Five classic albums: A Tear To A Smile, Mystic Voyage, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, Vibrations, Lifeline.
(Plus the extended, 12” version of Running Away.)
A staggering haul. One Train Load of murder.
Fire bunn!
‘*****’, The Independent; ‘a vibrancy and energy that make it impossible to sit still’, Metro; ‘shines from Shina to Shina’, The Beat; ‘CD Of The Week… astonishing’, Daily Telegraph; ‘incendiary’, The Observer.
All three stone classic albums.
Quite different to A Wonder Working Stone and Spoils, the ten songs here are ‘sparse, intimate and concise. The focus throughout is on Alasdair’s deft acoustic fingerstyle guitar and his voice. The songs are variously elliptical and gnomic, direct and personal, romantic and tender.’ With sparing, decisive contributions on clarinet and tin whistle — and from Crying Lion.
A treat for those of us who like their Alasdair Roberts straight-up and hardcore. A pointed, deep selection of mainly Scottish folk songs, recorded live in the studio; beautifully sung, with minimal, exquisite accompaniment by acoustic guitar, or sometimes piano. Sexual oppression, Scottishness, political resistance; stray cows, mystical horses, waterbird royalty. Stiff shots of rapture, fighting talk, heartbreak, and tragedy. Terrific.
Brute of a Shaka stomper.
His gone, meditative 1965 debut, already steeped in Eastern modalities and Indian mysticism. The opener is based on a Ravi Shankar raga; Bardo Blues is a musical rendition of the Tibetan Book Of The Dead.
A fine collection of improvisations for nylon and steel string guitar from sound-artist, guitarist and Eidetic Band member Rob Mullender. Evoking the likes of Davey Graham and Hans Reichel.