FolkWorld Issue 42 07/2010

FolkWorld CD Reviews

Orquesta Pinha "Suit"
Label: Factoria autor; SAO1256; 2006
Orquesta Pinha "Jabali"
Label: Own label; 2009
Orquesta Pinha is a band from Madrid who have send their first two albums for review. Don’t know much about the history of the band, all info on the webpage is in Spanish and the booklet doesn’t give much info either. Somehow it is often bands from Spain that don’t have any English info at all but by sending their album to an English magazine they show the intention to reach an international audience. It would really help if at least a few sentences would be available in English on the webpage. Now about the music. On their debut album Suit the band exists out of five musicians on accordion, piano, clarinet, guitar, bass and percussion. Fifteen nice tracks with a kind of summer-jazz feeling. The production of the album could be better at some moments but the musicians show their quality by strong solo’s and ditto interplay. Their second album is released in 2009 and is called Jabali. The orquesta is suddenly a real orchestra with fourteen musicians. Added are several percussion instruments, tuba, flutes, saxophone and many others. The atmosphere stays the same, it’s easy going happy music but the band shows great progress as well. This album has a rich sound with sometimes intriguing improvised sounding parts. Good brass parts and again strong solo performances. A nice album with jazz, Brass and swing influences. This Orquesta Pinha makes the sun appear with honest music that is recognizable and in a positive way easy listening.
www.orquestapinha.com
Eelco Schilder

Josh Rouse "El Turista"
Label: Bedroom classic; 2010
Ok, I have to admit, I have never heard of Josh Rouse before I got hold on this album and while listening to his new album and searching for some background information he isn’t the Brazilian singer I hold him for but an American singer-songwriter who is world famous and I feel a bit stupid that I missed him all those years. Why? Because El Turista is a fantastic album with good singing, fabulous music and all of this well produced. Rouse is living in Valencia now a days and loves Brazilian music. The album is partly in English and partly in Spanish and recorded in both Nashville and Spain. It brings together the best of both the American and Brazil styled singer-songwriting. All of this in a nice mixture of psych-jazz/folk. A song like Lemon tree has the potential to become a major hit around the globe, while Sweet Elaine reminds me of the early seventies English psych-folk musicians. Especially because of the way Rouse made the string arrangements. Mesie juan sounds like an thirty year old Latin ballad and his version of Cotton eye joe brings back the atmosphere of Paul Simon’s Graceland. El turista brings styles together in a natural way and Rouse has everything under full control. I love it and I think this will be my summer album of 2010.
www.joshrouse.com
Eelco Schilder

Unni Løvlid, Becaye Aw & Rolf-Erik Nystrøm "Seven winds"
Label: Heilo; HCD7247; 2009
Grappa, one of my favorite Scandinavian labels, often surprises with unexpected releases. This Seven winds is such an unexpected album with an intriguing kind of crossover-world music. The trio exists out of Norwegian singer Unni Løvlid, Mauritian singer Becaye Aw and saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrøm from Norway as well. The album contains thirteen poems written by the Norwegian poet Olav H. Hauge who died in 1994. Besides writing poems, he was known for his translation of international poets and was fascinated by the old Chinese poetry. With only saxophone, guitar and their vocals the trio recorded a strong album. Nice how the Nordic style of Løvid mixes with the more sensual singing of Aw, who also shows his quality as a great African acoustic guitarist. Between all this Nystrøm plays his Saxophone, sometimes gentle and sweet like in the sleeping song Kor lenge har du sove or the beautiful sax/vocals duet with Løvlid Vegar and the ice cold song Isen gjeng upp. But his play can also be wild and untamed. The booklet contains translations of the poems in many languages, but not much info about the poet. The music is intriguing and I think it’s nice to hear how the trio recorded a full and rich sounding album with only two instruments and three voices.
www.unni.no
Eelco Schilder

