New layout to celebrate my first year of blogging. Not sure if I like it but I think that's just because it's different - what do you think?

"Davy has no sense of what wasn't allowed" so said someone in the sleeve notes of the 1964 classic flok album FOLK ROOTS NEW ROUTES Davy Graham on guitar and Shirley Collins singing - which I have just gotten as a present from my partner on CD.

Graham's guitar playing is so attention grabbing that, I hate to say it, but you almost forget that Collins is in there as well singing. His strange arrangements and masterful playing hits you immediately with track 1 NOTTAMUN TOWN. Then when you get to track 4 BLUE MONK which is his first instrumental on the album, you are completely sucked in.
Track 6 REYNARDINE is where you first hear Graham's flirtation with Hindustani music, a track which does work on guitar but one you can imagine being divine on a sitar.
This album is a very different world of music to me and I am not yet
fully attuned. All the titles seem to be in a different language and don't mean much to me. And I am not sure if I will ever be a total convert to folk music as I always find that the high pitch of the female singers is not rich enough for me.
Track 8 RIF MOUNTAIN, another Graham instrumental is a brilliant composition and is quite magnificent, more so than his famous track ANJI which does not appear on this CD.
Whilst it is important that these really old songs are recorded to CD for ever, I feel some of them are mislaced when being sung by Collins. BOLL WEEVIL HOLLER for example which is a song about corn fields in Texas, really needs a knarled male voice with a blues slant to it.

Off to belfast on business this afternoon till Sunday. Ipod already in the bag loaded up with Elvis Costello's The Delivery Man and Ry Cooders Chavez Ravine.

..more later.