FolkWorld Issue 33 05/2007
FolkWorld CD Reviews
Prodigals "Momentum"
Label:
Grab entertainment; 1106; 2006
The Prodigals is a Manhattan based folkrock band with musicians deeply rooted in
Ireland. The band focuses on nice folkrock with mainly Celtic influences. The
musicians have a very different background, Ireland is one of the similarities
between them. They have been playing folk, jazz, funk and many other styles
before they found each other in The Prodigals. Here they bring these style
together in a pleasant rocky mixture in which the Celtic influences are most
obvious. The cd contains traditional instrumentals like Ginley’s gravel and
Music in the abbey and nice songs in the same vein, such as One morning as I
roved out. The Prodigals know how to play nice energetic music and they have a
pleasant no nonsense sound.
www.prodigals.com
Eelco Schilder
Beer Belly "Noric Kingdom"
Label:
Sazas; 001; 2006
Like almost all other country in this world, also Slovenia has his Celtic band
and this one is called Beer Belly, which already suggest that we might have to
do with a band that makes music with a humoristic approach. Beer Belly has
divided the cd Noric kingdom in four parts. They start off in Scotland with a
fabulous bagpipe imitation on the accordion and a funny introduction about how
to get a kilt. The second part is Irish and, same as the Scottish part, the band
took the most cliché songs of both regions. Molly Malone, Wild rover, Loch
lomond, they have been played a million times and although this band sounds
funny it doesn’t add that much to all these other versions. Beer Belly sings
the songs as if they have been in the pub for weeks. Low and heavy vocals and
brought without any form of delicateness. A tune like Dicey reilly surprises
somehow because it shows that the band is also capable to make proper music in a
nice way. The third part of the cd are self penned songs in the Celtic
tradition. These are in the same pub style as the songs mentioned above. The
best part is the fact that this cd taught me that Those were the days is
actually a Russian folksong called Dorogoi dlinnoju. This is a nice version as
well, much better than the Mary Hopkins version by far.
Anyway, Beer belly is hanging a bit between a serious folk band and an
anarchistic type of Celtic music. Sometimes they amaze me, but they also took
the easiest way a bit too often to my opinion.
beerbelly.aza-ms.si
Eelco Schilder
Penny Lang "Stone+sand+sea+sky"
Label:
Borealis;
bcd176; 2006
Penny Lang can be seen as the grand lady of the Canadian folk-blues. This
Stone+sand+sea+sky is her eighth cd and the first studio release in seven years.
She has been active in music for over four decades and is one of the most
legendary Canadian musicians. The good thing about musicians that have a long
history and already reached the status Penny Lang has, is that they don’t have
to proof themselves any longer and can make music that comes right out of the
heart. That’s exactly what Penny Lang does, she sings a pure kind of music that
feels real and original. On a song like Sudden waves she sounds very fragile,
while on a song like Let me fly she sounds very vivid and energetic. Two
sides of Lang that suit her very well. On the cd she is backed by her son Jason
Lang, Dave Clarke, Sue Lothrop and other Canadian legend Kate McGarrigle to
mention a few. Stone+ sand+sea+sky doesn’t need any longer recommendation, it’s
pure folk and blues from Canada of the highest quality you can get.
www.pennylang.com
Eelco Schilder
Nifty’s "Takeshi Express"
Label:
Extraplatte;
ex695p; 2007
The Austrian group Nifty's focuses on a mixture of klezmer and eastern-European
folk music. The band exists out of two guitarists, a trumpet player, bassist and
percussionist. Not the usual line up for a klezmer band, a bit fewer trumpets
one might think. Nifty's shows on this Takeshi express that a band only needs one
good trumpet player to create a real nice brass effect. This Nifty's is not just a
standard Balkan influenced band, they are much more than that. I hear great
progressive-rock influences in one of my favourite tunes Kelomatics, a nice jazz
touch in Sirba to floreshty. But mostly this is great klezmer like music played
with passion and in a fresh new way. Although the guitars and trumpet are on the
main ground, they wouldn’t be sounding this good without the strong fundament
created by the bass and well done percussion. Listen to Unza waltz in which they
bring together all the things I mentioned above, good straight, but effective,
percussion, nice rocky guitar intermezzo and a good Klezmer like melody on the
trumpet. Interesting cd, this Takeshi express has much more to offer than
the standard klezmer or brass orientated bands.
