FolkWorld CD Reviews

Issue 26 10/2003

Chris Conway " My mind's island / Alien salad abduction"
Label: a new day; andcd 96 / andcd 57.; 2002 Chris Conway is a US born musician who has not been unknown in the British folk scene. He played with Fairport, Jethro Tull, Talvin Sigh, Roy Wood and many others. He just released two cd's in the same year. The first is called alien salad abduction and the second one My mind's island. Conway's style is singer/songwriter with a good folkrock touch. He gets help from Vikki Clayton and a whole group of good musicians. His cd My mind's island is I think the most popular one of the two. Nice songs brought in a relax and professional way. His voice is nice to listen to and he arranged his original songs into catchy pieces of music. Sometimes with only guitar but mostly with band. Strong fact is that even with band his music still sounds small and honest. Alien salad abduction has the same ingredients but has a less serious undertone. He experiences more with sounds and his arrangements are more adventures. Suddenly he also sounds much more modern, did he put more pleasure in this album than in the other one? The sound is just a little bit better. Both albums show a talented and singer songwriter who brings his music with fantasy and the right feeling. Both cd's are welcome additions to my collection.
www.chrisconway.com
Eelco Schilder

Geyers "Und dein roter mund"
Label: own; 2003; Playing time: 60.53 min The German band Geyers present themselves as a medieval music group. In many way that is exactly what the group is, although they arrange their music in a more modern way. What immediately gets noticed is the good sound quality of the cd. You can hear each instruments in a very pure and intense way. The instruments they use are Nyckelharpa, Hurdy gurdy, flutes, bagpipes, guitar, percussion and much more. Nice male vocals, sometimes a bit cliché lyrics when they sing their own texts, but never over the top. Thomas Roth has a very nice, warm voice which is a pleasure to listen to. Don't expect energetic music, this is more the kind of cd you sit down and listen to. The band knows what they are doing and wont make sudden unexpected moves.
homepage: www.geyers.info
Eelco Schilder

Nada
Label: artefacts; 001.; 2002; Playing time: 49.54 min Nada is a new group of musicians from Belgium and Tunisia who already were known for their outstanding musical quality. They bring a mixture of Arabic, Indian and European music tradition in an experimental way. Included in the group are the Tunisian vocalist Ghalia Benali, who already impressed with her cd Wild harissa, Luc de Gezell, worked with the Olla vogala group, Tom Theuns, member of Belgium's top-group Ambrozijn, Bert Cornelis and Pierre Narcisse. Nada goes much further than building bridges between the different cultures. Both in the traditionals and their original material they experiment with rhythms and melody in such a way that the cd has a big psychedelic touch. Fantastic example of this is the song Wisser which is hypnotising me with strange sounds, voices and screams, besides a nice sitar melody. Nada's debut album is not just another cd with crossover roots music but more a musical experiment with a fascinating result.
Eelco Schilder

Various artists "The secret power of the singing bowls"
Label: Traumzeit; 3-933825-26-1.; 2002; Playing time: 75.37 min I think by now we all now the secret power of music. Traumzeit label gives us The secret power of bowls from Tibet, India, Japan, China and Canada. Sometimes helped by instruments such as Gong drum, didgeridoo, conch shelle and the sound of streaming water, this cd helps you to relax and fall in a very nice dreamy sleep. Nothing more, nothing less.
Eelco Schilder

Various artists " Vencermos!"
Label: last call; 3085542.; 2003; Playing time: 56.24 min It is exactly thirty years ago Pinochet took over the regime in Chile by military violence. On 13 September, bullets killed the president Salvador Allende and Chile became a military state. Because of the celebration of his dying day Angel Parra compiled a beautiful cd together with Isabel Parra, Mauro Di Domenico, Ventischka, Hak & Mouss and Victor Jara. They bring beautiful but also tragically Chilean music. It tells about the history, politics of this nation. I love the opening Allende presidente in which Angel Parra bring Allende back to live in a modern and strong way. He mixes modern beats with the voice of Allende, his own intense singing and guitar play. He is followed by an original speech by Allende which was recorded on the 11th of September 1973. Besides this highlight of the cd, there are many intense moments. Poems that get recited, intimate songs and instrumentals. This cd gives me a feeling of history for which I'm to young to remember I was only 1 years old at 13 September 2003 but which was brought back to my attention by Vencermos.
Eelco Schilder

