A Review of the Leon Rosselson CD
"A Proper State"
"A Proper State"
by Leon Rosselson
Copyright 2008
Fuse Records
CFCD 024
http://www.leonrosselson.co.uk/
This review is written by Dai Woosnam, daigress@hotmail.com, 5/08
Most reviewers that I’ve met, review one work at a time. If they
have, say, three books to review, they don’t read them simultaneously,
i.e. switching books at the end of every chapter.
And so it is with CDs. One gives oneself totally to the CD, but one album at a time.
I tell you this, because it is a fact that has a strange relevance to
this review. For the previous CD I reviewed before this, was that rare
thing, an absolute gem: “Not In Our Name”, a compilation album with
proceeds going to the “Stop The War Coalition”.
And because half the artistes featured were stellar names on the UK
Folk scene, I decided – for “space limitation” reasons – to concentrate
my review on the equally solid contributions from the other
less-celebrated half who mainly hailed from overseas. Fair enough, you
might say (given that I write from a UK perspective). But no, such a
policy gave me moments of serious doubt. Not least, in the case of
perhaps the most stellar of all the names on that compilation, Leon
Rosselson.
You see, his song on that anti Iraq War CD – “General Lockjaw Briefs
The Troops As Reported By A Sceptical Soldier” - was one of the
strongest of the lot. And I thought I really must make mention of it.
But then I thought, no: for once I do this, the floodgates will open
and I will need to talk about the other contributions from all the
famous UK artistes, and it will end up being in length, less like a
review and more like St Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians. And more
than that, here is the clincher: I thought I will not mention Leon’s
marvellous song because I have 11 more coming up on the next CD I am
due to review. And I can pay him the maximum respect he deserves then.
Ha! How wrong that thinking of mine was! It just goes to show that when
you as a reviewer have something you can praise to the heavens (like
that track) then you should seize the moment! For you don’t know with
any degree of certainty just how long it will be before you can enthuse
over that same artiste’s work again.
So, have you guessed what my next sentence is going to be? (Yes of course you have.)
The truth is that there is nothing much to enthuse over in this entire
album. Sure it was worth the listening, but when you consider how great
a writer – and I believe vastly underrated performer to boot -
Rosselson is, somehow one expected more. Talking of “more”: there were
actually 12 tracks. One of the rummest bonus tracks I can ever recall.
Good contributions from Miranda Sykes on bass help give this album the
gravitas that normally a Rosselson album is not in need of, since
they usually have that quality in spades.
Uniquely for a Leon Rosselson album, I cannot imagine a single song
here being adopted by floor singers in your average folk club. Well, at
a push, perhaps “The Ghost of George Brassens” might. This paean to the
great chansonnier was by some measure the best song on the CD. So
acceptable in fact that I can imagine Brassens’ biggest UK fan - the
late Jake Thackray - approving, and adding it to his repertoire up
there in the Celestial Heights.
Dai Woosnam
Grimsby, England
daigress@hotmail.com
Copyright © 1998-2008 Kevin & Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews. All rights reserved.
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