niftys.klingt.org
Eelco Schilder
Ffynnon "Adar Gwylltion"
Label:
Taith records;
003; 2006
For more than ten years the band Ffynnon has represented the traditional music
from Wales. Their debut cd from 2002 got worldwide good critics and it’s a cd
that still finds its way to my cd player now and then. The band exists of four
musicians, Lynne Denman who is into both the Welsh, English and French
folksongs. Stacey Blythe is a multi instrumentalist who collaborated with
Frankie Armstrong and Meredith Monk, just to name a few. Emma Trend is the
fiddler of the band with great interest in worldwide styles, which can be heard
in her fiddling. Matthew Lovett is the bass player, he adds a nice jazzy sound
to the songs and tunes. This new cd Adar Gwylltion goes much further than their
debut cd. Besides traditional material from Wales, the cd also contains own
material and a Canadian traditional song En filant ma quenouille, which has been
made famous by Kate and Ann McGarrigle in the seventies. Altough I’m a big
McGarrigle fan, this version by Ffynnon has a different style but is at least as
good. On Adar gwylltion you can hear a top Welsh band at work. Strong vocal work
and original and creative musical arrangements. Sometimes very close to
tradition, otherwise almost in French Chanson style or more jazz-folk crossover.
A pleasant cd to listen to and a nice step forwards compared to their strong
debut cd.
www.ffynnon.com
Eelco Schilder
Hradištan & Jari Pavlica "Live"
Label:
Indies;
mam333-2; 2006
The band Hradistan is probably one of the oldest bands in European traditional
music. It was founded in 1950 and since than several generations of musicians,
singers and dancers have been part of the band. It was originally founded
together with a dance group and is the most legendary dulcimer band in Czech
history. The band origins from Moravia which is part of the Czech republic. This
live cd, recorded with Jiri Pavlica who has been the artistic director and first
violinist since 1975, contains an overview of the long history of the band. It’s
their 27th album and includes folksongs, original material and songs about
historical themes. The music of Hradistan has a friendly and intimate
atmosphere. The violin, dulcimer and harmony vocals are the most important
ingredients of their music, although you can also hear an occasional crumhorn,
hurdy gurdy or other instruments. The dulcimer is not only used as a solo
instrument but also as a percussion instrument that forms the foundation for
the other instruments and vocals. This live cd is a well recorded and strong
piece of music and a great way to get to know the Moravian tradition. It
contains some strong vocal parts, sometimes in a very ancient style, especially
when Alice Holubova takes the leading role. She has an almost classical voice
that gives a medieval atmosphere to the music. When the male singers do the
(harmony) lead the music sounds much more rooted in tradition. It’s a nice
combination that works very well. So for all Hradistan fans and for people who
like to get to know the Moravian tradition any better, this cd is highly
recommended.
www.hradistan.cz
Eelco Schilder
The Waybacks "From the Pasture to the Future"
Label:
Compass records;
4430; 2006
The Waybacks is a US band that combines folk, country, blues and bluegrass with
rock music. The musicians have a long history in music varying from blues rock
to jazz and everything in between. This is the band's fourth cd and it contains
eleven songs, mostly original but also a traditional, a Ray Davies and a Chick
Corea song. The cd kicks off with The petrified man, a middle of the road
country-rock song that made me fear the worst for the rest of the cd. But
happily it only gets better after this first one. From the pasture to the future
is a great rock tune with a good sound and fabulous guitar work. I love the
ancient feeling of Bluebird waltz with strong fiddling by Evan Price. This song
is followed by the Ray Davies song Motorway, here with a nice blues touch and a
great tuba sound added. Strange that number seven, Ninety-one, is such a soft
mainstream song, again like track one. Why? It’s a mystery to me, the musicians
are of high quality and they show that they can handle various styles of music.
Like a nice rhumba in Armando’s Rhumba or a classic traditional song in The Blacksmith (although I’m not to wild about the vocals in that particular song).
