Review: Mayday

Artist: Lady Maisery
Album: Mayday
Label: Rootbeat

Track List:

1. The Crow on the Cradle
2. The False Young Man
3. Palaces of Gold
4. Katy  Cruel
5. Lady Maisery
6. The Factory Girl
7. Constant Billy/ The Lie of the Land
8. This Woman's Work
9. The Lady and the Blacksmith
10. Intro - The Grey Selkie
11. The Grey Selkie
12. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

Overview
I had not, in fact, heard of Lady Maisery until I happened to see a friend listening to them on Spotify four days ago, but have since then become a staunch supporter.  This process took something like half an hour.  This is an album full of traditionally presented British ballads - some familiar, some less so - presented by three people with a wonderful understanding of harmony and expression.  There is a nice mix of texture throughout this album - their namesake is presented very simply with the three ladies (Hannah James of Kerfuffle and, unsurprisingly, Hannah James and Sam Sweeney; Hazel Askew of the Askew Sisters and; Rowan Rhenigans of Fidola - all astute and well-rounded folkies) relating the tale in a driving unison; meanwhile the Grey Selkie is given the harp fiddle vocal and accordion treatment.  If you are a fan of pared-down and simply but sympathetically presented Folk, you really ought to check this out.  There are also some nice Norwegian/Generically Scandinavian overtones to a few of the tracks - The Grey Selkie in particular, unsurprisingly, as it is set in Norway and Rowan is something of a Scandinavia Enthusiast (Me too Rowan, me too.)

Lady Maisery pull off a particularly folky thing with this album, which is the tendency to swing from tear-jerking to jolly without missing a beat.  Good work.

Favourite Tracks
I really, really like the Lady Maisery version of The Lady and The Magician (You may know it as Twa Magicians, or Two Magicians or something similar).   Close vocal harmony with really simple percussion in the form of stamping, clapping and tambourine (or maybe Morris Bells?  Hard to tell without watching them perform, something I really hope to do at some point soon).  Charming, very sweetly sung and full of humour and meaty harmonies.  It is tricky to pick it out exactly who is singing what, but I think it's Rowan hitting the low D (my tuning is not great...) on "..but HE became....".  That is a sexy note right there.  Props also to the wonderful Constant Billy/Lie of the Land.  I would happily dance a ceilidh to Lady Maisery singing tunes in three part harmony (Ladies, if you get to read this - any chance of that becoming a reality?).

Least Favourite Tracks
I don't have a least favourite track to declare here.  It's all lovely.  It feels like a cop out, but Lady Maisery do not put a foot wrong in my opinion.

Closing Comments
At the very least, go to the website and check out some of the sample music on their website; http://www.ladymaisery.com/album_categories/albums/  I promise, if you're a folky, you'll thank me - and, more appropriately - them.

The Third Wheel Ceilidh Dance

Hello Folkies!

For those of you who have actually read this before, apologies for the lengthy break between posts.  Life gets in the way of folk.  And blogging.  And folk blogging.  Anyway, on with the blog.


I'm presenting another dance that I wrote today (My head grows by the day, I can barely fit through doors now), this one by the name of The Third Wheel.  I wrote this in response a friend's comment when I shared my blog on FB for the first time - namely that all of the dances were for couples and that I should shake things up a bit.  Fair enough nameless friend, fair enough.

So, here is a dance designed for trios, with a two-person progression at the end of each set.  It's a little more complex than some of the others I've shared on this page, but should still be easy enough to follow.

Now, this dance tells a bit of a story, which you can dress up in whatever way you feel like.  The idea is that there is a couple out on a date (the two outer dancers in each trio) and the Third Wheel (or the gooseberry, depending on your age I guess).  The Couple spend the first half of their dance getting on with their date and largely ignoring the third wheel, and the second half sees the third wheel distracting one person in order to steal the other partner.  Shocking I know.  This new couple then abandons one person, and they become the new third wheel.  Sunrise, sunset.  Well suited for 32 bar jigs or reels.

