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Eliza Carthy is one of the rising stars of the "new roots" scene in Britain. An excellent fiddler and a pretty good singer, she seems to have inherited her well-known musical parents' (Norma Waterson and
Martin Carthy's) dual focus, striving to proclaim her country's rich folk heritage while also looking towards popular music for revitalization.
Red is the more aggressive of the two CDs in this set. Her band uses reggae, jazz, '90s rave, and '60s folk-rock to spice up old folk songs and a few originals--some strongly imitative of early Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention. The winners of this set are actually the ones that stray as far from tradition as they can--mom's "Stumbling On" has a nice barrelhouse groove, and Eliza's own "Russia (Call Waiting)" pushes the electronic limits--and it's a grand time.
Rice is the more solid folk set, and possibly the better of the two CDs. Backed by Saul Rose on accordions, the mysterious "Fontenots" on guitar and vocals, Ed Boyd on guitar, and Eleanor Waterson and Lucy Adams on vocals, this is straight ahead power folk, with lots of attitude and energy. Anyone who doubts this young artist's right to be in the British folk literati need only listen to the medley "Zycanthos Jig" to feel her grace, skill, and understanding of the music.
Red Rice is an adventurous project for a young artist; and two full hours of music may have been a stretch, but the magical high moments are many and well worth the exploration.
--Louis Gibson
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