The Horse’s Ha “Of the Cathmawr Yards” (Hidden Agenda, 2009)

Of Dylan Thomas, Zombies and Freakwater

Some records just exude class, the cast list here is enough to prick interest, Janet Beveridge Bean (11th Dream Day, Freakwater), Fred Lonberg-Holm (everyone in Chicago and beyond) are the marquee names but it is James Elkington (formerly of the Zincs) who holds the whole thing together. He wrote most of the songs and his unwavering baritone draws the ear toward it with a gravitational force, helping this is the wonderfully fluid rhythmic backbone supplied by Nick Macri and Charles Rumback which is full of sensitive fills and perceptive scene setting with the drumming of Rumback the equal of the great Jim White. All that and sop to the literary minded of us with the Dylan Thomas references in the name and the title, it raises expectations. Overall it sounds like a hybrid of Dirty Three, Freakwater and Bill Callahan’s recent work, which you must admit forms an excellent starting point.

There’s a dense forest of strings, tough brambles barbed with crochets and quavers on ‘Map of Stars’ as Lonberg-Holm’s cello subverts the usual image of the cello as a graceful elegiac instrument, instead the strings sound as if they’re being flailed by a besom of wet branches. It’s an exciting and compelling moment within a song that starts and ends in a more conventional style. ‘Liberation' starts with the cello exploring the fringes of jazz with help from Macri and Rumback who pilot this instrumental excursion to the margins of what you can achieve with imagination and skill within the folk idiom.

It’s not all cello virtuosity, there are good songs here and Bean’s voice is, as ever, clear and pure which melds well with the deeper sonorous tones of Elkington; they bring to life songs like ‘Plumb’ or ‘The Piss Choir’. There’s space in the songs for all of the impeccably arranged elements to create a good impression and a lasting one.

Date review added:  Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Reviewer:  David Cowling
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Do go gently into the website