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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Finisterre |
| 2. The Bleacher Lassie Of Kelvinhaugh |
| 3. The Grey Funnel Line |
| 4. Le Vingt-Cinquieme du Mois d'Octobre |
| 5. Shipbuilding |
| 6. Jamaica |
| 7. The Great Selkie Of Sule Skerry |
| 8. Winter Comes In / Vidlin Voe |
| 9. The Oggie Man |
| 10. The Brean Lament |
| 11. Le Petit Navire |
| 12. Across The Wide Ocean |
Product Description
Review
June Tabor has always resolutely pursued her own heart without recourse to the conformities of genre, expectations of audiences and especially not the pressures of orthodox commercial appeal.
Her hard-headed attitude may not have won her great riches and she sometimes makes challenging demands on even her most devoted followers, but it gives her a unique aura. Richard Thompson and Elvis Costello are among those who’ve written songs specifically for her, and marginalising her in the ‘folk’ category seems woefully limiting.
Given her first album came out in 1976 she probably qualifies for veteran status, but there’s nothing tired or worn about this quietly dramatic, charismatic album. Constructed thematically around songs of the sea, Tabor tackles reflective themes of disaster, alienation and conflict with the dexterity of a skilled surgeon. She has a delicate way of cutting away the surface of songs to reveal hidden layers of sub-plot, so that material as familiar as Cyril Tawney’s The Oggie Man and Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding sound like they’re being performed for the very first time.
She’s helped enormously by the empathy of her regular musicians – Huw Warren (piano), Mark Emerson (viola, violin), Tim Harries (double bass) and Andy Cutting (diatonic accordion) – who add plenty without ever intruding. Warren’s tense accompaniment adds enormously to the simmering power of the 11-minute emigration epic Across the Wide Ocean. Yet when Tabor sings unaccompanied on the great Scottish street ballad The Bleacher Lassie of Kelvinhaugh, the impact is remarkable. Few, too, would dare the spoken-word interlude with which she delivers the tragic denouement of The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry.
There are two French language songs from the Channel Islands, offering widely divergent moods, while Tabor also revisits a couple of tracks previously recorded in radically different forms – evocative opening track Finisterre from her Oysterband collaboration Freedom & Rain (1990), and the melancholy Grey Funnel Line, a celebrated track she previously sang with Maddy Prior on the 1976 Silly Sisters album.
It’s not an album for those with short attention spans but, in a world of lightweights, Tabor’s a colossus and this is one of her finest hours.
--Colin Irwin
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
New 2011 album from revered UK folk songstress featuring new & old songs about the sea! Includes a cover of Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding'.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
June Tabor's latest album Ashore is another fine collection of ballads and street songs old and new, mostly from UK with a couple from France for good measure (not especially memorable though). It's a concept album, a celebration of the sea, for which June has a fascination, despite being born in the Midlands (and now living on a farm in Wales).
The album mostly has a slow, ruminative quality, not unusual for June. Some of the song topics are indeed bleak ones - death, drowning, parting, war, cannibalism, emigration, bitter weather etc. With minimal accompaniment by Andy Cutting on accordion, her partner Mark Emerson on violin and viola, Tim Harries on double bass and Huw Warren on piano, June's deep warm voice is well set off, aided by a very realistic recording. There is one a cappella track, The Bleacher Lassie of Kelvinaugh, and there are two instrumentals on accordion, a lyrical Jamaica (from Playford's Dancing Master of 1670) and a lilting I'll Go And Enlist For A Sailor (used as Morris dance tune). The album begins with a moody Finisterre, a 1989 song from the Oyster Band of which June was a member. Two songs are by Cyril Tawney, the lovely Grey Funnel Line, and Oggie Man, a dreamy yet deep yarn about a dockyard pasty-seller. Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding aches so much it becomes a little dreary, while the traditional Great Selkie of Sule Kerry is rendered very intimately, as if she is just having a conversation with the listener. After all, it is quite a narrative. In the traditional Brean Lament, some of which is spoken, one quickly feels the sadness of a sailors' graveyard. The album finishes with a lengthy evocative Across The Wide Ocean, from Les Barker's traditionally-based opera The Stones of Callanish about the Highland Clearances of the 19th century.
June Tabor eased gradually into a life of folk-singing, but the quiet strength of this album shows she was made for it. Definitely not for a party, but for a meditative quiet time that will allow the listener to absorb its depths.
