Nova Lands

Borderlands: The Best of Scottish Folk Review by Timothy Monger
This hefty three-disc collection of Scottish folk music is culled from the late-'60s and '70s catalog of Transatlantic Records. While not necessarily representative of all that was going on in the Scottish folk revival of that period, Transatlantic was at the forefront with an impressive roster of artists like Shelagh McDonald, Ian Campbell Folk Group, Silly Wizard, Archie Fisher, Hamish Imlach, Bert Jansch, and many more. Of particular interest here are several tracks by Owen Hand, a much revered folk singer who recorded two records for Transatlantic before abandoning music altogether, lending him an almost cult-like status. Most of the music here is predominantly traditional in nature, though there are contemporary folk originals and folk-rock tracks as well.

Music from the Chocolate Lands offers a rich selection of songs from the world’s chocolate producing countries. Chocolate has been enjoyed for thousands of years. Used for medicinal and religious purposes, as well as for pleasure, traces of this "food of the gods" have been found in early Mayan pots dating back to 600 B.C.E. Europeans added sugar to the exotic concoction, and the chocolate craze gradually spread throughout the world. Now the cacao plant, which provides the raw cocoa beans for chocolate, is farmed in tropical locations around the globe, often far away from its Central and South American origins.

Beneath the surface of a toxic, dying world lives the evil Doctor Mindskull. He has created the ultimate weapon, using the planet’s own power to destroy it. Can mankind unite to find a way to stop this evil before it’s too late? The answer lies within the Nova Seed.

The unusual blend of zi flute, bagpipes, saxello and the sound of classical guitar distinguishes the unique richness of this duo, together with the choice of the masterpieces of one of the most interesting artists of the XXth century: Heitor Villa-Lobos. Some of the chosen pieces (such as the Preludes and the Suite Populaire Bresilienne dances) composed for guitar by Villa-Lobos by grasping and skilfully using its distinctive traits and its grammar, have been rearranged for this unusual duo. In these new arrangements the woodwind instrument fathers the melodies in constant dialogue with the guitar and generates improvisational moments with ethnic echoes.

Portrait of an 18th century composer and virtuoso from Antwerp.“Once in a while a disc lands on my desk with music by a composer I had never heard of. Johan Adam - or Joannes Adamus Josephus - Faber has no entry in New Grove and very little about him is known” - Johan van Veen

Since youth was youth and fashion was fashion, the dance floors of the Western world have periodically been swept by dance rages. Prior to World War I, Irene and Vernon Castle popularized a variety of dances, notably the Fox Trot and a number of animal dances. The 1920s saw huge popularity for the Charleston, Blackbottom, and Lindy, and in the late 1930s the rage began for wild jitterbugging to swing bands. But none of these dance crazes could match the early 1960s for their sheer variety of dance fads: there was a veritable explosion of all kinds of rock n roll and rhythm and blues dances and dance records, all emerging out of the popularity of the Twist. This survey covers some of the most distinctive and entertaining dances of that era up to the dance-crazed peak of 1962. Part of the History of Soul series, the accompanying illustrated booklet is written by Robert Pruter, acclaimed author of Chicago Soul, so get reading and get dancing!

Michael Portillo explores Canada, armed with his Appleton's 1899 Guidebook.