ATP Rec. 
Fursaxa : Alone in the Dark Wood (US,2010)***'
Sharron Kraus once pointed me in the direction of Fursaxa (Sharron had played with Tara as Tau Emerald). She said she was wonderful, never the same, always different. But the live recording of Tara Burke aka Fursaxa I once heard didn’t grab me much. It was badly recorded, and very improvised, lacked a bit direction. Also the latest album, with a beautiful cover, was a bit vague to me, very feminine, but I didn’t really know what to think of it very much. But here with this first, professionally recorded album in studio, with the help of four friend musicians, she really shows the best of herself, and she begins to shine clear. Recorded in Greg Weeks’s studio, together with Greg Weeks, Mary Lattimore (harp on 4 tracks out of seven, and co-writing on 2 tracks) and Helena Espvall (cello on 3 tracks) shared contributions. They all have cooperated with Tara Burke before on the Valerie Project (2006). With Helena Espvall she also had formed Anahita.
Tara’s formerly slightly vague feminine part turns into a slightly goddess-mysterious feminine aspect, with some pagan-like magic, and elves dance around her. Especially the magical haunting flutes of the first track, some of the droning cello, the overtone singing (first track), shakers, the airy dance high toned backing vocals and much of the harp improvisations contribute well to that. We more have the impressions of separate songs and inspirations with different ideas. A strong improvement to what I have heard before. Very good !
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