Saturday, December 29, 2018

Sharron Kraus - Beautiful Twisted - 2002



Quality: FLAC (tracks, CUE)
2002, Camera Obscura CAM 050CD, Australia

01 The Peacock's Wing
02 The River's Daughter
03 Moonbathing
04 The Family Tradition
05 Twins
06 Cold-Hearted Devil
07 Death Jig
08 The Wrong Man
09 Godstow
10 Beautiful Twisted
11 Song Of The Unfree

Sharron Kraus: vocals, guitar, 5-string banjo, whistle, percussion, keyboards
Ron Guensche: upright bass, electric bass, lap steel guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo on 11
Amy Clay: fiddle on 1, 7, 10
Tracy Farbstein: fiddle on 2, 4, 5
Dean Welch: guitar, backing vocals
Marty Dowers: bass clarinet
Paul Conte: drums

First solo album. All songs writen by Sharron Kraus

Kraus' debut album would not have sounded at all out of place if it had been issued, say, in 1970 or 1971, at the time when such moody contemporary British folk was cresting. That's not at all to say that it's revivalist, or uncomfortably imitative; indeed, to listeners who love that vintage genre, it's more likely a high recommendation. In its ambience, the album strongly recalls the work of Shirley Collins, Sandy Denny, and more obscure songstresses like Vashti Bunyan. She's a decent songwriter, and very much fits in the British folk lineage with her sad yet dignified melodies and lyrics with plenty of images evoking nature, epic love, and mythological aspects. There are (for this style) out-of-the-ordinary up-front depictions of incest (in "Twins") and references to modern life (in the shiny car and taxi driver of the title track), though these aren't too typical of the compositions. There isn't enough rock to the backing to call this a folk-rock record, but it's definitely far more contemporary than standard British folk, both in attitude and also in the pleasant variation of instrumental accompaniment, as in the ominously echoing keyboard of "Beautiful Twisted" and the bass clarinet squeals of "Song of the Unfree."


SUPERB ALBUM

Monday, December 17, 2018

Pamela Wyn Shannon - Courting Autumn - 2007



Quality: FLAC (tracks, CUE)
Label: 2007, Girlhenge Records LEAFWYN002, private,
          no.500 hand-crafted in New England
          2007, Girlhenge Records LEAFWYN002, 2nd edition,
          Made in America

01 O Bittersweet Dear Madeline
02 Tis Rambletide In Ambleside
03 Courting Autumn
04 Woolgathering
05 Ca' The Yowes
06 September's Way
07 Pipkin
08 Michaelmastide
09 Netherworld
10 Vespertine Autumn
11 Cold Blows The Wind
12 Fare-Thee-Forlorn

Pamela Wyn Shannon: guitar, vocals, mountain dulcimer, banjo. glockenspiel, harmonium, bowed psaltery, string Arrangement
Bill Shontz: recorders & recorder arrangement
Liz Knowles: violin, viola, cello, cello reversed, string Arrangement
Michelle Kinney: cello
Kathlean Lawrence: spinning wheel
Chris Hale: sitar, backing vocals
Stephan Katz: cello
Ethan Hazzard-Watkins: violin
Anna Patton: clarinet & penny whistle
All lyrics & music written by Pamela Wyn Shannon except Ca' The Yowes & Cold Blows The Wind (traditional, arranged by Pamela Wyn Shannon)


ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ALBUM OF A GENRE

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