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Avg: 4.0 (70 ratings)
- Date Released: June 23, 2008
- Genre: Country/Folk
- Label: Topic / IODA
A young British folk icon finally finds her niche.
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We Say...
It’s been eight years since this young British folk icon dipped her toes into singer-songwriterdom with the very mixed bag Angels & Cigarettes. But, my, how she’s grown in the meantime. After far more experience in the traditional music scene, Carthy returns with real maturity to her writing and singing — and a much clearer sense of how to present it. She is, and always will be, a folkie, and her music is at its best when she uses and (especially) subverts folk — as she does in “Lavenders,” which takes a hoary folk theme and reinvents it with lush atmospheres, Middle Eastern violin and unearthly harmonies.
She takes a similar approach in “Rows of Angels,” where subtle beats add emphasis to a strong, downbeat melody. In fact, it’s when she tries to break out of the folkie mold that she’s least successful. Compare indie-style opener “Follow the Dollar,” with its yawning ennui and distorted guitars, to “Hug You Like a Mountain,” which has a breathy, pastoral warmth. When folk is her springboard, Carthy can be terrific — “Mr. Magnifico” blends speech and song and comes across like an Irvine Welsh story told in the dark corner of a future folk club. It’s not a perfect album, but Carthy has found her niche, and she’s starting to explore it. -
They Say...
Fiddler, singer and songwriter Eliza Carthy, inheritor of the mightiest musical genes in all of England (her father is folk legend Martin Carthy, her mother the equally legendary singer Norma Waterson), has always exhibited a wonderfully healthy willingness to break out of the folk music ghetto without ever feeling the need to turn her back on it entirely, and this album sees her really coming into her own as an artist. Songs like the blues-rocking "Follow the Dollar" and the soulful, almost trip-hoppy "Rows of Angels" clearly demonstrate her nearly effortless ability to rock out powerfully in a not-entirely-straightforward way, while weird and eerie tracks like "Two Tears" and "Simple Things" expose a darker, more troubled side of her muse that sounds like it's been steeped a bit too long in Tom Waits' back catalog. At her best, she flexes musical muscles that are unlike any you're likely to encounter anywhere else: notice, for example, the deeply complex "Little Bigman," a song that simultaneously evokes the British music hall, doo wop, '60s skiffle, and even traditional village bands, all as a setting for a wonderful vocal arrangement that never sounds quite as complicated as it actually is. And "Simple Things" takes horribly twisted guitars and a skittering funk beat and presses them into service behind what sounds like one of the most passionate and ambivalent love songs ever written. Not every moment is brilliant -- if it were, she'd be inhuman, and "Mr. Magneto" is indeed more than a bit self-indulgent (though the flamenco handclaps are a nice touch). But what's not brilliant is at least interesting, and easily 80-percent of it is brilliant.
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| 01. |  |
Follow The Dollar |
3:40 |
|
| 02. | |
Two Tears |
4:14 |
|
| 03. | |
Rows Of Angels |
3:12 |
|
| 04. | |
Rosaline |
3:44 |
|
| 05. | |
Mr Magnifico |
6:06 |
|
| 06. | |
Like I Care |
3:28 |
|
| 07. | |
Lavenders |
4:19 |
|
| 08. | |
Little Big Man |
5:01 |
|
| 09. | |
Simple Things |
4:22 |
|
| 10. | |
Hug You Like A Mountain |
4:30 |
|
| 11. | |
Oranges And Seasalt |
3:35 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 46:11 Total Length
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Credits
- Tom Howard - Photography // Eliza Carthy - Piano // Eliza Carthy - Violin // Eliza Carthy - Ukulele // Eliza Carthy - Vocals // Eliza Carthy - Producer // Eliza Carthy - Engineer // Eliza Carthy - Mixing // Eliza Carthy - Octave Violin // Eliza Carthy - Melodeon // Eliza Carthy - Guitar (Tenor) // John Haxby - Design // John Haxby - Photography // Ben Ivitsky - Guitar (Acoustic) // Ben Ivitsky - Guitar // Ben Ivitsky - Trombone // Ben Ivitsky - Guitar (Electric) // Ben Ivitsky - Sound Effects // Ben Ivitsky - Triangle // Ben Ivitsky - Viola // Ben Ivitsky - Vocals // Ben Ivitsky - Moog Synthesizer // Ben Ivitsky - Noise // Ben Ivitsky - Producer // Ben Ivitsky - Engineer // Ben Ivitsky - Cajon // Ben Ivitsky - Mixing // Ben Ivitsky - Stylophone // Toby Shippey - Trumpet // Barnaby Stradling - Guitar (Bass) // Barney Strachan - Vocals // Barney Strachan - Engineer // Barney Strachan - Organetto // Barney Strachan - Drum Machine // Barney Strachan - Mixing // Heather Macleod - Vocals // Paul Sartin - Oboe // Adrian Bradley - Mixing // Robert McFall - Violin // Robert McFall - String Arrangements // Jon Boden - Banjo // Jon Boden - Violin // Jon Boden - Concertina // Jon Boden - Vocals // Willy Molleson - Drums // Willy Molleson - Vocals // Willy Molleson - Moog Synthesizer // Willy Molleson - Cajon // Willy Molleson - Drum Machine // John Spiers - Vocals // John Spiers - Melodeon // Gideon Juckes - Tuba // Sarah Roberts - Vocals // Mattie Foulds - Engineer // Tim Lane - Trombone // Martin Green - Piano // Martin Green - Accordion // Martin Green - Keyboards // Donald Hay - Percussion // Donald Hay - Drums
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