The album mostly has a slow, ruminative quality, not unusual for June. Some of the song topics are indeed bleak ones - death, drowning, parting, war, cannibalism, emigration, bitter weather etc. With minimal accompaniment by Andy Cutting on accordion, her partner Mark Emerson on violin and viola, Tim Harries on double bass and Huw Warren on piano, June's deep warm voice is well set off, aided by a very realistic recording. There is one a cappella track, The Bleacher Lassie of Kelvinaugh, and there are two instrumentals on accordion, a lyrical Jamaica (from Playford's Dancing Master of 1670) and a lilting I'll Go And Enlist For A Sailor (used as Morris dance tune). The album begins with a moody Finisterre, a 1989 song from the Oyster Band of which June was a member. Two songs are by Cyril Tawney, the lovely Grey Funnel Line, and Oggie Man, a dreamy yet deep yarn about a dockyard pasty-seller. Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding aches so much it becomes a little dreary, while the traditional Great Selkie of Sule Kerry is rendered very intimately, as if she is just having a conversation with the listener. After all, it is quite a narrative. In the traditional Brean Lament, some of which is spoken, one quickly feels the sadness of a sailors' graveyard. The album finishes with a lengthy evocative Across The Wide Ocean, from Les Barker's traditionally-based opera The Stones of Callanish about the Highland Clearances of the 19th century.
June Tabor eased gradually into a life of folk-singing, but the quiet strength of this album shows she was made for it. Definitely not for a party, but for a meditative quiet time that will allow the listener to absorb its depths.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let's be very clear. June Tabor has one of the finest voices
on the planet. No ifs, no buts - it is a magnificent instrument!
It is a voice which has become better and better with time.
Deeper; more rounded; exquisite; Autumnal, as befits her status
as a Grande Dame of British folk music. An unimpeachable talent.
Her new album 'Ashore' is simply beautiful and utterly indispensable.
The thirteen tracks in the collection are all wonderful examples of
the skill and sensitivity which have always defined Mme Tabor's work.
There is a complete absence of affectation and unnecessary decoration
in her performances. A voice at ease with itself and the world.
Huw Warren/piano; Mark Emerson/violin and viola; Andy Cutting/accordion
and Tim Harries/double bass, intuitively understand just what is needed
from them to bring these glorious songs to life. Nothing more or less.
(Their two instrumental showcases, 'Jamaica' and 'I'll Go and Enlist
For A Sailor', are deftly delivered and delightful!)
It is impossible to deconstruct such a wonderful bunch of songs and to
even begin to believe that we might consider one better than the other.
They're all good. Good?! Oh I'm not doing very well here! This truly
is one of the very best recordings I have heard in my life thus-far!
Just witness the joyous rendition of 'Le Vingt-Cinquieme du Mois D'Octobre'.
The effortless dynamic control of rhythm, tone and expression. Peerless!
The profoundly concentrated acappela performance of 'The Bleacher
Lassie of Kelvinhaugh' is another wonder! A profoundly tender vision.
Likewise the deeply moving human tale of loss and longing in 'Shipbuilding'.
(Mr Warren's piano deserves a special mention of its own on this number).
Final track 'Across The Wide Ocean' is an extraordinary arrangement.
A story which takes almost a dozen minutes to tell. Every moment, every
note, every nuance, contributes to an atmosphere so intense that it pins
us to our chair, barely daring to breathe lest we disturb the magical flow.
'Ashore' is a singularly important event for the listening world.
I can think of few things more uplifting to see us through these
dark uncertain times than this veritable shining gem of an album!
Thank you for this June Tabor.
Essential.
on the planet. No ifs, no buts - it is a magnificent instrument!
It is a voice which has become better and better with time.
Deeper; more rounded; exquisite; Autumnal, as befits her status
as a Grande Dame of British folk music. An unimpeachable talent.
Her new album 'Ashore' is simply beautiful and utterly indispensable.
The thirteen tracks in the collection are all wonderful examples of
the skill and sensitivity which have always defined Mme Tabor's work.
There is a complete absence of affectation and unnecessary decoration
in her performances. A voice at ease with itself and the world.
Huw Warren/piano; Mark Emerson/violin and viola; Andy Cutting/accordion
and Tim Harries/double bass, intuitively understand just what is needed
from them to bring these glorious songs to life. Nothing more or less.
(Their two instrumental showcases, 'Jamaica' and 'I'll Go and Enlist
For A Sailor', are deftly delivered and delightful!)
