Susan McKeown
and Lindsey Horner
THROUGH THE BITTER FROST AND SNOW
Prime CD 36
visit Susans's website
and here's Lindsey's site
also avaliable on amazon
This is one of the more interesting discs I have heard in a time. Susan McKeown's voice is a very haunting instrument, and it takes the lead on most of this disc. There is an Irish accent, however it seems to stronger at some times than others. The instrumentation is sparse and very bleak at times as a reflection of the moods of most of the songs. It is a picture of the long winter suffered in Ireland, Scotland, and New England. The weather is cloudy and grey, color has been banished, and it is not freezing cold but thoroughly bone numbing. It is not quite raining but at the same time if you go out you come back in soaked through the heaviest layers. There are periods of respite such as in GREEN GROW'TH THE HOLLY, which is done in an upbeat Christmas carol mode. CHRIST CHILD is another very pleasant break from the bleak tone that has been set. This is not a disc I will put on all the time, however when it is on it is startling at times, in a very interesting way. Maybe it is a good alternative to all the Joy To The World at all costs that is pervasive at this time of year. Plus there is a stunning version of AULD LANG SYNE. It is stark, but not without moments of joy. I will confess to prefer a happier tone to my music (the message can be bleak but...). I am glad I have heard this disk.
Songs, writers, and players
1. Through the Bitter Frost and Snow - McKeown -
Susan - vocals / Lindsey - guitar, bass and tin whistle / Michelle Kinney - cello / Jeff Berman - drums
2. Winter King - McKeown - Susan vocal and guitar / Lindsey - bass clarinets and electric bass / Jeff Berman - drums
3. When All The Songs Were Sad - Horner - Susan vocals / Lindsey - guitar and bass / Jeff Berman - drums and percussion / Carol Sharar - viola
4. Green Grow'th the Holly - trad.- arr. McKeown - no credits
5. Bold Orion - Leo Kretzner - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - bass / Pete McCann - electric guitar / Jeff Berman - drums
6. Songs of Forgetting - Horner - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - bass
7. Christ Child - trad. arr. Horner and McKeown - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - guitar and bass / Jeff Berman - drums
8. Dun Oi'che U'd i mBeithil - trad. arr. Horner and McKeown - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - harmonium and bass / Hillary Jackson - mistress of the bellows
9. All Hallows - Horner - Lindsey - bass / Jeff Berman - drums
10. Coventry Carol - trad. arr. Horner and McKeown - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - bass / Michelle Kinney - cello
11. There is No Rose - trad. arr. Horner and McKeown - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - bass and tenor recorder / Jeff Berman - percussion / Susan, Lindsey, Jeff, and Hillary - chorus
12. Auld Lang Syne - Robert Burns - Susan - vocals / Lindsey - bass and harmonium / Hillary Jackson - mistress of the bellows
13. I Sing of a Maiden - trad. arr. Horner and McKeown after Hadley) - Susan - vocals / Lindsey fflyven