togeth- er on a trip to Brazil to dance, and a little of that country appears in Vendedor De Caranguejo, which morphs into the fiery Reel Of The Crabs, an explosive workout for Miri- am Ariana’s fiddle. There’s a natural symbiosis between the two musicians, whether on the wordless singing of Medmennesket, where the addition of cello lifts it into a whole new world, or the delightful wonder of the tune Lill-Lizzy. There’s a song in Swahili, softly dec-
orative, and a luscious polska. About the only piece that doesn’t work is La Valse Sans Fin, which never quite manages to glide the way it should. There’s no doubt that they’ve grown since their debut three years ago, but they’ve put in plenty of touring. The pair show their debt to folk music, but it’s on a global scale, rather than tucked into their homelands.
vingefang.com Chris Nickson
CIMBALIBAND Balkan Projekt Fonó FA408-2
Balázs Unger, the cimbalom maestro who leads the prolific Cimbaliband, grew up in thrall to the playing of Kálmán Balogh, who continues to grace so many fine Hungarian releases. No better grounding, and it shows. With such brilliant influence in tow, Unger later made immersive steps towards the Balkans beyond Hungary’s southern border, where he became steeped in the music and lives of local musicians. He could not help but collect and play and become a part of his vibrant new surrounds, but he still had all his well-paid dues and influences from his north- ern home in the locker. This album may be the sound of his ultimate destination: popu- lar folk music that has travelled well, fired up on unendingly pyrotechnical playing tradi- tions, but allied with a conscious and sure sense of where Unger came from and of now.
Cimbaliband’s new record is a truly exhausting listen. And so it should be. Sear- ing vocals swoon above multiple explosions of strings, guitar, trumpets, saxophones, thunderous percussion, rock drumming, and a constant, crazed web of Unger’s cimbalom. However, despite the insanely intricate arrangements and feverish playing there is also a questioning journey between a net- work of national and musical borders, confu- sions and collusions of ideas and styles super- imposed upon each other in rapid succession, a compelling friction.
Unger has commented on his frustra- tions with the fixed “authenticity” of the Hungarian folk scene. His new album, in con- trast, is all about closeness, infectiousness, determined fanfare, transparent and exciting playing devoid of rumination or comment. It’s a loud, ruthless frenzy of emotion, dance, the music of the Roma, Romania, Bulgaria,
Grace Petrie
Hungary, Serbia, and the effervescent vocals of Dóra Danics. Serious arrangements, furious playing, an infectious and sensuous drama.
fono.hu John Pheby
GRACE PETRIE Queer As Folk Grace Petrie GPCD06
Wake up and pay attention: Grace Petrie – protest singer and social commentator – means business. And has done for nearly a decade, while (inexplicably) remaining large- ly under the radar.
Grace launches her Kickstarter-funded first full studio album a cappella with A Young Woman’s Tale, a forthright recasting of Ian Campbell’s celebrated political chroni- cle. She follows through with a “bellowed and boot-stamped” take on Graham Moore’s timeless anthem Tom Paine’s Bones, and (later) an intimate, gentle take on Richard Thompson’s Beeswing, but it’s the ensuing sequence of Grace’s own compositions that takes us firmly inside her psyche and lays bare the heart-rending tenderness and true- hearted compassion behind the polemic. She offers hope and solidarity, born out of abso- lute conviction and with no trace of empty sloganeering. Alongside outstanding newer songs like the bittersweet, achingly personal Departures and the important LGBTQ+ state- ment Black Tie, Grace revisits older songs (Farewell To Welfare, Iago, Baby Blue) that are still all too relevant, now given added flesh and depth with the musicianship of Nancy Kerr, Hannah James, Miranda Sykes, Belinda O’Hooley etc., and a masterly Neil Ferguson production that really “gets” the measure of Grace.
Queer As Folk is, in Grace’s own words, “both a celebration of and a step beyond protest singer”. It depicts with impeccable honesty both sides of the artist that is Grace Petrie: “passionate about and deeply inspired by the magnificent tradition of folk music, but seeking and striving always for it to become again the vehicle for radical poli- tics that it once was.” This wake-up call is one to be both welcomed and wholeheart- edly embraced.
gracepetrie.com David Kidman
Photo: Mike Ainscoe
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