Folk & Country > British Folk Folk & Country

I am stretched on your grave

Advantages: a few truly superb songs
Disadvantages: A few weaker links.

Rather a morbid title I realise, but it is in fact one of the tracks from what has proved to be quite a good album. Being something of a folk devotee, I had approached Kate Rusby with scepticism - she's 'made it' into normal music outlets, which must mean she has sold out and just done an album of easy listening? Well not actually quite true. This is certainly the sort of album that non-folkies might get along with, but its true to some good traditional ...
...'proper' folk - spend any time in a folk club and you soon find that most of the traditional songs are about sex and/or death (except for the ones about fishing, but there it is.) "Sir Eglamore" an old, and rather silly song about a knight and a dragon, set to music by Kate. It has all the 'lanky down dillies' you could possibly ask for in a folk song, (I have no idea how anyone sings anything like that whilst keeping a straight face.) "As I roved ...

Bryn_Pearson 20.06.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Hourglass - Kate Rusby

Original, fun & sometimes moving

Advantages: Kate's fabulous northern singing voice
Disadvantages: None, in my opinion.

Kate Rusby's singing voice is a very honest one, revealing her northern accent, which I think is wonderful in this age of Pseudo-American pop singers. She manages to convey both complexity and simplicity in her well-crafted songs - which draw on traditional lyrics and original music. The album opens with guitar used almost percussively in the intro to The Good Man - a highly unique, humorous and ambigulous song (traditional lyrics), and works its ...
...think?) xylophone... don't quote me! Unfortunately, the album wanes a little in the middle, but the first and last few songs are memorable and lovely. I have to say I haven't liked everything I've heard Kate do (slushy duets with Ronan spring to mind) but this album was the first I heard of her and a good introduction. I have yet to see Kate and band perform live, but would very much like to. Good stuff. ...

lizdavies 08.01.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Underneath The Stars - Kate Rusby

Beautiful - but I expected more.

Advantages: Lyrical, orginal, magical
Disadvantages: Compared to other work, not as captivating

I adore Kate Rusby. She has the honey toned whisper down to a tee. Her celtic, fairytale, mythical song topics are something not grasped with enoguh modern music. Her gentle Irish lilt creates an atmosphere and a mood of ye olde folk-songs, something from long ago, something of the time of honour and legends. Since I adore all kinds of celtic fantasy, this is right up my street. However... you knew there had to be a but and here it is... This album ...
...I was hoping for, as many of her other works did. Also, this is most certainly not an album for any cynics, non-romantics, or people who don't understand to magical importance of folk-stories or nonsense-rhyme. If you don't like fantasy, steer clear! I highly recommend this to anyone who has , just don't expect to be quite as blown away as you were before. Some of her songs that I had heard prior to this, such as 'I Am Stretched On Your Grave ' ...

huntressofthenight 23.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Girl Who Couldn't Fly, The - Kate Rusby

Mercurial, moody and lyrically accomplished.

Advantages: Haunting and funny by turns
Disadvantages: none

...bar for forty years, her being about half that age. Beautifully sung, nevertheless. § The Sleepless Sailor A song about a sailor who craves his womans arms when at sea and the arms of the sea when he is home again. Typical bloke, can't commit. With Roger Wilson. ...

Saturn 07.12.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Sleepless - Kate Rusby

Gripping

Advantages: Traditional, varied
Disadvantages: Some tracks almost too short

The Bairns is an unsual album to listen to, taking you on (for lack of any better comparison) a roller-coaster of emotion, from the first track to the last. With haunting voices and perfect harmonies, Rachel Unthank and The Winterset, a quartet comprising two extremely talented sisters and their friends hailing from the North-east of England, deliver a provoking, if not flawless, catalogue of traditional folk pieces. Particularly interesting are ...
...pieces of music. For example, I Wish, I Wish, which has been covered by many artists in the past, predominantly Kate Rusby's more upbeat take, has been turned into a melancholy, heart-breaking melody much more suited to the lyrics being sung. They also include a collection of "Lulls" which vary from 20 second accapella songs to the 7 minute variation offered at the end of album, with complex vocal harmonies and instrumental backing. A very worthy ...

JBird13 11.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Bairns, The - Rachel Unthank & The Winterset