Forming Up

Relatively straightforward this one, ask everyone to form up into trios, and then to form a circle with dancers facing anti clockwise around the room.  Like the spokes of a bike, if your dancers struggle to follow that.  That's it really.  Seriously, move on to the next session.  Like, now.

The Dance

The first step is for the trio, holding hands, to take 8 steps forward, and then for the outer couple to link hands around the third wheel and circle to the right for a count of eight.  Next is to do almost the opposite of that (without being too pedantic about it) - link hands and walk back around the circle for a count of 8, outer couple join hands and circle to the left for a count of eight.  The tricky part here is just ensuring that the outer couple have enough space between them to fully encircle the third wheel.  Could make for some amusing scenes if two really short people try to encircle someone of substantial girth - like two pixies trying to squeeze a melon in half.  Anyway, back on topic.

That is the end of the A section, and now the third wheel gets to have some fun - first, they're going to skip a right-handed figure-eight between the couple for a count of eight, before spinning a partner of their choice.  This is them "distracting" the partner of the person they want before absconding.  I have to note here that when I called this dance last Friday, I said to the audience that they could spin their chosen person in whatever way they wanted - a young boy then proceeded to spin his partner as if he was playing blind mans bluff (Do children still do that?).  Needless to say, I expect this child to become our overlord some day (Back on topic Phill!  Ed.)  (Leave me alone Ed, you're a horse, you don't have any power here).  Hem.  So, after "distracting" their chosen person by spinning them, the third wheel will then do a left-hand figure-eight around the existing couple for a count of eight, before collaring their beloved and moving off around the circle.  This should leave one person standing all by their lonesome in each set.  The newly joined couple from the set behind will move forward to collect the new third wheel of their set.  Like picking up a piece of sushi with chopsticks, I guess.  At which point, the dance starts over again.

So, to recap
A1. All forward 8 steps, outer couple circle right around the third wheel
A2. All back 8 steps, outer couple circle left around the third wheel
B1. Third Wheel right-hand figure-eight around the existing couple, "distract" a partner of your choice
B2. Third Wheel left-hand figure-eight around the existing couple, take the remaining partner and move off around the circle, picking up a new third wheel from the set in front of you.


Potential Problems
The first time I called this dance, I forgot to explain that there should be a new third wheel in the set every time you progress through the dance, so I saw one poor girl be the third wheel about three times in a row, which was sad.  I would have danced with her.  The other tendency for this dance is for bunching around the circle - everyone has a different step size, and so you'll notice some people catching up to others as we progress through, which can lead to some difficulty when it comes time for the circle or for the figure eights.  Don't be afraid to ask people just to spread out a little or take smaller steps!

Tips
This is much easier to have stick in people's mind if you link it to the story of being the third wheel and stealing the girl.

Variations
I'm sure this works as a Fifth Wheel variation with only a few modifications - the fifth wheel would need to steal a couple each time, which then probably requires some thought as to how to decide who is the new fifth wheel at the end of each set.  I'll give this some thought and come back to it.

Right, thanks for reading this guys.  This is quite a new dance, so if anyone calls it and wants to offer some suggestions or advice/criticism/scorn, that would be much appreciated.

My next public engagement as a caller is at the Portsmouth Festivities, calling for my good friends, Threepenny Bit.  More details after the link;

http://www.portsmouthfestivities.co.uk/whats-on/item/ceilidh-in-the-tower-with-threepenny-bit-folk-band


Folk and Hugs,
Bigg Hungry Phill.