Pad Brapad "Satumare-Bristol"
Label: Vocation records; PBM079LP/1; 2009
Pad Brapad is a French sextet with Balkan-a-like beat music. Traditional instruments mixed with vinyl scratching and electronic beats. This might sound like one of the many Balkan-beat groups, but Pad Brapad is different and happily enough has an own style and sound. Wild play on accordion and violin are backed by solid drums and beats. But what makes this group so interesting is the vinyl junky that mixes sounds, scratches and other strange things through the music. Sometimes in a old fashion eighties way like in the start of Ben Hora that sounds like those early scratchers but often he brings a new dimension to the music by adding wild sounds, hypnotizing samples and funny whistle sounds. Impressive play of the musicians do the rest, this is a wild and dangerous album that makes people dance and stands high above those dozens of Balkan-beat-a-like albums I hear every year. This is energetic trip-hop meets Balkan in a creative way. Love it!
www.myspace.com/padbrapad
Eelco Schilder

Gurzuf "Non-existent-movie"
Label: Own label; 2009
In 2005, accordionist Egor Zabelov and drummer Artem Zalessky from Belarus decided to start Gurzuf. With only drums and accordion this might remind you of the projects by the Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen. There definitely are some similarities but also enough differences to make this first album a more than interesting output. Gurzuf doesn’t use electric beats but real drum only, which gives the music a more real rock feeling and Zabelov has a more raw way of playing than Pohjonen and is capable of creating a whole new world with his music. I understand why the title of the album is Non-existent movie. Normally a movie is filmed first and then the music is composed, but these eight composition just scream for a film director who dares to do it the other way around and create pictures by this intense form of music. Odd things show the wild side of the duo with an almost exploding accordion and a drummer who keeps everything under control (or is he the one screaming halfway the song?). The past shows the more scary side of the band. Starting sadly, but slowly changes into horror. Freedom is swinging jazz-rock with a happy feeling while Love is a bittersweet symphony that shows the more introvert side of the musicians. Gurzuf impresses with this wild album. It’s rock with folk, jazz, metal and prog elements played by a great drummer and a fabulous accordionist.
www.gurzufband.com
Eelco Schilder

Ian Melrose "Around the corner in 80 minutes (more or less)"
Label: Acoustic music; 319.1421.2; 2009
Kelpie "Live"
Label: Westpark; 87187; 2010
Two albums with Ian Melrose at the centre of attention. First his latest solo album on the German Acoustic music label. This labels catalogue has guitar related music in all thinkable variations and from both known and lesser known musicians. One of their latest releases is from Ian Melrose. On this album you will find over 60 minutes of beautiful guitar music of the not only the West European styles but also some East European and beyond. He invited a few guests including Kerstin Blodig on Trolldans/Halling etter Per Kjepso. Manfred Leuchter plays accordion on a few tracks (impresses on Tánc a hóban), Peter Jack plays the bass, the wonderful clarinet comes from Jan Hermerschmidt and Vladiswar Nadishana backs Melrose with subtle, almost tender percussion. Together they created a light, dreamy album with pleasant music in which they all show their top quality as musicians and Melrose as composer/arranger as well. I have to admit that, as I’m not a guitar specialist, I’m not always a fan of acoustic music releases. But I love this one! Second in this review is the newest album by Kelpie, the duo formed by Ian Melrose and Kerstin Blodig. This is a registration of a live concert and it shows that this duo has the same top quality on stage as they have on their studio albums. Thirteen beautiful songs and tunes, most from the Nordic tradition. The repertoire is exactly what you will expect from this duo and this live album is not only a great souvenir for those who have seen them live, but is of such high (sound) quality and contains such well played, beautifully sung songs and music that it’s recommended for everybody who loves Celtic influenced Scandinavian acoustic music.
www.melroseacousticguitar.com, www.duo-kelpie.com
Eelco Schilder

