FolkWorld Issue 40 11/2009

FolkWorld CD Reviews

Ilgi "Īsākās nakts dziesmas"
Label: Platforma music; 2009
A review of the leading folk formation of the Baltic states is always something to look forward to. I follow Ilgi very closely for many years now, interviewed the band, saw them live and reviewed all their albums in at least the past ten years. Often surprised by the new, inventive sound, without loosing the elements that makes their music o recognisable. This new album contains songs that are sung ad played around the shortest night of the year, the midsummer night. Together with the album the band also filmed their first Video clip, look at the webpage for details. On Īsākās nakts dziesmas, the band somehow is back into the style of their 2000 album Seju veju, strong female leads, male harmonies, sometimes pure and acoustic but modern influence are always nearby. The album is again of the high quality which you might expect from a band like this. Well produced, technically of a high standard and perfect choice of material. They continue their success story, but this new album isn’t as innovative as some of their previous output. It sounds a bit like a “best of” and with this I mean that they took their best ideas of the past ten years, brought them together and this is the result. Worth buying and maybe, even maybe because they choose to continue a successful sound, their most balanced album up today.
www.ilgi.lv
Eelco Schilder

Jean Pierre Sedjerari & Aurelien Chambaud "Paris - Guinguette"
Label: 141182; 141182; 2009
This will be a very short review. In the budget Air mail collection, a new album with cliché music. This time dance music from Paris on he Accordion. Sounds more like music for a circus to me. Not bad played, but old fashioned and it has not the warmth that makes the accordion music from Paris so special.
www.airmail-music.com
Eelco Schilder

Eric Brace & Peter Cooper "You don’t have to like them both"
Label: Corazong; 255116; 2009
2men and a Campfire "I hate dead rabbits"
Label: Own label; 2009
Two albums by two singer/guitarist duo’s. First the best known ones: Eric Brace is the front man of the (Americana) band Last train home and Peter Cooper recorded his first solo EP in 2005 and his first full length album got great critics. The two toured true Holland at one point and found out that singing together is more fun than do separate sets. And now their first album together is released with twelve songs including own work, the traditional Her bright smile haunts me still and songs of artists such as Kris Kristofferson and David Olney. On the album the duo is backed by five musicians and seven guests including Richard Bennett. The album is a solid mixture of Americana, blues, Nashville sound and such likes. Two highly appreciated musicians show their craftsmanship and great pleasure in playing the music they love. If you are into this genre, you probably love this album. The second album in this review is by the much lesser known duo 2men and a Campfire and their album I hate dead rabbits. Again a duo from the USA and again two men and their guitars, but that are about the only similarity between those two duos. This private pressed album contains twelve self written songs which sound fine, but hang somewhere between the professional and amateurish campfire level. The finger picking is less fluent, the songs have simple arrangements, but the musicians throw themselves into their songs and that makes this album enjoyable. They play with so much fire that it’s hard not to fall for their bit simplistic but passionate music. But musically spoken this duo needs time to grow and work on the finishing touches and just find out their limits and possibilities.
www.petercoopermusic.com, www.2menandacampfire.com
Eelco Schilder

V/A "UK Underground 1965-1971"
Label: Trikont; us-0383; 2009
Nice collection of underground (folk influenced) progressive UK music. Twenty one songs with great known names such as Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Small Faces, Eric Burdon and the Animals. But also a few lesser known names (although every serious record collector wont hear any surprise on this album) like the psych-folk of Comus, the fantastic progressive sound of White Noise and Lol Coxhill’s version of I’m the walrus. Absolutely a nice album for those who are unknown in the land of progressive rock, it has enough to offer. But for all those who bought the records in the sixties/ seventies or who has a father (like me) who did that, won’t find much news on this CD.
www.trikont.de
Eelco Schilder

