Incredibly, this is the twentieth album that the Battlefield Band have
produced on Temple Records and for a group that’s been around for over
thirty years, they still sound remarkably fresh and full of energy. Strangely
enough, this is the first Battlefield Band album I’ve ever heard and so
impressed am I with this “legendary Scottish institution” that I feel I must
investigate the band’s extensive back catalogue…
* On to the music and the musicians… The combination of Alasdair
White’s virtuoso fiddle playing and Mike Katz’s mesmerising pipe and
whistle work is nothing short of inspired. Add to this, Pat Kilbride’s
rhythmically solid acoustic guitar work and Alan Reid’s stylish keyboard
playing and you have a band that is not only technically flawless but also
full of great flair and passion…
* A quick mention should be made about producer/engineer Robin
Morton’s contribution to this fine album. The sound is crisp and clear while
the mix is perfection itself! I would imagine much of this recording was
performed “live” in the studio, as it’s hard to believe that the interaction
between the musicians would be so good using separate takes…
* Many of the songs featured on “Out For The Night” segue several
instrumental parts together to form a single piece. The opening track
illustrates this point perfectly as Alasdair White’s intricate fiddle work on
his own composition, “Ms Dynamite Of Benbecula” gives way to Mike
Katz’s pipe driven “The Alewife T” and then it’s back to the violin again for
“Little Cascade” and to finish a duet of fiddle and pipes on “Culder’s
Rant”…
* Track 2 “The Earl Of Errol” shows a different side to the band and is one
of several tracks that feature the vocal talents of Mike & Pat. Sung in a
broad Scottish dialect, this is a 17th century song that deals with infertility
and a dispute that ends up in the Law Courts. A surprise inclusion is ex-
Grease Band/Wings guitarist Henry McCullough’s rites of passage song
“Belfast To Boston” ~ a composition Pat in particular identified with
apparently!
* Of great interest are the three live songs that close the album. Recorded
on the band’s 2002 UK tour, they show what a fine live act the Battlefields
are. “Lord Randall” is the standout track as it builds from a “Pink Floyd
‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’” style intro into an edgy acoustic guitar
driven song. The album concludes with Alasdair White’s atmospherically
tuneful “Time & Tide” and builds though “The Nine Pint Coggie” and “Drive
Home The Mainlanders” into a rousing finale with “The Mill House”…
* As it tells you in the sleeve notes, the Battlefield Band were voted Best
Live Act in the first annual Scots Trad Awards in 2003 ~ and it’s hard to
disagree with this great show of public support for this evergreen outfit.
“Out For The Night” is a thoroughly entertaining album ~ both it and the
band can best be summed up by the following quote from the Temple
Records press hand-out…
“Under their banner ‘Forward With Scotland’s Past’, Battlefield Band has
been performing for more than three decades, mixing old songs and tunes
with self-penned material, playing them on a unique fusion of ancient and
modern instruments. Over the years they have played with and introduced
many fine musicians to their ever-widening worldwide audience…”
Star Rating ~ ****.5
Top Track(s): “Lord Randall”, “Bagad Kemper” & “The Earl Of Errol”
|