This From the pasture to the future is a very nice cd and when you skip track 1
and 7 you have nine great tracks left.
www.waybacks.com
Eelco Schilder
Lirio "Lirio"
Label:
Wild Boar Music;
apr 1309; 2007
Lirio is a Dutch folk band focussing on French and Dutch/Belgian traditional
music. They perform a lot on bal-folk events in Holland and Belgium. This is
their first full length cd, they have been part of the NAP cd, a cd they
recorded together with some other Dutch folk groups. There is something strange
going on with this debut cd. The recordings are three years old and the group
has grown a lot since then. Besides that, the cd includes musicians that are no
longer part of the band. The result is a nice acoustic folk cd that focuses on
music that is perfect for the bal folk concerts. It are the violin and accordion
that play the main part in Lirio’s music, besides these instruments some
bagpipe, guitar and bass makes it complete. Iris Ficker is guest musician
who takes care of all the vocal works in a nice way. That actually describes
Lirio the best, it’s a nice group with a promising sound but on this cd it is
still in development. The musical arrangements are a bit simple and could use
some more originality and I think the band should develop a kind of unique Lirio
sound before recording a new cd. Actually, this got much better the past years,
that’s why it’s such a pity they decided to issue a cd with old recordings. Keep
following this young and fresh Dutch band, they have the potential to be one of
Holland’s prominent folk groups in near future.
www.lirio.nl
Eelco Schilder
Yevgueni "Aan de arbeid"
Label:
Petrol;
0783086; 2007
The Belgian band Yevgueni has just released their second cd Aan de arbeid, the
crown on their work after two turbulent years. They won a Belgian national
radio station “best song” election and since then the Yevgueni sun is rising
high. The band is formed around lead vocalist Klaas Delrue and is not a folk or
traditional group in any way. Yevgueni plays Belgian (sung in Dutch) rock
combined with strong lyrics, all original material composed and written by the
earlier mentioned Klaas Delrue. Aan de arbeid is a fantastic cd with not only
great lyrics but also lovely fresh sounding music. Delrue shows to be a great
observer of daily life and he is able to turn these small daily life things into
intriguing poetic lyrics. But it are the musicians who give lots of extras to
his words, make them get alive. The title song is one of the best ones, such a
rich sound with two playing Hammond and a catchy refrain without being
mainstream. On the other hand they recorded Overal schoonheid which more modest,
more introvert but still very powerful. In Man zijn Yevgueni reminds me of the
legendary Bram Vermeulen, the style of singing and the way the song is arranged.
A fantastic song that has so much energy, that it’s about to explode because of
the bands enthusiasm. Aan de arbeid is a great cd which will be enjoyed by all
who like ‘het betere, moderne Nederlandse luisterlied’ sorry for that but if you
don’t understand the Dutch language, this cd might not be very interesting for
you. But for everybody who does, you should get it as soon as possible.
www.yevgueni.be
Eelco Schilder
Benita Johnson "Stars and Fireflies"
Label:
Own label; 2006
A great thing about websites as Sellaband, Youtube and Myspace is that it
gives many talented (and lesser talented) musicians the change to get heard
world wide. Benita Johnson used the myspace site and got enough positive
reactions to issue a demo cd with six self penned songs. This EP shows Johnson
very pure and acoustic, only vocals and guitar. She manages to create a full
rich sound and shows a lot of talent. I like Firefly which is a nice, sad song
with a fragile guitar sound. On the other hand she can be very powerful in a
song like Free, in which she sounds a bit bluesy. This Stars and fireflies shows
a Benita Johnson who has all the talent to conquer a prominent place in the big
world of singer-songwriters. This debut EP is a very promising start.
www.myspace.com/benitajohnson
Eelco Schilder
V/A "Sevdalinka"
Label:
Piranha;
2113; 2007
Sevdalinka is a collection of Sarajevo love songs, a collection of Bosnian soul
which shows the many varieties of the ancient Bosnian culture of music. An
intriguing collection as it shows many sides of the style. It starts with a nice
collaboration between Mercan Dede and Zerina Cokoja, who bring a dreamy
hypnotising version of Moj ilbere kud se šećeš. And the cd ends with a pure
traditional version of Knjigu piše Tahir-Beže on saz and vocals only by Emina
Zečaj and Mehmed Gribajčevič. It shows two sides of this project, two sides of
many of the Bosnian traditional music. In between them you will find music by
Quattro bassi, Jadranka Stojakovic, Markus Burger and many others. Often the
musicians cooperate on a song together and a few bring their own interpretation
only. This is a very nice view into the ancient Bosnian culture that might open
the eyes of many who, after hearing this cd, will pay more attention to this
rich culture.