Van Langen " Ask the runes / Des Teufels Lockvogel"
Label: private release; 2002; Playing time: 50.38 min For me an unknown band this Van Langen. The info sounds good, ancient instruments, medieval atmosphere played mixed with rockmusic. The first cd to review by them is a 1997 mini-cd which is called Ask the runes I'm going to do this very shortly because their later cd Des teufels lockvogel shows that the group has much more to offer than can be heard on the 1997 cd. It's just nice, but a bit uncontrolled and lyrics like where do we come from where do we go, what is the answer I want to know... just not make me very happy. But thank god they also send me some later work to review, their cd Des Teufels lockvogel. The sound got much better and the group manages to really make me listen with nice mix of raw male vocals, sweet female vocals, flutes, percussion and guitars. The songs have the atmosphere of long lost songs that tell about far gone times. a bit simple of structure but very effective. My favourite still, is the opening track Katerlynn, which is so full of tension that it gives me an overwhelming feeling of being blown of my chair. It reminds of Ougenweide but also of a straight on, no tricks metal band. If the band develops like it did the past years I would love to review their newer cd's, I'm sure the band gets even better in each year it exist.
www.vanlangen.de
Eelco Schilder

Linde Nijland " sings Sandy Denny"
Label: realharm; 200320.; 2003; Playing time: 47.29 min Linde Nijland is one of the two members of the Dutch band Ygdrassil. She grew up with the music of Sandy Denny and for many years she had the idea of doing a solo project in which she wanted to sing songs that have been sung by Deny in the past. Now, 25 years after the death of Sandy, the cd is released and Linde has been giving the first concerts with her project. Everybody knows it's a big risk to record songs by sandy Denny. Her own, intense way of singing is impossible to copy and thank god Linde knows that. With respect for Sandy, Linde sings the songs in her own way. With help of four musician including members of the Dutch group Torf she managed to record eleven songs which are really impressive. Songs like, the sea, what is true, this train, sweet rosemary and many others are brought with feeling and respect. Linde impresses with her clear vocals, although not as full and to the heart as Sandy Denny, Linde knows how to catch my attention and at some moments even make my skin go cold. I think all sandy Denny fans remember the Vikki Clayton cd It suits me well on which she sings Sandy Denny songs. Clayton even worked with Fairport but I have to say that she is over-classed by this, for outside Holland, Unknown young vocalist. Visit the webpage to order the cd.
homepage: www.ygdrassil.nl
Eelco Schilder

Foo Foo Band " Heren van zes weken"
Label: Pan; 204.; 2003; Playing time: 45.24 min The Dutch Foo Foo band is specialist in sailors songs. Their latest cd Heren van zes weken tells about the life of the sailors life in the time of the VOC about 400 years ago. The sailors of the VOC united East-India company sailed to far countries like Africa, India, Japan and Indonesia and they made Holland one of the most powerful sailing countries from that time. The foo foo band sings about all the facts of the sailors lives. The hard life on board, how it feels to be far from your beloved once for months and months etc. The songs are traditional and brought with solo, harmony male and female vocals, guitar, flutes, accordion, violin and other instruments. The group contains members of the known Dutch group Crackerhash and also Peter Koene (see two issues of FolkWorld ago for an interview). The cd has sober arrangements and although I prefer the ballads like anna Katryn also the other songs are very nice. Foo foo band shows what rich tradition the Netherlands have although most Dutch don't know that. Experience the traditional sailors music of the lowlands and order the cd : paradox@dataweb.nl
Eelco Schilder

Mariachi dos mundos "El jugador"
Label: Oriente Musik; cd41.; 2002; Playing time:64.06 min Mariachi dos mundos is a band playing Latin music mixed with several styles such as Tex-Mex, bolero, polka, tango, salsa and many other styles. The songs are original but of course brought with a lot of Latin tradition. I find the cd El jugador very enjoyable. Their music has a feel good sound and the atmosphere of beautiful memories. From start to the end the cd is in perfect balance, the musicians know what their doing and play with the different styles in such a way that sometimes they manage to create a complete own sound. Although I'm absolutely not in to Latin music, this cd has been played several times last weeks just because of it's quality and strong atmosphere. I'm sure a Latin freak will review this cd in a totally different way. I can only say that I enjoy El Jugador very much.
Eelco Schilder

