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Product Description
Product Description
A sonic emporium of traditional English folk, Asian percussion, dubstep, drum and bass and John Barry-esque 70's film soundtracks, 'Bending The Dark' is The Imagined Village's most thrilling, dynamic album to date. Pooling their vast experience and individual musical approaches, this collective - amongst them former members of Afro Celt Sound System, Transglobal Underground and Red Snapper plus folk luminaries Martin & Eliza Carthy and Jackie Oates - produce a jaw-dropping ride across genres and continents in a way few "conventional" groups can only dream of. The Imagined Village is a folk musical project founded by Simon Emmerson of the Afro Celt Sound System, its intention to produce modern folk music that represents modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, features musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The project started in 2004, and led to the release of an eponymous album in 2007 by a collective of artists on Real World Records. Original contributors included Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, Tunng, Sheila Chandra, Martin and Eliza Carthy. In 2009, the project moved to a new record label, ECC Records, and a second album, 'Empire & Love' was released in January 2010. They toured extensively, appeared on TV's' Later…With Jools' show and won out at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Praise for 'Bending The Dark' Independent on Sunday **** The Times **** Mojo **** R2 **** "It's a daring mix of tradition and modernity but the group's skill and organic approach pull it off." – The Observer "At their best – they are glorious." – Songlines "A slow-burn success" – Uncut
Review
For all that pop music is becoming increasingly niche (or increasingly tribal, depending on your point of view), there are still those trying to shoehorn various unlikely genres together, not least The Imagined Village collective, brainchild of Simon Emmerson, leader of Afro Celt Sound System.
For almost a decade now, they have attempted to fuse traditional finger-in-your-ear folk with all sorts of non-trad, but mostly "world", genres. Not entirely surprisingly, the hacksaw approach to a problem that requires fine-tuning has meant the results were mixed at best.
This third album has notably less input from folk titan Martin Carthy (there is more from his singing, fiddling daughter Eliza), but it's a huge, focused, and daring leap forwards. Although Washing Song is too short of ideas on an album otherwise overflowing with them, the rest of the more overtly folk material, especially Wintersinging, has a new-found spring in its step and the oddly sensual Sick Old Man even gets away with banging on about “raggle taggle gypsies”, albeit from a sympathetic 21st-century perspective.
Yet, when The Imagined Village venture from the folk cocoon, they can stumble. Get Kalsi, a kind of Bhangra take on the Get Carter theme and a tribute to their percussionist Johnny Kalsi, falls between too many stools. But The Guvna hurls warped loops, space-age dub, twangy sitar and keyboards into the mix and somehow emerges as a coherent force of nature.
The real standout though, is the near-instrumental title-track, all 12 minutes of it. It serves as a guided tour of The Imagined Village, beginning with chanted Asian vocals, hurtling through two-way drum battles, a gloriously uplifting central melody and myriad delicious tangents. Musical boundaries are not so much blurred as scrubbed out, and it's exactly what they've been trying to say for their whole existence.
For all the many delights of Bending the Dark, it's hard to see where The Imagined Village can go from here. They're not in the market for hits as such and, as Emmerson's Afro Celt Sound System discovered, a substantial live following may not translate into substantial record sales. Still, as calling cards go, Bending the Dark states their case most eloquently.
--John Aizlewood
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I loved the first IV album, thought their second release Empire & Love was even better and now they have managed to top that with Bending The Dark! Empire & Love was much more of a 'band' album that the first release and Bending The Dark takes that vibe further still.
In terms of personnel, this album does not include Chris Wood (who was busy working on his own album) but sees the wonderful Jackie Oates joining as a full member. It's Jackie who opens the album with an acapella The Captain's Apprentice before the band kick in on New York Trader.
Eliza Carthy fans are in for a treat on tracks such as Fisherman, Sick Old Man and the stunningly beautiful Washing Song.
The two instrumental tracks The Guvna & Get Kalsi (the latter being a theme tune for percussionist Johnny Kalsi) both have incredible strong grooves running through them; your can't help but tap your feet ; )
The title track is a 12 minute epic composed by Sheema Mukherjee for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and is a wonderful melting pot of styles ranging from Morris to Bhangra and pretty much everything in between.
If I had to make a criticism it would be the lack of a Martin Carthy lead vocal anywhere on the album; whilst he contributes some beautiful guitar work and backing vocals, I would have loved to hear his voice to the fore on a track or two.
I watched the promo video for this release and as a member of the band says "No one else could make this album" and he's spot on ... IV really are unique. If only all the people who rave over artists such as Bellowhead & Mumford & Sons gave The Imagined Village a listen they would love this album.
