Alt.Vinyl
The Family Elan : Bow Low Bright Low (UK,2012)***°/****
The Family Elan on their second release continue the explorations of a common inspirational musical area whether it can be traced back into the ethnical folk music from Greece, Eastern Europe or Middle East, as well as in medieval music, or simply by improvising with lead instruments like the mandolin, droning instrument accompaniments (sitar, electric guitar, repetitive chord pingpongs), with hand percussion like tabla or something that recalls either Persian or medieval folk percussion, and with sometimes some bizarre group harmonies with voices. Especially lovely are those tracks with a real source of traditions. We have an Eastern Anatolian dance (2), already having something of all these areas, an attractive somewhat hypnotic happy celebrative folkdance improvisation. This is followed (3) by an Uzbekistan melody learned from a 1909 recording, with flute, bouzouki and rather Persian percussion. We also have a Greek tune learned from a 1939 recording, a traditional Azeri song, a medieval instrumental (flute, percussion, acoustic harmonies melody on bouzouki), and another fragment of Greek origins. But the album starts with an original Family Elan song with dual singing, which makes use also of droning instruments, and a wonderful use of vocal harmonies. On this track we hear the voice of Hanna Tuulikki who’s voice really is an instrument with its own colour. Like the traditional inspirations also on this track the band succeeds to give us an idea what all these music forms have in common and should or could be performed live in a way it is no longer a repetition of what is known, but it also gives a real, spontaneous live and true living colour of this life, which makes this band so potentially great/unique, while working in an area that hangs a bit deeper, into the psychedelic folk area, spontaneous as they are and how they get to that style. A few other tracks by the band are in slower mode, where its droning repetitions are a bit different, leaving the highlights still elsewhere, in a wider remembrance while adding other associations to it, of recognisable pleasures.
Although several tracks still feature Hanna Tuulikki (Nalle), it seems that nowadays the band is mostly performing as a trio with Chris Hladowski (Hawk & A Hacksaw, Nalle, Ashtray Navigations, Daniel Padden,..) on electrified bouzouki, elektrosaz & vocals, Harry Wheeler on electric bass and Mark Hearne on percussion & vocals. The album also featured Seth Bennett on double bass.
