A pressing desire to write a little more about Martin Simpson gives me an opportunity to update the lists of albums reviewed by me so far this year.
Prodigal Son is by no means the only deeply impressive CD I have received in recent months,. Maggie Holland’s Bones offers a superb backward glance at her work.
But Simpson’s stands out from everything I have heard. In 20 or so years of writing about folk music in the Telegraph, I can recall only two or three times when I had a good idea by the summer what my album of the year would be.
That does not mean that my view will not be changed by something still to come. It is not unknown for albums to force their way into my affections, and therefore any list of preferred records for the year in question, after the deadlines for FRoots or BBC critics’ polls in which I am invited to take part
And never forget that I am just a fan, albeit one who happens to have a couple of places to shout about his likes an dislikes a bit more loudly.
But I will say now that it will take a most remarkable album indeed to dislodge Prodigal Son as my choice for 2007. It has just about everything I look for in a great record: solid singing, good choice of material, fabulous playing and balance.
June 9 Wolfstone: Terra Firma (Once Bitten Records)
Tannahill Weavers: Live and in Session (Compass)
In a classic case of having it both ways, Wolfstone describe themselves as a Highlands rock band who happen to use pipes, whistles and fiddles….. This works for listeners in their thousands, while occasionally leaving a few of us cold. Nevertheless, Terra Firma overcomes reservations more fully than past albums.
There is a warmer feel to the Tannahill Weavers captured live,….the harmonies are so addictive, the ancient songs and tunes presented with such enthusiasm that theirs is truly a hard album to dislike.
June 16 Steve Knightley: Cruel River (Hands On Music)
Detached from his Show of Hands partner Phil Beer, Steve Knightley offers powerful reminders of the bleak, often angry thoughts dominating his songwriting…….yet these are good songs sung well. And amid all the darkness, the rare romance of Tout Va Bien perhaps hints at a writer shy of seeming soppy in his own language.
June 30 Simon Mayor and the Mandolinquents: Dance of the Comedians (Acoustics)
…..amid all the spirit and composure of Mayor’s quartet, in which James plays mandolin bass, the charm and texture of her soprano stand out, assisted by a whimsical selection of songs, notably a melancholy The Song of India, from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Sadko, and the jauntier Lullaby of Birdland. If the test for any live album is whether it makes you wish you had been present, this sails through with distinction.
July 7 Gráda: Cloudy Day Navigation (Compass)
From the opening lines of Sonny Condell’s compelling song of emigration, Cooler at the Edge, the importance to Gráda of Nicola Joyce’s captivating vocals is beyond question….. without her interpretations of a well-chosen clutch of songs, this would be a rather less memorable body of work. Susan McKeown’s River starts essentially as a list of Ireland’s natural waters but builds into a stirring, though realistic plea for lasting peace.
July 14 Martin Simpson: Prodigal Son (Topic)
When songwriters write about their families, it is usually wise to dive for cover. Martin Simpson somehow makes it a cause for celebration.
Prodigal Son is dedicated to his long-dead father, and a mother who died this year…….Amid all this familiarity, irresistible Americana rubs shoulders with traditional British ballads of extraordinary depth and beauty. Talk of folk album of the year may be premature, but only just
July 21 Maggie Holland: Bones (Weekend Beatnik)
She relies on the voice that came from her Hampshire upbringing, adding no audible decoration. Simon Cowell would despair, but then he will rarely encounter such songs as Perfumes of Arabia, Holland’s angry response to war news from Iraq, or A Proper Sort of Gardener, a moving tribute to a man whose green fingers and heart of gold lit up her childhood……her own songs – and those of Billy Bragg among kindred souls – most suit her attractive and peculiarly English style.
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