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MARTIN CARTHY
Waiting For Angels
Topic Records TSCD527
Arrhythmia rules OK! At least it does when it's a Martin Carthy tool for empowering a song. His characteristic distortion of musical metre to accommodate the dramatic pushes and pauses of lyrical narrative has now been tuned to a fine art and is in full flow here. Ever willing to evolve, Carthy nominates as producers Eliza Carthy and Ben Ivitsky whose bold arrangements - notably the percussive barrage of clanks, bangs and susurrations on several songs including the ponderous, lurching A Ship To Old England Came - will divide opinion but complement, in an odd way, Carthy's idiosyncratic style.
MC's love for traditional songs and ballads and the "old fashioned singers" who've perpetrated them, rages undiminished. An air of great dignity and stateliness runs throughout this collection of songs sourced from the likes of Harry Cox, Walter Pardon, Geordie Hamilton and Jim Copper. It's bolstered by a cast of quality musicians including daughter Eliza; Paul Sartin's keening oboe and Martin Simpson's haunting slide guitar enhance Bonny Woodhall; Bold General Wolfe features the trumpet and trombone of Toby Shippey and Ben Ivitsky. A thrilling new interpretation of Famous Flower Of Serving Men (the epic ballad possibly closest to the man's heart) takes on a life of its own; it's almost as if merely channelled by the singer, though that would be to deny the huge amount of care and effort Carthy gives his material.
Carthy himself composed the solemn, string-laden title tune for the late, great Hamish Henderson; The Royal Lament is a pensive slide/acoustic duet with the sublime Simpson; and our man's favourite piece of film music ever - The Harry Lime Theme - makes a welcome CD appearance. Worth the six-year wait? Yes, though some fans may be glad of their player's 'skip' feature.
Mel McClellan - September 2004
See also:
Waterson:Carthy | Fishes And Fine Yellow Sand
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Folk & Acoustic
