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The Water is the Shovel of the Shore

by Shovel Dance Collective

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Teedubyabee
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Teedubyabee One of my favourite albums of 2022. The rich mixture of traditional musics with field recordings and experimentation fit hand in glove. With its long form passages, there is a beautiful surprise around every corner as the music wends its way along its watery course. Favorite track: II.
sophie
sophie thumbnail
sophie couldn't possibly pick a favorite track (though I continue to be haunted by the singing of in charlestown there dwelled a lass in II). this album is glorious from start to finish. absolutely brilliant.
stonerrepper
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stonerrepper how could anyone go out of their way to buy this album, presumably having listened to some of it already, and be disappointed?? 11/10 Favorite track: I.
burntstick
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burntstick A real leap forwards. Field recordings merge with traditional song to create something evocative and special. Favorite track: III.
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    Limited edition double vinyl with gatefold sleeve. The album essay is printed inside the record sleeve and each medley takes up its own side of a record.

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    The Water is the Shovel of the Shore inverted / impression design (featured on the inside of the tape & reverse of the CD sleeve), in black on a sand coloured Gildan heavy cotton t-shirt.

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    The Water is the Shovel of the Shore inverted / impression design (featured on the inside of the tape & reverse of the CD sleeve), in black on a dark grey Gildan heavy cotton t-shirt.

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1.
I 14:15
2.
II 15:39
3.
III 15:13
4.
IV 14:14

about

The latest release from nine-piece folk group Shovel Dance Collective, orbiting around the concept of water. Combining on-site documentation of traditional songs, folk tunes and field recordings in long-form sound-collages. The results lie somewhere between folk music, music concrete and acoustic ecology. Released collaboratively by Memorials of Distinction and Double Dare.

Tracklist -

I: The Bold Fisherman, Thames waters off Greenland Dock, The Weary Whaling Grounds, junkyard work next to Dartford Creek, rigging and reeds at Erith Marina, The Bold Benjamin, waterfowl on the Darent, The Herrings Head, water pump in Ladywell, Waves on the Shore, a Creek on the Llŷn Peninsula

II: In Charlestown there Dwelled a Lass, Camera flash on the Deptford foreshore, The Rolling Waves, crashing spring waves by the Cutty Sark, Lovely on the Water, lapping waters by Tower Hill, Pump Organ Bellows being pushed by hand, The River Chess Trickles, Watermans Dance

III: Tourists feed gulls outside City Hall, The Bold Fisherman, ferry east from London Bridge, A Fishermans’ Song for Attracting Seals / The Full Rigged Ship, clergy of Southwark Cathedral and St Magnus the Martyr bless the Thames, the organ at St Mark’s Clerkenwell, a fence at North Greenwich sings in the wind, distant cranes at Silvertown, The Wild Goose Shanty, slapping Thames water under a bridge, The Drowned Sailor, crashing waves at Deptford foreshore, Waterfall and Rain on the River Chess, Captain Kidd’s Farewell to the Seas

IV: Waters of the River Ravensbourne beside Elverson Road DLR Station, Lowlands, The Cruel Grave, pump organs at Nick’s House, The Grey Cock, Dan wading through Elverson Road DLR Station Tunnel, Ova Canje Water

credits

released December 1, 2022

Thanks and dedications -

To travelling communities throughout Europe, to whom traditional music owes a great debt for their work in the production, proliferation, and conservation of so much music. And specifically Mary Delaney, from whom we heard In Charlestown there Dwelled a Lass, and who lived in London for much of her life.

To the writer and educator Roy Brummell, formerly of the University of Guyana who first relayed the tune of Ova Canje Water to Mataio. Also to the great Guyanese folklorist and poet, Wordsworth McAndrew, who collected Ova Canje Water and many other Guyanese folk songs. In so doing he helped to keep alive a folksong tradition and repair Guyana’s cultural self which had been so brutalised by British colonialism.

To Mike O’Malley for his knowledge, time and skill in recording our full band version of ‘The Bold Fisherman’ which opens this release. Also to the great Copper family who have so well looked after and proliferated that song, and which is now inextricably linked to them.

To Rory Salter for his help in recording The Waterman’s Dance.

To Anna Peaker for her skill in formatting and designing the cassettes and fold-outs.

To Josh Cohen and Tom Lavin of ‘Memorials and Distinction’ and ‘Double Dare’ respectively for their support and patience during the creation of this piece of work.

To Rupert Clervaux for Mastering the release with a careful ear.

To Anthony Elliott for spending time with us on the Thames foreshore and taking the photo included in the essay.

A special mention from within the collective to Tom Hardwick-Allan for designing the album artwork, Mataio Austin Dean for the decorative motifs used in the printed essay, and to Daniel S. Evans for editing and shaping the medleys.

Personnel -

Alex Mckenzie: low whistle
Daniel S. Evans: bowed cittern, cello, pipe organ, pump organ
Fidelma Hanrahan: harp
Jacken Elswyth: banjo, mountain banjo, shruti box
Joshua Barfoot: accordion, hammered dulcimer, voice
Mataio Austin Dean : voice
Nick Granata: pump organ, voice
Oliver Hamilton: violin, voice
Tom Hardwick-Allan: bass harmonica, trombone

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about

Shovel Dance Collective London, UK

United by a passion for the traditional music of the British Isles, Ireland and beyond we are committed to folk music not as an artifact to be unearthed, but as a communal activity - inviting to those it speaks to. A kind of musique boue, a patchwork stitched together and rearranged, holding the voices of the oppressed and those who, by their labour, create the wealth of the world. ... more

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