Categories
Acoustic Album/EP Reviews Scots Singer-Songwriter

EP Post #3 Melanie Crew and James Black

As the veil of winter is beginning to fall, I continue to bring news of some Autumn EP releases which I have given some time to listen to.

For my third EP roundup post I will talk about acoustic singer-songwriter, “Melanie Crew” and folksinger “James Black” and they releases in the past months, following a bit of time that has cropped up for me to look back at some unsigned/new artists.
Different in every way that can be conceived; Melanie is a singer-songwriter exploring experiences within a relationship through upbeat melody, James is seeking the dark pediment of modern society through song and spoken word, together they form my exploration of new music in EP Post #3.

Melanie Crew- “Further Away” (EP)
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Coming in with a six track EP entitled “Further Away”, Melanie starts with a collection with positivity by exploring emotions within a relationship. In this collection of songs the trials and tribulations of love is considered through  series of heartfelt thoughts from one person to another. It would be unrepresentative to say that the disc stays exclusively to this brief, it does take a surprising (and successful) detour in the middle and then plays out the relationship further (sadly without a happy ending).

Balanced and floral, light and balanced; Ross Palmer;s production brings the lyrics to the forefront with a polished sound that in several instances retains a good amount of emotion and longing. “Bring you back” is a great headliner, Crew’s voice shines in it’s conveyance of trust and support, possibly to a friend or partner who has gone astray, “when it seems like no one else is around, I will bring you back. I’ll take you home.” A song which goes for sweetness, it is a quiet love ballad to the extent that even the drums seem slightly hushed and the guitar a series of strums of faithful affection. With a slight feeling of yesteryear it is a gentle boil, a simmering stock of emotions. “A Hundred Words” is interesting in that it is the most accessible of tracks here and is quite catchy though hasn’t fully reached for a song hook. Upbeat and warm, it is still a nice addition. “Parade” is similar but a little bit more Country in sound and execution. There is a clean mix of vocal harmonies and the song feels like it is beginning to use the pacing and inspiration of the genre. Though it probably could go further in this regard, it hits the mark more than the previous track due to it’s sensitive and gentle nature. Crew then makes a right turn for her third track “Ghost” before returning back to the musical crossroads.

In “Ghost” there is a spooky atmosphere both in terms of vocals and delivery. The double bass (Colin Somerville) is just one element that brings the haunting; Melanie’s own backing vocals are also chilling, and her main vocal performance is quite fragile and vivid. It is definitely the best vocal showcase she makes on this collection. I love the darker themes in folk, so it might just be my own sensibilities but this track seems the strongest. I can’t say if it’s the icy instrumentation or the wildly diverging, rising and falling voice that brings the amazing chills, but it is the strongest track here by quite a margin. The final track, “Can’t find a way” at first glance differs from the established main narrative as it does not seem as overtly romantic, but actually it is part of the broader arc of being in a relationship and the process of a breakup that is occurring. This track is also quite powerful in that it does a good job of grounding the level of turmoil and confusion that happens at the end. It offers some interesting spaces to explore and leaves the tracks on a high.

For a small production, it has a nice balanced sound. There are some odd scratches, but it all plays and feels fairly rich in delivery.

As mentioned, for myself the strongest elements here are where Crew goes off theme and there are some glimmers of the unknown such as the lyrics, “what would you do, if you couldn’t run?” Fans of acoustic music that explores relationships might be tempted to give this a go, it does not offer something exclusively new but there is is some good early exploration of lyric writing and meaning here, and there is not much fault with the performance.

Why not not give the tracks a go, the EP is free to listen to and download on Bandcamp?

http://melaniecrew.bandcamp.com/

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James Black – “Days of Self Pity/Goldmine Blues” (EP)

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Next I turn to James Black, a musician with two tracks he has released on SoundCloud.

Following the large waves of gun crime and identity politics that have come to the fore in 2016; James Black, a traditional Scots and Jacobite ballads musician has waded into the foreground with the self-penned song, “Days of Self Pity” and the rather poetical “Goldmine Blues.”