Angie Palmer "Meanwhile, as night falls"
Label: Own label; 2008
Angie Palmer is a singer-songwriter from the UK who frequently lived in Paris as well. Her previous albums got good critics and she was awarded for her Tales of light and darkness album. Her latest output is called Meanwhile, as night falls and was recorded while living in France inspired by the old European fairy tales. The funny thing is that before I read her biography I would have sworn that Palmer is a US artist. It’s her nice sound, the way of arranging and the instruments the musicians in her band use. I think this also shows that this album is my first Palmer experience and I hope this review makes clear that it’s a pleasant one. With her down to earth voice she tells beautiful stories about the night, the sea and the mystical atmosphere of a forest . But also biblical theme’s are inspiration for her songs. Palmer makes a raw kind of folk rock with sometimes a exciting progressive touch like in Hunting the wolf which is one of my personal favorites. I love the guitar in this one! Meanwhile as night falls is a strong album, solid as a rock with good musicians and a fine leading lady.
www.angiepalmer.com
Eelco Schilder

Zengö "Pördület"
Label: BBTC Records; BBTCD02; 2008
Twenty seven years ago the Hungarian group Zengö was formed. Not many of the original members seen the fact that the picture in the booklet show some young faces. The group has always focused on traditional music, not only playing but also teaching and arranging folk music to modern standards. The sextet shows on this new album all the quality they have. Strong play on traditional instruments such as the Duda (bagpipe), Citer, lute, flutes and percussion. Great traditional vocals by the female and male singers and sometimes surprisingly subtle arrangements which gives the music just a bit extra. Good example is the Celtic harp interlude on Ne menj szivem. It’s not typical Hungarian, but fits perfectly into the atmosphere of the song. On a track like Kutya fikom teremtette the band sounds almost a bit like anacoustic psych-folk group with hypnotizing bourdon and percussion. But they never cross the line and have everything under full control and the music stays pure, acoustic Hungarian modern folk music. Very nice album.
www.zengomusic.hu
Eelco Schilder

Ghetonia "Riza"
Label: Irma records; IWM250; 2009
Ghetonia is a group from Calimera, Salento in South Italy who plays modern interpretation of the traditional music from this area including its poetry, the Pizzica (the regional version of the Tarantella) and any other dance an vocal music style. This new double album contains a registration of a live concert both on CD audio and DVD. The DVD has one extra track, further both disc contains the same music. During the concert they perform two traditional songs and fourteen original compositions. All composed with one or more elements from the (Salento) tradition. They take it from jazz, to wild dances and nice Italian canzone. The lead singer Roberto Licci has a great, deep voice that I somehow immediately associate with music from the South of Italy. The CD is a real pleasure to listen to and has a nice, unpolished sound. I’m more than happy to see that the group recorded a professional DVD as well. Often a kind of amateurish film is included to give an impression of a live concert but Ghetonia takes this very seriously and shows a beautiful registration of the concert. I think this is a more than interesting document which shows the richness of the Southern Italian culture of Salento.
www.myspace.com/ghetonia
Eelco Schilder

Antonio Placer "Atlantiterraneo"
Label: Sard; 0008; 2009
Antonio Placer is a Galician musician now living in France. Since 1993 he has recorded numerous albums and wrote many beautiful songs and poems. This new album Atlantiterraneo is impossible to ignore and might be considered a highlight in Placer’s oeuvre. Together with his international band including musicians from Galicia, Macedonia, France and Uruguay, Placer brings a unique mixture of Southern-European styles, jazz and some South American influences. It takes time to get a grip on his music, his expressive way of singing is so full of emotion, so powerful that I feel his music in every corner of my body. Listen to the beautiful Echa el pie a tierra la voz which starts with a gentle piano solo, than Placer starts to sing very careful a beautiful love song. This in contrast with the song that follows O espello da mina nena in which he sings freely and loud in duet with Rosa Cedron. Fourteen songs, fourteen jewels, fourteen reasons to buy this album and enjoy the unique sound of Antonio Placer.
www.antonioplacer.com
Eelco Schilder

