This album IMO doesn't match up to his late 70s one, "Fieldvole Music", which (again IMO) doesn't have a duff track. (I've entered that one in this Recordings database.)
"Mr. Universe" has a number of pretty dull tracks - "Scotland", for instance, is a longish and tedious stomp with no apparent connection with Scotland or its music.
Having said that, the best bits are gorgeous. Mrs. Hamilton Of Pencaitland, a Scottish air by Nathaniel Gow, is played with the lazy, lyrical, shimmering beauty that Tony Hall can coax out of a D/G melodeon like no-one else. Other good ones (again IMO) are his rendering of the familiar song The Blacksmith, and a set of two waltzes that include The Mist-Covered Mountain (a tune featured in the film "Local Hero").
Tony Hall, Melodeon Player - "Mr. Universe"
This album IMO doesn't match up to his late 70s one, "Fieldvole Music", which (again IMO) doesn't have a duff track. (I've entered that one in this Recordings database.)
"Mr. Universe" has a number of pretty dull tracks - "Scotland", for instance, is a longish and tedious stomp with no apparent connection with Scotland or its music.
Having said that, the best bits are gorgeous. Mrs. Hamilton Of Pencaitland, a Scottish air by Nathaniel Gow, is played with the lazy, lyrical, shimmering beauty that Tony Hall can coax out of a D/G melodeon like no-one else. Other good ones (again IMO) are his rendering of the familiar song The Blacksmith, and a set of two waltzes that include The Mist-Covered Mountain (a tune featured in the film "Local Hero").
# Posted on January 26th 2007 by nicholas
Note On Tracks On "Mr. Universe"
Track 5 should read, Slow Hornpipe.
Track 7, though I saw it on a list somewhere, may not exist: I haven't got it, anyway.
# Posted on January 26th 2007 by nicholas