emesbee

A classic album. Have played this one many times.

A couple of recent purchases. Leveret are a British instrumental folk trio consisting of Andy Cutting (diatonic button accordion, melodeon), Sam Sweeney (fiddle, viola) and Rob Harbron (English concertina). I am reasonably familiar with Andy Cutting, as I see his name on quite a few albums that I already have (eg; by John McCusker and Kate Rusby), but the other two band members are new to me. Leveret specialise in playing mostly traditional dance tunes, from as far back as the 17th century up to the present day, mixed with a variety of new self-penned tunes. Both of these albums were recorded live, 'New Anything' at Red Kite Studios in Wales in 2014, 'In The Round' at St Martin's Church in a place called Stoney Middleton. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a combination of fiddle, accordion and concertina, but I have to say I am very impressed by what I'm hearing on these two albums. The playing is first class throughout and the musicians mesh together beautifully. At various times I can hear each of the individual parts coming to the fore, and yet remaining part of the whole (if that comment makes any sense!). The new tunes sit very comfortably next to the older traditional tunes, you really can't tell which is new and which is old. Both albums have a very lively, almost baroque feel to them and are a joy to listen to. Recording these albums live was absolutely the right way to go. Would love to see these guys play at Womadelaide (organisers please take note!) These are their first two albums, currently available from their website as a special deal (not quite two for the price of one). They have also recorded two more albums, 'Inventions' consisting of all original tunes released in 2017, and their most recent 'Diversions' which is all traditional tunes released in 2019. Both were recorded live. A link to their website. https://www.leveretband.com/home A clip from their first album. And one from their second.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Not so sure about the synth in this, but I love Jeff Beck's guitar playing. There is a fairly obvious Indian influence in this performance.

Forkrixsake

I also heard the full length version on the radio in Adelaide, although I think that might have been a few years later (not sure my memory serves me right though). Yes, Rod Stewart's Maggie May was on his album 'Every Picture Tells A Story' and released as a single in 1971, but recorded in 1970. The Beatles of course recorded Maggie Mae (a somewhat different song) and released it on their 'Let It Be' album in 1970.

My copy of this album arrived a couple of days ago. A thoroughly delightful album, beautifully played and sung by all concerned. These musicians just seem to work together really well. Some very good vocal harmonies, and some nice fiddle playing too. This review says it all really. https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2018/11/julie-fowlis-doorley-conway-mcintyre-allt/

I'd never heard the term sealion used in that way before, so did a bit of a search. The cartoon was a lucky hit, I guess.

Sealions? Passive aggressive marine mammals?

Didn't even know there was an ignore list. Not something I've had cause to use on this forum anyway, and hope I never do. If I do see comments that I don't like for whatever reason, then I simply don't engage.

Certainly a wealth of opinions, as well as a fair bit of knowledge, just as long as you fall down the right hole! Welcome aboard Davo, from yet another SA member.

Says German in the link, and their website has a .de extension, so definitely German by the look of it.

LAU - Midnight and Closedown The new album from LAU, a Scottish trio consisting of Kis Drever (guitar and vocals), Martin Green (accordion, piano, electronics) and Aidan O'Rourke (fiddle). Reviews of this album seem to be generally favourable but I'm afraid I don't agree with them. They are all fine musicians, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them perform live at Womadelaide a few years ago, but this album just doesn't work for me. The devil in the details is 'electronics'. Every song here seems to be underlaid by some sort of electronic programming. I was hoping to hear some inspiring fiddle playing from Aidan O'Rourke (check out his earlier recordings with Tabache), but there is very little of it here. The songs, too, are nothing special, I'm afraid it all sounds a bit lacklustre to me. There are some rumours going around that this may be their last album, but they haven't confirmed that. The album title might suggest it though. If they are going to continue together as a band, then personally I think they should ditch the electronics, and get back to some good straightforward playing. If their heart isn't in it though, then perhaps it is time to take a break.

Only a few I haven't played yet. Its taken around 30 years for my collection to get to that size. Some haven't been played for a long time though.

CD. My collection is somewhere between 3000 - 3500, and still growing.

Are those the only choices? Think I'll stay at home.

Youn Sun Nah - Immersion The new album from Korean singer Youn Sun Nah. I almost hesitated to post this in the 'jazz - currently spinning' thread as the recording and production style on this album is rather different to her earlier recordings. In her previous albums she has recorded with a group of mainly Swedish jazz musicians, but here electronic keyboards and drum machines are evident, and there appears to be some multi-tracking of her vocals on some songs. It hasn't pleased all of her fans, and I have read some critical reviews from people who prefer her more familiar style. I do share some of the criticisms, but only up to a point. What carries this album is the strength of her voice, and fortunately the production recognises that. In my opinion, her voice has never sounded better, regardless of what one's personal tastes might be regarding the production. As usual, the album is a mixture of original compositions and cover versions. One thing she tends to do on most of her albums is to take some familiar songs and record them in a slowed down fashion. In some cases it works very well indeed, but at other times I don't think she makes the right choice of song for this sort of treatment. In this case the approach works quite well for George Harrison's "Isn't It A Pity" and Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)". Less successful though is her slowed down approach to "You Can't Hurry Love". I almost didn't recognise the song first time I played it. I'm afraid that the up tempo rhythm (as in The Supremes version, or Phil Collins cover) is such an integral part of the song, that it becomes something totally different without it. Having said that, I think there is a lot to enjoy on this album, and I do like it quite a lot. I suspect she is trying to broaden her appeal to a wider audience here, but I think it shows that she is willing to experiment and try something a bit different, which can't be a bad thing. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here. Here is her cover of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" And an original composition, "Invincible". The album version of this really highlights the strength of her voice, but I couldn't find a clip of that, so instead here is a live version. Note that the performance here is with a group of jazz musicians and is rather different in style to the album version.

Much the same here. I think I heard him on the radio first, then went out and bought his debut album. I was fortunate to see him perform at Womadelaide. Very sad when he died, he had suffered health problems for quite a while beforehand.

Thanks for the info. Actually, you can purchase the CD from her website, although the order goes to Machair records. I've just ordered a CD (and, no, I'm not a vinyl addict).

I'm a bit of Julie Fowlis fan, but haven't come across this album. Will check it out.

Hmm, this photo makes me think of Dyson vacuum cleaners, for some reason.

Some of my favourite Irish music. Lunasa - The Kinnitty Sessions (2004) Recorded live before a small audience (although the audience applause has been edited out). The Gloaming - Live at the NCH (2018) Compiled from 2 years of live performances at Dublin's National Concert Hall (where they are 'artists in residence'.) My personal favourite of the 4 albums they have released so far. And in a different style. Pretenders - The Isle Of View (1995) An acoustic performance by The Pretenders accompanied by The Duke Quartet. Recorded live and televised at the time. A favourite of mine, the combination of Chrissie Hynde's vocals with the band and string quartet works very well.

Good grief, reading this thread would be enough to dissuade me from buying a Bryston amp. It just sounds like the manufacturer haven't done their job properly in making the product suitable for Australian conditions.

My natural scepticism says don't accept what you are told at face value until you see the evidence. They can say anything they like on a website, but it means nothing until things actually start happening. (After all, they have already pushed back the date from 2019 to 2020.) Nevertheless, I remain cautiously hopeful that they will do something this time. I would expect to see some advance notifications of work being done in my area before the 'ready for service' notification though. That has been the experience of a number of my friends.

I'm still waiting to get ANY correspondence or messages regarding the NBN. According to the NBN website I should be getting fibre to the curb early in 2020 (yeah, right!). No sign of anything happening yet.