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MACLAINE COLSTON & SAUL ROSE - Sand And Soil (Get Real Records GGRCD. 014)

Hammered-dulcimer virtuoso Mac (veteran of Cythara and Pressgang, and prodigy of Jim Couza) and melodeon legend Saul (Edward II, Whapweasel, Faustus, Waterson: Carthy) originally formed a duo 12 years ago while with Eliza Carthy’s Kings Of Calicutt, but only now are we treated to a pukka joint album. And they make a mighty sound indeed (a big sound for just two players, one might say) – the unusual instrumental combination producing a distinctive, brilliant and rich-textured noise, both irresistibly punchy and resolutely clangorous. The duo’s crackling technical proficiency provides a canny vehicle for their sense of abundant enjoyment in whatever they play, too, while the powerful (yet also mildly understated) nature of their characteristic musical backdrop perfectly matches the bold confidence of the vocal work.

Unusually for a debut album, the tracks originate from three points on a lengthy time continuum, with recordings made last year sitting comfortably alongside “digital restorations” of tracks recorded back in 1996 and 1998 (and I’d challenge anyone to spot the difference in terms of artistic consistency or approach). Of the disc’s ten tracks, seven are songs, all but two of these being derived from traditional sources. There’s a truly infectious forward thrust, a proudly gutsy drive about the duo’s renditions, with an almost urban-folk demeanour to tracks like The Lazy Farmer. Methinks perhaps their Bold Fisherman is a tad too brisk and choppy for to be “a-rowing with the tide”, and I doubt anyone could cap M. Carthy’s famous version of Devil And The Feathery Wife…. but there’s no denying the excitement generated by the duo on this and other similarly vibrant interpretations.

Mark Colgan (Mac’s father) brings his vocal chops to British Man O’ War and Barbaree, also contributing the tune for the latter, while the two non-traditional songs are John Martyn’s anti-war plea Don’t You Go (poignantly sung by guest Teph Kay) and Mac’s (partial) setting of Tennyson’s epic Locksley Hall. The disc is completed by three contrasted instrumental tracks: a mixed set, a strathspey-and-hornpipe combo, and the uplifting, ostensibly programmatic Emily’s Waltz (composed by Mac), the latter tune featuring the wondrously fulsome sonorities of the rarely-heard bass dulcimer. Mac and Saul (or should we call ’em Sand and Soil?) have produced an intelligently dynamic album that with its defiantly different sound really makes you sit up and take notice while imparting a high feelgood factor.

David Kidman