KITTY MACFARLANE - Namer Of Clouds
Navigator Records NAVIGATOR104
This CD comes in a nicely produced three gate-fold card cover. Eight of the 11 songs are written by Kitty (full texts are given in the booklet enclosed in the package) and stand as beautiful poetry in their own right. The other three are: the dubiously traditional Morgan’s Pantry from the writing of Somerset folklorist Ruth Tongue; a stunning Appalachian song Frozen Charlotte; and a poem from Gerard Manley Hopkins, Inversnaid, set by Kitty. Her own songs are evocative of scene and situation. Kitty has a natural ‘little girl’ voice, but it is nevertheless clear and precise, and fits perfectly with the material.
The promotional literature that came with this album claimed that it “is an album that flows in an almost filmic way”. It does: it is very nearly a concept album and this is largely because of the theme of place and eco-awareness that runs throughout. But also because, just as the visual arts have their ‘objet trouvé’, so this album includes ‘found sounds’ which introduce, bridge, or highlight the songs. The result is an album that could not, or only with extreme difficulty, be reproduced on stage. That does not matter – but it is not an album to be put on random play. It is to listen to throughout by sitting back, closing your eyes (as long as you’re not driving) and watching the images that Kitty conjures with her singing – which are enhanced, but never overtaken, by the arrangements or the exemplary production.
Go and buy this CD.
www.kittymacfarlane.com
Tom Brown
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Many CDs we review are available from The Listening Post. Check to see if this CD is available. The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 126 of The Living Tradition magazine. |