It is impossible to deconstruct such a wonderful bunch of songs and to
even begin to believe that we might consider one better than the other.
They're all good. Good?! Oh I'm not doing very well here! This truly
is one of the very best recordings I have heard in my life thus-far!
Just witness the joyous rendition of 'Le Vingt-Cinquieme du Mois D'Octobre'.
The effortless dynamic control of rhythm, tone and expression. Peerless!
The profoundly concentrated acappela performance of 'The Bleacher
Lassie of Kelvinhaugh' is another wonder! A profoundly tender vision.
Likewise the deeply moving human tale of loss and longing in 'Shipbuilding'.
(Mr Warren's piano deserves a special mention of its own on this number).
Final track 'Across The Wide Ocean' is an extraordinary arrangement.
A story which takes almost a dozen minutes to tell. Every moment, every
note, every nuance, contributes to an atmosphere so intense that it pins
us to our chair, barely daring to breathe lest we disturb the magical flow.
'Ashore' is a singularly important event for the listening world.
I can think of few things more uplifting to see us through these
dark uncertain times than this veritable shining gem of an album!
Thank you for this June Tabor.
Essential.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A frequent topic of debate in today's media is the question: "what defines the English?" Part of the answer to that hotly disputed question must surely be the folklore that is the subject of much of June Tabor's singing and, in particular, of this latest album of hers, "Ashore". What can be more English than folk songs about the sea and sea-faring?
Of course, Tabor has sung in French before, and there are two songs in French on this new album, but that only underlines the close sea-ties between our two countries.
Irrespective of national identity, this is another fabulous album from Tabor. The singing voice is superb, silky smooth as ever, and the songs first-class. Tabor occasionally resorts to narration to tell part of the story, as on "The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry".
The accompanying instrumentation is subtle but beautiful: gentle piano, accordion etc, just enough to add sharp focus to Tabor's voice.
If you've ever enjoyed her music, you'll enjoy this!
Of course, Tabor has sung in French before, and there are two songs in French on this new album, but that only underlines the close sea-ties between our two countries.
Irrespective of national identity, this is another fabulous album from Tabor. The singing voice is superb, silky smooth as ever, and the songs first-class. Tabor occasionally resorts to narration to tell part of the story, as on "The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry".
The accompanying instrumentation is subtle but beautiful: gentle piano, accordion etc, just enough to add sharp focus to Tabor's voice.
If you've ever enjoyed her music, you'll enjoy this!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Indisputably 5 Star
I had this on my wish list for some time after hearing a track on Late Junction. Now I finally bought it for a birthday present to myself - and it is a present never to forget! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bougain
Her Best
I have every JT album. This is the best.
It IS sombre, but it's magnificent.
If it doesn't get the BBC "folk album of the year" I must have missed something.
It IS sombre, but it's magnificent.
If it doesn't get the BBC "folk album of the year" I must have missed something.
Published 7 months ago by S. R. Coberman
I so want to like this
But I just don't. June Tabor has a wonderful voice. She is a consummate performer of song, usually traditional. I have many of her albums. Read more
Published 9 months ago by John Mccartney
June Tabor is The Goddess.
For me June can do very little wrong. This CD is as good as I would have expected from this prodigious talent. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Molly Stephenson
Authentically musical, authentically from the heart.
June Tabor's voice is quite a magical one (thankyou Amazon reviewer The Wolf for the heads up to this) The absolute reverse of technologically manipulated all surface no substance... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Lady Fancifull
June Tabor Ashore
I love most of her work and this is also good. Only reservation is that you need to be in the right mood to listen to all of this in one go.
Published 13 months ago by reneart
desert island disc
Apart from seeing June Tabor sing a rousing version of 'a sailors life' on a Fairport Convention video from the 80s, my knowledge of her recorded output is nil. Read more
Published 13 months ago by yerblues
Haunting
I can add little to the positive reviews of this music, except to say that where others have sensed an English quality to it, to me it evokes the memory of my daughter coming home... Read more
Published 13 months ago by K. Hannay
Wonderful June Tabor
Beautiful songs sung beautifully - and expertly recorded places her close enough to kiss.
No one evokes the English landscape or seascape like June Tabor
No one evokes the English landscape or seascape like June Tabor
Published 14 months ago by Will Hay
Elegant,Empathetic,Essential.
A new June Tabor cd is a red-letter date.I've been listening to singers most of my 53 years and I can think of no one vocalist whose work reaches me like that of June Tabor's. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Azoic
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