In Gowan Ring
In Gowan Ring “Webs Among The Din” cdr
This is a limited edition cdr document of In Gowan Ring’s (really just B’ee, or B’eirth, and whoever he happens to be playing with at the time) 2005 wanderings. The songs here are live, with the exception of a recurring theme entitled Sur le Caveau, which is “extrapolated from improvisations made by Michael Northam, Theodore Holdt & B’ee during the first week of September at Sur le Caveau, .” The Sur le Caveau tracks open and close the cd, and serve as buffers between groups of live tracks (grouped according to the venues where they were recorded). The quality of the recordings varies, with some of them sounding like audience recordings complete with rude people talking during songs, and some of them, like the KPSU sessions recorded in , sounding excellent. Many of the songs on this release are available in other forms on other releases, but there are a few that so far haven’t surfaced elsewhere. Included are a couple of traditional numbers, Gently Johnny and Mad Michael (great song – also recorded by Fairport Convention and Sol Invictus, and probably a host of others). Clive Palmer’s Osiris is covered as well. Quite nice. Most of the songs are beautiful, acoustic affairs with gentle, wistful melodies and a slight mediaeval flavor. Live, they occasionally offset the quiet and the beauty with a silly song or two. The silly moment here comes in the form of the goofy singalong of Vegetable Man. This is the song that will wake you up if you try to drift off to sleep while listening to this.
Get this if you’re already a fan. If you’re new to In Gowan Ring, start with Hazel Steps to A Weathered Home or The Glinting Spade.
On second thought, just buy everything and help B’ee maintain his nomadic lifestyle.