There is a lot to like about this. First there is Black’s voice itself with is like a rather Celtic Dylan/Guthrie with his winding, spoken word recital,”all our heroes are dying, they are falling like flies, even the heroes of myth were mocked and despised.” There are some nice turn-of-phrases peppered throughout and the simple acoustic accompaniment gains strength from it’s 60’s sound, and this is clearly no coincidence. Black observes, and as he does he calls out the “enforcement” of human rights in our current information age berating, the hard, blunt side of equality rather than the soft, nurturing heart of what the term means. From it’s sound, it is as if the 60’s is looking and judging the age we are in, unhappy with what it sees.

It is more than rustic charm. If starkness, is it’s strength then “Goldmine Blues” is a serpent waiting to strike.

“Goldmine Blues” continues the musician’s love of form and words. Much like the reaction when you clear away the mould that is spreading through the tangerines in your fruitbowl, Black describes a broken society and local neighbourhood and how it co-exists. Once again, Black is quite a wordsmith and hits the mark at a number of interesting places, here describing just one subsection of society:

“the children of Oliver Reed and Richard Burton swallowing existence with every swallow of black bitter”

His acerbic denouncements aren’t just limited to those managing the dark drink, “hipsters” also run scurrying from his eye in his growing catalogue of spotted hypocricy as well as “trust fund drop-outs with voices like Golem.” It spills like creative bilge water and if “Days of Self Pity” is the song of disappointment, “Goldmine Blues” is the pain of a sex tourist being trampled on by muggers in the early afternoon heat. The joy in listening is the youthful voice, the voice that wishes to tear down in anger. It might not be for everyone’s taste, but the wordplay here is pretty good reminding of Irvine Welsh at most turns.

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If you fancy something raw and quite inspired, head over to Jame Black’s page on Soundcloud, or click below.

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Scots Traditional

EP Post Autumn 2016 #2 Iona Fyfe Band-“East”-” a particular flair and vigour that shows more than a nod to the time and land of the past”

Iona Fyfe Band – East

Publisher: Birnam CD

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Iona Fyfe (and band’s) “East” EP has been out for a while; since July 1st in actuality.

Four months have passed, the leaves now fall and the darkening has already beckoned. When the cold weather truly starts I know several people who will be looking back and lamenting the loss of the sun. The only lament I have is that I did not share my experiences of this disc by Iona Fyfe sooner. As an individual with an incredibly thorough interest in the new and developing folk sub-genres, I am surprisingly growing an appreciation for the traditional as well (yes, I  will admit it is not my first folk of choice). It is certainly encouraging to see these forms being reproduced and continued with younger artists, and it is done with an honest passion here. Iona’s tour has now ended and the whirlwind of heather breeze has settled, so I would like to look back at this release and let you know what I thought, but first who is Iona Fyfe and her band?

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Iona Fyfe is a musician, a young musician who is blessed more than her namesake (which means “blessed”). Through Scotlands’ youth art programme “Time to Shine” she has made an impact on the folk circuit from Prestonpans to Dalbeattie on tour, was a semi-finalist for the BBC2 Young Folk Award in 2015 through interpretations of traditional songs (in particular ballads), and a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2017 Finalist. It is a growing profile and clearly must be a source of pride for the traditional scene in Scotland and the UK as a whole. The band consists of Iona (vocals, piano, Shruti box), Charlie Grey (fiddle, tenor, guitar), Chris Ferrie (guitar, bodhran), Callum Cronin (double bass), and Ross Miller (border pipes). A folk-rich variety of instruments (particularly the Shruti box, love the sound of this) there are some interesting opportunities within this Gaelic assembly; the tour for the most part is over, but there are some dates coming up early next year (see here) so with all that being said how is the EP?

