KATE & RAPHAEL - Les Objets Trouvés
Private Label DECYOU01
An unusual combination: Kate Young plays Scottish fiddle and sings, while Raphaël Decoster plays 3-row diatonic accordion in a northern French style. Together they produce a contemporary, jazzy sort of folk music - the funky scat of Tanz Tanz Tanz with a bit of Klezmer, the French waltz Swimmings Of The Head, gentle pieces reminiscent of English and Scandinavian traditions, and the punchier Jardin De Pamplemousse. You can never have too much pamplemousse, after all. There's no real Celtic influence that I can hear, but central Europe is well represented and some tracks venture further east.
Fiddle and button box work well together, in between the vocals or simply as an instrumental duo. Mushrooms On The Moon is a nice example, starting with a slow dance air in tight duet, before thumb piano and voice add an eerie edge to the piece. Kate's vocals are generally wordless, providing an extra melody line or veering off into another dimension: the exception is Cutty Wren, a very old song of peasant revolts, sung straight and followed by an instrumental reworking. This isn't improvisation - it's too planned and polished for that - but Young and Decoster certainly spring off in unexpected directions. The technical skill and musicianship on Les Objets Trouvés is impressive, and it's worth the effort of getting to know this music.
www.kateyoungmusic.com
www.raphaeldecoster.com
Alex Monaghan
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