 |
| Track List: 1. Adoon Winding Nith 2. Silver Tassie 3. The Soldier's Return 4. Craigieburn Wood 5. Gowden Locks O Anna 6. Soldier Laddie 7. Gala Water 8. Whistle Ower The Lave O It 9. Lassie Lie Near Me 10. The Plooman 11. A Man's A Man For A' That Running time: 42 minutes Released: 2009 |
Chalk and cheese. From hardcore punk, to folksiness in one step (though admittedly a couple of days in between). I bought this because I had a couple of Emily Smith albums, which I picked up after seeing the BBC's Transatlantic Sessions and falling head over heels with Julie Fowlis' Gaelic folk. Smith sings in English, alas (Gaelic is so musical, even if I cannot understand it), but had a decent enough voice for me to be interested in picking this up.
I am immediately struck by the dialect used for the titles. Phonetic Scottish, matched in the vocal. Singing in accents - I approve. It may make things a little more incomprehensible to some, but I generally much prefer natural accents over the put on neutral Americanised accents that predominate in pop.
This is clearly folk, but the arrangement is less twee than I had anticipated, perhaps because - as per the cover image - the main accompaniment is guitar not fiddle. The twee side of folk only really arrives with the accordion on The Soldier's Return. However I find myself less than enchanted so far. Smith can sing nicely, no doubt, and the music seems to be reasonably competent but it just feels as though the album is missing something.
Or I am just not in the mood for folk. To be honest, I have had a feeling this would not be a positive listen since Action Image Exchange blew me away. I have not had time to listen to anything in between save in the car on the way to work, where I have been giving first listens to recent purchases, and I am wanting innovation at this point. This album is not suitable for that, so it was never likely to strike a chord. The tunes thus far are nice (faint praise intended) but do not have much to compel the listener.
Gowden Locks O Anna changes things up a bit; this one is vocal and piano. There is more space, there is more expression. Even when strings join in, it feels like a step up. It does not last though. It is late afternoon/early evening, very bright out, but I have started to yawn as I listen. That could be interpreted as positive (I am relaxing!) but I think on balance it is not a good sign. There is not enough here to keep my ear's attention and so my mind wanders and I am giving in to tiredness as I contemplate cleaning up in the kitchen and cooking for tonight. Sausage and chorizo casserole is on the cards, with butter beans, peppers and potentially Hooky Double Stout - though I worry that the stout will clash with the spice in the chorizo so I think I shall leave it out on this occasion.
This diversionary direction is not indicative of dislike. If I genuinely did not like what I was hearing then I am sure I would have more opinion to note here. Instead it is indicative of a bland "pleasantness"; I have a feeling these songs might be very engaging performed live in a nice fire-warmed bar in the highlands of Scotland. In my living room out of my speakers whilst sat at a laptop they probably do not have the same power. Lassie Lie Near Me is another tune that gives the vocal space; unfortunately there is too much repetition of the song title in the vocal and it ruins that space - like a vandal running into a freshly painted room and leaving grubby hand prints on the walls.
I did not know any of the tunes on this album bar A Man's a Man for A' That - which I have another version of (by Ballboy) - and whilst one or two have been familiar, like The Plooman, from previous plays most have been new to me. And still I have not been drawn in. This version of A Man's a Man for A' That starts a cappella, but alas does not stay so. A fiddle comes in and the interest of the recording goes down immediately. It is a classic song, though and it makes for a good closer, being much more engaging than most of what went before.
This post has been so negative that I wonder if I should be removing this album from my library. However is that fair on the work? It is not bad. It just is not the demanding, engaging album I think I needed to listen to next and under other circumstances I might have enjoyed it a lot more. I do have better folk than this though, and given a choice would I listen again? Food for thought.
I am immediately struck by the dialect used for the titles. Phonetic Scottish, matched in the vocal. Singing in accents - I approve. It may make things a little more incomprehensible to some, but I generally much prefer natural accents over the put on neutral Americanised accents that predominate in pop.
This is clearly folk, but the arrangement is less twee than I had anticipated, perhaps because - as per the cover image - the main accompaniment is guitar not fiddle. The twee side of folk only really arrives with the accordion on The Soldier's Return. However I find myself less than enchanted so far. Smith can sing nicely, no doubt, and the music seems to be reasonably competent but it just feels as though the album is missing something.
Or I am just not in the mood for folk. To be honest, I have had a feeling this would not be a positive listen since Action Image Exchange blew me away. I have not had time to listen to anything in between save in the car on the way to work, where I have been giving first listens to recent purchases, and I am wanting innovation at this point. This album is not suitable for that, so it was never likely to strike a chord. The tunes thus far are nice (faint praise intended) but do not have much to compel the listener.
Gowden Locks O Anna changes things up a bit; this one is vocal and piano. There is more space, there is more expression. Even when strings join in, it feels like a step up. It does not last though. It is late afternoon/early evening, very bright out, but I have started to yawn as I listen. That could be interpreted as positive (I am relaxing!) but I think on balance it is not a good sign. There is not enough here to keep my ear's attention and so my mind wanders and I am giving in to tiredness as I contemplate cleaning up in the kitchen and cooking for tonight. Sausage and chorizo casserole is on the cards, with butter beans, peppers and potentially Hooky Double Stout - though I worry that the stout will clash with the spice in the chorizo so I think I shall leave it out on this occasion.
This diversionary direction is not indicative of dislike. If I genuinely did not like what I was hearing then I am sure I would have more opinion to note here. Instead it is indicative of a bland "pleasantness"; I have a feeling these songs might be very engaging performed live in a nice fire-warmed bar in the highlands of Scotland. In my living room out of my speakers whilst sat at a laptop they probably do not have the same power. Lassie Lie Near Me is another tune that gives the vocal space; unfortunately there is too much repetition of the song title in the vocal and it ruins that space - like a vandal running into a freshly painted room and leaving grubby hand prints on the walls.
I did not know any of the tunes on this album bar A Man's a Man for A' That - which I have another version of (by Ballboy) - and whilst one or two have been familiar, like The Plooman, from previous plays most have been new to me. And still I have not been drawn in. This version of A Man's a Man for A' That starts a cappella, but alas does not stay so. A fiddle comes in and the interest of the recording goes down immediately. It is a classic song, though and it makes for a good closer, being much more engaging than most of what went before.
This post has been so negative that I wonder if I should be removing this album from my library. However is that fair on the work? It is not bad. It just is not the demanding, engaging album I think I needed to listen to next and under other circumstances I might have enjoyed it a lot more. I do have better folk than this though, and given a choice would I listen again? Food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment