Ellen Mary McGee - The Crescent Sun

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4...according to our Business Lady on Thu 25 Jun, 2009.

Ellen Mary McGee is a singer songwriter of Irish/Romany decent. 'Crescent Sun' is Ellen's first solo album following a stint in performing in irish folk outfit Saint Joan who made a few records for excellent australian label Camera Obscura. Two things worth mentioning; Ellen Mary McGee has a beautiful voice, so beautiful she could front The Chipmunks (step aside Alvin) and still reduce the crowd to a sobbing heap on the floor. Secondly, Ellen Mary McGee plays a very traditional style of folk music inspired by life, death, confusion, misery and (apparently) metaphysics. You can hear that the occasional modern touch has been added to the tracks on 'Crescent Sun' but for the most part the music revolves around an acoustic guitar, subtle strings and a single voice. It has all the elements you'd expect from a decent folk recording and is well worth a listen. Phil is particularly taken by 'Crescent Sun' and he is your god, so listen up yo! Also worth noting that this is out on Midwich Records, home of The Owl Service. Hell yeah!!!

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Of Irish and Romany gypsy descent, Ellen Mary McGee plays off-kilter, transcendental folk on guitar, banjo and zither primarily. She has toured widely in the UK and US, playing at various psych/folk festivals in San Francisco, New York and Providence.

Her music is steeped in folk traditions and manages to be idiosyncratic yet unaffected. Ellen has been likened to Linda Perhacs and Vashti Bunyan and sings about Greek mythology, sublimation, the ocean and metaphysics, usually involving a pretty high death toll.

Her debut solo album, Ellen originally formed the band Saint Joan in 2001 who went on to release a 7" single All Things Melt (the title taken from a line in Black Spring by Henry Miller) and a mini album One at Twilight (both on her own Dakota Records label in 2002 and 2004 respectively), and a full length album The Wrecker’s Lantern (from 2007 on the revered Australian imprint Camera Obscura) whilst studying for a degree and later working for a mental health charity in her hometown.

Gatefold Card Wallet with 8-page booklet.

Tracklisting:

1. A Watch of Nightingales 2. Upon Death and Dying 3. He is No Earthly Man 4. Lord Franklin 5. Acolytes 6. Teeth of the Hydra 7. Theseus 8. The Fatal Flower Garden 9. From the Stars 10. The Wintering
* Please note that all Midwich Records titles are distributed in the Republic Of Ireland by RMG, not SRD.

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