As far as I can tell, every little hamlet harbours some rad trad types with lots of electronic equipment in their garages. Hell, some of them have even invented instruments, as did Garry Finlayson of Shooglenifty with his souped up banjax. Ah, Shooglenifty. I’ve raved before, and I have to say that Arms Dealer’s Daughter both takes the band into some new territory, and has won over this reviewer. In addition to the inventive Finlayson, Shooglenifty are Quee Macarthur on bass, taking over for Conrad Ivitsky, who has left the group, another newcomer, Tasmania native Luke Plumb on bouzouki ( replacing Ian Macleod), Angus Grant on fiddle, James Mackintosh on percussion, drums and piano, and Malcolm Crosbie on acoustic and electric guitars. As with several of the other groups playing what Shooglenifty call acid croft, the lads have been or are involved in numerous other projects, from Chillun, Sola, Sunhoney, Capercaillie, Mouth Music, James Grant, and Michael McGoldrick. In fact, for awhile it seemed that every disc I picked up from Scotland involved James Mackintosh, which does raise questions some question about my plans for a non-stop, wall to wall musical vacation there. For now I’ll have to content myself with these discs.
Now, the first playing of this disc didn’t thrill me as much as I’d hoped it would. Ok, so my expectations were a bit on the high side — I’ve been a fan of the band for some time. But when I hit repeat, I realized why this disc is such a big step forward for this group. It’s the tunes! They are much more prominent than on previous efforts, although as I mentioned in my review of Solas Shears the albums have been getting more like their live shows — bringing the melodies out of the mix — for some time. And it works. As well, the new blood, and the absence of Jim Sutherland on synthesizer, make this disc a departure, and a step forward in the Shoogle sound.
Having heard the band live, I can attest to the fact that Shooglenifty’s wild sound is actually precisely planned, and played, and this time it’s the melodies that drive the tunes. Make no mistake, this is still a heady mix — the stripped down sound is by no means bare bones, but it’s a more rollicking, relaxing ride; the fiddle and the banjo remain the anchors of the Shooglenifty sound. Newcomer Plum contributed several of the tunes, the opener “Glenuig Hall” and “Heading West,” both with a tinge of the Balkans to my ear. Grant and Mackintosh also contributed some very successful material, but I have to say that I really liked Plumb’s offerings, expecially “Tune for Bartley”, which closes the album on an easy going note. This disc is likely to pleasantly surprise long time fans, and attract new ones with its accessibility and impeccable craftsmanship.
(Compass, 2003)
