furiously creating a wonderful atmosphere one that demands a physical response
One of the hidden treasures of London is the range of talent that exists on the folk and acoustic scene that rarely get the acclaim they deserve. Three London based bands that excel at performing Eastern European/Balkan Music are Szapora, Mukka and Beskydy, each of whom are worth looking out for. Nine strong Beskydy perform songs and tunes from across Eastern Europe and beyond, in fact looking at the sources on their cd listing is almost like a tour around that part of Europe, from Macedonia to Hungary via Galicia and Bulgaria and taking a detour through Slovakia. The bands name itself comes from the range of mountains that run through the centre of former Czechoslovakia which according to the band has heavily influenced their musical choices whilst they turn their hand to music from a range of sources (excellantly). The first track is a Macedonian song, Jovano, Jovanke (click here to hear the song) and the range of Joanna Fosters vocal skills are further displayed in the three Slovakian songs that make up track 4, from the slow Janosik to the more up beat cheery Anicka Dusicka and A Ja Taka Dzivocka although Foster and the band manage to intertwine the tunes with sufficient skill so the songs merge as one. Again Track 9 is a duet with Accordian player, Peter Murphy, joining Foster on the Macedonian song Iz Dolu, along with some damned fine fiddling. The range of Beskydys musical skills are illustrated well by the instrumental tracks ranging from the delightful Slovakian Waltzes (Track 5) to the slightly more manic Tropanka from Bulgaria (track 10) and onto the ordered upbeat and furious synthesis between sax, fiddle and accordian that is Tantz, Tantz Yiddelekh (a wonderful Galician Jewish tune), yet again garunteed to result in limb movement, a delightful fusion of fiddles and saxaphone, furiously creating a wonderful atmosphere one that demands a physical response. One very minor complaint is the sleeve of the CD, it would be nice (or do I just lead a very shallow empty life) to have some information/lyrics or even translations of the songs, something about the origins of the tracks. That said its more than possible for bands with large bank accounts to produce nice extensive sleeves but not so easy for bands whose talents lie in their music rather than some slick marketing agencies. It would be impossible to identify one part of this cd that could be said to stand out more than the rest. The band have produced an album that is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish - the question that comes to the fore when listening to this is when is the follow up going to be available?
Folk and Roots (Folk and Roots) 10/10
Punctuality
Talent
Presentation
Value
Attitude