www.piranha.de
Eelco Schilder
The Barra MacNeils "All at once"
Label:
Shoreline Records; 400332; 2005
The Barra MacNeils are deeply rooted in the Celtic tradition of Cape Breton. For
more than 20 years the band focuses on the traditional music from their homeland
and today they are one of the best known Cape Breton bands touring and recording
internationally. This All at once, is their tenth album and a nice collection of
modern folk music. The songs are often original material based on traditional
works. Strong male vocals, like in Haven’t got a care, beautiful female vocals,
like in Craobh nan ubhal, and some exciting instrumentals in Celtic-jazz style
like the tune The keeping it reel. The band still shows a lot of pleasure making
music and a great technique on their instruments. The cd has nice variations in
styles and atmosphere without loosing their musical identity. It has jazz
influences, like mentioned above, light rock influences or just well played
traditional material. After hearing this cd I fully understand why The Barra
MacNeils is one of the top acts from Cape Breton. They bring the tradition in a
modern and open minded way. The thirteen songs and tunes are very accessible and
therefore ready to be liked by a big audience.
www.barramacneils.com
Eelco Schilder
Susie Boehm "Elemental"
Label:
Own label; 2006
Susie Boehm is a US singer-songwriter who lives in Germany. She used to be part
of the band The Dames, which had some international success. She doesn’t like
anything pickled (according to her biography), well, I love everything that is
pickled so let’s hope our musical taste matches more than our taste of food. Her
style is honest and pure singer-songwriter rock with some very light folk
influences. She has a strong voice and I have to say that the cd is really well
produced and has a nice and friendly sound. Her lyrics are a bit standard, she
tells in her biography that she doesn’t like to talk about herself and that can
be heard in the lyrics. They are a bit shallow now and then, but that doesn’t
bother much because on the whole she knows how to create a nice piece of music. A
song like Elemental has all the potential to be liked by many, accessible
catchy pop/rock music. Personally I like the more intense and a bit less
predictable songs like Waking up (nice ballad style) or the jazzier House on
fire, which has a bit different sound than the rest of the cd. I think Susie
Boehm might interest a lot of people, not those who like folk music but the
lovers of nice and easy going pop/rock music. Elemental is a well produced cd
that shows a singer who has the potential to grow to a much higher level.
www.susieboehm.com
Eelco Schilder
V/A "Electric Gypsyland 2"
Label:
Crammed;
37-p; 2006
After the success of the first Electric Gypsyland, the second edition is now
out. In many countries the so called Balkan disco events are a big success.
Several DJ's have mixed Balkan beats into modern disco versions and make people
dance for hours. On this second Electric Gypsyland cd there are not only DJ’s who
have done some mixing. Also some well-known groups have turned a Balkan classic into
a modern dance tune. A few examples? The electronic folk band Tunng, Shantal and
Oi va voi versus Taraf de Haïdouks, Buscemi, Animal Collective and 43 Skidoo
versus Kocani orkestar and so on. This cd has a great mixture of styles and all
groups create their own, unique and strong sound. A good extra is the bonus cd
with the original, unmixed songs by Taraf de Haïdouks, Kocani Orkestar, Zelwer
and the Mahala Raï Banda. This way you can hear the basic of the songs and what
modern times did to them. I like both versions and I think many people would
enjoy this as well.
www.crammed.be
Eelco Schilder
Morris Open "Tomorrow’s Tradition"
Label:
Own label; 2006
The German group Morris Open exists for more than 25 year and they released
their first lp exactly 20 years ago. Enough to celebrate for this band and they
do so with a new cd which contains some live recordings from a Düsseldorf
concert in July 2006. The band is a trio including founder of the band Claus von
Weiss, Matthias Höhn and Ulrike von Weiss. The group focuses on the English
tradition including the music used for the Morris dancing. Besides dancing
tunes, on the cd they have recorded famous songs as John Barleycorn, the Willow
tree and the Cuckoo’s nest. There are also some own compositions in the same
vein. Morris Open is a band that clearly enjoys what it’s doing. Sometimes they
play very traditional with bells, flutes and all. But in some other songs they
add some synthesiser to create a basic drone on which they play their music. To
my opinion Tomorrow’s tradition is a decent cd with friendly and well played
music. The arrangements are a bit predictable and not to complicated. That makes
the music very accessible but also a bit boring after hearing it a few times.