I seriously can't understand the Amazon reviewer that stated "Time to call it a day on this project I think" ... you can't be listening to the same album! This collective just goes from strength to strength.
Roll On Album No.4!!!!
In terms of personnel, this album does not include Chris Wood (who was busy working on his own album) but sees the wonderful Jackie Oates joining as a full member. It's Jackie who opens the album with an acapella The Captain's Apprentice before the band kick in on New York Trader.
Eliza Carthy fans are in for a treat on tracks such as Fisherman, Sick Old Man and the stunningly beautiful Washing Song.
The two instrumental tracks The Guvna & Get Kalsi (the latter being a theme tune for percussionist Johnny Kalsi) both have incredible strong grooves running through them; your can't help but tap your feet ; )
The title track is a 12 minute epic composed by Sheema Mukherjee for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and is a wonderful melting pot of styles ranging from Morris to Bhangra and pretty much everything in between.
If I had to make a criticism it would be the lack of a Martin Carthy lead vocal anywhere on the album; whilst he contributes some beautiful guitar work and backing vocals, I would have loved to hear his voice to the fore on a track or two.
I watched the promo video for this release and as a member of the band says "No one else could make this album" and he's spot on ... IV really are unique. If only all the people who rave over artists such as Bellowhead & Mumford & Sons gave The Imagined Village a listen they would love this album.
I seriously can't understand the Amazon reviewer that stated "Time to call it a day on this project I think" ... you can't be listening to the same album! This collective just goes from strength to strength.
Roll On Album No.4!!!!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By T. Phillips
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I can really say no more. I discovered the Imagined Village first album completely by chance. This is, I guess, what they call that "difficult third album", and it is, in my opinion, just brilliant. It goes way beyond the sort of "fusion" stuff you might expect by looking at the cast of characters, and manages a hat-tip to several different genres, starting from, and always returning to, solid traditional folk values. They've just been updated to 2012, that's all. I can't help thinking that track 3 (Winter Singing) sounds like a modern take on the original Pentangle stuff, and I keep expecting the following track (The Guvna) to burst into something from the Specials or Madness. The final track (the title track to the album) is a wild 12 minutes 22 seconds of all sorts of snatches and homages.
Well done all concerned. My personal choice for Album of the Year already.
Well done all concerned. My personal choice for Album of the Year already.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Angela B
Format:Audio CD
I walked into a record store today and heard this playing and loved it so bought it having never heard of The Imagined Village. I have listened to it twice through already and do not regret my impulse buy at all.
I love the mix of folk/world/techno music and will definitely be seeking out their live gigs.
I love the mix of folk/world/techno music and will definitely be seeking out their live gigs.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not without merit
In my view, this contains some very pleasant and interesting stuff, which is what I expect of "crossover", but it also contains material that sounds like it belongs to some... Read more
Published 1 month ago by De Writer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loving this
Fabulous gift for a rather long-in-the-tooth pair of hippy folkies..would recommend to anyone,especially those new to the world of folk, this makes for a great overview and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lou S
5.0 out of 5 stars
a joy
just get better and better this band,always pushing the bounderies,and taking you by suprise !, this album is beautiful , elegant, fun , playful, a joy , make sure you get a copy
Published 4 months ago by simon parkin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can they get any better?
Short answer, yes. This album is amazing. I have both of the previous CDs and didn't think they could be topped, but they have been. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Crystaljanet
5.0 out of 5 stars
imaginative village!
I won't go track by track, but make a couple of general comments. If you liked Afro Celt Sound System you'll like some of this, 'cos that's what a couple of trax sound like. Read more
Published 6 months ago by K. Box
2.0 out of 5 stars
Still to find a consistency
I had heard individual pieces by The Imagined Village and the medleys appeared original and interesting. This album was therefore something of a disappointment. Read more
Published 8 months ago by rowebury
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bending the
The Imagined Village was originally formed to explore the musical roots of the multicultural members and examine their identity as English musicians. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. F. Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightening
Another exciting product from the supergroup that mixes the English folk tradition with dub, India and techno, never forgetting to pass on a message.
Not to be missed.
Not to be missed.
Published 9 months ago by Claudia Cantaluppi
4.0 out of 5 stars
The world is not enough
This is great! A simply divine collection of UK folk/roots music blended with world music which hums like a spinning top! Read more
Published 10 months ago by Arthur Dooley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bending the Folk ( a little )
The first Imagined Village grabbed me...rarely off the ipod,played it in the car a lot . Empire & Love came along it was good but lacking a certain zietgeist , now this a much... Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Smith
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