From: Pete Fyfe [petefyfe_at_aol_dot_com]

Sent: 06 June 2012 08:55

Subject: Pete Fyfe: Harbour Of Songs CD review & cover

Attachments: Harbour_Of_Songs.jpg

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Harbour Of Songs (The Stables STABLESCD001)

"Harbour Of Songs" is a project?excuse the pun?helmed by Adrian McNally and funded by The Stables arts centre near Milton Keynes providing an interesting background coupled with a selection of ?folk-styled' music artists as diverse as Ralph McTell, Janis Ian and Guy Chambers. I won't go into much detail here (you'll have to buy the CD to find out more) but the basic concept comes from donated pieces of wood to help build a boat and songs loosely based on the stories of those donations. This may not at first sound the most riveting of reasons to purchase a copy of the album but the attention to detail and judicious use of arrangements and instrumentation harking back to the glory days of Clifford T Ward and Peter Skellern really evokes a sense of nostalgia that musically I'm pleased to see is currently on an upward ?trend'. As a frequent visitor to the seaside town of Hastings I feel a particular affinity to Nick Hemming's "White Fish Authority" and for other reasons?too painful to go into detail here?with Nick Hornby's "The Ruler" which prove vivid reminders of a bygone era - mind you, if plimsolls need to be donated for a similar project please let me know. I must admit that listening to this recording was a pleasure and if, like me, you hanker for a bit of wistful reminiscing you'll be hard pushed to find a more evocative representation on what is, after all, some pretty obscure subject matter. www.stables.org

PETE FYFE