Terje Isungset "Hibernation"
Label: Icemusic/all ice; 0905; 2009
A very special album from the Northern part of Norway by Ice-musician Terje Isungset. He started to play on instruments made out of ice exactly ten years ago and the first album with ice music was released by him two years later. In the past ten years he has, together with other musicians, created instruments such as the ice-guitar, iceridoo, ice-fiddle, ice-horn, ice percussion instruments an many others. On this newest album he plays the percussion, horn and iceofon. He is joined by Sara Marielle Gaup who does the joik and on the first track there is also a iceridoo playing along. Hibernation is a fragile album with wonderful sounds in a minimalistic landscape. The combination of the instruments and Gaup her joik is perfect like in Eadni vuohttu máná but I also like Polar night where Isungset is singing with is more earthy voice. Hibernation is like a beautiful midwinter night, serene and of a natural beauty. Will be appreciated a lot by lovers of the minimalistic genre.
home.online.no/~isungz/
Eelco Schilder

Christine Albert "Paris, Texafrance"
Label: Moonhouse; 2906; 2008
Christine Albert is a Texan singer who has a special interest in the French chanson music. This album is her third one in the Texafrance serie in which she mixes he own roots with the French chanson-tradition. Although it’s the third album in the serie, it’s the first I hear and I must say that I’m impressed with the way she interpret ate the songs and translates them into her own personal style. She does this by mixing the French style with folk and jazz amongst other styles. I absolutely love When you’re away/ quand t’es ailleurs in which she sounds like a mixture between a French Emmylou Harris and the Mc Garrigle sisters. Beautiful is the melancholic Un prince en Avignon but also her interpretation of Piaf’s Chante moi and especially Hymn to love. Nice how she mixes English with French, this way she keeps the spirit of the original but also brings the essence of a song to the non French speaking part of her audience. All that including strong musicians and a fantastic voice makes this a more than interesting album.
www.christinealbert.com
Eelco Schilder

Transpiradansa "Granuba"
Label: Appel rekords; apr 1426; 2009
Transpiradansa is a folk and world music orchestra from Belgium under the conduction of Wouter Vandenabeele who is known to the big folk audience as one of the Ambrozijn musicians. Granuba is the orchestra’s second album and in the same vein as the first one. They mix English, French and Dutch songs with orchestral dances. This second output is big step forwards. The orchestra got a better sound and is no longer a gathering of musicians, but a real orchestra. Several young musicians and singers show their growing talent and often in an impressive way. The sound of the album will be recognisable for all those people who follows Vandenabeele career. It’s the same tasty music, but constantly with different ingredients and side dishes. This orchestra is getting more interesting and interesting and worth to follow.
www.transpiradansa.be
Eelco Schilder

My Sweet Patootie "Nowheresville"
Label: Easy bake records; ebr101; 2008
My Sweet Patootie is a Canadian duo formed by singer and guitarist Terry Young and singer and violinist Sandra Swanell. The duo is backed by three musicians on bass, percussion and guitars. The album contains fourteen (mostly) self written songs. The album starts with the nice song The marble which shows exactly what the band is, a duo with songs that tell a story brought with a lot of pleasure and inner drive. Listen to Sweet patootie rag and you hear their positive happiness shine all over the place. The rest of the album stays a bit in this style, not much surprises just nice music that puts a smile on the face. Good instrumental work, sometimes I find the vocals a bit forced into a way of singing that doesn’t always suit the possibilities of their voices. Nevertheless a fresh album brought with humour and passion.
www.mysweetpatootie.com
Eelco Schilder

Eric Bogle "The Dreamer"
Label: Greentrax; CDTRAX337; 2009
‘The dreamer’ I think the perfect title for an album by Eric Bogle. This Scottish born, but now living in Australia, musician is for me personally a legendary name, but somehow when I scream out his name in a discussion about music, people stop talking and look at me if I said something stupid. But I know better, it’s not me who is the stupid one. Bogle is one of the finest singer-songwriters and has been that for decades. His way of playing is pure and without any pretention. He shows great involvement with the world around him and the people in that world. Slightly stubborn, sometimes melancholic and often with a trace of humour he sings his songs. On the dreamer they tell about the fact that he is always called one, that the Murray river is dying, about the faith of the Ngarrindjeri people and his own prayer for rain. He is backed by his friend John Munro amongst others and although the signs of time can be heard on his voice, it suits him. It fits his music, his nature and the things he wants to tell. Eric Bogle is one of the view left from a dying species, the singer-songwriter who does care and follow his own course. Who wants people to start thinking and don’t think (and I quote one of his song titles) It’s someone else’s problem.
www.ericbogle.net
Eelco Schilder

