June Tabor And The Oyster Band - Freedom And Rain FLAC album

If you don’t know June Tabor, this is the album to get as your introduction to her fine deep, throaty, melodic voice. She compels you to listen by drawing you in, rather then knocking you over with her passion and grace.

People would like to call this tradition British / Irish Folk Music, but they are way off base. Aside from the fact that the Oyster Band actually know more then three chord changes, include instruments like the fiddle, cello, viola and woodwinds, it’s as much a straight forward rock and roll album as the Clash ever was. The production was well considered and thought out, designed to accent the talents of each of the groups members ... and this labor of love will not be lost to your ears. The playing is exceptional, reminiscent of Steeleye Span, but with a more demanding vision.

Most of the songs found here are covers, including an entirely different take on The Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrows Parties,” which hardly feels as tragic as that done by Nico, but even more haunting. Along with Billy Braggs’s “Valentine’s Day Is Over” and several others, June has managed to stamp these with her own special brand, skillfully maneuvering her way through these numbers till in the end she owns them. Putting this group and this artist together was an act of pure genius, the texturing and flavors each brings is nothing short of relentless at times, and those of angels at others.

Miss this album and there is a huge hole in your collection.

Review by Jenell Kesler

Ryko text:
The lively, eclectic Oyster Band teams with one of folk music's most remarkable singers for the first time; included on this album are songs by The Velvet Underground, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg and The Pogues, as well as many fine original compositions. It is a marriage made in musical heaven; the sterling-voiced Queen of British folk, June Tabor, and the foot-stompin' renegades of electric folk, the Oyster Band. Tabor's interpretations of traditional songs like "Dark Eyed Sailor" and "Susie Clelland" are typically striking, and somewhat more upbeat than the sound of her solo albums. But what makes this album especially noteworthy are the delightful covers, including the Pogues' "Lullaby of London," Billy Bragg's "Valentine's Day is Over," Richard Thompson's "Night Comes In," and the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties." Both Tabor and the Oyster Band have topped the Folk Roots critics' and readers' polls for several years straight. FREEDOM AND RAIN and its accompanying tour also served to draw in many rock fans who may never have suspected that June and the Oysters could rock like this -- not to mention hardcore folkies who found that the worlds of folk and rock were never that far apart.

From Oysterband's biography:
Russ's last act was to record Freedom And Rain with us and the great English folk diva June Tabor. Although it was essentially a covers collection, the songs were shrewdly chosen, and the album was very well received, particularly in the US. "Imagine if Aerosmith and Madonna announced they were to tour together??!!?" said Rolling Stone, excitably. By the time we reached Los Angeles, queues stretched round the block.