'Home' is the fourth solo album by Jim Malcolm, lead singer withScottish folk band Old Blind Dogs. Like his previous work, it's a smooth mix of original and traditional material, often crossing the boundaries between the two: On 'Sir Patrick Spens', for example, Malcolm takes a medieval ballad and gives it a new melody and a lively arrangement that makes light listening of many verses. It's on the slower numbers that Malcolm's gentle voice really shines, though - notably 'Bonny Glenshee', the beautifully nostalgic Robert Burns love song 'The Lea-Rig', and new compositions 'Fields of Angus' (a lyrical ode to freshwater pearl fishing) and 'Coldrochie'. He's one fine guitarist, too, as demonstrated on the instrumental 'Train To Killin'....Evening Telegraph...Dublin
Line up and Guests Jim Malcolm - Vocals & Guitar Gregor Borland - Fiddle Simon McKerrell - Pipes & Whistle Susie Malcolm - B/vocals Dave Watt - Keyboards Paul Jennings - Percussion Steve Byrne - Bouzouki & B/vocals
Media Reviews
"Can't Seem To Find My Way Home", will strike a chord with anyone suddenly afflicted by homesickness sneaking up unannounced, and may well bring a tear to ex-pat Scots all over.
Simply titled Home, the fourth solo album by Perth-based Jim Malcolm shows that home is indeed where the heart is, with a collection of folk songs both old and new, ranging from the self-penned to Burns and traditional ballads. I find Jim's treatment of "Sir Patrick Spens" quite electrifying, lending a sense of drama and urgency to a poem that up to now meant little to me except as a dull report of incompetent seamanship. Likewise "The Lea Rig" positively exudes feelings of love, hopefully requited. The second last track, "Can't Seem To Find My Way Home", will strike a chord with anyone suddenly afflicted by homesickness sneaking up unannounced, and may well bring a tear to ex-pat Scots all over.
his warm, expressive voice suffuses the album in a dreamy musical gloaming.
From the charming "The Fields of Angus", his opening hymn to the travelling people and a landscape shaped in sweet nostalgia, Malcolm's fourth solo album (he's also the lead vocalist in Old Blind Dogs) showcases his songwriting talents among some classics from the Scots song tradition such as "Sir Patrick Spence", "The Lea Rig", and a rather harmonically eccentric reading of "Bonny Glenshee". Half a dozen musicians guest behind Malcolm's accomplished guitar and stylish harmonica, while his warm, expressive voice suffuses the album in a dreamy musical gloaming.
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