Harv – Polka Raggioso (Northside)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/28/05
Swedish violin/accordion trad, very similar to Celtic and Appalachian traditional styles. Heavy on the violins and light on the percussion. No vocals. Not much to distinguish cuts from each other for the non-aficionado, but Decca can have fun with pronunciations. Songs often seem to end a few seconds early.
Track 4 isn’t bad, 5 is nice for a slow number, 1 and 10 standard trad.
1. 3:31 all about the fiddles. Uptempo barn dance.
2. 4:34 guitar, accordion and… triangle? Builds slowly with violin duet and stays mid-tempo for the most part.
3. 4:25 waltz of the yobs? Hard to waltz to, IMO. Fades and comes back a minute or so from the end.
4. 3:58 *a medley in a style we are informed is a “bugg”. You can skip to it. Kinda swingy in spots.
5. 5:12 slow intro with a bit of slide guitar. Downbeat but pretty.
6. 4:16 mostly a midtempo violin duet.
7. 4:05 *this one too, until it suddenly veers into slide guitar and drums – then back to violins.
8. 4:19 fairly uptempo polka with – guess what? – violins!
9. 3:30 slow ballad
10. 4:33 *midtempo waltz that builds with harmonica and percussion.