www.morris-open.de
Eelco Schilder
Svjata Vatra "Svjata Vatra"
Label:
Manniku metsatalu 4740156902280; 2006
The first thing that I notice about this cd is the beautiful cardboard packing
it has. Nice print and really taken care of. If the music is as nice as the
sleeve... Svjata Vatra is founded by the Ukrainian musician Ruslan Trochynskyi,
who was a member of the Haydamaky group, a once legendary band. He started to
play with students of the Viljandi culture academy in Estonia. The result is
this group Svjata Vatra in which Trochynski, together with three other
musicians, bring both the Estonian and Ukrainian tradition alive. The basics are
the Ukraine oral tradition and the Estonian runo songs and bagpipe tradition.
They mix these styles in a very effective and creative way. The cd starts with a
beautiful song called Esimene mida ma. A sad accordion, a mystical flute and
intense vocals make this a very melancholic song. Followed by the dance tune
Tantsulugu which has a nice brass sound with some Celtic touches. Great is also
the Estonian Ma olin enne nuori miesi, which is so typical for the Estonian area
that it will not easy be mixed up with any other style. This song contains some
nice, very earthy male harmony vocals and has a strong drive. On the Ukrainian
traditional piece, Kelle hobune seal seisab, you can hear the same typical
Ukrainian melancholic as in the opening tune. This song is very nice and brought
right out of the heart. Voortants is a dance out of the Estonian bagpipe
tradition with uplifting percussion. Almost at the end of the cd the group makes
a short trip to Armenia with the Armenian traditional song Armeenialugu. A very
nice tune with more oriental influences, clearly from another part of the world
than Ukraine and Estonia, but a strong addition to the cd. So I can conclude
that it’s not only the sleeve that is beautiful. Svjata Vatra recorded an
intriguing cd of high quality. I think they found a perfect balance between
Ukrainian sadness and Estonian down to earth mentality.
www.svjatavatra.ee
Eelco Schilder
Balkan Express "mokkAnanda"
Label:
Own label; 2007
The Balkan Express is a band from Switzerland which plays, surprise surprise,
music influenced by the Balkan tradition. Macedonian, Rumanian, Albanian tunes
together with Jewish, Polish and Greek music. To the melodies they wrote English
lyrics about dancing, coffee and Dracula. Both the music and the lyrics show
very clearly that Balkan Express is a party band with musicians who love what
they are doing. They easily switch from Balkan sounds to rocky electric guitars
or jazzy dance music. It’s the perfect cd as a souvenir after a night of fun
with the band. But without ever seeing or hearing them live and without being in
the party mood it’s a bit hard to get into the feeling of this cd. But that can
also be my Dutch down to earth mentality. Anyway, I would invite them for a good
night of fun, because I think they are the perfect band for that.
www.balkan-express.ch
Eelco Schilder
Dr.Bajan "Fantasmagoria"
Label:
Own label; 2006
Dr.Bajan is a Russian/German band based in both Saint-Petersburg and Berlin.
This is their second cd with Russian music mixed with German influences, some
Balkan like styles and even some bluegrass and zydeco moments. The opening track
Dym nad vodoi is a strong start. At first it’s like an ancient Russian song but
soon it changes into a modern Russian song. By the way, great vocals on that
song! The title song Fantasmagoria shows the other side of this band. It’s more
straight party music, nicely done with some good twists in the music, but also a
bit less intense than the opening track, this is more music to dance to. I like
how the group sometimes mixes influences from all over the world into their
music. Fabulous is Moja Ljubov that starts as a Spanish flamenco classic and
changes into a Russian Flamenco dance song. Dr.Bajan is a nice band which crosses
borders to create their own music sound. It’s great party music with sometimes
surprisingly inventive arrangements.
www.drbajan.de
Eelco Schilder
La Minor "Death of a Jeweller"
2006
La Minor is a Russian band which was founded in 2000. It brings Russian street
ballads with influences from the folk and Klezmer influences. The group plays
music from the Soviet era and especially the music of gangsters. They like to
sing about swindlers, prostitutes, thieves etc. La Minor brings music from the
Russian Underworld in a fresh and open minded way. The bayan (Russian accordion)
plays a big role in the music and sounds really well. I love the way this
instrument gives extra power to the saxophone in the song Death of a jeweller.