Elisabeth Vatn "Piper on the Roof"
Label: Heilo; HCD7215; 2009
Liv Runesdatter "Syng hjerte"
Label: Heilo; HCD7233; 2008
Two Norwegian artists in this review, both on the famous Heilo/Grappa label. First Elisabeth Vatn a Norwegian bagpipe player who might ring a bell by those who are into Scandinavian traditional music. She played clarinet on the debut album of Chateau neuf spelmannslag and on the later album Curing Norwegian stiffness she did some bag pipe as well. As a member of the band Tigerlily she totally focused on the Swedish bagpipe and now, on this solo album, this is still her main instrument although the clarinet does show up occasionally. She is backed by a quartet of musicians and a bunch of guest musicians. On Piper on the roof she plays new compositions mostly, but a few traditional tunes as well. The album has a strong start with Fanfare a modern composition which shows Vatn’s drive to update the traditional elements in music. Nice is also Visa från utanmyra which has the atmosphere of the traditional Sami music. One of my personal favourites is Noor / Bjørka in which she finds a perfect balance between styles and her fellow musicians. Piper on the roof shows a talented, passionate musician. A very few moments her playing on the Swedish back pipe is a bit unstable and sometimes I get the feeling she is a bit restless in her playing, but that are only small remarks on a beautiful album. The second album in this review is Syng hjerte by singer Liv Runesdatter. It’s her first solo album, but she is far from unknown in her home country. She has been part in many projects and her work has been awarded several times. She studied, and sings, chamber and early music and collaborated with national and international known artists in many genres. Runesdatter shows to belong at the top of Norwegian music. Although her music breaths the Norwegian air, it also has something modern and unique. Her voice is warm and has a natural peacefulness. She search for simplicity in her music, like in Jeg er nå så glad which is a duet between her voice and the subtle saxophone played by Rolf erik Nystrøm. It reminds me of the ice cold traditional jazz of Jan Garbarek, without being a copy of his style. When Runesdatter sings one of the many psalms on this album, I feel the ancientness of these songs and when she is backed by the Hardingfele, she brings the dales of South-Norway to live. Two albums from Norway, two solo debuts and two albums that are worth having in your CD collection.
www.elisabethvatn.no, www.runesdatter.no
Eelco Schilder

Mario Poletti "Andando"
Label: Own label; 2009
Mario Poletti is an Italian multi-string musician-composer and Andando is his latest album. Ten new compositions, all influenced by (South) European tradition and elements of early music, folk and jazz. In this ten compositions, Poletti shows to be a great artist on the string. Together with his three fellow musicians he creates sunny music that sounds familiar, although I’m sure I have never heard them before. It’s very hard to compose new music that has the vibe of old traditional tunes, Poletti must have been listening very carefully to the structures of old dances and used them again in his own compositions. I like it when he suddenly changes the melody and starts a completely new sound and style, these switches often surprise me. Poletti is not of the “polished music” kind, his music is alive, passionate, witty and sometimes messy (in the good sense of the worth) The only thing that does annoy me after a few tunes is the sharp sound of the flute, bit too much happiness for me I guess. Nevertheless an album that will make your day and change the dark days of the coming winter, into a sunny Italian village waiting for spring to come.
www.myspace.com/mariopoletti
Eelco Schilder

