Bellowhead - E.P.Onymous -EP- (c) 2005 Megafone
Artist....: Bellowhead
Album.....: E.P.Onymous
Type......: Album
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 05
Genre.....: Folk
Label.....: Megafone
Catalogue#: 111
Encoder...: LAME 3.97
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: http://www.bellowhead.co.uk/
Tracklist:
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01 Rambling Sailor 05:14
02 Jack Robinson 06:03
03 Copshawholme Fair 04:59
04 Rochdale Coconut Dance 04:05
05 Prickle-Eye Bush 05:08
Total:32,1 MB / 25:29 min
Release Notes:
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Although they began and still work as a duo, John Spiers (melodeon) and
Jon Boden (fiddle and vocals) had a vision of a larger sound for their
music. In 2004 they put together Bellowhead (the name derived from
their album Bellow) to play the Oxford folk festival. The 11-piece
group was an immediate success, its mix of strings and brass virtually
unprecedented in traditional English folk music. They took the band
into the studio that autumn to record a five-track teaser, E.P.onymous,
which proved very popular with fans as well as industry folk, and
settled into playing festival gigs (about the only ones that could
afford them), increasing their repertoire and bedding in as a group.
The first recording of Bellowhead, the folk big band led by the duo of
Spiers & Boden, offers a glimpse into their ambition over its five
tracks. The fiddles propel "Rambling Sailor," with Jon Boden's
impassioned vocals overlaid with brass, while the instrumental "Jack
Robinson" is still very much rooted in country dance. Even as it
blossoms with the addition of brass, its identity remains intact, even
as it tries to get funky. This is essentially an extension of what
Spiers & Boden were reaching for on their Bellow album (and two tracks
from that disc receive fuller arrangements here): "Copshawholme Fair"
twirls like a drunken circus clown, probably the most imaginative
arrangement on E.P.onymous where all the elements come together
perfectly. And there's a grandiosity and drama to "Prickle-Eye Bush"
that pushes and prods the melody along, even adding harmony vocals to
the chorus. Mostly, though, it's the sound of a band finding its feet
and style in playing together, with much greater things ahead.