Reviews

Answer Ballads

David Rotheray & Guests

It’s such a neat concept, you’re surprised no one has thought of doing it before: ‘answer songs’ to classic pop...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

K5

Dalla

K5 is an abbreviation of kabm pemp, a five-step, which is one of the important rhythms of Cornish dance. It...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

The Auld Harp

Catriona McKay & Olov Johansson

The Swedish nyckelharpa (key harp) is an extraordinary instrument. Played with a bow to produce a sound with many of...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

A Cut Above

Will Pound

As a child, Will Pound had several heart operations. His father gave him a harmonica when Will was ten, thinking...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Zaz

Zaz

In the 50th anniversary year of the death of Edith Piaf, Zaz has succeeded in getting her name bandied about...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Gentle Men

Robb Johnson

Both of Robb Johnson’s grandfathers endured the third Battle of Ypres and the songwriter was invited to compose music for...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Mountains of Tongues: Musical Dialects of the Caucasus

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Caucasus mountains on the borders of Europe and Asia are a dramatic mosaic of landscapes and cultures. Alongside the...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Masters of Their Craft

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Home to an artist roster that has shaped the sound of contemporary Irish folk music, Tara Music (formerly Tara Records)...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Fabian Holland

Fabian Holland

The real challenge of folk music in a post-industrial society is how to make it relevant. Fabian Holland is a...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014

Gipsy Manifesto

Boban & Marko Markovic Orkestar

Balkan brass bands still wallop their bass drums with the same switches used by Ottoman marching bands, the kind Haydn...

Reviewed in issue Jan/Feb/2014