Embryo "40"
Label: Trikont; 804042; 2009
Embryo is one of the best known krautrock bands in the history of German music. Founded in 1969, within a few years they became a huge act on international stages. The musicians showed a great interest in non-European ethnic music and the band travelled around the globe to meet famous world-music musicians such as Fela Kuti and Ravi Shankar. All the sounds, melodies, strange instruments and rhythms they heard on their journeys were brought together in their compositions and mixed with rock, jazz, funk etc. This 2cd set gives a nice picture of the bands development during the past forty years. Including a few tracks from the pre-embryo period, like the jazz tune For eva by the Christian Burchard trio. When listening to songs like 1000 feet and Dirgos, both recorded within a year, I hear the two sides of Embryo that are most obvious. Great early prog-rock besides more controlled prog-jazz. In Make it break it has some great sax solo, Indian influences in the funky song Ticket to India which is the start of their Indian influenced period. It must have been refreshing to hear these crossover music those days, but the past thirty years there has been released so many Ethnic-rock crossover that it’s charming to hear how pioneers did this compared to other bands. On the second album music from the eighties until 2008. Where most bands died or changed style during the eighties, Embryo kept doing what they were good at. Maybe compositions became a bit more compact, sound quality and production quality improved, but the music stayed the same. Interesting cooperation with Okay Temiz and even with the Alpenhornkollektiv shows that the band keeps trying new directions. I think this double album is a strong tribute to the history of one of Germany’s most interesting bands. Worth a listen and a nice historical document.
www.embryo.de
Eelco Schilder

Zivatar utca "Zivatar utca"
Label: Own label; 2008
Zivatar utca is a trio from Austria with flute, accordion and drums as main ingredients. The band has a nice webpage but forgot to put any bio info on it, so not much I can tell you about the background of the musicians. I do know that the band was founded in 2006 and that this is their debut album. The openings track Carnunthum is a nice start with a melody that is repeating itself and the flute taking a leading role, like in many other of the tunes. Funny how they mix Grieg with ska music in Nussschnaps and in abcdc they surprise with unexpected twists and noises, one of the best compositions on this album together with the over eight minutes long Outro which has a raw progressive edge. I find this an interesting debut album by a band with the potential to become a renewing European (folk rock) act. The production of the album is not always done after my personal taste, sometimes I miss the unity between the instruments and does the trio sound like they were playing in three different rooms. Besides that I would have loved to hear more of the great accordion and a bit lesser flute as this instrument has such a specific sound and is almost constantly in the spotlights. Besides that, as I wrote before, a really nice debut from a promising band.
www.zivatar-utca.net
Eelco Schilder

Soïg Siberil "Botcanou"
Label: Coop Breizh; 1026; 2009
Guitarist Soïg Siberil has a long career in (French) folk Music. He has been part of known bands such as Sked, Kornog and Gwerz and released his first solo album in 1993. Botcanou is his seventh solo album, but in between he has recorded several records with others as well. His new album contains thirteen traditional and original material played on solo guitar, occasionally backed by a second guitar or bouzouki. With this album he shows why he is one of the best Breton, and maybe even French, guitarist. His play is technically high skilled, refreshing and of a constant beauty. Without any problem he mixes Celtic influences with bluesy techniques and dreamy melodies with sparkling finger picking. I think this album is a dream for any string freak and other lover of professional acoustic music.
www.soigsiberil.com
Eelco Schilder

Spakka-Neapolis 55 "Janus"
Label: Felmay; 2009
The band Spakka-Neapolis comes from Napels and play the music that shows the cultural diversity of the area. For centuries Napels has been a place where cultures from many direction meet and their musical influences can still be found. The band was formed by singer Monica Pinto and violinist/percussionist Antonio Fraioli. On Janus they recorded thirteen songs, some traditional but many original. The duo is now backed by a full (electric) band and invited some guests including the legendary singer Alim Qasimov, who sings N’atu sole beautifully. The album contains nice, modern roots-rock with a strong Meditarean vibe. Monica Pinto shows to be a fantastic singer in both the more rock orientated songs and in the beautiful traditional ballad Lu ruciu te lu mare and Spata r’oro. Of course the Tarantella is played several times. Sometimes in a (more or less) traditional way like in Uelli uella but on other songs less obvious with Arabic influences, modern beats or only the rhythm of the Tarantella is used. Janus is a strong album with fresh sounding modern folk. Well played, full variation and fascinating from the first to the last song.
www.spakka-neapolis55.it
Eelco Schilder

