E2K
Shift
Topic 2001
This is part of a phenomenon called Albionization, or the tendency of interesting ethnicish music to slide into a "pop" chasm unless acted upon by some concerted force against or general apathy towards doing so, and for the Brits to think that's just great. This new incarnation of Edward II and the Red Hot polkas features a low key, somewhat jazzy sound, and the vocals of Kellie While. The old reggae of E2 has "shifted" to a sort of Pan-Tropical sound (see note) highlighted by a lot of melodic "percussion" ...xylophone? marimbas?...effected by Kwame Yeboah, which sounds pretty good to me, though perhaps not as vivid and folky as the earlier band.
Kellie's vocals are quite a shift, too, and cause the band to perhaps be categorized as country dance-world fusion-Jesus Christ Superstar fusion. I know her genre must be Adult Contemporary because I mistook the title"Everdance" for "Evidence." This adult contemporary sensibility is most omnipresent on the slower songs, as the traditional "The Water Is Wide;" Kellie peps up on the perkier tracks like "The Farmer's Cursed Wife," and becomes more creative. What is problematic is that the style is not so different from that of the gent who used to sing....Glenn?...but the effect is.
My favorite track is an instrumental, "The Blackthorn Stick/The Rakes Of Kildare/The Rocks Of Penrhyn." Simon Care's melodeon, a haven in the too-bright day, obliviously continues to pump out the dance music, and I like that.
NOTE 6/16. Now that I read fRoots I discover that it is High Life that is so prominant in Edward's new line-up, and that they are classifying themselves as maybe folk-jazz or folk-Africa. So perhaps "highlifed" would be a better word than "highlighted."-jg
The Columbia Gypsy