▄▄ [ INFORMATION ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ ARTIST: Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson █
█ TITLE: Gift █
█ LABEL: Topic █
█ GENRE: Folk █
█ BITRATE: 236kbps avg █
█ PLAYTIME: 0h 54min total █
█ RELEASE DATE: 2010-08-17 █
█ RIP DATE: 2012-05-09 █
█ URL: http://www.eliza-carthy.com/index2.cfm █
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▄▄ [ TRACKLIST ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ 01. Poor Wayfaring Stranger 6:28 █
█ 02. Little Grey Hawk 3:21 █
█ 03. Boston Burglar 5:23 █
█ 04. The Nightingale - For Kate 5:56 █
█ 05. Bonaparte's Lament 3:19 █
█ 06. The Rose and The Lilly 6:16 █
█ 07. Bunch of Thyme 5:50 █
█ 08. Ukulele Lady - (If Paradise Is) Half as Nice 4:51 █
█ 09. Psalm of Life 6:07 █
█ 10. Prairie Lullaby 3:46 █
█ 11. Shallow Brown 2:55 █
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▄▄ [ NOTES ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ The gift in question here, one gathers, is a handing of talent from █
█ generation to generation; Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy are, after █
█ all, the sublimely gifted mother and daughter who make up part of █
█ British folk's great dynasty. This is not, by a long chalk, their first █
█ attempt at working togetherûthey have sung together many times, as well █
█ as in the family ensemble Waterson: Carthy. But Gift is notable for █
█ being the first album they have set down as a duo. █
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█ Mother and daughter make for beguiling singing partners: voices that █
█ meet and match, but at times, too, push against one another. There is a █
█ beautiful weight and grain to Waterson's singing here particularly, so █
█ that when she is joined by her daughter, Carthy's voice seems to bring a █
█ gleam and a polish. █
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█ The songs are a rich and plentiful selection, from Poor Wayfaring █
█ Stranger and Bunch of Thyme to the unlikely segueing of Ukulele Lady and █
█ Amen Corner's (If Paradise Is) Half as Nice, are at times strong and sad █
█ and stoic, while at others giddy and headstrong. █
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█ The arguable highlight is closer Shallow Brown, a song of farewell with █
█ a real sway and swell and swagger to it. Backed variously by other █
█ family members, including Eliza's father Martin Carthy on guitar as well █
█ as her cousin Oliver Knight on electric guitar, vocals and cello, there █
█ is a real sense of congregation and rootedness about this song, and █
█ indeed this record as a whole. Long may the dynasty flourish. █
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