Peatbog Faeries
Album: Blackhouse
Label: Peatbog
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.peatbogfaeries.com

Peatbog Faeries have been at the forefront of Scottish trad fusion music for close on 20 years, and each of their eight albums to date has both promised and delivered a stimulating sequence of beat-heavy, groove-laden adventures. I've always marvelled at how the guys can come up with so many new variations on a maddeningly simple tune or riff each time, and then give the whole affair such a measure of epic grandeur in the process. It can't be just the magisterial aura of Peter Morrison's mighty Highland pipes, although this element is just as present and correct within the very fabric of Blackhouse as it's every right to be. But there've been changes since 2011's vital offering Dust, not least in that a couple of years back dynamic, driven fiddler Ross Couper replaced Peter Tickell in the Faeries' lineup - but also in that the brass section, so integral a part of Dust and its immediate predecessors, has been dispensed with and in consequence this has been the impetus for a fresh reappraisal of the exercise of group arrangement. Resulting in a tighter, somehow more intimate balance of elements, albeit a less expansive overall sound but one which draws the listener into the groove and locks it on down till the needle hits the runout.

Both sensual and punchy - the time-honoured Peatbog hallmarks. And naturally, with a superlative Calum Maclean production to boot. Even the communal rave of Spider's (named after Skye's ceilidh venue) and the thumping gait of The Dragon's Apprentice feel almost indecently inclusive and close-up, despite their preponderance of incidental instrumental detail.

Maybe The Ranch's Deep Purple-style Hammond and regular rock gestures feels almost too ordinary at first, although some truly excellent soloing (notably from Ross) gets it going nicely (albeit in a 70s-retro way). The moodier, more sedately paced tracks also score highly: Angus And Joyce Mackay (dedicated by Peter to his in-laws) soars aloft through increasingly impressive sound stages and constitutes a disc highlight.

Against the glories of which, there's the odd track that doesn't quite hit the spot; for instance, disc opener Is This Your Son? relies too heavily on whooshing space-tech sounds (I'd rather hear spacey or spaced-out). But the disc ends in style with its final pairing of two live favourites (The Chatham Lasses and Strictly Sambucca), an ideal way to keep the faith and ensure continuity into the next phase of Peatbog creativity.

David Kidman