Ray Cooper - Land of Heroes (2021) [Hi-Res]
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BAND/ARTIST: Ray Cooper
- Title: Land of Heroes
- Year Of Release: 2021
- Label: Westpark Music
- Genre: Classical
- Quality: flac lossless / flac 24bits - 44.1kHz
- Total Time: 00:42:47
- Total Size: 258 / 484 mb
- WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist
01. The Burning Pile
02. Whistleblower
03. Circles
04. Eyes of Mercy
05. The Beast
06. Canada Hill
07. We Need More Heroes
08. Dark Father
09. Ilmarinen's Ride
10. Brave Wolfe
11. Dark Sky Park
Is there any more magical sound than that of the cello, embalming the ears of most listeners into a sense of comfort? Ray Cooper’s delivery of the instrument has helped to seal its place in modern roots music, alongside guitars, fiddles and squeezeboxes. Now an unbelievable eight years since he left his 24-year stint with Oysterband, this is his fourth solo recording, and it is a cracker.
Based in Sweden for upward of two decades, a Scandi influence purposefully permeates these songs. Conceived and recorded in a wooden cabin in the forest during the prolonged hibernation brought about by corona, Cooper cites the influence of the Kalevala, a Finnish epic poem of the 19th century, the subtitle of which, in translation, is Land of Heroes, also the name of this collection of songs. The importance of the Kalevala to the Finnish identity cannot be understated, and it was certainly an influence upon J.R.R. Tolkien’s tales of Middle Earth.
Cooper plays and sings all the instruments here, bar the occasional accompanying vocals of Rowan Godel and it is way more than the bass and cello he is celebrated for, playing all manner of other stringed instruments, including the Finnish harp/zither hybrid, the kantele, alongside harmonica, harmonium and piano.
Among Cooper’ cites equally the importance of traditional tunes alongside rock’n’roll and Johnny Cash to his influences, intriguingly also offering the name of Ennio Morricone, and it is that last name that lurks large in the hinterground of the opener, ‘The Burning Pile’. An ominously portentous near instrumental, it was inspired by the Swedish Witch Trials of 1669, with the tension building as harmonica and harmonium sweep in over the kantele, before a combination of a low moaning chorale is met by Godel’s soaring wail. With nary a drop in momentum, this bleeds straight into ‘Whistleblower’. Spoken in tune rather than sung, this is all hell-fire preacher, a suitably funereal harmonium kicks it off, together with some spare acoustic guitar thrashing away as Cooper’s message unfurls with the low drone of cello providing a sturdy foundation. A song to make you think, dedicated to the whistleblowers of the world, it and the track before are as exciting an opening salve as I have heard for some time.
‘Circles’ is a song that would sit happily in the hands of his old cohorts, and is actually one of the few songs reminiscent of his time with Jones, Telfer, Prosser and co. Which is no bad thing, but underlines that this recording is more about looking forward. The cello is the lead here and is as glorious as you would expect. I can see it being a showstopper in the live set.
A reminder of our times comes with ‘Eyes of Mercy’, a picked guitar ballad unmistakeably about covid, with a beautiful cello counter melody and the harmony vocals of Godel, this is exquisitely phrased to avoid all mawkishness and is genuinely touching. Which is then contrasted with the return of the preacher mode, with ‘The Beast’, this time at Speakers corner, maybe, rather than the lectern. A wry and sardonic commentary on the failure to learn from the past, it has a gorgeous fingerpicked middle eight that, with a sung chorus, reminds me of Tom Robinson at his most impassioned.
A majestic cello theme provides the basis of ‘Canada Hill’, a mournful lament that is drawn from the Scottish part of Cooper’s heritage and offers a mid-album pause for thought, underlining everything that I said at the beginning of this piece. It acts as an introduction to ‘We Need More Heroes’, another Oysterband-esque rabble-rouser, both in feel and the sentiments espoused.
A complete change of scenery is ushered in by ‘Dark Father’, in which vocals and a tapping foot open the proceedings, before a gaunt piano chimes in with some eerie and echoed chords, Cooper’s voice then jumping an octave to the chorus. He says it is his first song written around and on a keyboard and there is a wonderful repeated piano motif that bridges between the verses that beckon you to play it again.
The third instrumental of the project, ‘Ilmarinen’s Ride’, offers a reminder that Cooper, before he was Chopper, was Oussack Mustapha, the Nightingale of Szegerely (in 3 Mustaphas 3), there being a distinct Balkan feel to this tune, despite it being named after the main character in the aforementioned Kalevala. I am presuming it is kantele playing the harmony melody.
Cooper’s love of history provides the basis of penultimate track, ‘Brave Wolfe’, documenting how General Wolfe ‘took’ Quebec from the French, borrowing a familiar melody from the annals of trad. arr., which fits neatly. ‘Dark Sky Park’ finally has Cooper back at the piano keyboard, a hymn-like paean to the splendour of the dark sky, something we are belatedly learning to celebrate and protect from the scourge of light pollution, suitably stately cello providing the perfect backdrop.
