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CD Reviews
David Carroll and Friends - Bold Reynolds Talking Elephant Records TECD483
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For the purposes of this impressive CD, David Carroll’s friends are Brian Gulland, Dave Oberle, Graeme Taylor, Chris Leslie, Dave Pegg, Lucy Cooper and Tom Spencer. The nine tracks include The Last Leviathan, Follow me up to Carlow, Poor Murdered Women, Banks of the Nile, She moved through the fair, High Barbaree, Poor man’s sorrow, The battle, and Gentleman of high renown. Vocals are taken not only by David, but also by Brian, Dave, Chris and Leslie and all the vocals are clear and precise. The start of the first track is rather misleading, but it soon moves into a more traditional sounding mode. With such a great lineup of musicians and variety of instruments from fiddle, pipes, guitar, bass, bassoon, church organ and more spread across the tracks there is plenty of variety but the overall sound remains very traditional. Both the CD cover and small booklet are black and white but manage to contain all the information you need about the lineup and tracks and all the words to the songs. This is David Carroll’s first album and one that I will be playing for a long time.
The Carrivick Sisters - Illustrated Short Stories Carravicks CD10
The seventh album from Charlotte and Laura features performances of 12 original songs. Both sisters provide vocals while Charlotte adds guitar, banjo and mandolin and Laura dobro, guitar, lap style guitar and fiddle and they have no need for any additional guest musicians. The style is a mix of English folk and Americana. Many of the songs tell the stories of Westcountry legends. The opening track “In the Odstock Churchyard” tells the story of a curse on a church near Salisbury. Other tracks include “The Gorge” which relates a horseback chase and a jump over a wide gorge; “War Games” tells of a worried mother and a boy playing at soldiers and “Sally in the Wood” of a woman mourning a missing child. This is another interesting and enjoyable album with some great singing and musicianship.