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The first track “Sleepytoon” (Roud 3775) is an Aberdeenshire “bothy ballad” often sung by farm servants of their wages and lives that helped during tasks they performed through the day. There are a few striking things in this track which draws me to it alongside the possibly satirical content of the “hard-working farmer” such as Iona Fyfe’s voice and the great interplay between double bass, bodhran, and fiddle. It is said that much of the magic in folk is in the arrangement, particularly as there are so many good singers out there and it becomes a legendary quest to categorise and describe these competing talents. Iona’s voice is like a graphene butterfly, delicate in form but strong in flexibility and character. She draws a lot from the track and an undisguised reverence for the material in her intonation, a fluttering, melodic Summer shawl of colour. The fiddle finds a characters in few dark corners to get dancing too, the bodhran lays down the cobbles for a wonderful mountainous trek too.

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More contemporary sounding but sharing in the “bothy” status, “pride of Aberdeen” follows the story of a girl orphaned at 11, engaged at 17 and unfortunate to pass away in the same year. Not an uncommon story, one that in a similar vein resonates even into the pop world with “The Trees They do Grow High” it has a consistent undercurrent of energy and is peppered with an almost modern sounding Country accompaniment. Track three’s “Queen Amang the Heather” broods quite a bit more. Under the established fiddle we have a love ballad that is bolstered by Iona’s piano. It paints the picture of seduction well, Iona’s interpretation feels fast-paced and at certain points in the track seems to veer in another, exciting direction as like when malting barley, it turns and catches your senses. “Cairn o’ Mount” is an Aberdeen song covered fairly extensively by tradition bearers. The instrumentation falls away here, Iona’s voice is the vehicle for a fine blend, a budding surge of a number that displays her voice as a fresh, charismatic call to history. “Bonny Udny”, the final track is a different kind of tradition, namely one making reference to Udny (the village in Aberdeenshire) and the love of the character’s life. Slightly epic in terms of ballads it starts out as a quiet piano reflection but later is a marriage of the pipes, present guitar and a fiddle chaperone. The solo instrumental at the end is something to particularly look forward to here.

https://youtu.be/0oEvAS8NSxA

Alongside “Sleepytoon”, “Earl Richard” is a favourite on the album. A song covering part of an epic story about a woman killing her ex-lover who previously jilted her and is in keeping with the remainder of the tracks with it’s myth and history but extent of the song’s movement to England and across the water explains the scope of the material has traditionally had. The pipes are strong with this one, it is performed with character almost like how you might imagine it told over a campfire, gestures and all. Also, what is not to like about talking birds? A sustained number which benefits from keeping up the pace.

The Iona Fyfe Band in performance here have convinced me further of the intrigue lurking in Aberdeenshire, of the annuls of history and the dark secrets of lovers, farmers and the land. The land seems so far up and away from me, but a piece of it has now come to me. It is traditional folk indeed, but with a particular flair and vigour that shows more than a nod to the time and land of the past.
Their music seems inseparable from the place, and hark my words this is no bad thing at all.

Fans of folk music that is rooted in the Scotland Highlands need to see what the fuss is about with Iona Fyfe, and look at the hands and hearts that many of these historical artifacts will be carried by in years to come.

There is a lot to like on this disc, it is in all senses a successful, flavoursome EP that thoroughly breathes Aberdeenshire in both reverence and quality.
If you like traditional folk, this EP is a no-brainer, if there are any left you should go and get one right now.

Iona Fyfe Band’s EP is still available for £6 through her website here, give the above videos a look on You Tube too!

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Americana Folk Music

EP Post Autumn 2016 #1: Steve Grozier (Take My Leave)

Hi all, I have had some interesting things coming through the mailbox in recent weeks (several in some cases).

I have finally had a chance to listen to it all and wanted to share the musical endeavours these artists are striving for early on their road to fame.

It is always exciting to find something new, so check out the first of my EP posts to get a lowdown on what I have been hearing.

First of all it’s Steve Grozier.