Paul Vens " the white lake / open"
Label: private; v700 / v803.; 2003 The Dutch musician Paul Vens started to play in several rockbands playing material of artists such as Dylan, Ian Matthews, JJ cale etc. after a motor accident he choose for the more personal and softer kind of music which gave him an contract on the Dutch Munich label on which he recorded his first LP. For over 25 years Vens has been singing and travelling around with his original music and up to now he has recorded ten albums from which Open is the last one. I will start with his older cd The white lake which has a stunning opening song. The Backyard in which Vens sings a duet with Marita Damen, is a very intense folksong of a beauty that is so rarely found. Although all the songs on this cd have a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere, they never get at the same height as this opening song. Vens sings small songs from his heart. Each song is nice to listen to but it's only on occasion like The backyard that his music gets more than nice, personal songs. What I don't like, and that's more a personal problem of me, is the sound of keyboard drums like in Course of the river. His most recent cd open has also a strong opening song. The spirit of Tibet with nice flute and again Marita Damen on background vocals. Again this song jumps above the average quality and can measure it self with he best English folksongs. But like on The white lakes the most other cd's are nice but don't get to the level of the opening track. Or it must be Blue troubadour which is another highlight on this cd. Open has a more richer sound with some more eastern influences in the music. I can understand why people will enjoy the music of Paul Vens, personally I hope he makes a cd with only opening tracks. If he does that I'm sure he will be loved by so many more people. Now I place him somewhere above the middle with accidentally a top song.
homepage: www.paulvens.nl
Eelco Schilder

Zapf'nstreich " MMII"
Label: Pantaleon; 10203.; 2002; Playing time: 61.21 min zapf' nstreich is a group from Bavaria that plays music from that region and the rest of the world. The four musicians play over 20 instruments not at the same time. They put Chopin next to traditionals and even in songs they sometimes use other known melodies. The band has an open sound in which the harp takes a central role. They play with Caribbean, European, far-east music as if all these styles come from the same source. All songs are done nice and very decently, never really exciting. I do miss a bit of fire in the music, a bit of experimenting. Now it's al so brave and without any risk. No problem, they do it in a technically very strong way but.....just....a...bit...more...of...guts would really help making the music even more enjoyable.
www.zapf-music.de
Eelco Schilder

Dave Swarbrick "Swarb! forty years of folk's finest fiddler"
Label: Free Reed; frqcd 45.; 2003; Playing time: 240.00++ min The free reed label already exist for many years and they issued many fine lp's and cd's. One of their latest work was the very nice Fairport box now followed by a 4-cd box of the known fiddler Dave Swarbrick. Swarbrick, already known in the sixties for his work Ian Campbell and Martin Carthy, got famous after he joined the Fairport convention. The cd box contains four cd's all with a theme. Cd 1 is for duo and contains many rare recordings of songs he played with artists such as Martin Carthy, Bert Lloyd, Trevor Lucas, Ralph Mctell and many others. Some of the recordings come from old topic records, most tracks are taken from Swarbricks personal archive. Always nice for such box sets are the different recordings of known songs, like a 1992 version of the Fairport classic White dress. The second cd is Collaborations on which you can hear him with Fairport, Ian Campbell folkgroup, and Whippersnaper. again many personal archive tracks but also some very early tv registrations from the Ian Campbell group. The third cd is for extra's on which he put special recordings . Like a very rare Ewan MacColl track from 1961, 1971 live Tamlinn in Stockholm and more recently live material. The fourth cd is for Swarb and contains over twenty important songs from his whole career. This cd gives an overview of his impressive career again with many unique recordings. For any Swarbrick, English folk, Fairport fan this box is a must although I do find the quality of some tracks from his personal archive not that good. I know that people want unique material but sometimes maybe it's better to choose for the known version. A pure historical document with 45 years great fiddling.
homepage: www.swarb.com
Eelco Schilder

Peter Grafen "Manchmal"
Label: chansongs; 01502.; 2002 The German singer Peter Grafen has recorded his new cd Manchmal with the help of a big group of musicians. On his own label he brings his personal music and lyrics. The cd starts with Kinder on which he gets help from a children's choir. This song has a very nice violin/flute/sax arrangement but who has put this terribly disturbing electronic bass sound through the song? It's a pity because it takes away all the atmosphere of the song and turns it into a cheap commercial product. That's stays that way the whole cd, good string and flute arrangements but....sometimes such irritating rhythms. Also the sound quality of the songs is not always a pleasure to hear. In was hatte ich getan the sound engineer putted a disturbing echo on the vocals. This makes the lyrics harder to understand and turns the music into a soup of sound instead of a friendly co-operation between good musicians. But on the other hand, the use of organ in this song is a golden idea. This is just some remarks on the first two songs and unfortunately I would be able to write something about each of these songs. For me personally I see this cd as a missed change. Sometimes I hear something really nice, but it's always followed with exactly the opposite choice I would make to create a strong song. This Manchmal cd is just to unbalanced, to chaotic to really catching the attention of my mind.
Eelco Schilder

