‘Burlesque’ by Bellowhead

I’ve never really taken to folk music, and I’ve always felt vaguely guilty about it for several reasons. Firstly, writing off an entire genre always feels a bit wrong, especially one which covers as much time and space as folk does – every genre surely contains some great stuff, and folk can’t be exempt. Secondly, I realise that a lot of music I like very much has some folk in its inspiration, even if that folk is several steps removed. Never-the-less, when listening to most folk music, I tend to find it hard to ward off the inevitable boredom that ensues.

Bellowhead, however, are a different prospect. My first exposure to the band was through ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ (thank you, BBC), when I’d tuned in for someone else entirely – Thom Yorke, I think, who could hardly have been more different. Far from boring, Bellowhead’s performance was a riotous cacophony of noise as traditional folk music wrestled with a brass section in what seemed a barely controllable balancing act.

Having both greatly entertained and impressed, I tracked down this, their first (and at the time, only) proper album. Happily, Bellowhead on record are almost as much fun as Bellowhead live. Occasionally, when the band are at their most traditional, the magic slips a little, but the high points are both numerous and varied – from the chaotic whirling of ‘The Jigs of Time’ to the stomp of ‘London Town’ to the gentle beauty of ‘Courting Too Slow’ and ‘Across The Line’.

As a band, Bellowhead are something of a side project from a number of well respected folk musicians. The Bellowhead project is a chance to revive some traditional folk favourites and to give them an edge. It could be argued, therefore, that the whole thing is something of a novelty vanity act. This may very well be true, but it doesn’t diminish this album’s brilliance.