Murmichan

After five studio albums and one live collection since 1994, the latest from Scotland’s foremost folk-based dance floor posse seeks to pool the best of both recording methods. The seven tracks on CD1 were laid down as live’ in the studio. Three of these reappear, artfully remixed by DJ Dolphin Boy and bassist Quee MacArthur, on CD2, alongside DIY recordings of other new tunes and an excerpt from Shooglenifty’s live collaboration with exiled Afghan outfit Ensemble Kaboul at the 2009 Celtic Connections festival.

Their sound’s essential parameters, broadly drawn as they are, remain much the same as ever – traditionally contoured, acoustically rooted, internationally sourced melodies, allied to compelling, heavyweight grooves and myriad cross¬genre flavours. It’s a sound they’ve so tirelessly honed, refined and evolved, on¬stage and off, as to sustain a rare balance of surprise and satisfaction. While an initial listen, particularly to the first disc, slots Murmichan readily in with its predecessors, closer attention reveals a cornucopia of masterfully layered detail, from the exquisite expressive synergy of Angus Grant’s fiddle and Luke Plumb’s mandolin, via seemingly infinite, unerringly agile variations of time-signature, to outbreaks of bare-knuckle acid-rock or industrial techno. While highlights as varied as the sweetly angsty, ominously dubby ‘Cleicken the Deil’, the gently blissed-out ‘Glenfinnan Dawn, the joyous, resplendent ‘The Wing’ and the magnificent closing workout with Ensemble Kaboul are spread pretty evenly between the two discs, there are just enough filler tracks to suggest that editing the whole into a single longer set might have proved even more rewarding.