LINDA DEWAR’S TOP TEN 2014
Linda Dewar’s Top Ten 2014
1. Album: Sailing over the 7th String – Tim Edey. Stunning guitar playing and a really excellent choice of tunes.
2. Album: Sound of Taransay – Phil MacLennan Smillie. Finally, a solo album of flute and whistle tunes from the Tannahill Weavers’ Phil. Great lineup of support musicians, too.
3. Album: Hebrides: Islands on the Edge – Donald Shaw, composer. Orchestral soundtrack from a documentary about Scotland’s Hebridean islands, composed by Capercaillie stalwart and Celtic Connections director.
4. Album: Squall – Adam Sutherland. Did I include this one last year? Doesn’t matter, it’s still one of the best fiddle albums ever.
5. Album: Bass and Mandolin – Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer. Mandolin is one of my favourite instruments both to play and to listen to, and nobody plays it like Chris Thile.
6. Album: Tell ‘Em I’m Gone – Yusuf. Not officially released at the time I’m writing this, and I’ve only heard a couple of tracks, but the Cat is back!
7. Film: Twenty Feet from Stardom. Documentary about the backing singers of the 1960s through the present. Wonderful women, fantastically gifted and often overlooked.
8. Magazine: The Living Tradition. Available online and also as hard copy, this is the definitive magazine for British folk news and reviews.
9. Book: Songwriters on Songwriting – Paul Zollo. Interviews with songwriters like Paul Simon, Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Laura Nyro. I never pick this book up without learning something that I can apply immediately.
10. Live Gig and Album: The Dardanelles. They’re from Newfoundland, they play Newfie-Celtic music on fiddle, box, guitar and other stringy things, and their lead singer has one of the most stunningly gorgeous voices I’ve ever heard.
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