0 Members and 22 Guests are viewing this topic. Read 14889335 times.
M. Ward _ Hold Time LP
Phish - Joy 180g vinyl
Jim Lauderdale: Could We Get Closer (2009) Newgrass SAMPLES Cheers,Robin Exclusively heard on Hard Drive
Jim Moray has calmed down, just a little. After shaking up the English folk scene with his laptop, electric guitar and mastery of one-man technology, he moved on to mix traditional themes with African influences and hip-hop on Low Culture, the best folk album of 2008. The new set shows him moving more towards the mainstream, relying on his fine, distinctive voice rather than shock tactics, still playing most of the instruments himself but collaborating with singers Hannah Peel and his sister Jackie Oates, along with melodeon player Saul Rose, and even Eliza Carthy, who adds violin to the sturdy William Taylor. But there are still surprises here, and different settings for almost every song. Bristol Harbour makes use of furious electric guitar, while on The Lowlands of Holland and Silver Dagger he uses orchestral backing, and his reworking of the horror story Long Lankin features hurdy-gurdy and cittern. Then there's mandolin backing for his own, thoughtful ballad Hard, and a new spoken-word treatment of Spencer the Rover (now Spencer the Writer), in which the traditional ballad is transformed into the witty tale of a songwriter. He's still one of the folk scene's great originals.
It gets better the more you listen, its quite a good album.
