Description
Drag City Records release the new album by Alasdair Roberts & Friends, entitled A Wonder Working Stone. A collection of varied new epics, Alasdairs latest is by turns metaphysical, cosmological, phantasmagorical, topical, personal and universal. This is Alasdairs most ambitious, fully-realized work to date (an extraordinary claim following the incredible excursions made on his recent releases Spoils and Too Long In This Condition).
A Wonder Working Stone continues Alasdairs long-standing love affair and deeply creative interaction with the traditional music of his native Scotland (and beyond), offering an idiosyncratic and nuanced radicalization of that tradition. Indeed, he questions the very notion of tradition in the modern age, with songs addressing topics such as mortality (as ever), life, love, sex, faith and history.
The arrangements of A Wonder Working Stone are dense with the music of friends, realizing the lifeblood of community, and throughout the album, they are presented with raucously cinematic flair. In the middle of it all, Roberts delivers his unique scordatura finger style guitar and distinctive tenor vocals with the backing of a core group of among Glasgows finest musicians Ben Reynolds (electric guitar), Shane Connolly (drums), Rafe Fitzpatrick (fiddle, rap), Stevie Jones (bass) and with special guest vocals from Olivia Chaney, as well as appearances from many other fine players on strings, brass, flute and accordion, all of which edify and expand the musical world of Alasdair Roberts and all those friends who listen.
Alasdair Roberts writes new songs that seem to be hundreds of years old. He also sings songs that are hundreds of years old but sound like they were written yesterday. He is the most exciting young musician currently working within the folk tradition of these islands and is, in my opinion, a kind of genius. [] A Wonder Working Stone shows the artist moving forward again [] to add to a body of work that is both crucial and beautiful Robin Robertson, author of The Wrecking Light, shortlisted for the 2010 TS Eliot Prize For Poetry.
A Wonder Working Stone is the eighth acclaimed album from Alasdair Roberts, and his second with & Friends, following 2010s album of traditional songs, Too Long In This Condition.
The music of Alasdair Roberts straddles the border between contemporary pop music and traditional folk music, drawing new listeners from both sides of the divide, as well as commentators from the scholarly realms.
Alasdair Roberts is a touring machine, with and without & Friends. There will be a full British tour with a big six-person band in 2013.
Alasdair has a constant slate of new musical projects, both as a solo and in collaboration with others (witness 2011s Urstan album with Mairi Morrison), including ventures in theatre, film and academia, with many more being developed for the immediate future.
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