Roots

Latest CD releases reviewed

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Folk Off Sunday Best ***

The so-called new folk movement is a pretty disparate bunch, with music varying from the deep and meaningful to the weird and meaningless and a fair number of points between. The references are also wide-ranging, with a broad mix of folk and soft-pop influences. This double CD, compiled by BBC radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank, is divided into two sections, the "British Isles" and North America. The British, led by the excellent Tuung, Clayhill and The Hat, sound more, well, British, their music infused with the sense of rural idyll and coloured by gorgeous melodies and quirky arrangements; the Americans are stranger in a more predictable way, though Micah P Hinson's Yard of Blonde Girls and the stunning late-night seduction of Readymade FC's Snow Lion have the mark of quality that distinguishes the best of these 30 tracks. Joe Breen

ED DEANE
Slideshow Blue Navigator ****

Ed Deane is one of the forgotten figures of the early Irish rock scene. I can still see him, long hair falling over his eyes, as, left-handed, he played his right-handed guitar upside-down with Blueshouse. It was an amazing sight, but no less amazing than the sounds he made, particularly when playing slide guitar. He loved the blues, but it has taken him well over 30 years to finally make an album of his own after a lifetime playing for others. It is typically low-key. There is nothing showy about his playing, but the 12 instumental tracks display his craft, the sureness of his touch and the breadth of his influences. The blues are there, of course, but there are also nods to country and rock 'n' roll in a selection of tunes spiced with humour and attitude, eg Surfin with the Mummy, and on which he gets great support from old friend Eamon Murray on sax and harmonica. www.eddeane.com Joe Breen