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Product Description
BOB HARRIS, BBC RADIO 2
"I just love it..I simply can’t recommend them enough"
"just beautiful, beautiful music..one day all music will sound like this"
"Rachel Unthank is brilliant"
"just beautiful, beautiful music..one day all music will sound like this"
"Rachel Unthank is brilliant"
Mojo Magazine
Folk Album of the Year 2005 "joyous, refreshing and in-yer-face"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
To listen to Cruel Sister is to remind yourself of what folk music really is: people with appreciation for tradition, their own ideas, the talent to combine them, the sensitivity to do it well and the enthusiasm to love doing it. Rachel and Becky Unthank have all this, and the spread of songs on here show that clearly. Whether it's familiar songs such as the title track (albeit in an interpretation unfamiliar to me), local North-Eastern songs like Rap Her To Bank or the superb acappella of The Fair Flower Of Northumberland, or more recent pieces like River Man, the skill is almost as apparent to the listener as the amount of fun they're clearly having.
Comparisons with June Tabor have been made by some reviewers, and while I'm not sure the Unthanks are quite in that league yet, at this rate they will. They do already share with Tabor that amazing ability to absorb and amplify the innate emotional quality of the songs they sing. Rachel especially has a most expressive voice. Accompanists Brenda O'Hooley and Jackie Oates, completing The Winterset, mark another similarity to June Tabor's music in their quiet, almost minimalist power, elegant simplicity and gravity, and are fantastically apt for the Unthank sisters' voices.
In annual visits to Hexham Gathering folk festival I've seen the Unthanks go from (undeservedly) little-regarded also-ran performers to headliners. I'm so glad they've managed to make this mark on the wider world at last. It's just a shame this CD doesn't have any video footage of their superb clogging as a hidden extra; perhaps for the next album?
Comparisons with June Tabor have been made by some reviewers, and while I'm not sure the Unthanks are quite in that league yet, at this rate they will. They do already share with Tabor that amazing ability to absorb and amplify the innate emotional quality of the songs they sing. Rachel especially has a most expressive voice. Accompanists Brenda O'Hooley and Jackie Oates, completing The Winterset, mark another similarity to June Tabor's music in their quiet, almost minimalist power, elegant simplicity and gravity, and are fantastically apt for the Unthank sisters' voices.
In annual visits to Hexham Gathering folk festival I've seen the Unthanks go from (undeservedly) little-regarded also-ran performers to headliners. I'm so glad they've managed to make this mark on the wider world at last. It's just a shame this CD doesn't have any video footage of their superb clogging as a hidden extra; perhaps for the next album?
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This CD stands alone as an original creative piece with a touching mood all of its own. In context, as their first album (subsequently followed by "The Bairns"), it illustrates the beginnings of their unique sound which famously combines authenticity and individuality. If you're new to Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, start with "The Bairns", their second and most recent offering (simply breathtaking), and then treat yourself to "Cruel Sister" because you will want more, and this will help put their journey in context.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Unthank sisters have a quality which you seldom hear: husky, powerful, and with a precision of harmony and tone that makes you gasp. This is worth listening to very carefully, again and again
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The best and worst of folk
Cruel sister is without doubt what is best in English (and geordie) folk music. The Winterset and the Unthanks sisters have a rare and deep talent for turning out a song. Read more
Published 1 month ago by "Belgo Geordie"
From a 1st Time Download Customer
This is the first time I have downloaded music from Amazon and I can say it was excellent. The Album was also excellent and, if you are new to the Unthanks you really do have to... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Combie
Excellent first album
For me, it's about the voices, especially Becky's. I saw them for the first time recently - just the basic band, no extra strings etc. - and it was mesmerising. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Tim
All the way from Oz
Ordered this because I already had the more recent Albums, as expected grows on you the more you listen. Read more
Published on 3 April 2010 by F. Mahon
Cruel Sister
Third Album from The Unthanks I have purchased. This is their first album and, in my opinion, the best.
Published on 23 Feb 2010 by Mr. A. J. Kirkham
Best folk Album for a long time
This is a great recording from the first soulful and oh so true song to the last we are treated to music at its best.
I cannot wait for the follow up
I cannot wait for the follow up
Published on 22 July 2006 by sussex reviewer
Haunting, real, what a story their music brings.. Fabulous
I love this music. The Unthanks bring the past and all it means to us, and what it makes us.
Having been to see them live at the Komedia theatre in Brighton, I was captivated by... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2006
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