Ian Carr - Covers Traditional Melodies of Dalarna, Sweden '2022

Tracks list

       There’s a fine line between musical genius and a vortex of chaos
and Ian Carr has long danced along it like a reckless Highland dancer with his
laces undone.

fRoots’ own Andy Cronshaw once described him as “the most
innovative… and sympathetic guitarist that Britain has produced in years,
in any genre…” Since the 1980s, Carr has been widely revered for
forging his own path (and providing inspiration for others) in his own musical
projects such as Swåp and Timber and as a collaborative musician with Kathryn
Tickell, Kate Rusby, Eddi Reader, Kris Drever and others. A bold rhyth- mic
innovator, a master of harmony, and diamond fingered melody maker, he’s a
one-off.

He’s not one to blow his own trumpet (unless he’s blowing his own
trumpet, as he does indeed do on Who He? along with playing guitars, bass,
mandolins, singing etc) but Carr possesses a rare warmth and inner sparkle that
matches his exemplary guitar picking. That warmth courses through the veins of
this uplifting and long-overdue debut solo album: a gem, crammed with left-field
ideas and soundscapes, but at its heart, simplicity and beauty. It is quite an
emotional listen.

It’s an outward-looking and diversely- influenced piece of work (Carr is
resident in Sweden, so the Scandinavian flavours of Who He? are tangible)
enhanced by a won- derful cast of ‘Various Artists’ including his
talented wife Maria Jonsson on viola (and viola d’amore) and vocals. One
of my highlights here is Just Nu, a meltingly beautiful Swedish song with minor
key twists, featuring Carina Normansson’s vocal and fiddle. Tumbling
strings and playful birdsong fiddle lines are juxtaposed with dissonant
bell-pealing electric guitar chords. Absolutely nothing sits still for long!

The CD kicks off with the bright toned I’ll Call You with its vocodered
lyrics and wayward jangling chords and then builds into a lushly-layered string
anthem, underpinned by magical omnichord and quirky clicks and trumpet lines.
Title-track Who He? opens with a simple one-tone guitar loop, before washing
into a harmonium-driven, minimalist instrumental with cinematic effect,
evocative of passing clouds and rolling landscapes. Road Drill, a jaunty,
spiralling dance, opens into an expansive mid-section with Maria
Jonsson’s vocals. And this is the form: each original piece grows and
heads off at unexpected tan gents, but without ever feeling contrived.

Carr is magnanimous as a musician: he is of course capable of coruscating
melodic lines (check out I’ve Never Been To Oxford (Or Is That
Cambridge)) and rhythmic devilry, but he’s also as comfortable here in
the playful guitar / viola duet The Beans War or providing a setting for other
players to the fore eg the brittle kora of Lamine Cissokho on spoken word
experiment Talking Frances.

Who He? He’s a bloody wonder, that’s who he is.

Tracklist:
1 01. Ian Carr - Polska D-Dur Efter Pekkos Per (03:47)
1 02. Ian Carr - Sarkofagmarschen, (03:26)
1 03. Ian Carr - Barklarsas Polska (01:44)
1 04. Ian Carr - Barbro Pers Polska (01:56)
1 05. Ian Carr - Sjöns Hans Polska (04:18)
1 06. Ian Carr - Bingsjö-Schottis (04:52)
1 07. Ian Carr - Knöl-Lars Polska Efter Lejsme-Per, Malung (04:16)
1 08. Ian Carr - Blårocken Polska Efter Pekkos Per (03:53)
1 09. Ian Carr - Gudmunds-Kalles Polska Efter Petter Erik (02:12)
1 10. Ian Carr - Mora Yngre Brudmarsch (04:18)
1 11. Ian Carr - Pistvalsen (05:10)
1 12. Ian Carr - The Dales (04:55) 

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