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One day, after performing thousands of concerts for audiences and playing in scores of sessions just to entertain themselves and friends (in the pub, in the kitchen, backstage ...), Oysterband had a simple but actually quite subversive idea: take the informal, all-pitch-in spirit of the session, put it on the big stage - and see what happens. Sure after a couple of try-out (but increasingly confident) tours that this could work on record too, they hired a small London venue, Bush Hall, for three days and nights earlier this year, organised an audience, parked a mobile studio on the street outside, and got down to work. The net result is a recording of rare presence and of passionate and hair-raisingly committed singing. Some of it's dark, some of it's fiercely joyous. It's not at all what you'd do given modern studio resources; despite (or because of) which, it's rivetting. Maybe this is what happens when gifted musicians allow themselves to be forced to be simple. ----------------------- "The joyful spontaneity of these informal and seemingly haphazard unions have been admirably captured a powerful album." (MOJO - Album Of The Month - 4 stars) "Energetic, joyful set of performances ... capturing that anything-could-happen-session vibe." (TIME OUT) "A great credit to all involved .... Volume 1 sets a standard that'll be hard to beat." (FOLK ROOTS) "Plenty of adventurous arrangements ... With the diversity of talent involved, that session-style chemistry certainly works its magic." (SUNDAY HERALD, Scotland) "This is how music should be performed; unpretentious, entertaining and simply beautiful." (IRISH WORLD) "As good as any live album you're likely to hear." (BBC RADIO 2 - FOLK AND ACOUSTIC website) Check out the artist's website: http://www.oysterband.co.uk Track List: 1. John Barleycorn 2. Whitehaven 3. Lowlands   4. Country Life 5. Fuse       6. Ten Thousand Miles/hungarian March 7. New Jerusalem 8. When That Helicopter Comes 9. The House Carpenter 10. The Cuckoo's Nest 11. We Shall Come Home 12. Love Will Tear Us Apart 13. Factory Girl 14. Country Life (i Like To Rise) 15. The Cornish Farewell Shanty Suggested CDs:
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