Alasdair Roberts - A Wonder Working Stone '2013

Tracks list

       It's been said that the compositions of Glasgow-based folk artist
Alasdair Roberts sound as if they were written hundreds of years ago. This is
certainly testament to the Will Oldham protégé's nigh-on two-decade quest
to promote the communal and social aspect of folk music, rather than the
confessional and personal approach taken by many acoustic guitar-wielding
singer/songwriters who have popularized the genre in recent decades. While
Roberts has been acclaimed for successfully tackling whole albums of traditional
material with considerable aplomb -- see his sparse but assured 2001 full solo
debut, Crook of My Arm; 2005's unflinching collection of murder ballads, No
Earthly Man; or the tender and well-researched 2010 set Too Long in This
Condition -- never has his music sounded so universal and inclusive than it does
on this set of originals. From the invitation to the gunpowder and wine-fueled
"The Merry Wake" through to the uncharacteristically jovial, brass-fueled
"Scandal and Trance/We Shall Walk Through the Streets of the City," Roberts
introduces listeners to an array of characters -- "the joker," "the jester,"
"the banker," "the broker" -- whose key message is "Get over your tiny
self/Because all days will end in joy." It's not just these archetypal figures
who provide the revelry and camaraderie on A Wonder Working Stone. Listeners
also get this in spades from the accomplished cast of musicians who build upon
Roberts' idiosyncratic open-tuned acoustic guitar work and sway around his
dense, lyrical songs, such as the sprawling and philosophical nine-minute "The
Wheels of the World/Conundrum." The electric guitar of former Trembling Bells
player Ben Reynolds nods to that of Richard Thompson across a number of the
tracks here, but what really impresses is the effortlessness with which the
instruments meld to realize Roberts' vision of collectivism. Also, his way of
dealing with weighty themes -- the stubbornness of fading love on "Fusion of
Horizons," mortality on "The End of Breeding" -- lends the album a gravitas that
prevents it from becoming a mere exercise in celebration. Although Roberts
attended lectures and delved into the archives at the School of Scottish Studies
to shore up material for previous albums, it's fascinating to find that his
dogged research has loaded these self-penned pieces with all of the mystery,
language, and myth usually found in years-old traditional ballads.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Alasdair Roberts - The Merry Wake (6:16)
1.02 - Alasdair Roberts - The Year of the Burning (5:44)
1.03 - Alasdair Roberts - Fusion of Horizons (5:53)
1.04 - Alasdair Roberts - The Wheels of the World/The Conundrum (9:38)
1.05 - Alasdair Roberts - The End of Breeding (8:07)
1.06 - Alasdair Roberts - Song Composed in December (6:25)
1.07 - Alasdair Roberts - Brother Seed (5:51)
1.08 - Alasdair Roberts - Gave the Green Blessing (5:36)
1.09 - Alasdair Roberts - Scandal and Trance/We Shall Walk Through the Streets
of the City (7:42)
1.10 - Alasdair Roberts - The Laverock in the Blackthorn/Oganaich An Oir-Fhuilt
Bhuidhe/Neil Gow's Lament For His Second Wife (6:22)

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