The Owl Service - The Pattern Beneath the Plough parts 1 & 2

Like some unsuspecting potential couple in a Hollywood rom-com, myself and The Owl Service keep getting paired together despite our mutual frostiness towards each other. I struggle with the whole 'fake folk' thing and they presumably hate me for regularly dismissing their music in a single sentence without really even attempting to get inside it. But Phil the matchmaker keeps persevering. Maybe we'll fall in love eventually and get matching tattoos. Who knows? As it stands they've released a double CD of lovingly crafted music and I've just eaten six fig rolls in preparation for telling you about it. My job has been made easier by the fact that this release is a compilation of two previous releases, 'The Burn Comes Down'  and 'The View From A Hill'. Sadly it was me who reviewed them both last time round so I can't even cut and paste from someone else's more upbeat analysis. I described 'The Burn Comes Down' (presumably with a gun to my head) as "very well sung and played and will appeal to fans of Men an Tol, Trembling Bells, Pentangle, Fairport Convention" and 'The View From A Hill' as "lots of people like this sort of stuff and it will appeal to fans of Fairport Convention, Trees, Steeleye Span, Pentangle, dingly dells etc". My problem is that like Trembling Bells, I just can't take it seriously enough to enjoy, so in awe it is to the 1970's Sandy Denny led re-creation of your traditional English Folk sound. That said, it's beautifully presented, and you can't argue with the quality of the singing or the playing, and it goes for-bloody-ever so you won't feel short changed out of your £10.89 (plus postage).