Album: A Wonder Working Stone
Artist: Alasdair Roberts & Friends
Born: Callander, Stirling
Released: January 2013
Genre: Folk
One of my very favourite folk musicians of the modern era is Alasdair Roberts. He's pulled off that rare feat of being steeped in the old traditions of folk while being thoroughly modern too. The British folk community is a very tight-knit one, and Roberts has toured with James Yorkston and other Fence Collective musicians, while also releasing albums as part of his own group, The Furrow Collective, along side fellow singer-songwriters Emily Portman, Lucy Farrell and Rachel Newton. His first LP, Crook of My Arm (2001), won him the attention of Will Oldham and the Drag City label and, since 2003's Farewell Sorrow, Roberts has released several LPs and a few EPs on the label. Roberts' love of collaboration, having spent time recording with a huge array of musicians including Will Oldham, Karine Polwart and Isobel Campbell, now defines him as a musician (especially his belief in music as a social activity) and this record is perhaps the finest he's released with his "friends". The line-up for A Wonder Working Stone includes Olivia Chaney and her harmonium, Shane Connolly on drums, Stevie Jones on upright bass, Michael John McCarthy on accordion, Ross McCrae on trombone and Howie Reeve with his shruken goats' feet and ‘Celtic’ shamanising. For me, this backing group of talent helps Roberts create his most lively and exuberant album to date.
There are still many songs that meditate on death, as well as a wealth of obscure literary references, but the overall spirit and mood of the album is joyous. In my CD version, Roberts has added detailed liner notes, which explain the origins of each song and also some of the thinking behind the highly complex arrangements, which are on a par with the Incredible String Band in their prime. Born of Scottish and German heritage, but now resident in Glasgow's southside, Roberts is a keen student of British folk music and the legendary Jeannie Robertson is the inspiration for the opening song, The Merry Wake, a celebration of the passing of the dead. Politics is also at play on the album, with The Year Of The Burning about the Highland clearances, while Song Composed In December is based on an old Robert Burns poem, which nationalist folk singer Dick Gaughan used as the basis of his most famous song, Now Westlin' Winds. I also love the songs that delve into phantasmagoria and psychedelia, notably The Wheels Of The World, Brother Seed and The End Of Breeding. More than any other Roberts record, A Wonder Working Stone sums up his brilliant and idiosyncratic approach to the folk tradition, deeply indebted to the past but not too reverent at the same time.
One of my very favourite folk musicians of the modern era is Alasdair Roberts. He's pulled off that rare feat of being steeped in the old traditions of folk while being thoroughly modern too. The British folk community is a very tight-knit one, and Roberts has toured with James Yorkston and other Fence Collective musicians, while also releasing albums as part of his own group, The Furrow Collective, along side fellow singer-songwriters Emily Portman, Lucy Farrell and Rachel Newton. His first LP, Crook of My Arm (2001), won him the attention of Will Oldham and the Drag City label and, since 2003's Farewell Sorrow, Roberts has released several LPs and a few EPs on the label. Roberts' love of collaboration, having spent time recording with a huge array of musicians including Will Oldham, Karine Polwart and Isobel Campbell, now defines him as a musician (especially his belief in music as a social activity) and this record is perhaps the finest he's released with his "friends". The line-up for A Wonder Working Stone includes Olivia Chaney and her harmonium, Shane Connolly on drums, Stevie Jones on upright bass, Michael John McCarthy on accordion, Ross McCrae on trombone and Howie Reeve with his shruken goats' feet and ‘Celtic’ shamanising. For me, this backing group of talent helps Roberts create his most lively and exuberant album to date.
There are still many songs that meditate on death, as well as a wealth of obscure literary references, but the overall spirit and mood of the album is joyous. In my CD version, Roberts has added detailed liner notes, which explain the origins of each song and also some of the thinking behind the highly complex arrangements, which are on a par with the Incredible String Band in their prime. Born of Scottish and German heritage, but now resident in Glasgow's southside, Roberts is a keen student of British folk music and the legendary Jeannie Robertson is the inspiration for the opening song, The Merry Wake, a celebration of the passing of the dead. Politics is also at play on the album, with The Year Of The Burning about the Highland clearances, while Song Composed In December is based on an old Robert Burns poem, which nationalist folk singer Dick Gaughan used as the basis of his most famous song, Now Westlin' Winds. I also love the songs that delve into phantasmagoria and psychedelia, notably The Wheels Of The World, Brother Seed and The End Of Breeding. More than any other Roberts record, A Wonder Working Stone sums up his brilliant and idiosyncratic approach to the folk tradition, deeply indebted to the past but not too reverent at the same time.
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