CD-Charts Position 51
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Action Packed: the Best of the Capitol Years

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: Richard Thompson

Release Date April 16, 2001
I recently bought this album, a true tour de force of Richard Thompsons Capitol years and capital years. My major complaint was it was not long enough. A two CD collection would have been better. While the two tracks from "Amnesia" are brilliant I would have liked to see "Yankee Go Home" at least on this collection. I must admit I have lost touch a lot with Richard Thompson, previous to Amnesia the last album I bought was on Polydor, called "Across a Crowded Room" and I was really disappointed with it. I think that was his first solo album after his break-up with Linda and it really reflected that.

On the strength of this album I may invest in some more of the Capitol albums, perhaps making "Rumour and Sigh" my first venture.

CD-Charts Position 52
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Rum Sodomy And The Lash (Remastered & Expanded)

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: The Pogues

Release Date December 13, 2004
`Rum, Sodomy and the Lash' was Winston Churchill's famous description of the British Royal Navy and somehow suits the album down to the ground. The album its self is a masterpiece and certainly The Pogues most perfect and fully realised album, perfectly portraying their fantastic live performances of this period, the height of Shane MacGowan's song writing and there most inventive reinterpretation of traditional folk music.
Of the Shane MacGowan originals the singles `Sally MacLennane' and `A Pair of Brown Eyes' were obvious choices but `The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn' `Billy's Bones' and `The Old Main Drag' are equally accomplished songs. Only the instrumental `Wild Cats of Kilkenny' smack of filler.

The choice and arrangement ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 53
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If I Should Fall From Grace With God (Remastered & Expanded)

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: The Pogues

Release Date December 13, 2004
The Pogues third album was released early 1988 after `Fairytale of New York' made them the toast of the World Christmas 1987. More consistent in arrangement than the previous two albums `Red Roses for Me' and `Rum, Sodomy and the Lash' it suffers slightly from the polished production which diminishes some of the `Ragged Glory' they were unleashing night after night in concert.

The role of traditional Irish music is on the decline on this album being limited to a medley early in the second side of the original disc. Rather than necessarily be a policy decision it was possibly more down to the standard of song Shane MacGowan was writing at this stage. As well as `Fairytale of New York' and the title track `Turkish Song of the Damned', ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 54
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On the Shore: Remastered & Expanded

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: Trees

Release Date August 11, 2008
As my title suggests, how do you classify the music of Trees?
Instrumentally they appear more rock than folk, but Celia Humphris's vocals are all that you would expect from a folk singer, which is strange considering she didn't really like folk, and had spent two years at drama school training as an opera singer.
Well folk rock or vice versa their style is not a million miles from the Fairports but it has a harder edge and is slightly heavier. Plenty of excellent guitarwork, both electric and acoustic, some nice piano, all supported with some intelligent bass and percussion.
While the music is not particularly complex, it may take a few plays to fully take it all in (theres so much going on), this in itself is not a bad thing as I've ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 55
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Anthology

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: June Tabor

Release Date December 31, 1993
June first came to the attention of the folk music community at the Sidmouth festival in 1967 but she wasn't able to pursue her career fully at the time. She was still completing her education, as her appearance as a contestant in the University Challenge TV series in 1968 showed. After completing her studies, June worked for a while as a librarian while pursuing her folk music interests on a part-time basis. Eventually, she recorded an album in 1976 with Maddy Prior (of Steeleye Span) as the Silly Sisters and this gave her the breakthrough. June committed herself to music fill-time and her solo debut album followed later that year.

This compilation is assembled from her five solo albums on the Topic label and her first three solo albums on the Cooking ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 56
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Family Tree

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: Nick Drake

Release Date July 09, 2007
Nick Drake's been with me since I found Northern Sky on El Pea. I like Pink Moon best but those scumbags from Volkswagen and Brad Pitt ruined it for me. The strings don't do it for me like they did for Arthur Lee. Plus Joe Boyd's arrogance, decrying the fact that he named his production company after a Donovan record. Donovan is up there with the greats as far as I'm concerned, what does Joe Boyd know? Then I read about what a pothead Nick Drake was and I always equate heavy drug use with stuffing feelings back down. It disappointed me. ANYWAY, I thought I'd left him behind till I bought this on a whim off some Arfur-esque character on Ebay who sent me a tatty copy of this CD and I spent this morning in the company of this lovely lovely man. What a magic CD! Like ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 57
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Rosemary Lane

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: Bert Jansch

Release Date February 26, 2008
For anyone who has never heard Bert Jansch solo, this would be an ideal place to start. His style encompasses folk, renaissance, blues and conveys an ethereal quality that marks his work from his contemporaries. This particular album displays in my view, that wistfullness of the mysterious bard the best. There isn't a bad track on here. Reminds me of winds playing over moor and heath just as the sun sets below the horizon.

CD-Charts Position 58
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The Year of the Leopard

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: James Yorkston

Release Date September 25, 2006
This is a lovely album . Warm songs gently spun in the cold Scottish air,created by a modest yet extremely talented tunesmith.
James Yorkston has the look of bank clerk on his day off. Not for him the razamatazz of show-biz. Instead,James of the wooly jumper and faded cords lets his music do the talking for him and weaves some memorable tales torn straight from the heart.
As part of Fife's 'Fence Collective'. James has been one of their most successful ambassadors. Becoming a minor cult figure on the folk music circuit and attracting a new legion of admirers through his appearence on the FC feature on BBC2's 'Culture Show' where daffy dame Laura Lavigne confessed her devotion to the music of JY.
Every track on the album is a quality work yet the melancholic narrative ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 59
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Glorious Fool

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: John Martyn

Release Date August 04, 2008
Of all of John Martyn's recordings this one seems to be the hardest to find and is a real gem. Recorded with Phil Collins and Eric Clapton around the time all 3 of them were divorcing. this is a really dark album with a lot of the sounds that would go onto make Face Value appearing here. "Please Fall in Love with Me" is nothing short of a demo of "In the Air Tonight" and "Couldn't Love You More" is re-recorded here in its best form.

CD-Charts Position 60
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Bert Jansch

CD-Charts > Music > English Folk
by: Bert Jansch

Release Date February 26, 2008
Dylan is revered. Robert Johnson, Skip James are re-discovered. But, this album by Bert Jansch is a milesone in folk blues. Vastly underated, his lyrics have am impact today and his guitar technique as displayed on this CD leave his songwriter acoustic contemporaries standing. He has produced many things since but this is his seminal work, as fresh now as it was when it left a crack in the ground. Listen.