Huun huur tu "more live"
Label: Jaro; 4246-2.; 2002; Playing time: 50.38 min Huun huur tu was one of the first Throat singing groups that got known outside Tuva. They have been pioneers for many years and their early records really brought something new to the western world. Unfortunately for them they have been over-classed by newer groups like the Tuva rock group Yat-kha and the more traditional group Egschiglen. That can be heard on this more live album. Were Egschiglen and Yat-Kha try new paths, Huun huur tu makes still the same music as many years ago. Still nice, but absolutely not surprising anymore. I also don't understand why there must be a more live cd, the first live cd was nice and offered more than enough. This more live doesn't add anything to the previous cd's. Still they are masters of Tuva music but I do prefer to hear their early works that came as a chock to me at that time. I do hope on a next studio cd Huun huur tu uses more fantasy and I wish they will make me feel sorry for the remark that they have been over-classed by the two other mentioned bands.
Eelco Schilder

Adrianne Greenbaum "Fleytmuzik"
Label: private; 2003; Playing time: 56.44 min Adrianne Greenbaum is a national acclaimed flutist from the US who is specialised in both classical and klezmer music. She has been playing solo in many concert halls and she also is professor of flute on a college. She has been recorded before on several label and she issued a solo cd with flute solo's called Sounds of America. She is also the founder and leader of a klezmer band and gives master-classes in klezmer music for flute. On this cd Fleytmuzik she presents klezmer music for flute helped by Cookie Segelstein on violin, Joshua Horowitz on tsimbl and Marty Confurius on bass. They bring 21 tunes mostly traditional from several important collections. Indeed Adrianne is a master on the flute and without any problem she knows how to interpretate the klezmer music in a professional and personal way. Because of the good co-operation with the other musicians she creates a full sound and each song is a pleasure to listen to. Besides that the musicians manage to make all tunes sound like they were meant to be together on a cd. They are not just fragments but brought together in such a professional way that Fleytmuzik sounds like one piece of music of almost an hour that is a pleasure to hear.
contact: agreenba@aol.com
Eelco Schilder

Michael Weston King "a decent man"
Label: floating world; fw016.; 2003; Playing time: 48.27 min The biggest music discovery for me personally this year is the whole scene around Jackie Leven an Michael Weston King. It started with Leven his last album which just knocked me out and still is one of my favourite to listen to. when I put on this Weston King cd A decent man for the first time it gave me almost the same feeling. Immediately I recognised the hand of Leven in the way he produced the album but besides of that the singing and song writing of Michael Weston King put me in a good mood again. His songs has this feeling like knowing them for years. They feel like coming home, a feeling that I also experienced with the Leven cd. Not many musicians can reach such a strong sound with just plane, sober songs. Inspired by and I quote old country, New country and not-quite-country. Michael weston King's songs and I quote again they can be country songs, pop songs, rock songs or ballads. They are simply wonderful songs. why these quotes? Cant I be a bit more creative? No. with this cd I also got a book called Beautiful lies the songs of Michael weston King. He gets introduced by Nick Dalton and Nick says it all. This book contains some of his finest songs with both guitar tabs and melody line and of course the lyrics. It can be ordered at www.twah.de. Do me a favour and keep an eye out for both Jackie Leven and Michael Weston King. But because this is a review of Weston king's cd, keep a bigger eye out for this cd A decent man it's worth your attention!
Eelco Schilder

Urban Trad " Sanomi"
Label: universal; 9865427.; 2003; Playing time: 51.37 min A lot happened to the Belgian band Urban trad in the last half year. Already with their first cd One of four they got some attention with their mix of European folk and urban beats but now with their new cd Sanomi they reach new heights. I don't know the whole story behind it I and you will know the whole story behind it because there will be an interview with urban trad in the next folkworld But suddenly I find myself watching the Eurovision song-contest and I was about to fall asleep when Urban trad got on to stage. I did know they would be along, reading a lot of criticism in several media about the band, nobody thought this would be a success, but after their performance I already got the feeling that the critics probably were wrong. Urban trad woke me up with a nice folk-pop tune which was definitely better than the winning Sertab and should have brought the festival back to Belgium. Now, the new album is out and the band gets the attention they deserve. sanomi is a cd with 14 pleasant folk-pop songs with influences out of the Celtic music from all around Europe. Mixing bagpipe, accordion, violin, whistles and many other instruments with these so called " urban beats". a few nice female vocalists and the band delivered one of the most commercial folk record I've heard in a long time. On one o four the band was still searching for it's own sound and experimented more with beats and melody. Her on sanomi they managed to get everything in perfect balance and they show to be a professional band. This is such a cd that some people will call too commercial, I say this is such a cd that will be enjoyed by many people and brings some folk on places where it otherwise never would have come. WATCH THE NEXT FOLKWORLD ISSUE: Not only an interview with Urban trad but also the Urban trad contest, you can win their new cd!
homepage: www.urbantrad.com
Eelco Schilder

