Folk Bands and Artists
Spiro
One thing is certain – Spiro are their own people, commendably operating in their own sphere and at their own pace. Their recently released “Lightbox´ album on Peter Gabriel´s Real World label, was recorded over four days at Real World Studios in Box, produced by Simon Emmerson (the chief architect behind the Afro Celt Sound System and The Imagined Village projects). It captures a breathtakingly imaginative and superbly disciplined group with a sound thatʼs unified but never uniform.
All four members, all four instruments, pull in the same direction, creating music thatʼs intricate yet full of momentum. Time Out proclaim their “gyroscopic sounds swirl guitar, mandolin, violin and accordion lines into europhoric but rigorous folk dances inspired by minimalist classical music and punk as well as folk music.” This is where the ostinatos at the heart of folk dance, minimalism and detroit techno meet, as Ian Kearey in fRoots explains “like the moving parts of a precision watch being constantly experimented on and realigned”.
These are hurrying, scurrying soundscapes that sweep majestically with cinematic presence, echoing – at various points – the work of Steve Reich, Michael Nyman and the Penguin Café Orchestra. “Intense and minimal, they roll out complex arrangements with such ease that you feel your heart lift a few inches above its normal resting place” maintains Rob Fitzpatrick in The Word. This is the music of Spiro – undeniably English, undeniably theirs. Spiro are an enigma, theirs is a mysterious, other-worldly sound that´s at the vanguard of a new, comtemporary folk style. Don´t miss them.
´Dazzling´ Time Out
´Magnificent..Rich, moving and cunningly wrought´ Songlines Magazine
´Melodically inventive and emotionally compelling...fantastic´ The Word
´Breathtakingly moving´ Chris Jones, BBC Music
´Leading exponents of this new genre´ ★★★★ Robin Deneslow, the Guardian
´Refreshingly unnerving´ ★★★★ MOJO
´... compelling, strangely soulful music of mind and body´ ★★★★ Independent on Sunday
´Spiro absolutely rock on stage´. ★★★★★ Tony Benjamin, Venue
