Karen Tweed
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Essentially Invisible to the Eye - Karen Tweed Album Review
Album Review
When I was a nipper, my dad had an old accordion tucked away in the loft. Being four years old and vertically-challenged, I couldn't reach it to prod the buttons or squeeze the blessed thing. Some three years later, he sold it. Gutted. Always fancied a squeeze-box to play with. I did have a go with it at 7 years of age, but found banging the living hell out of a tin drum far more exciting. Well, you would at seven, wouldn't you. Bye bye, accordion.
Karen Tweed picked up the same instrument at eleven years old - no wonder she's made an album as good as this. Her previous releases have involved other musicians but "Essentially..." features the enigmatic teacher and musician on her tod, performing a bewitching array of English, French, Gaelic, American and, you-name-it, global passages of deftly-realised accordion playing that will either delight or frustrate - Tweed's approach might be an acquired taste after all but, trust me, this is one of the most absorbing albums that you will ever hear - as long as you like the instrument in question!
So what you get with "Essentially...." is a quintet of medleys that covers the aforementioned regions of the world, gently coaxed from that most cumbersome, yet understated, instruments too commonly associated with dancing men with hankies hanging out of their arse-pockets. That doesn't happen here. For example, "Hanoria" features a self-composed piece, as well as French-flavoured vignettes all perfectly nurtured and served on a plate for you, dear listener. And so it continues.
The other four long tracks are combinations of the familiar ("Edelweiss", "Que Sera Sera"), the quizzical ("Mattie and Karines", "Pamela Rose Grant") and self-composed ("Lovely Lorraine", "No Better Friends"), and none of this lovely music falls short of expectations. I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed folk-music as much, suffice to say that if you seriously need to switch off from the shitty world out there, pop this on just prior to hitting the pillow, cooking your favourite meal or boarding a train to commuterville. Karen Tweed doesn't just keep you calm, she helps you carry on. Radio stations, play this now. Festivals, book her now.
Gigs
- Mon 11th Jun 2012
- Karen Tweed, Kevin Dempsey
- Ruskin House Club (Croydon)
- Fri 20th Jul 2012
- Karen Tweed
- Courthouse - Otley (Leeds)
