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Before Dawn review Dirty Linen |
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Friday, 16 November 2007 |
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Dirty Linen, America's leading folk magazine, about our debut album Before Dawn:
There probably isn't a single country in mainland Europe that doesn't have a homegrown Celtic music contingent these days. Brittany and northern Spain have their own traditions within the Celtic family, of course, but at the moment I'm thinking more of how frequently jigs and reels imported from the British Isles have become an inspiration for local musicians all across the continent.
The Dutch quintet Harmony Glen is an example of how good some of these geographically disconnected bands can be. Before Dawn [Epos Imaginaire (2006)] is a strong, dashing collection of Irish and Scottish songs and tunes that are sung and played with more skill and feeling than on many discs from places with a more direct link to the music. Buttonaccordionist Vincent Pompe van Meerdervoort, fiddler Mike Bruinsma, and tenor banjo player Sjoerd van Ravenzwaaij lead a thoughtfully arranged and thoroughly entertaining collection of tune sets, and the vocal harmonies on tracks like the romping Scots love song "Birnie Boozle" are a delight.
by Tom Nelligan, Dirty Linen
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Streaming Tunes review in Folker! |
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Sunday, 11 November 2007 |
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Here's what Folker! magazine writes about Streaming Tunes (kindly translated from German by Christian Turk, thanks Chris!):
The cover of Folker! Magazine, issue November/December 2007.
This review by Michael A. Schmiedel is in there! 
The debut album of this Irish-Folk-Quintet from Wageningen (The Netherlands) discussed in Folker! 5 / 2006 was already very good, but the second album with six instrumentals (reels, jigs, waltzes) and songs I enjoyed even more.
It presents an envigorating, groovy, often jazzy sound, both in the fast and in the quieter parts. The latter are anything but boring, having dynamic melodies and vocal harmonies which are deeply touching. Also a lot of the intros are bursting with delicate tension before the rythm carries us away, opening to a raging, sometimes flowing, sometimes galopping crescendo we usually see with the best bands from Ireland or the USA, all without noticing the slightest effort which certainly must be there.
I am particularly excited by the banjo and concertina, though they are only the tip of the iceberg. Besides Traditionals (also a Swedish one) there are also original tunes and lyrics, including the brilliant "Kickin 'a Cuckoo" with its 30s ragtime approach.
The band consists of Dominique Bentvelsen (double bass), Nienke Bijker (vocals, guitar, spoons), Sjoerd van Ravenzwaaij (banjo, guitar, vocals), Vincent Pompe van Meerdervoort (vocals, box, bodhrán, tarabuka) and Mike Bruinsma (fiddle ).
Das im Folker! 5/2006 besprochene Debütalbum dieses Irish-Folk-Quintetts aus dem niederländischen Wageningen war schon sehr gut, und dieses zweite Werk mit je sechs Instrumentals (Reels, Jigs, Walzer) und Liedern gefällt mir noch besser.
Es enthält einen mitreißenden, groovigen, nicht selten jazzigen Sound, sowohl in den schnellen, als auch in den ruhigeren Partien. Letztere sind alles andere als langweilig, sondern weisen Melodiespannungen und teilweise Zweistimmigkeiten auf, die so richtig tief reingehen. Auch so manches Intro ist vor der Temposteigerung voller filigraner Spannung, die sich dann entlädt in ein rasendes, mal fließendes, mal galoppierendes Crescendo wie man es von den besten Bands Irlands oder der USA gewohnt ist, ohne dass die zweifelsohne vorhandene Anstrengung herauszuhören wäre.
Besonders begeistert bin ich vom Banjo und von der Konzertina, die aber nur die Spitze des Eisberges bilden. Neben Traditionals (auch einem schwedischen) sind auch eigene Tunes und Texte vorhanden, darunter das geniale „Kickin’ a Cuckoo“ in 30er-Jahre-Ragtime-Spielweise.
Die Combo besteht aus Dominique Bentvelsen (double bass), Nineke Bijker (vocals, guitar, spoons), Sjoerd van Ravenzwaaji (banjo, guitar, vocals), Vincent Pompe van Meerdervoort (vocals, box, bodhrán, tarabuka) und Mike Bruinsma (fiddle). |
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Tuesday, 06 November 2007 |
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How much misfortune can one band have?
We had an amazing concert in Rilland last saturday, in a packed venue. So many people, so many happy faces! We had a lot of fun. But then " miss fortune" hunted us down and she had a bad mood...
On the way to Oud Zevenaar for a concert in Folkclub de Lantaern, the exhaust decided to part with the rest of our Harmony Van. Luckily a still unknown driver waved his hands around frantically untill we finally stopped on the hard shoulder, near the exit to Gorinchem. Thank you, dear, unknown driver! We would have liked to thank you with a CD or something, but you were gone allready!
Poor Old Hoggle
Still happy and shining (well, sort of) on the Uckfield Festival last summer. 
The next day another piece of the exhaust decided to break down. Dominique tied it to the van with some wire and drove off to get his old double bass for the Zimihc Tour Mondiaal. The show went well, we had a great day luckily! But then on monday the garage told us the price of fixing the van (which we recently named "hoggle") was higher than the value of it! So we declared it total loss.
We had an exiting time with you, Hoggle, May you rest in pieces!
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