Review; Ghost on Ghost

Artist; Iron and Wine
Album; Ghost on Ghost
Label; 4AD

Track list

1. Caught in the Briars
2. The Desert Babbler
3. Joy
4. Low Light Buddy of Mine
5. Grace for Saints and Ramblers
6. Grass Widows
7. Singers and the Endless Song
8. Sundown (Back in the Briars)
9. Winter Prayers
10. New Mexico's No Breeze
11. Lover's Revolution
12. Baby Center Stage

Overview

Sam Beam (The one man act that comprises Iron and Wine... I assume there are other musicians involved but I'm damned if I know who they are) has come an AWFUL long way since The Creek Drank the Cradle back in 2002 in a number of ways.  Where Creek Drank The Cradle was basically just Sam and his guitar and a four track cassette recorder, every album since has built on this in terms of complexity and in general polish - to the point where, if not for his pretty distinctive voice - I don't think you would ever believe CDTC and Ghost on Ghost were made by the same person.;  Sam has eschewed his Guy & Guitar (or, occasionally, Boy & Banjo) roots for a larger richer sound, and in a lot of ways this works for him.  Ghost on Ghost, even more so than his last album, Kiss Each Other Clean and the one before that, The Shepherds Dog, seems to incorporate a lot more by way of blues, jazz and gospel elements, such as horn sections, choral work and honky-tonk style piano.  It's easy to understand why he would have such affinity for these things, being as he was born and raised south of the Mason-Dixon line, but for me personally, I'm not sure it always works.   Because these elements are used less than sparingly the whole way through the album, there is very little to distinguish one track from the next.

I have been listening and listening and listening to this album, not because it has particularly captured my attention, but because I really, desperately, want it to impress me the same way The Shepard's Dog and our Endless Numbered Days did.  It hasn't though.  All of the things I love about those earlier albums are still there; Sam Beam's unique vocal style - soft,  narrative and comforting; his wonderfully understanding guitar playing (never overpowering, always sympathetic to the tone of the piece), his grasp of lyric and expression... But there is nothing stand-out across the whole album.   There is something soulless and repetetive about the production across the album, which I think is as a result of Sam Beam making a conscious effort not to make the same album again and again - and bravo to him for recognizing this possibility and striving for new sounds - but which results in a general missing of the mark, with little textural variation across the dozen tracks on offer here.

(In a slightly nit-picky aside - I'd also like to express disappointment with the album artwork... But that's not really a reason to buy/not buy it)

Favourite Tracks
I'd like to stress again that I didn't hate this album, and there are some real high-points - Caught in the Briars is a great start to the album and made me hopeful for another stonking release from Iron and Wine.  Starting with some distant "percussion" and sustained Hammond organs before jumping in with a rich, deep guitar lick which forms the basis of the song, with a lot of the classic Sam Beam chorus-effect backing vocals and some lush chord changes around the chorus.  The other stand out track for me is Lovers' Revolution, I think because it has such a wonderful build up in texture and a punchy farty sax line - it passes as a sort of Art Blakey-era jazz/blues piece.  Sam Beam's expression reaches a pitch on this album around the two minute mark in this track, and the shouted chorus lines work nicely - very work-song.

Least Favourite Track
I struggled to write this section for the last review I did (Blackbeard's Tea Party - Whip Jamboree) because I struggled to find a track I didn't like, but I do actually have a least favourite track here... "Joy".  Dull, overly saccharine in nature, highly forgettable.  Next please.

Closing Comments
I so desperately wanted to love this album and I feel a little bit cheated by the whole thing, truth be told.  The album is largely flat and uninteresting save for a few moments.  I don't think that it is, in and of itself, a bad album, but I think it is tempered by my relatively high expectations of Iron and Wine.  By all means check it out, especially if you're generally a fan of Americana, and folk tempered by blues and jazz, but if you come to it expecting something of the rich variety seen in Shepherd's Dog, think again.

Clopton Bridge

Happy Monday Folkies!

A nice satisfying hornpipe today known as Clopton Bridge (32-bar Hornpipe).

This is a longways set dance for four couples, doing the age old ceilidh-dance thing of the head couple moving down to the end of the set each time to let other people have a turn.    This is a dance that I think is particularly useful, because it's quite simple but if you can get the sets to step-hop all the way through, they'll tire themselves out, need more breaks, and you need to know fewer dances to keep everyone happy...