The Bulgarian Voices Angelite with Huun-Huur-Tu & Moscow art trio "Legend"
Label: Jaro; 4300/01-02; 2010
Six years after recording, finally one of the most impressive cooperation in world music is released on a double album. One and a half hour of top music by three world famous groups. Angelite is known for their haunting Bulgarian vocals, Huun Huur Tu for their Tuvan throat singing and the Moscow Art Trio is one of the most creative Russian acoustic groups. Always mixing styles and searching for new sounds. In 2004 they gave a concert together in Belgrade and this album is the final result of the cooperation between the three groups. From beginning to end this album takes the listener on an intriguing journey through Eastern Europe, Russia and Tuva. The styles mix perfectly, especially the deep throat singing with the high pitched singing of the Bulgarian choir. As if Tuva and Bulgaria are neighbor countries, it fits perfectly. Add the great instrumental work of the Moscow art trio and you have a legendary performance with music that has an ancient history but fit perfectly in the 21st century. Not an album to write about, this is an album to listen and get amazed by the techniques, the atmosphere and the compositions.
www.myspace.com/thebulgarianvoicesangelite, www.hhtmusic.com, www.myspace.com/moscowarttrio
Eelco Schilder

Wimme "Mun"
Label: Westpark; 87185; 2010
I always have been intrigued by the Joik style of singing and Wimme is one of my favorites in the genre. His experimental style has a seldom heard pureness and he always manages to keep the ancientness of the music in his modern, electronic approach. It is seven years since his last solo album, although Gapmu a re-release of an earlier Joik only album did enter the market in between. On his new album Wimme works with members of the Finnish group Rinneradio. No more synthesizers and sequencers, clarinet, strings, percussion amongst others, are mixed with a thin layer of electronics. This new album is less explosive than his earlier output but even more powerful and intriguing. Because the heavy sounds are gone, beautiful melodies, complex patterns of rhythm can be discovered. Really everything comes together on this album, from the beginning to the end the music is in perfect balance and both Wimme and the musicians sound inspired. There is some more jazz influence on this album, but otherwise it will sound recognizable for those who are familiar with his earlier work. Great to hear one of my other favorite Sami singers, Ulla Pirttijärvi, on this album. Her more airy female vocals match perfectly with the earthy joik style of Wimme. This is the best Wimme album ever and I consider this as a highlight in modern joik music.
www.wimme.info
Eelco Schilder

Ougenweide "Herzsprung"
Label: Grosse Freiheit; 945302; 2010
Various Artists "Tribut an Ougenweide"
Label: Emmuty records; TOT 23091; 2010
Various Artists "Merseburger Zaubersprüche"
Label: Minnesang/Emmuty records; MB1001; 2010
See also the German
review in this issue
I don’t think the German band Ougenweide needs any introduction. For forty years they have been Germany’s best known Folk-rock band and their records are still wanted by many fans worldwide. They were pioneers in mixing mediaeval music with rock and many bands followed their example. The past years all their LP’s were released on CD and even unknown treasures were released. But last April their second album in twenty years was released. An album on which they worked ten years and although the album is here, the story does not have a happy end. Only a month before the official release founder and driving force behind Ougenweide Frank Wulff, totally unexpected died in March 2010. Inspired by European music from the past centuries the group recorded fifteen new songs and tunes. From German, English, Italian traditional influences to rock, electric beats and jazz, Ougenweide did their best to record an album that fits into these modern times. Don’t expect the energy from their first ten years of existence. Somehow this album has a more introvert and sometimes a bit sterile atmosphere. A song like Phol ende uuodan has a slight raw edge. But ballads like Ein leis un traurig lied are easy going, dreamy lounge songs that sound like most of the creative process was done during the mixing of the album. Happily a composition like Der welsche tanz shows the quality of composer and musicians. Great instrumental piece, which has the soul of Ougenweide as I know it. The same for Partite amore which proofs to me that the songs where they stay closest to their original concepts are the best on the album. My finale conclusion? I don’t know yet. It’s clear that this project is well thought over, but I miss any form of spontaneity. Is this album recorded as a band or invented during the mixing process? Or maybe the path Ougenweide took after forty years isn’t my cup of tea. Visit the labels webpage and listen to a few songs and do tell me what you think.
The Ougenweide tribute is released almost simultaneously with the new Ougenweide album. Eighteen (German) bands play songs from the Ougenweide repertoire. The result is a strong tribute album with a wide variation in styles. Most bands stayed close to the original sound, although some versions got a more acoustic approach than the original recordings. My personal favorites are Spielleut Irregang with a smashing version of Im Badehaus, Van Langen with a metal version of Der Rivale, Kleine sekunde with Terra sinus aperit and In Extremo with the Merseburger Zaubersprüche. This last one is taken from the album Merseburger Zaubersprüche which is ‘Eine huldiging an Ougenweide’. Many of the artists from the tribute album can also be heard on this album which has a dreamy atmosphere with a strong mixture of the medieval Ougenweide sound and today’s neo-dark-folk(rock). This album is a nice addition and interesting for those who are into modern Medieval influenced music.
www.minnesang.com, www.emmuty.de
Eelco Schilder