Ensemble Nachtigall "Rapsodia Romana"
Label: Own label; 2009
Ensemble Vinorosso "Wirbel"
Label: Kaleidos; 2009/1000; 2009
Shantel "Planet Paprika"
Label: Essay recordings; CD23; 2009
Dschané "Pal’o kham"
Label: Own label; 2009
A few albums with Balkan music starting with the Ensemble Nachtigall which is a German trio on accordion, violin and contrabass. They focus on Romanian music, but with influences from the tango and waltz music. Their traditional line up, might suspect an average Balkan acoustic album. But somehow this ensemble surprises me with their well played and intense style of music. Strong solo parts and well done interplay, make this a strong album with dreamy, sad, uplifting acoustic music which is solid as a rock. Second is another German ensemble called Ensemble Vinorosso. This is more like an orchestra than an ensemble. This album contains live recordings from Frankfurt where they performed with the Slawia dance ensemble. Starting with a virtuosic 25 minutes with all kinds of Balkan and klezmer traditions mixed into an exhilarating blend of styles. Nice is that they choose to have an almost as long intermezzo in chamber music style. In this part the music shows more of it’s subtlety and the soloists get the chance to reveal their quality. The album ends with half an hour live from Frankfurt in the same (more or less) style as the first part. This orchestra shows the side of Balkan music that dancers do know, but those who don’t dance but listen to the hype of Balkan beats CD’s and similar, often haven’t heard of. This album might be a good start. And from the traditional style to the Balkan beats of Shantel. I liked his last album a lot, solid as a rock Balkan beats with the right balance between traditional, humour and modern styles. This new album is not an exact copy, but in exactly the same vein. Although still some nice music, I’ve heard. it before and it are more variations on a theme, but than a bit less powerful. Planet paprika is fine, but not as innovative as his previous work. Personally I think that is a pity. The Swiss Balkan band Dschané comes with their new album called Pal’o kham. This sextet performs a combination of traditional and original songs and tunes from the Balkan. This new Cd includes known tracks such as Jag bari and Djelem djelem. With both tracks the band takes a great risk, those songs have been performed in such a legendary way before, that it is hard to equal them. Dschané takes it the mellow way and that takes the spirit out of a song like Jag bari but in other songs they reach a fine, easy going Balkan sound with raspy vocals and down to earth music.
www.ensemble-nachtigall.de, www.ensemble-vinorosso.de, www.bucovina.de, www.dschane.folkmusic.ch
Eelco Schilder

Michael Samson "A Still Motion"
Label: Still motion productions; 002CD; 2008
Michael Samson is a pianist/composer from New-York and A still motion is his third solo album. Twelve original compositions, piano only. Samson starts beautifully with the title song, fragile and moody but ends this composition in a messy and somehow desperate way, as if there were five ideas and they all had to fit in this composition. This happens a few times on this album, occasionally I really think something beautiful is about to happen, but his unsubtle way of playing and composing changes my mind within a few seconds. But than, I’m not a specialist in this kind of piano works and we are a folk magazine more or less. So don’t go after my opinion and visit his webpage to find out if his music fits you better than it fits me
www.michaelsamson.com
Eelco Schilder

Chris Flegg "The Sound of Life"
Label: Own label; 2007
The seventh solo album by Chris Flegg and the first one that made it to my CD player. Ashamed, that is how I feel, this The sound of life is a small pearl between the big bunch of review albums I get every month. Flegg is not only a folk singer and a jazz artist, he is a great songwriter as well. Proofs this new album with original songs only. His warm voice shows some age wear, but in this case it only made his signing better. His sensitive, fragile way of singing and guitar play, makes me calm and gives me a feeling of being home. Those songs are sometimes interrupted by more up tempo compositions like She got on the train at cricklwood which has a prominent flute part that somehow wakes me up and give me a double feeling. It’s well done, but it also takes me out of the vibe the first three songs brought me in. There are also some sax solos like in the nice Prelude to autumn but they are more in the atmosphere of the album. Don’t let this very very small remark stop you from buying this wonderful album, it should be heard!
www.chris-flegg.demon.co.uk
Eelco Schilder

