Search - Maddy Prior, June Tabor :: Silly Sisters

The Fairest Flowers of Womankind

Ribbly | NL | 11/11/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fresh from the success of Steeleye Span's "All Around My Hat" album, Maddy Prior returned to a much more grassroots folk sound with the talented June Tabor as 'the Silly Sister'. This album's got everything English folk has to offer: playfulness, heart-wrenching emotion and a thumping, colourful instrumentation that compliments the girls' voices to a tee.

And what about those voices? Well, Prior is an acquired taste- the shrill timbre and muddled dialect can be a little irksome, but the sheer power of her voice makes it one of the most important in British trad. Tabor is far more accessible, especially on the standout track, "Geordie", where Tabor's charged, blue alto perfectly captures the ecstasy of love regained.

Not a glamorous album, the production on 'Silly Sisters' is dusty and naive, keeping the provincial feel of the songs very much alive.

All in all, classic trad that anyone who appreciates the genre should investigate."