Martin Kälberer "Between the horizon"
Label: GLM; 148-2; 2010
Martin Kälberer is originally a pianist but now a multi instrumentalist who invents his own universe. Everything you hear on this album is done by himself including the compositions. The ten songs on this album are dreamy, airy instrumental music that gives a relax feeling. Soft beats, gentle piano and serene programming. Very nicely done but it has to less folk to be really interesting for this magazine I guess, as I see it the jazz music was his biggest inspiration. Nevertheless an album that makes me feel calm and relaxed and my wife says that this side effect makes it her album of the year.
www.martinmusic.de
Eelco Schilder

Esquisse "Live"
Label: Own label; CD LNE 03 DB 12; 2009
The French quartet Esquisse celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009 and for them this was the right moment to present their first live album. After three studio records, now we can feel the atmosphere of the vivid concerts Esquisse gives. With twelve songs they give a good overview of the styles their playing. Mixing traditional French/Breton dances with jazz and light rock influences, this band is suitable both for the bal folk events and concert evenings. For those who have their studio albums, not much new is to find on this one. I find the sound even a bit lesser enjoyable because of the sharp sound of the accordion and Saxophone, especially when they are playing together. This in contradiction to the drums, it’s like the drummer is sitting to far from the recording equipment. Nevertheless this album shows the quality of the musicians and Esquisse was and is one of the nicest French bands of this moment. But for real listening pleasure in the living room I prefer the studio recordings.
www.esquisselegroupe.fr
Eelco Schilder

E&TC "Erland and the carnival"
Label: Full time hobby; FTH086CDA ; 2010
Tunng "And then we saw land"
Label: Full time hobby; FTH088CDA; 2010
Interesting label this Full time hobby. They have some great neo-prog-folk bands in their catalogue. Here in this review two of them starting with Erland and the Carnival. Which is an English band playing with ten musicians on this debut. Original material is mixed with traditional songs and poems set to music. Most of the traditional will be hard to recognize as the band has a progressive approach. They do this very well, this album is full of strong prog-folk with heavy psychedelic influences. What I like is that the band managed to create a good old sixties/seventies psych-prog atmosphere, but adds enough modern elements to have at least one leg steady in the 21st century. Into organ, raw guitar, beating drums and weird noises? This is your album, I’m 100% sure this band won’t disappoint you.
Tunng is the second one from this label for review with their new album And then we saw land. The band has already a strong reputation worldwide and I consider them as one of the nicest bands in the genre. I remember getting their earlier work for review and loved it. This new album is a keeper as well. I find it even a step forward compared to their earlier work. Although electric instruments are still part of the band’s sound, it has a more acoustic feeling and the instrumental arrangements are more subtle than on their earlier output. I love the harmony vocals which are actually really old fashion-folky. A great new album that gets better each time I hear it.
www.erlandandthecarnival.com, www.tunng.co.uk
Eelco Schilder

