|
 Released
Jan 2007 under Compass
Records
See eamonncoyne.com
Review by Jack Foster
'House Jigs' opens the album, it's a jaunty,
optimistic sounding tune which showcases Coyne and Drever's
talents not only as individual musicians doing what they
do best - but also as a combined force to be reckoned with.
It's banjo ace Eamonn Coyne being a banjo ace and Orcadian
multi-instrumentalist Kris Drever being an Orcadian multi-instrumentalist
(though the Orcadian bit would apply regardless). The album
treds similair ground for the first few tracks, good old
toe tappping stuff, but nothing much in the way of 'songs'
to get your teeth into just yet.
But - never fear, whilst the album is packed
full of 'tunes', there are a couple of songs. Kris Drever,
(winner of BBC Radio 2's Horizon Award) sings on such songs
as 'Viking's Bride' & 'Walking In The Dew'. Following
on in a similair vain from the songs on 'BlackWater', Drever's
debut album - they're very much laments. This reviewer would
like to hear some more upbeat songs from Kris at some point,
though only out of curiosity as personally I do prefer the
sorts of songs he's chosen to sing.
The album ends with the title track, or
not - as the case may be. 'Honk Toot Sweet' - that's 'sweet'
not 'suite' (I know), which seems to have crossed paths
with a track called 'Honk Toot' which featured on Kris's
solo album. The two tracks are by no means the same, though
they are clearly different approaches to the same
tune. 'Honk Toot' being much more inkeeping with the feel
of Kris' solo album, 'Honk Toot Sweet' is a rip roaring
finalé packed full of energy.
It's one of those rare albums where good
musicians who are passionate about what they're doing get
together as friends and create something really unique.
It's not the first time we've heard from either Eamonn Coyne
or Kris Drever and if there's one thing you can be absolutely
sure about - it won't be the last, two folk legends in the
making.
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