Track Listing

1. Whispers Of Summer
2. Train Song
3. Beautiful Girl
4. Whole
5. Poor Little Me
6. Company Of Men
7. Perfect
8. Wildwood
9. Breathe
10. Fuse

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58564 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Having ridden the folk wave of her family connections throughout her early career--this is already her ninth album in various forms--Eliza Carthy's major-label debut has to largely stand or fall on its own merits. Many who came to her through her work in the traditional field may well feel unable to make the leap to the new sounds here, while to the mainstream audience at which this is so clearly aimed she will be just another unknown. The folk roots of her solo albums (Heat, Sound & Light and the justly acclaimed Red Rice) have been largely abandoned for a radio-friendly, pop-orientated approach. The more organic instruments (Carthy's own fiddle being no exception) have been relegated to mere backing for the dominant keyboards, layered vocals and programming. The too obvious but still valid comparison is with The Corrs. The statement of intent is even clearer when it comes to the material, all bar one of the 10 tracks being self-penned. Previous folk tales have been replaced with the kind of crass line which introduces "The Company Of Men". Tellingly, the best track is the only cover--a moody trip-hop run through Paul Weller's "Wild Wood". The album is best approached as an entry point to far better examples of Carthy's work, particularly Red Rice and the massively underrated Kings Of Calicutt album, still the best release to bear her name. --Phil Udell

CD Description
As the daughter of Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy, fiddler/singer Eliza Carthy was raised in the bosom of British folk, and followed its path until 2000's ANGELS & CIGARETTES, aone-album dalliance with the world of major labels and mainstream pop/rock. While Carthy's voice and melodic sensibility remain rooted in folk here, the arrangements venture into everything from trip-hop beats to bouncy electronic pop. It didn't last long, as she returned quickly to a more traditional folk style for her next few albums.

Customer Reviews

leave the poor dear alone!
you can see from these reviews what a brave step eliza has made with this album. although it isn't folk for the most part, the fused, pro-tooled songs are in themselves good, even if the breakbeat-folk-pop isn't to everyone's liking. i too was shocked on the first listen, but given time and warning it has grown on me. there are now decades of trad on record, so why shouldn't we want to try something a little progressive?

Well, I like it!
Okay, it may be no red rice, but this is pop music as it should be, combining the best bits of modern pop with folky melodies and it works really well. The only let down is poor little me, where Eliza goes a little bit too far into self indulgence, but apart from that, just sit back and let the melodies wash over you. This is the album the Corrs could only ever dream of making

Not a traditional folk album, but still a good album
Okay, so you probably fall into one of two categories of individual here.

1)Folk fan looking for more Eliza Carthy folk music
2)Music fan

Not to sy the two are mutually exclusive, but if you know that you are in category 1, then this album is probably best not for you.

I personally love Eliza's earlier folkier material, and I lov Anglicana which is a clear mile away from this album. This album, while still containing folk elements embraces other styles some of which work brilliantly (most notably the sublime Perfect) and one or two of which do not.

This is a great album, but if you hate folk music you really aren't going to be interested. And if you are a folk purist or were particularly in love with Eliza's folkier work, then this isn't going to be your cup of tea either.

So, a great album, but it might just be worth listening to one or two tracks beforehand. Just so you know what you're getting - Electro-Folk-Pop perhaps?