Tommy Hayes & Ian Leslie "Almost home"
Label: Own label; 2009
Hayes & Leslie are two Irish musicians that found each other during their study music therapy in 2002. Vocalist and percussionist Tommy Hayes can be heard on more than 400 records and has been part of Stockton’s wing, Altan and many other known and lesser known bands. Ian Leslie has the saxophone as his main instrument but is a multi instrumentalist. He cooperated with several artists and is lesser folk orientated, but loves jazz, rock, world funk and so on. They recorded this album together with ten guest musicians including female vocalists, cello, Hammond organ, flutes and much more. Almost home is clearly inspired by the Irish folk and jazz music. The music is often very dreamy like the song For Theo which has nice vocals backed by piano and cello. A nice song, although the opening track Accidental music is one of my favorites. It has a good Irish atmosphere with exotic elements and again, this dreamy atmosphere. A more experimental approach can be heard in Storm cloud in which Leslie plays a nice raw saxophone part joined by several lines of percussion. After so much moody music, this one wakes me up a bit. It comes exactly at the right moment as I was about to lose my interest and got the feeling that the artists repeated themselves a bit. For my personal taste. I know it’s interesting to use all these instruments from all over the world, but I don’t have get the feeling it always adds something to the music.
www.hayesleslie.com
Eelco Schilder

Soledad "In concert"
Label: Enja; 95442; 2010
See also the German
review in this issue
A band with a name like this and with a repertoire including pieces of Piazzolla would most likely be from South-America. But Soledad isn’t, for over fifteen years this Belgium band impresses with their mixture of tango, classical, jazz amongst others. All five members have a classical background and that might explain their excellent and melodic approach of the music. A tune like Memoria e fado is a great example how traditional elements are mixed with elements from Classical styles. The same with their interpretation of Piazzolla’s compositions. Often they are played wildly and a bit reckless, but not by this band. With an iron discipline they capture the soul of the composition and focus on the melody which gives a different view at the music. Count the fact that this are five top musicians and you will understand that this is a strong live album.
www.soledad.be
Eelco Schilder

Lisa o Piu "Behind the bend"
Label: Subliminial sound; sub 072-CD; 2010
Lisa o Piu is a Swedish singer-songwriter who plays the harp, guitar, flute and piano as well and the band Piu including guitars, sitar, mellotron, violin and much more. This is the second album and Behind the bend is a new highlight in modern psych-folk. With a bit more acoustic sound than the last album, Lisa o Piu impresses with six haunting new compositions. The crystal clear voice of Lisa matches perfectly with the soft harp, the hypnotic sitar or the mellotron sound. Listen to Was it the moon one of the best psych-folk songs ever! Sometimes like a shy ballad, on other moments like a phoenix that rises from the ashes. Another highlight is the over twelve minutes long Child of trees. But to be honest this album doesn’t have a weak spot at all. Good that the harp takes a more prominent role. With Lisa’s way of singing it’s almost like Joanna Newsom is joining in.
Don’t think too long, buy it as the CD is limited to 1200 and the LP to 500 pieces only. And believe me, you want this one!
www.myspace.com/lisaolillportan
Eelco Schilder

Ariondassa "Campagne grame"
Label: Ethnosuoni; ES5384; 2009
Suonabanda "La bella e entrata in ballo"
Label: Ethnosuoni; ES5382; 2009
Two groups from the Northern part of Italy, starting with Ariondassa. This sextet was founded in 1998 but most of the musicians have a much longer career in known Italian folk groups such as La ciapa rusa and Tre Martelli. The group focuses son traditional music from the Piemonte region mixing traditional instruments from the region with lesser traditional acoustic instruments and even some instruments that not many would place in an Italian group like the Nyckelharpa, which is considered being a typical Swedish instrument. Interesting is that a nyckelharpa player told me a few weeks ago that they did find pictures of the Nyckelharpa outside Sweden and that was in Italy. It might be interested to start a research to find out the long history of the Nyckelharpa outside Sweden. Anyway, this is a review about Ariondassa so back to their new album. Eleven songs, most of them traditional. The band explored the rest of Europe as well seeing the fact that two Belgian dances are included between the Italian music. The band delivered a top album with excellent musicians who are masters on their instruments. Great work on the hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, recorders, percussion and all those other instruments. Nice, deep male lead vocals by Vincenzo Marchelli and a good choice of repertoire make this a worthy addition to my Italian folk collection.
The second group in this review is Suonabanda, they play traditional music from the town of Riolunato which is situated at the Westside of Bologna. String instruments such as guitar, violin and mandolin are mixed with the accordion and strong (harmony) vocals. The album contains music for all kinds of celebrations, most take place in the month of may. Not all compositions origin from the town but are played there during festivities. Although the beautiful song Ecco il ridente Maggio does come from the town and dates back to 1612. Listen to the full sounding harmony vocals and the danceable instrumental intermezzos. This musical intermezzo’s returns in the song Ambasciata which is a fantastic love song, a real tearjerker this one, with fabulous vocal leads. With a totally different atmosphere as the Ariondassa album, but at least as strong and again a great addition to my Italian folk collection. Two albums that should be in your (Italian) traditional music collection as well!
www.ariondassa.com, www.suonabanda.it
Eelco Schilder

