Out of the Cut
With John Kirkpatrick on accordion and Howard Evans on trumpet liberally sprinkled around this album, it's almost a dress rehearsal for their Brass Monkey group, which the CD immediately precedes. While the mix of instruments might seem unlikely, it works in a quintessentially English way, with Carthy's voice and rhythmic guitar playing as the linchpins. The centerpiece songs of this collection ("The Song of the Lower Classes," "Rufford Park Poachers," and "Rigs of the Time") are unabashedly political, and powerful stuff indeed. This is Carthy expanding the possibilities of the seam he's mined, but never forgetting where it all began. "Old Horse" is nothing less than inspiring, and "Jack Rowland," the album's epic, offers magic. This record is all the proof you need of Carthy's vision.--Chris Nickson