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Sing Out!

singoutWell, this is certainly interesting, combining Germans Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz with Scots Claire Mann and Aaron Jones (of Old Blind Dogs). The focus, both in instrumentals and songs, is on the traditional, but there's also a neat line in covers, with material from Sandy Denny (a wonderfully low-key version of "Solo"), Richard Thompson, and David Francey.

But the real find here comes with the traditional German material (and let's face it, you don't often hear German folk music), which is quite delightful, and curiously reminiscent of Danish music. The quartett is a joy, with a light touch and superb interplay, making the instrumentals quite delicious.

But it's for the songs that they really stand out, with Jones and Walther both excellent leads. There's probably a lot more German folk music hiding out there, and quite a bit of it will be worth hearing. But with this, 2Duos show themselves right at the forefront, and by mixing it with things more familiar, they integrate it quite seamlessly into the folk mainstream.

CN, Sing Out! 53/2

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