In Forgive and Farewell Odessa mama, they play some traditional Odessa klezmer
that sounds really ancient and brings back the atmosphere of an old Odessa
nightclub. La Minor has created a nice cd with music that is Russian in any way.
It is professionally played and this Death of a jeweller has a good overall
sound.
www.morezvukov.nl,
myspace.com/laminor
Eelco Schilder
Tara Fuki "Auris"
Label:
Indies;
mam400-2; 2007
Tara Fuki is a duo from the Czech Republic which concentrates on vocals and
violoncello music. This Auris is their third cd and somehow a different one than
the previous two. This cd is inspired on travels the duo made and that can be
heard. Besides influences from the east of Europe, a song like Słoneczko has
Indian influences and other songs have some African and Arabic percussion weaved
throughout the music. Besides that a jazz sound pops up now and than. I think
Auris is very different than their previous cd’s. The first two, Piosenky do snu
and Kapka, were sober and very basic cd’s with a mystical atmosphere. I remember
on Kapka a fantastic haunting cello part that still drives me crazy when I hear
it. On Auris the band tries new ways and has a more modern approach. They also
work with a group of guest musician that brings a new challenge. To be honest, I
preferred the more basic sound; it made the two musicians more creative. A song
like Czerwone jabłuszko shows exactly what I mean. Easy programming with a jazzy
trumpet mixed through the song, it has been done so many times before and often
it doesn’t add a thing to the music. Then I rather have Majli where the
programming is much more subtle and effective. After this you might think I
don’t like Auris a lot, well, actually it’s a good cd but compared to their
previous work I think it’s the lesser one. But I’m sure for others this cd will
open the way to the unique sound of Tara Fuki.
www.tarafuki.eu
Eelco Schilder
Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt "Slide to Freedom"
Label:
Northernblues;
00039; 2007
Doug Cox is a US roots musician and composer who focuses on blues-like music. He
was the first dobro player at the Montreal jazz festival and has played with
several known (blues) musicians and contributed to over fifteen cd’s as guest
musician. He has released four solo cd’s and several project cd’s with other
musicians. This is his first with Indian musician salil Bhatt who is the
inventor of the Mohan veena, a nineteen strings hybrid slide guitar. On this cd
they work together with Ramkumar Mishra on tablas and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on Mohan
veena. All musicians have a great reputation in their style and this cooperation
sounds like a promising mixture of styles. This cd has a laid back atmosphere
and mixes the bluesy guitars of Doug Cox and the Indian sounds in an impressive
way. It feels like a very natural combination. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blues
song like Beware of the man or it’s a more raga type of song, the compositions
and combination of instruments sound like they have been made to play together.
So without loosing their own identity Cox and Bhatt are able to create a nice new
sound which can be called Indian blues or Ragues or whatever label you like to
give it. Fact is that Slide to freedom is a technically strong album with long,
great string work on a subtle wall of tabla percussion.
www.dougcox.com,
www.salilbhatt.com
Eelco Schilder
Tidal Wave "Tidal Wave"
Label:
Great Meadow Music;
2022; 2007
Tidal Wave is a band which combines Quebec musicians Rachel Aucoin, piano, and
Sabin Jacques, accordion, percussion, with new England bass and banjo player
Stuart Kenney. All three musicians have experience in several styles of music
and in Tidal Wave they found each other in their mutual interest in Quebecois
traditional music. On this cd they work together with three guest fiddlers,
Andre Brunet, Eric Favreau and Claudine Arcand. Unfortunately there isn’t much
background information available about the group, no bio was included and the
webpage is still under construction. The cd contains a fine collection of
twelve tunes, mostly reels out of the musical heritage of Quebec or tunes from
known musicians from the area. The tunes are very easy going and many of them
have the sound of foot percussion that is so typical for Quebecois music.