Forming up
Nice and simple this one, longways sets for four couples.  Don't be afraid to ask sets of more experienced dancers to form up a set at 90 degrees to other sets if you don't have quite enough space for all of those who want to dance - as long as there is someone there who knows what "head couple" means and can act as an example couple for everyone else.   If you are double-stacking your sets, (that is having two sets end-to-end) be sure to get them to leave enough space between them to help distinguish sets.

The Dance

The first thing you want to do (unless you're calling for people who know what they're doing and will be indignant about being told how to suck eggs) is to demonstrate the step-hop which is common to this and most other hornpipe-based dances.  I usually find myself calling for quite young audiences, so I can just tell them that it is the same as skanking - unfortunately, this don't work for everyone.  The step hop is made up of four different parts;

1. Step on the left foot
2. Hop on the left foot, and kick out with the right.
3. Step on right foot
4. Hop on the right foot, kick out with the left.
5. Repeat
6. Curse your tired calves the day after.

Get out into the middle of the floor and do this to show them how!  Let them practice it for thirty seconds or so before moving on to the next dance


So, the first step in the dance is for the head man and bottom woman to come together into the middle for a right-hand turn, lasting for a count of eight, then a left hand turn for a count of eight.  this is the point at which they should be step-hopping.  Rule #1 of Clopton bridge - if you're doing a dance figure, you should be step-hopping!  This is then repeated by the bottom man and top lady.  Feel free to apologise to the middle couples, who spend the first 16 bars of music getting bored.  Their turn comes next, when the middle couples perform a right-hand star for a count of eight, then a left-hand star for a count of eight.

The top couple then get to spin down the center of the set for a count of eight.  You can either tell them that this is their chance to show off, and that they can dance down in whatever way they fancy, or specify a two-handed spin down - watch your audience and remember to tailor it to their level of experience.  Once they reach the bottom (and be sure to mention that the set should move up slightly to make space) everyone spins down to the end of the set, and the dance begins again.  (NB - this is where problems start with this dance, because people haven't realised they're in the head or bottom couple, or the wrong partner will come down - keep an eye out and give 'em a nudge if necessary).

Potential Problems

For me, the hardest part of calling this dance is getting the top and bottom couples to realise what is supposed to be happening.  The first two patterns of Clopton Bridge require opposite corner partners to come into the middle for a Right-hand turn (arms linked) and then a left hand turn, but explaining which couples should be doing it can be tricky without a reference point.  So, my advice for this would be to explain to people which corner couple they are - reference a door, or a window, or someone in the band - anything which helps get it in peoples minds.

As I mentioned in the last paragraph of the previous section, when the second turn through the dance comes around it's quite common to see people not paying attention and missing their turn to go down the middle to dance with their opposite - in my experience, the rest of the set will often remind them, but don't be afraid to give them a bit of a nudge

Music
I don't think I've ever called this dance to anything other than King of the Fairies - probably because the bands I call for come from the same pool with the same exposure to the same music.  This is quite nice because, if the band you're calling for plays the stops in the B section of King of the Fairies, then it gives a nice dramatic little pause during the head couples' spin down to the bottom of the set.  I'm sure other hornpipes work just as well.

Canadian Barn Dance

Hello Folkies!

Not one of mine today, but the first ceilidh dance I ever learnt to call.  Mostly because it was about the simplest one I could find.  Today's dance is called The Canadian Barn Dance (or, sometimes, the Highland Barn Dance) (32-bar Jig, Reel or Polka)

This is one of those amalgamation circle/couple dances of which there seem to be a whole lot.  It is probably one of the simplest dances out there, as it consists of a handful of steps, repeat ad nausea (or at least, until you are nauseous).

Forming up
Very simple to get started; tell everyone to find a partner, and then to stand in a circle around the room in a promenade hold [Gents on the left facing anticlockwise around the circle, gents with right hands behind the ladies back, ladies with left behind the gents back, remaining hands clasped in front.  Or whatever version of a promenade hold you fancy.  I'm not fussed].  That's it.  Make sure there is a fairly even spacing around the circle so as to avoid bunching an toe-treading.

