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Written in Folk Roots issue 162, 1996

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Folk ’n’ Hell
EMI Hemisphere 7243 8 53344 2 9 (1996)

“Scottish - New Ceilidh”, says the browser rack in Ray’s record shop in London. What’s in there? A whole bunch of albums, easily enough to be described as a new wave, and that’s what’s represented on this compilation, put together by Gerald Seligman with help from a whole lot of people who know what’s going on just now in Scottish music.
      Scotland has its own media which to a significant extent reflects Scottish music - turn on the radio there and there’s little doubt where you are - and also its own pop chart, into which gets some of the music people actually like rather than just the sort of thing that makes it through the PR maze that leads to the national British charts. While a few of these bands, notably, of those on this CD, the magnificent Shooglenifty and the part-English Poozies, have made raids south of the border to some acclaim, most are virtually unknown in England, many being more likely to be encountered around the other countries of Europe.
      So of whom is this phenomenon built? Well, developments continue (these tracks were recorded for various Scottish labels, and one German, between 1992 and 1996, during which period some bands have made as yet un-CD’d live progress), and there are, as always with such projects, omissions - Martyn Bennett, Runrig, Clan Alba, the Cauld Blast Orchestra, MacUmba and Wolfstone, for example - but the range is pretty much reflected here: Shooglenifty, Bùrach, The Iron Horse (both including fiddler Gavin Marwick), Seelyhoo (featuring the Orcadian Wrigley sisters and Iron Horse accordionist Sandy Brechin), Shetland bands Bongshang and Rock, Salt & Nails, sampling-oriented work from the Gaelic-influenced The Colour Of Memory, São Paolo resident Scotsman Paul Mounsey, a track from the as yet unreleased work in progress by Jim Sutherland, a pre-Rod Paterson track from Ceolbeg, “the oldest artist here” Dougie MacLean, Simon Thoumire with keyboardist Fergus MacKenzie, one of the Humpff Family’s calmer tracks, the pre-Kate Rusby Poozies, Tannas, Aberdeen’s Old Blind Dogs, and Khartoum Heroes.
      It’s nearly all muscular, meaty, upfront stuff, of strong rhythm and indeed often strong rhythm section - seek ye not here for saccharin Celtoidism. This isn’t film music sans film, nor a revival, nor research; it’s bold, skilful, witty, it’s certainly a new wave, call it “new ceilidh” or, as Shooglenifty do, “hypnofolkadelic ambient acid-croft”, but it’s also just a tradition getting on with it.


© 1996 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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