Best British Isles trad folk album?

ff1d1l

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 20, 2010
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Snowdonia
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm catagorising this as traditional material played on acoustic instruments - so Fairport et al are out of the running.

Richard Thomson's pick is, I believe I read somewhere, Jock Tamson's Bairns - The Lasses Fashion. Which as a choice I have a lot of respect for - innovative, fresh material showcasing some of the more harmonically unusual Scottish songs and tunes not heard elsewhere, with just a hint of a modern slant presaging The Easy Club. I don't think this ever got a cd release, so as far as I know its vinyl all the way if anyone who hasn't heard it wants to check it out.

Plenty of people who's opinion I respect would rate And Irvine and Paul Brady's eponymous classic as the best ever. Has CD availabiltiy.

Planxty's first album...plenty of time for those whose choice is this too. Cd released so no availabiltiy issues.

Seventies/eighties, as with rock, produced some astonishingly beautiful and innovative material, although SQ can be variable. Honourable mentions to Ossian's Seal Song, Pentangle's Solomons Seal, The Oldham Tinkers - Oldhams Burning Sands, Alan Stivell's Renaissance of the Celtic Harp, The Bothy Band's Afterhours, Kevin Burke and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill's two albums Promenade and Portland. I don't think current material equals these, but that's a personal opinion and others may differ!

 

Vincent52

Wammer
Wammer
Aug 23, 2011
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North Yorkshire
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Graeme
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Any of Pentangle's offerings must be up there, although I would go for Sweet Child (CD2 the studio album) or the first album The Pentangle above Solomon's Seal.

I don't suppose Davy Graham can count given the rather eclectic influences.

 

meninblack

Wammer Plus
Wammer Plus
Jul 20, 2005
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HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
This is excellent:

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greybeard

Super Wammer
Wammer
Mar 7, 2010
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Cornwall
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Colin
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Does anyone on here listen to Landermason, a North eastern duo. Worth a listen IMO, I was listening to "The Reason" last night and really enjoyed it.

 

The Far North

Wammer
Wammer
Sep 11, 2012
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AKA
Peter
I'm catagorising this as traditional material played on acoustic instruments - so Fairport et al are out of the running.

Richard Thomson's pick is, I believe I read somewhere, Jock Tamson's Bairns - The Lasses Fashion. Which as a choice I have a lot of respect for - innovative, fresh material showcasing some of the more harmonically unusual Scottish songs and tunes not heard elsewhere, with just a hint of a modern slant presaging The Easy Club. I don't think this ever got a cd release, so as far as I know its vinyl all the way if anyone who hasn't heard it wants to check it out.
Available as a double CD according to eBay, although maybe not in the UK? Here's the direct link to the auction site if you're ready to spend, but be aware that this seller (and another selling for similar money) have several hundred negatives for items taking ages to arrive, so it's anybody's guess where they are coming from.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Lasses-Fashion-Jock-Tamsons-Bairns-Audio-CD/162357600928?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D1083d13c9c344e2bbdd2b787f80adc34%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D162105889801

 

ff1d1l

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 20, 2010
2,308
2,533
158
Snowdonia
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Available as a double CD according to eBay, although maybe not in the UK? Here's the direct link to the auction site if you're ready to spend, but be aware that this seller (and another selling for similar money) have several hundred negatives for items taking ages to arrive, so it's anybody's guess where they are coming from.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Lasses-Fashion-Jock-Tamsons-Bairns-Audio-CD/162357600928?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D1083d13c9c344e2bbdd2b787f80adc34%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D162105889801
Two albums on one cd...there you go, fill yer boots!

 

The Far North

Wammer
Wammer
Sep 11, 2012
115
19
48
Highland
AKA
Peter
Very different from the English folk tradition of artists such as Shirley Collins, but next time you're on Spotify I'd suggest the album Greengold by The Cast as worth a listen.

 
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