There are so many variants of Folk these days it's easy to forget what the uncontaminated acoustic music of this genre sounds like.
One young man who hasn't forgotten is London based Matthew Ord. He may still be only in his mid-twenties but he is obviously already steeped in the traditional tunes from the British Isles and America.
Aside from an admirable working knowledge of the tunes, he also has the talent as a guitarist to do justice to the selection chosen for his debut release.
The nine tracks were recorded in around 12 hours with no overdubs so it is essentially a live performance of the songs he has been playing on the folk circuit.
It's a nicely judged, varied selection, which opens with Jock O'Hazeldean featuring lyrics by Sir Walter Scott no less and also includes standards like Mississippi John Hurt's Louis Collins.
Judged on the standard of musicianship alone it can't be faulted although his singing voice doesn't quite capture the nuances these dark tales of lovelorn lads and lassies demand.
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His version of As I Roved Out, for instance, pales in comparison to Kate Rusby's faultless rendition of this song. Similarly, The Cuckoo, can be added to the countless versions that fail to capture the simplicity and strangeness of the 1929 recording of the song by Clarence Ashley to be found on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.
In terms of keeping traditional tunes alive, musicians as accomplished as Ord play a valuable role although in interpreting them with such reverence he doesn't quite overcome the dilemma of how to capture both the spirit AND the soul of the songs.
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