Published on November 26th, 2017 | by Mike Ainscoe
0India Electric Co: Seven Sisters - Album Review
INDIA ELECTRIC CO.
‘SEVEN SISTERS’
Cole Stacey and Joseph O’Keefe’s second EP in a series of three; a trilogy that contrasts city and country themes. The Guardian, The Independent and Tom Robinson are all fans, what’s the Bandwagon view?
We reviewed their EC1M EP a while back, so here comes the next instalment; six tracks that explore traditional music from not quite far and wide. From Scottish ballads to Northumbrian jigs with a three century span, the music was recorded in the National Trust’s Sutton House in Hackney and an empty Devonshire home that brings together the urban and rural settings.
‘Seven Sisters’ is another recording that’s been produced with financial assistance from the EFDSS Creative Bursary Scheme. Another collection too that follows their mission to blend city with countryside and surprise surprise, more of the same in the usual way of working that takes songs and tunes, merges them by twisting the words and whisking the tunes off in winding directions to generate a new arrangement.
It’s a working method in which the two are becoming increasingly adept. ‘the trad Scots song ‘Tak The Buckles Frae Your Sheen’ becomes reinvented as ‘Take The Buckles’ while W.H.Audens’ poem ‘Age Of Anxiety’ is mined and mixed in with English fiddle tunes and Saharan blues. The likes of the words from ‘Alice Gray’ get partnered up with the ‘Rusty Gulley’ hornpipe and there’s an extensive tune set that’s probably the highlight of the album that sees it gliding through a series of lively jigs until the hornpipe ‘Barbara Allen’ winds up the set.
Rounding off the EP and maybe setting the scene for the final release, the familiarly rueful ‘Flash Company’ is taken down a notch with an arrangement that matches the lyrical mood.
See the video for the opening track ‘The Gulley’ here:
The official India Electric Co. website is here
They are also on Facebook and Twitter
About the Author
Mike Ainscoe Mike's mellowed in his old age, discovering the delights of traditional folk and acoustic music and the constant stream of new music coming through his passion as a gig-goer, music photographer and writer. With favourite artists and favourite songs which change daily, even hourly, he adds another spoke to the Sonic Bandwagon wheel of fortune.