The Dance
This dance has a repeating theme, which I think of in terms of; 1 - 2 - 3 - STOMP.  That is the point to stress to people, as it is the main focus of the dance.  So the first step, couples walk forward for three steps (Right foot first, but that's not that vital...) and then STOMP, followed by three steps back and then STOMP.  Couples then split, so that the men head into the middle of the circle and women head away from it, for three steps and then STOMP, and then back to your partner (1, 2, 3, STOMP).  When they get back to the partner, it's going into a waltz (or at least, waltzish) hold, pointing anti-clockwise around the room,  then, three steps to the pointy end (STOMP) and three steps to the blunt end (STOMP).  Then there are two options;

1. Couples polka to the end of the phrase
2. Couples polka for four, then stomp for four

Both are easy enough to do, so it's entirely up to you how you manage the end of that.  You'll notice my diagram says polka then stomp.

Potential Problems
this is a ludicrously simple dance, so I wouldn't anticipate too many problems.   As with any circle dance, there is the potential for clumping, but once the dance is in full swing this is difficult (and pointless) to combat.  Most people will sort this out for themselves.

Tips
I like to explain that the STOMP is kind of like a reset button, as every time you STOMP you either go back the way you came or start a new figure.  Because it is so simple, it's a good dance to get everyone back in after a half-time break, and a good dance to really ramp up the speed of.  I've always wanted to have the guts to ramp up a dance until no one can do it, and this is a good candidate for that.  Know your audience though, not everyone is going to want to have their shortcomings pointed out so publicly.

Music
I've called this to Star of the County Down (in 4) which works quite nicely.  You could use pretty much any tune you wanted to be honest, it's not dependent on a specific time signature.  Polkas also work well (a band I call for play Peg Ryan's and John Ryan's together for it)

Review: Whip Jamboree

Artist: Blackbeard's Tea Party
Album: Whip Jamboree
Label: Proper Music

Track List

1. The Valiant Turpin
2. Devil in the Kitchen
3. Ford O' Kabul River
4. Bulgine
5. The New Jigs
6. Lankin
7. Polka Against the Clock
8. rackabella
9. The four Hour Shovel
10. Landlady
11. Whiststable Cottage/Superfly
12. Whip Jamboree

Overview.

Wow.  Well, you could never get Blackbeard's Tea Party (BBTP for short from here on in...) confused with any other act.  They have a sound entirely their own (the only group coming even close at the minute is The Monster Ceilidh Band). They have this wonderful, meaty, almost sinister sound to a lot of the things they do.  I think this is in part down to the interesting balance of instruments in the band - somewhere between Rock/Metal (Overdriven guitar, electric bass, drums) and Trad Folk ,(Capital T, Capital F, - Violin, melodeon, percussion).  I think it's telling that the band is obviously aware of this dichotomy - they stand on stage with trad on one side and non-trad on the other.  That isn't to say that the two elements don't mix well together.   I was lucky enough to see them play live at the Talking Heads last night, and they are keenly aware of each other's presence and abilities, and that sympathy shows with how all of their pieces fit together.  So yeah, this is an album which could ONLY have been made by this group, which given the tendency folk music has to sound a little.... umm... samey, is a high compliment.  

Going back to their stage performance for a minute, I heartily suggest that you go and see them live if you get the chance - if you aren't convinced by their album work, you will be convinced by their humorous  lively self-aware performance.  Even better, actually - if you get a chance to go to a BBTP ceilidh, you should definitely do that.  I went to their Sidmouth 2012 Bulverton ceilidh, which for me was the highlight of the festival.  