Vairas Dziesmas "Vairas Dziesmas"
Label: Lauska; CD21; 2008
Various Artists "Sviests 3"
Label: Lauska; CD031; 2009
Two new releases from Latvia, something I always look forward to as I have a weakspot for the traditional music from this country. First Vairas Dziesmas which translated means Vaira’s songs and with Vaira they mean Vaira Vike-Freiberga. She did a lot of research after Latvian folk songs but is better known as the former President of the Latvian republic. Together with the finest Latvian musicians, including some members of the best known Latvian group Ilgi, Vike-Freiberga recorded a beautiful acoustic folk album. I like the soberness of the album, the vocals take the most prominent place and are supported as minimalistic as possible, often by only one instrument. Of course the Kokle (Latvian Dulcimer)plays a big role as well, together with the flute. Guitar, bagpipe and others are occasionally used. I think most people will recognize the style from the Ilgi repertoire, but this album brings it in a much more traditional way and the songs get the chance to blossom because we are not destructed by complicated instrumental arrangements or loads of added instruments. This album is perfect in its simplicity.
The second album for review is a compilation album called Sviests 3 and contains an overview of contemporary Latvian folk music. Twenty two recordings from traditional to folk-metal, rap and mediaeval music. Interesting to hear how each group interpret ate the (more or less) traditional music and I think everybody will find something he likes. Skyforger for the pagan-metal lovers, Misters for those who are into rap, party folk by the Folkvakars, modern bagpipe beats by Auli, folk-pop by KGB, bit psych-folk by Baobabs, sweet-folk by Veepilsetas dziedataji or more traditional folk by Ceiruleits, laiksne and many others. For me interesting to find some new names and discover some, for me, unknown Latvian music.
www.lauska.lv
Eelco Schilder

NMB "A do baile"
Label: Own label; 2009
NMB stands for the No Mazurka Band, a Portuguese quartet with a nice my space site, but completely in the Portuguese language, so not much background info that I can give you. This multi instrumental ensemble gives their interpretation of traditional music from the Northern part of Portugal alternated with original compositions. A central role for the bagpipe, flutes and several sting instruments. They give the music some interesting twists and use funny, creative musical arrangements besides strong play. Their version of Saia da Carolina is one of the nicest tracks on this album. I know this song from the group Lũmen and loved that version, but NMB gives it a totally different twist with great bagpipe in this one! A do baile is a very nice album which shows a band that has everything to become a major European act. They have the quality as musicians, the creativity and the attitude. Something tells me this album is only the beginning of a great career.
www.myspace.com/nomazurkaband
Eelco Schilder

Pristup "Parannonien"
Label: Groove; 09160; 2009
The Pristup trio is an Austrian-Hungarian-Croatian ensemble on bass, accordion and guitar. On this album fifteen tracks and a bonus remix, all original. They play a mixture of acoustic jazz, contemporary music with influences from Balkan traditional music. The result is an easy going album with neat music, but after a while it gets a bit predictable. It feels a bit like they are afraid to color outside the lines. I personally prefer a less safe approach, although I’m sure many others will love this sorrow less kind of music.
www.pristup.at
Eelco Schilder

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