Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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100 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bridging the gap..., 21 Oct 2007
Don't let the huge number of artists involved with this record fool you... it isn't a dodgy "compilation" album. It's a stellar folk project that features a diverstiy of talent combined to make a beautiful, unified whole. From John Copper's heartfelt narration that kicks off the proceedings, to Benjamin Zephaniah's radical contemporization of the Scottish ballad "Tam Lyn" (over a bed of dubby and clubby beats courtesy of TransGlobal Underground and Simon Emmerson), the collection is top-notch througout.
For me the whole concept really gels with the final four tracks, beginning with Simon Emmerson's original composition "Pilsden Pen," a rolicking instrumental featuring acoustic guitar and bouzouki against accordion and a string ensemble (this song seems particularly suited to a live concert setting, and I hope it turns up in the setlist for next month's Imagined Village Tour.) This is followed by a cool re-working of "Hard Times of Old England," to which Billy Bragg has added new lyrics, and the production team has added an electronic bed of synths and programmed drums. Eliza Carthy provides some finessed fiddling, and the chorus sounds exactly like something you'd hear being sung by the patrons in a rural pub. The album concludes with the one-two punch of the "Worms and Moths" English Ceilidh Medley, comprised of Kit Whites I and II by the Gloworms and Sloe on the Uptake by TigerMoth. You will be AMAZED at the way these two bands combine several tunes into one extended jam, to close the album on a jubilant and triumphant note. There is hand-clapping, foot-stomping, yelping, fiddling, shouting, electric bass, drum programming, and just about everything but the kitchen sink strung across these two tracks. But it doesn't sound like a dodgy "world fusion" experiment. Rather, it contains all of the grit and authenticity of the original songs.
Indeed, the same could be said for the entire Imagined Village album. You need to hear it for yourself, and if possible, listen to it several times all the way through from start to finish. It will grow on you with each listen. The Imagined Village might well be the album that finally bridges the gap between the folk music purists and the advocates of 21st-century innovation. It brings both worlds together with greater harmony and grace than any other album of its kind.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oim 'alf english, 29 Oct 2007
Hands down, next to anything by Show of Hands or Billy Bragg, the best CD od Brit based music dealing with Brit identity that you will ever hear. Clearly on the world music scene, this is the CD of the year.
The brainchild of the collaborative efforts of the most creative artists in Britain today, there is everything to love about this disc, from the opening "Ouses, ouses, ouses", a charming and atmpospheric story from John Copper that is about a set of Chalk Downes, but could as easily be anywhere in the world falling prey to globalization, to the final set of reels and country dances reworked through the imagination of Trans-Global, Paul Weller, Eliza Carthy, Simon Emmerson and the irrepressible Mr Bragg, this is a work for the ages.
Weller and Martin Carthy take John Barleycorn for the ride of his life. Sheila Chandra and Ms Carthy sing like their lives depend on it (remember Sandy Denny - it's just that good!), and Bragg delivers a Hard Times for Old England that puts the lie to globalization and speaks truth to power in ways power aint gonna like very much. In many ways, the record reminds me of the seminal Show of Hands efforts, Country Life. And Phil Beer is on hand in this effort to add his deft touch at fiddle, mandolin, etc.
Production effects by Mass and Simon Emerson and Tunng give this record an edge that would have been inconceivable in the early days of Fairport and Steeleye, yet it is cut of the same bold cloth, taking a history of extraordinary musical tradition and breathing new life into it, yet retaining its authenticity and genuine vitality. Riding through Philly with the windows open and the CD blasting, people at cross roads would turn and catch the tunes and have the most wonderful experssions on their faces as the songs and their messages resonated.
You'll be hard pressed to find a better disc than this in any discipline, but then with Weller, Bragg, the Carthys and the others assembled, how could you? This is just sooooooo incredibly great!
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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping the tradition alive, 18 Oct 2007
As a huge fan of folk and folk-rock I am delighted to see folk being carried forward through new experimentation and in new ways. Bellowhead have already done a great deal to bring a new voice to folk music this year with their brilliant 'Burlesque' album, and now traditional folk favourites such as Martin Carthy and his daughter Eliza, join forces with artists as diverse as Paul Weller, Billy Bragg and Benjamin Zephaniah to re-visit favourite folk songs and stories with a modern edge. It all works brilliantly thanks to exceptional musicianship all round and I can see this album being one of the most important in the current second folk revival that seems to be taking hold. Lets have more!!
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