Taarka
Album: Making Tracks Home
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.taarka.com

Taarka is the name given to the roasting of spices in Indian cookery and it was apparently the love of this activity, which inspired the name of husband and wife duo David Tiller and Enion Pelter-Tiller's band. Making Tracks Home is Taarka's sixth album. Enion (violin) and David (guitarist / mandolin) are the constant heart of the band, which has featured an ever-changing line-up of supporting musicians. The current album features Sam Grisman on bass and Ross Martin as a second guitarist.

Making Tracks Home is a potent tribute and celebration of Lyons, a small Boulder County town following the devastating 2013 Colorado floods in which Taarka lost their studio and, like many others, their home. Making Tracks Home however is neither melancholic nor sombre as you might expect, rather it is a token and a tribute to their hometown.

The bands main influences are apparent in the hot gypsy fiddle and the fingerpicking bluegrass. Needless to say the opening track Heart and Song betrays neither of these influences, it's a catchy piece of indie singer-songwriting featuring Enion's vocal lead.

Old Waterford Town is an earthy rich piece of Irish-sounding folk but the Waterford in question is in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Virginia, the vocals harmonize together in a way in which you could imagine Christy Moore performing. Enhanced by some evocative violin playing Another Morning is a gentle song of loss that evokes an earlier era of male singer-songwriters from the American west coast.

The album features a number of slower female vocal numbers including a great version of Gillian Welch's Look at Miss Ohio; and the oozing instrumentals of Moon Song; Water Bound is a pleasant folk ballad which features a trumpet accompaniment; but the standout female vocal track has to be the jazzy River Eddy Blues, a lament commemorating the devastating flood. Grounded provides the opportunity for Enion to play with her vocal range between interludes of gypsy jazz in which bass, guitar and violin all take their turns. This album is one that will appeal to those who love the sound of live musicians playing without masses of amplification to an audience that appreciates great musicianship and musicality. Trip to Duncan showcases David's profound ability on the mandolin providing a captivating accompaniment to some great folk fiddling from Enion, while another instrumental Crocodile Tears is pure tribute to the work of Reinhardt and Grappelli. The album's third instrumental track Bouncing Tale lives up to its name as it finger picks between Celtic and Bluegrass.

The whole album is warm and aromatic much like the spice, which Taarka derives from. Making Tracks Home is an album, which makes you appreciate what you have - it takes you to a place high on a mountain where you are only in the company of friends and things you hold dear like Enion & David's own instruments.

Leah Parker-Turnock