Favourite Tracks

As I mentioned in the Broken Down Gentlemen review, I am a sucker for sea shanties, so it is perhaps unsurprising that my favourite track on this album is Bulgine.  It is preceded by a solo tune from fiddle player Laura Barber (who to my mind, is one of the finest fiddle players on the folk scene today) before the rest of the band come in with the main theme and vocalist/melodeon player comes in with the vocals.  Stuart is possessed of an extremely characterful voice, particularly suited to the sort of work BBTP are doing.  The track is punctuated with some wonderful percussion work from joint percuissioneers (It's a word now, get used to it) Dave Boston (Djembe, Cowbell, Woodblock) and Liam 'Yom' Hardy (Cajón, tiny cymbal) who are clearly very much in tune with each other and the rest of the band, demonstrating characterful and precise stops throughout the whole BBTP canon.  Honourable mention to Landlady, which I played about three times in a row the first time I heard it.  I can give you an insight into the sort of  performances you can expect if you get to see Stuart singing with BBTP - when I saw him sing at Sidmouth last summer he introduced the song "Jolly Bold Robber" with the following joke;

"This is one of the most homoerotic songs in the whole folk canon - and believe me ladies and gents, it is a very large cannon"

It is a very large canon ladies and gents, and the bits of it that BBTP choose to polish are very shiny.  Very shiny indeed.

Least Favourite Tracks

I actually dislike writing this section, and I can't think of anything overly constructive to say in criticism....  If I have to make a criticism to make of BBTP, something I'm not keen to do, it would be that their love of stops sometimes gets the better of them.  In The New Jigs set, there is something like thirty seconds worth of stops on guitar, bass and percussion and I feel it just breaks up the set a little too much. 

Closing Comments

Blackbeard's Tea Party are doing some wonderful, if occasionally unsettling things with folk music, and this album is well worth your time and money, as are their live shows.  I should perhaps warn you though, if Steeleye Span's rendition of "Summer Is Icumen In" is your idea of the pinnacle of folk music, you may not find everything here to your liking, but you should definitely stray out of your comfort zone a little just to check ;)

Mitosis Circle Ceilidh Dance

Greetings Folkies!  I'm going to share today a dance of my own devising.  It is known, for reasons which may or may not become obvious, as the Mitosis Circle (32-bar Jig or Reel).

It's a circle dance for a fixed number of people (unusual for a circle dance, I'm let to believe) and can be danced to any 32-bar reel (although I think a jig would work just as well to be honest).  The dance is quite simple once it is set up, but may throw people who are expecting a balanced number of left-right steps.  The dance involves left-right circles, with each circle splitting into two smaller ones at the end of each section.  So, how does it work;

Forming Up
This is, by a long margin, the hardest part of this dance.  Because the circles need to be constant each time to avoid people fighting over partners, you are best off getting people to organise themselves in the following way;

1. Everybody find a partner
2. In your couples, find another couple to dance with
3. Each group of four, find another group of four
4. Each group of eight find another group of eight to make a circle of 16 people.

Which all sounds simple enough, but I guarantee there will be people confused by this.  You will need to stress that they remember the groups they were dancing in at each stage.

So, from there it's a case of some simple counting and basic fractions;  join hands and circle left for a count of eight, then back round to the right for a count of four, before breaking the circle and forming two smaller circles in a count of four.  The dance just repeats this figure until they are reduced to groups of four, at which point the figure becomes left hand star, right hand star, and then couples doing a left hand turn followed by a right hand turn, before everybody rushes back to the big 16-person circle to start the dance over again.  Simple right?

Dealing with rogue groups

Very few ceilidhs have the right number of people for every dance, but with this dance you can cope with incomplete circles by getting the group to perform the first step twice and to not break the circle until the second time through.

Variation
If you feel you have a big enough group, you might consider trying to work out a version where the circle splits into multiples of three.  Good luck to you if you try.

Potential problems

I've said it before, the biggest problem is the initial set up.  Take your time and let them sort out the couples, fours, eights and sixteens in their own time.  Start the dance slow so they get into the rhythm of breaking and reforming circles, but once you've spotted that they have this down pat, don't be afraid to tell the band to really start getting silly with it.

Music

As I said before, any 32-bar reel or jig will suit this nicely.  I've called it to Cooley's Reel and Drowsey Maggy before now, and that works quite nicely.  Possibly the constant Em chords in those tunes are a little serious for this silly little dance...