Fanfare Ciocărlia "Live" [CD + DVD]
Label: Asphalt tango; ATR 2309; 2009
The brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia became one of the main events of Balkan brass music. Their Roma beats makes people dance wherever they play. Their last album Queens and kings is one of my personal favourites and I cant stay away when they are playing somewhere in my country. This double album (one CD and one dvd) is a great document for everybody who is a fan already or a great first acquaintance for others. The CD and especially the live concert registration on the DVD, shows exactly why this band is loved by so many. It’s virtuosic music and the personalities of the musicians make it a professional event. The music is great but the concert registration a bit amateurish. Maybe that fits this type of music, but it annoys me a little bit. Shots are taken from a too far distance, other camera crew are filmed often and the sudden twists in shots from the band to the public often come as a surprise. Nevertheless this document is a must have for the great music and for the full length movie Iag bari which is much more professional and gives a beautiful picture of the band and their background. As extra’s the DVD has two video clips, trailer for the film Gypsy caravan and more. As I wrote before, a great document which has a lot to offer even though I think the concert registration could be better.
www.myspace.com/fanfareciocarlia
Eelco Schilder

Madlot "Ons is geboren"
Label: Pan; 218; 2009
Törf "Schoon van de wind"
Label: Own label; 2009
It is quiet in the World of Dutch folk, much too quiet. Luckily we do have some diehards left who represent the Dutch (more or less) musical heritage and keep the sound of the ancient instruments and the old ballads and dances a live. Two of the best known and most respected groups have both released a new album only a few weeks ago. The first one is by Madlot, not only the name of this band but also the name of an old Dutch dance. It’s the bands third full length album and after their last CD Ik hoorde dees dagen on which they played a selection from the famous book Oude en nieuwe boerenlieties en contradansen, this time they focus on songs about the advent, Christmas and new year. Eighteen traditionals are brought together including known ones like Maria die zoude naar Bethlehem gaan. Nice dances like Een serafijnse tonge / van de wafelen and many others. Madlot impresses me with their instrumental parts. Well played, strong arrangements and the perfect balance between the instrumentalists. I also think this is Madlot’s best album vocally spoken. I’m a fan of Peter Koene’s voice which isn’t a studied singer, but one who sings from the hearth. It suits the music perfectly. The female vocals are done by Ariëtte Zuidhoff and her singing is much more polished and a bit dignified. A good combination in the duets, the voices really match. But in solo singing I prefer the more inspired vocals of Koene, but that’s just a matter of personal taste. Ons is geboren is a strong album and a good representation of the Dutch traditional musical history. The second release comes from the band Törf, a band from Groningen in the North of the Netherlands. Törf started 34 years ago and it’s just over 30 years after their first album. The few who read my reviews very closely know that I’m a bit of a fan of this band. Their Beukema album is (folk) world famous and often mentioned as being the best Dutch roots album ever. But also their later works like Op roemte with beautiful poetry are wonderful. Their previous album Olipodrigo is one of my favourites, great tunes and beautiful songs. On that album everything came together and Törf proofed to be at the top of Dutch music, unfortunately (and that counts for Madlot as well) always overlooked outside their own region. Now a new album called Schoon van de wind with a fine collection of original compositions, an occasional traditional tune and a few songs with on lyrics from the last half of the 20th century. This CD is somehow a lot calmer than their previous one. It’s like the band takes it a bit easier and found some inner peace. This album is not as easy to understand as the open minded Olipodrigo or the virtuosic Beukema album. It has everything Törf is known for, the unique sound of Rodenburg’s bagpipes, Scholte’s own way of singing and personality, the melodic violin of Greiner, the bit shy accordion of Ridderbos and De Jonge and Kwakman creating a solid fundament on their bass and guitar. The sound is recognisable and still it’s like I hear a new side of Törf. A nice album, that’s for sure, an album to sit down and listen to in all peace and quietness.
www.madlot.nl, www.torf.nl
Eelco Schilder

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