Music : That's Proper Folk

Rating: - Thats really proper folk
Great,well worth the money. From a folk fan of many years standing.

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Rating: - superb sampler at a bargain price
The lovely people at Proper Music have done us proud. For just £1.99- less than the price of a cup of coffee- they have put together a 13-track sampler on which there is not a single duff track. In fact, there are a number of absolutely stunning moments here for anyone who loves quality songwriting.

As has been noted, this is a sampler, not a full-priced compilation, so there is a certain amount of mix and match involved. Personally, I don't think that's a problem. Not while we have the beauty of Cara Dillon's voice, a superbly-constructed song from Martin Simpson, a slightly 'experimental' moment from Eliza Carthy's new album, a great version of a traditional sea shanty... all this and the song from the Magner's ad too...

Yes, not all of it is what you'd call 'traditional' folk, but in case nobody's noticed, 'folk' has long since reached out to the mainstream and these days embraces a wide variety of artists. Who decides what folk is anyway? No one would say Eliza Carthy is not a folk artist, but her song here is certainly the least 'folky' on display.

Enough of the inverted commas. This is a truly fantastic selection of songs, close to five-star standard at any price, but at this price I can't believe everyone isn't buying it. Get it with a couple of other albums and you won't even have to pay postage.

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Rating: - Not proper folk
The title seems specific enough, but is a misnomer. This is a variable hotch-potch - covers multiple genres - a bad thing given the title! For example the first track is a trumpet based samba type track with most of the lyrics being talked over the backing rather than being sung ... didn't bode well. I love Martin Simpson and his live track is excellent...possibly better than the album track.... but I had this track already. Just don't expect too much fiddle, squeezebox etc. Interestingly it seems to get more like 'proper folk' as the CD progresses. The first time I played it I only got half way before I felt cheated and turned it off. I then played the second half in the car and replayed the earlier tracks. I don't dislike any of it ... just labelled incorrectly in my view.

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Rating: - Nice, but how folkish is it?
Not a regular visitor to this genre, but this CD seems to lurch around between eighties All About Eve-style, to American country, to a vaguely mariachi style track sung with a Scots accent. It's all nice enough, and with a price tag to please, but it's not my understanding of earthy folk music.

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Rating: - Good modern stuff
Folk music (what exactly is it?) gets a poor reception nowadays as being only fit for 1960's hippies. This album is brimful of new exiting stuff which certainly deserves a hearing. Some of the tracks (Mr Magnifico for example) are outstanding. Give it a go, you may even enjoy it.