Description:	Limited CD in gatefold card sleeve on Alt. Vinyl
	Format:	CD
	Genre(s):	Free/Psych/Acid/Alternative Folk
	Label:	Alt. Vinyl
	Price:	£13.19
	Availability:	Dispatched within 2-5 days (on average).

4
...according to our Phil on 28 January 2010.

The Family Elan do got a new album out this week courtesy of those nice folks at Alt Vinyl. If the name doesn't rung then let me enlighten you... they had an album out previously on the rather ace Locust label and the band consists of Chris Hladowski (has played with Hawk & A Hacksaw, Nalle, Astray Navigations. Daniel Padden and probably more I'm too tired to list) and Hanna Tuulikki who is otherwise known as Nalle (albums on Picked Egg & Locust!). With her voice and his knowledge of eastern European folk instruments they make a vintage folk cacophony which would please anyone with two ears and a brain. I never heard the debut but on the strength of this one I'd say it's worth checking out as well. There's a very medieval folk feel to this what with the flute and bouzouki being ever present. Mind you the tablas on track 5 (I can't read the writing on the back... bloody medieval folk writing) add another dimension to it. 'Bow Low Bright Glow' is good. I like it. I think you will too if you're into traditional Eastern european folk. The vinyl is packaged in a great shiny lino sleeve which you can't help but rub until your finger prints are no more. An excellent listen from start to end!!

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Sound clips for Bow Low Bright Glow by The Family Elan: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Alt. Vinyl, av018cd, £13.19.

What their label says...

Fusion is a dirty word, implying clinicism and a dry sense of
conscious matchmaking. “Bow Low Bright Glow” is a more a communal
excavation and re-presentation of buried European folk and
sufi-hearted music than any form of experiment. Family Elan are alone
in their field. Here, Chris Hladowski has put together a collection of original numbers, visions created from lost/found tapes and traditional pieces (including a absolutely gorgeous “The BlackPlanets Of Her Eyes”) that are a fitting companion to Family Elan’s “Stare of Dawn” debut.

Alongside Hladowski’s voice, there’s the vocal input of Nalle’s Hanna Tuulikki – a voice as easily capable of gentle Qawwali as it is folk song. This is a record of heavy treble intricacy, Hladowski’s saz and bouzouki playing encompassing drones, folk, dervish progressive work and a woozy shimmer over and through
the entwining melodies. Family Elan are more than just a project or a
band, Hladowski has endowed the music here with a such a unique voice
that shaky shorthand comparisons would be pointless and a short sell.
Music that hints at the devotional rarely feels as inclusive, as
communal and as enjoyable as this.