Eliza Carthy - Rough Music

Eliza Carthy officially inherits the British folk crown from her parents with the willfully traditional Rough Music. Described in the liner notes as "a form of community punishment practiced all over England" (basically a public beating for a heinous social crime), Rough Music sounds like a lost pre-percussion Steeleye Span record filtered through A.l. Lloyd's whaling collection Leviathan! Carthy's strong fiddling and powerful vocals -- she really is beginning to surpass Norma -- are ably enhanced by the chiseled performance of her backing band, the Ratcatchers. Read More