Steve Grozier (EP) Take my Leave 2016 – Released September 16 (BatCat Records)

Website: http://stevegroziermusic.com/

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Track List:

(1) Drink Before Dawn

(2) Porcelain Hearts

(3) Take My Leave

(4) Ringing of the Bells

Just as the Autumn has taking full hold, the leaves are changing to a more varied, vibrant mass the sun draws back and our days are not as long now.

“Take me Leave” feels like an album for this time of the year. There is sun and heat here, but it feels more like the heat of smoldering bbq embers: the food is cooked, now the bonfire and whisky spirits beckon. As a vampire tries to remember the day, the writer here is looking somewhere from memory for his inspiration. Steve wrote the songs on this EP whilst living in Canada and admits there is some pain in their reworking and re-recording with a new band as it unearths a relationship which I am presuming did not end well. Away from Scotland and in the USA, on return this EP has been crafted. It is tinged with a little melachony as it has been recalled; the coal has been prodded and the heat is spreading about the same way memory can ignite. Produced by Andrew Graham and with supporting musicians Roscoe Wilson (guitar, lap steel), John Dunlop (bass) and Dillone Hall (drums and percussion) we are brought a series of songs based around these memories with the predominant emotive element in the work being regret and nostalgia,which is channelled throughout.

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The first track “Drink Before Dawn” does sound somewhat wistful in it’s way with words and music. A bouncy track which you can imagine being performed during a sunset, it gives you a snapshot into that silent time at night when thoughts are racing. The smell of Bourbon is all around, the song projects a feeling of the US, one wonders if Steve is sat on a porch somewhere with the spirit soaked into it’s wooden frame. The track has a gentle warmth and is tinged with optimistic sadness. There are no doubts that it very closely resembles a personal memory,  “it’ll creep up on you like an old Summer rain, and you won’t even notice til it’s gone.” Steve develops a convincing rapport with you in this track. It is a grounded number with minor flickers of arrangement that hint at the fallibility of memory. Overall a good number which touches on this dream-like quality of thought.

“Porcelain Hearts” is a similar affecting tune. Grozier has regrets as in the first song but he does bring some nuance as it does sound quite different, perhaps less efflorescent than “Drink Before Dawn.” It is more like the clear thinking, head-shaking worry that someone in later life might have in the morning when they are giving their arms and legs a shake to get them moving, “I’m old, oh lord I’m old.” Purposeful and regretful it is a rainy afternoon in a bar, a feeling of being sad and still in a place of movement. The third track “Take My Leave” is quite memorable for it’s swell guitar accompaniment and a bass that warbles in rapt reminiscence. The songwriting is quite introspective, the lyrics are pretty good in themselves and communicate some shared themes, though probably not as many as when I listen to particular folk tracks. I suppose what we have is a humbler, perspective of love one which the sound mix here allows Steves lyrics and voice to take centre-stage. The final track “Ringing of the Bells” reminds me of the Dire Straits for some reason. Alongside “Drink Before Dawn” it is one of my favourite of the tracks here and one which I feel conveys what Steve is trying to say in the best way. The guitar has a few snappy layers of Americana, the lap steel guitar adds a great deal too, and Grozier’s voice spirals all around with it being at it’s most emotive and accomplished in those two renditions.

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The package you get is a melodic set of tracks with some considered lyrics. The EP feels like it is in orbit of this other place and time in Grozier’s life; there is no denying it closely reflects the act of looking back and it quietly broods like the sun setting. Grozier’s words and voice do sound older than his years, are heartfelt, and he gets some decent mileage in these four songs from these experiences. It has a feel of Americana whilst not swimming in it, it is part this and part of an introspective sound somewhat like a less USA Steve Pledger.

Check it out, particularly if you are an acoustic fan. The theme is quite specific which some will like, others maybe less so but there are things to take from this release either way. I often prefer tracks with a deeper folk relationship, but pleasantly I don’t get a feeling of fatigue from this showcase of tracks here which for me is a positive sign about what Grozier has done.

Steve has a couple of dates left on his tour in Glasgow, check them out here, if you are interested in the EP you can buy that here for £4.