Spaelimenninir "Malargrot"
Label: Tutl; shd66.; 2003; Playing time: 53.15 min When I last spoke with Henk Scholte from the Dutch band Torf see this folkworld for an interview he was just about to leave to the Faeroe Islands. 'Eelco" He said, 'How is it possible that such a small country has so many good musicians?' I told him I really dont know but that it is a remarkable fact. Already for more than 25 years the Tutl label issues records and cd's in the jazz and folk vein and still they manage to come with music that matters. One of the most important bands from the Faeroe islands is Spælimenninir which also exist for more than 25 years. From the start they have been playing traditional music from the North and their north includes whole Scandinavia, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the US. But also they bring original songs in a traditional atmosphere. The seventeen tunes on this new cd's are acoustic traditional folk in new arrangements. The fact that there are also some jazz musicians in the band makes that some songs have a slight different approach than you would normally expect from a traditional Scandinavian band. Besides the piano the band has the fiddle, recorder, mandolin, guitar, harmonium and bass as instruments. Actually Malargrot is exactly what the band has been doing for the last 25 years. Keeping the Nordic tradition alive, lets hope they will do this for many years to come.
Eelco Schilder

Mat Walklate "Harmonica & Flute"
Label: Own label; KLATECD02; 2003; Playing time: 55.38 min Mat Walklate is a Manchester-based musician. He took up the harmonica and the whistle at the age of 16, and when leaving Manchester University he took up music as a career. An accomplished laddie. Mat won the Burnley Blues-harp contest in 1992 and in the following year he was All-Britain Fleadh champion. He's a member of several blues and jazz bands plus a folk and a ceili band. Now this disc is entirely devoted to traditional Irish music. Thanks to double-tracking Mat can be heard on harmonica and flute at the same time, with some help by Seamus "Skirm" Curley (guitar), Sean Regan (mandola) and Cormac Byrne (bodhran). The mouthie - here chromatic, diatonic and tremolo harmonicas - is rarely heard, let alone in combination with flute, though there has been a number of competent players, such as Mick Kinsella (-> FW#9) and Paul Moran (-> FW#25). Mat plays it virtuous as well, and he plays an excellent selection of tunes. Two songs, the traditional ballad "The False Young Man" and his own "Paper and Tin" are less worth mentioning, but that's something you can skip. The rest, including his own jigs and reels, is recommendable.
mwalklate@btopenworld.com
Walkin' T:-)M

Richie Dwyer "In A Creative Mood"
Label: Cailroe Records; 2002; Playing time: 56.15 min The Dwyers from the Beara peninsula in the utmost west of Ireland are known for their music. Mother Dwyer was a renowned concertina player. Michael Dwyer plays the whistle and Finbarr the accordion. Richie Dwyer performs on accordion and fiddle. He hadn’t recorded until now, but was (and still is) famed for his own compositions. Richie's tunes can be heard on recordings of box players like Sharon Shannon and Joe Burke, and are good enough for whistle and fiddle player Mary Bergin and Frankie Gavin, respectively, and bands like Wolfstone (-> FW#2) and Siúcra (see review above). Richie surely was in a creative mood again. Accompanied only by Michael O'Rourke on piano, he plays accordion (except one rather strange fiddle track). All tunes are original, jigs and reels without exception, no slides and polkas though Beara is bisected by the Cork and Kerry border. The cover picture shows Richie walking down the road, which is the main street of Eyeries, I guess, assuming from the beautiful coloured houses. Richie's tune also have different colours, green as the meadows and blue as the sea. The playing is tight, and I'm sure I will hear one tune or another in the next session.
cailroerecords@eircom.net
Walkin' T:-)M

More English CD Reviews: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 6
More German CD Reviews: Page 1 - Page 2
Overview: CD Review Contents

To the content of FolkWorld No. 26

All material published in FolkWorld is © The Author via FolkWorld. Storage for private use is allowed and welcome. Reviews and extracts of up to 200 words may be freely quoted and reproduced, if source and author are acknowledged. For any other reproduction please ask the Editors for permission. Although any external links from FolkWorld are chosen with greatest care, FolkWorld and its editors do not take any responsibility for the content of the linked external websites.

FolkWorld - Home of European Music