Although well played the cd misses a bit of adventure. Its great dancing music,
but it needs more to be attractive to listen to at home and to stand out of the
many groups that produce a cd in the same style. I think a bit more variation
would have helped; the chosen reels are sometimes too familiar to each other in
arrangements. Nevertheless, technically spoken this is an outstanding cd with
some great musicians. I think to get really noticed they need more of an own
sound and recognisable style.
www.tidalwavemusic.com
Eelco Schilder
Yellow Sisters "Fingalana"
Label:
Indies;
mam 332-2; 2006
The Yellow Sisters are four girls from the Czech Republic forming a close
harmony group with big success in their home country. This Fingalana is their
first official cd and contains ten vocal works, mostly composed by the band. The
band reminds me a bit of the Belgian formation Zap Mama, although this group is
rooted more in the African music. Yellow Sister uses influences from many
musical styles to create their own unique sound. Together with a few guest
singers they switch from jazz to R&B, soul and world music. Yellow Sisters show
that instruments are not necessary to record an adventurous and nice cd. The
singers create sounds, rhythms, mystical atmosphere or a modern dance feeling
purely with their voices. And on top of that they are all four good solo
vocalists. They surprise with inventive twists and creative musical
arrangements. Songs like Singalana and Vitr are in the more roots music style,
while others have modern (vocal) beats and fit in the modern music scene easily.
The Yellow Sisters made a fine debut cd with Fingalana and can compete with the
best close harmony groups of Europe.
www.yellowsisters.com
Eelco Schilder
Martyn Oram "The Bridge of Broken Dreams"
Label:
Muffy; 103; 2006
The name of Martyn Oram might not ring a bell straight away to most people,
strange because he has made a big contribution to the folk music for over thirty
years now. In 1974 he formed the band Waterfall together with his friend Keith
Donnelly. The group recorded three lp’s of which Three birds is probably the
best known one. Personally I like the Waterfall lp’s a lot and was surprised to
get a solo cd for review by one of the members. Besides Waterfall Oram has been
part of several groups in Celtic, klezmer bands and other styles. On his latest solo
cd, The bridge of broken dreams, he recorded a collection of sixteen original
songs together with eleven guest musicians including the earlier mentioned Keith
Donnelly. The cd is deeply rooted in the English folk / singer-songwriter
tradition. I think Martyn Oram is at his best in the more sober ballads like
Nothing to fear or Wherewithal which are very pure and honest songs. On a few
occasions I think the production could have been a bit better. Somehow the
violin sounds a bit dull in some songs, like in Rain, while in other songs it
has a much more clear sound. And on Pont aven it’s like the instruments were
played in different rooms, the volume of the instruments don’t match, strange
explanation but I don’t know how I can explain it differently. Nevertheless this
is a nice album with some nice songs which I really enjoy but I also have the
feeling that with more time and care of the production this cd could have been
of even higher quality.
www.martynoram.co.uk
Eelco Schilder
V/A [Demo CDs & DVDs]
Wizz Jones (England):
Great acoustic folk blues from a long-time charismatic finger picking guitar player.
www.wizzjones.com
Jiri Kralik & Rowdy Rascals (Czechia):
Fiddle, guitar/banjo and double bass playing old-time, bluegrass, western swing, jazz and even classical music once in a while. Not too rowdy!
www.fiddlegeorge.com
Monsieur Lambert & le Bébert Orchestra (Canada):
La Bottine Souriante (-> FW#26) founding member and his young companions digging
Quebecois music with virtuosity and passion.
www.lapruchelibre.com
La Zarabandina (Spain):
Traditional Music from Castilla y Leon with dulzainas, saxophones,
brass and drums to stage a party on the streets.
www.folkesi.com
Marie-Marine (Canada):
French-Canadian singer with tender voice playing jazz with French lyrics.
www.lapruchelibre.com
Eddy Morton (England):
Once would be professional footballer turned to his other love, music, and turns out to be
prolific Celtic McTell-Dylan hybrid.
www.eddymorton.com
Lee Roy Parnell (USA):
Southern rock 'n' soul 'n' blues.
www.leeroyparnell.com
Tradere (Spain):
Castilla y Leon + traditional music = Tradere; six junior and senior musicians passing on the tradition.
www.folkesi.com
© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 05/2007
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