A Review of the Random CD
"Toadstone"
"Toadstone"
by Random
(WildGoose Records WGS 328 CD)
Copyright WildGoose Studios 2005.
http://www.wildgoose.co.uk
This review was originally written by Dai Woosnam, daigress@hotmail.com, 10/05
Random are: Saul Rose, Melodeons; Glynn Burch, Trombone; Keith
Holloway, Bass Guitar; Paul Nye, Melodeon & Harmonica; Roger Smith,
Drums; and Ian Woledge, Guitar.
They are very much a ceilidh band, and on the strength of this CD,
vocals are to them what sponsor advertising is to the Barcelona
football jersey.
They clearly want nothing to get in the way of their music: music which
they attack with the appetite of a monk who has just escaped from ten
years’ hard Gregorian chanting!
They are led by melodeon virtuoso Saul Rose, and have produced 55
minutes of uncompromising dance music. I nearly said “English” dance
music, but truth to tell, the album is fairly eclectic stuff, drawing
as it does from Vermont and Galicia!
It kicks off with “Mount Hills /“Stingo”. These are quintessentially
English. Both John Playford tunes (albeit if very different from each
other). The band exude bonhomie, and such is the infectious quality of
both playing and music that they make even “two left feet both in the
same shoe” me, feel that I want to express myself in dance.
But it is with track 5 that the album really peaked for me. “Waiting
For A Partner” and “Twin Sisters” are trombonist Glynn Burch’s
favourites, and not for nothing! His jaunty playing is a
positive delight, and made me grin like I’d lost my mind. (I’m still
grinning even now, as I think of it.)
And the album also ends delightfully with “Captain Courageous”/“Ice
House Schottische No. 2”. These are both wonderful tunes from
hurdygurdy player Nigel Eaton. (Now there’s a thought! Full sound
though the band has, would it not be great if Nigel could bring his
instrument to the Random table! That would be some group then.)
But musing aside, let me return to the 2 tracks of Nigel’s. Suffice to
say that they do what closing tracks should always do: they leave you
wanting more.
Dai Woosnam
Grimsby, England
daigress@hotmail.com
Track List:
- Mount Hills (Trad arr Random)/Stingo (Trad arr Random)
- Mopping the Cedar (Bob Walser, copyright control)
- Liverpool (Trad arr Random /Rose of Liseaux (Tim Van Eyken, Appledore Records)
- Shed Happens (Paul Nye, copyright control)/Mad Moll (Trad arr Random)
- Waiting for a Partner (Trad arr Random /Twin Sisters (Trad arr Random)
- Unnamed Sussex Waltz (Trad arr Saul Rose)/Emily’s Waltz (Maclaine Colston, copyright control)
- Tubeless (Paul Nye, copyright control)/Cruel Wars (Trad arr Random)
- Woodland Revels (Trad arr Random)/Horses Branle (Trad arr Random)
- Maitina (Trad arr Random)/Flexitune (Paul Nye, copyright control)
- Captain Courageous (Nigel Eaton, Panic ATC)/Ice House Schottische No. 2 (Nigel Eaton, Beautiful Records)
Copyright © 1998-2008 Kevin & Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews. All rights reserved.
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