Ideally, you then play the whole thing again, and maybe again, from the beginning, it has that sort of effect. You should probably take a moment for reflection between plays, however, if not for too long. Cooper has really excelled here, moving steadily forward through his solo recordings. With a flavour of the snowbound forests, it has a feel of lockdown in its optimistic melancholia, if there is such a thing. He is, hopefully, touring the U.K. in July and it will be intriguing to hear these songs in an instrumentally stripped back setting.
01. The Burning Pile
02. Whistleblower
03. Circles
04. Eyes of Mercy
05. The Beast
06. Canada Hill
07. We Need More Heroes
08. Dark Father
09. Ilmarinen's Ride
10. Brave Wolfe
11. Dark Sky Park
Is there any more magical sound than that of the cello, embalming the ears of most listeners into a sense of comfort? Ray Cooper’s delivery of the instrument has helped to seal its place in modern roots music, alongside guitars, fiddles and squeezeboxes. Now an unbelievable eight years since he left his 24-year stint with Oysterband, this is his fourth solo recording, and it is a cracker.
Based in Sweden for upward of two decades, a Scandi influence purposefully permeates these songs. Conceived and recorded in a wooden cabin in the forest during the prolonged hibernation brought about by corona, Cooper cites the influence of the Kalevala, a Finnish epic poem of the 19th century, the subtitle of which, in translation, is Land of Heroes, also the name of this collection of songs. The importance of the Kalevala to the Finnish identity cannot be understated, and it was certainly an influence upon J.R.R. Tolkien’s tales of Middle Earth.
Cooper plays and sings all the instruments here, bar the occasional accompanying vocals of Rowan Godel and it is way more than the bass and cello he is celebrated for, playing all manner of other stringed instruments, including the Finnish harp/zither hybrid, the kantele, alongside harmonica, harmonium and piano.
Among Cooper’ cites equally the importance of traditional tunes alongside rock’n’roll and Johnny Cash to his influences, intriguingly also offering the name of Ennio Morricone, and it is that last name that lurks large in the hinterground of the opener, ‘The Burning Pile’. An ominously portentous near instrumental, it was inspired by the Swedish Witch Trials of 1669, with the tension building as harmonica and harmonium sweep in over the kantele, before a combination of a low moaning chorale is met by Godel’s soaring wail. With nary a drop in momentum, this bleeds straight into ‘Whistleblower’. Spoken in tune rather than sung, this is all hell-fire preacher, a suitably funereal harmonium kicks it off, together with some spare acoustic guitar thrashing away as Cooper’s message unfurls with the low drone of cello providing a sturdy foundation. A song to make you think, dedicated to the whistleblowers of the world, it and the track before are as exciting an opening salve as I have heard for some time.
‘Circles’ is a song that would sit happily in the hands of his old cohorts, and is actually one of the few songs reminiscent of his time with Jones, Telfer, Prosser and co. Which is no bad thing, but underlines that this recording is more about looking forward. The cello is the lead here and is as glorious as you would expect. I can see it being a showstopper in the live set.
A reminder of our times comes with ‘Eyes of Mercy’, a picked guitar ballad unmistakeably about covid, with a beautiful cello counter melody and the harmony vocals of Godel, this is exquisitely phrased to avoid all mawkishness and is genuinely touching. Which is then contrasted with the return of the preacher mode, with ‘The Beast’, this time at Speakers corner, maybe, rather than the lectern. A wry and sardonic commentary on the failure to learn from the past, it has a gorgeous fingerpicked middle eight that, with a sung chorus, reminds me of Tom Robinson at his most impassioned.
A majestic cello theme provides the basis of ‘Canada Hill’, a mournful lament that is drawn from the Scottish part of Cooper’s heritage and offers a mid-album pause for thought, underlining everything that I said at the beginning of this piece. It acts as an introduction to ‘We Need More Heroes’, another Oysterband-esque rabble-rouser, both in feel and the sentiments espoused.
A complete change of scenery is ushered in by ‘Dark Father’, in which vocals and a tapping foot open the proceedings, before a gaunt piano chimes in with some eerie and echoed chords, Cooper’s voice then jumping an octave to the chorus. He says it is his first song written around and on a keyboard and there is a wonderful repeated piano motif that bridges between the verses that beckon you to play it again.
The third instrumental of the project, ‘Ilmarinen’s Ride’, offers a reminder that Cooper, before he was Chopper, was Oussack Mustapha, the Nightingale of Szegerely (in 3 Mustaphas 3), there being a distinct Balkan feel to this tune, despite it being named after the main character in the aforementioned Kalevala. I am presuming it is kantele playing the harmony melody.
Cooper’s love of history provides the basis of penultimate track, ‘Brave Wolfe’, documenting how General Wolfe ‘took’ Quebec from the French, borrowing a familiar melody from the annals of trad. arr., which fits neatly. ‘Dark Sky Park’ finally has Cooper back at the piano keyboard, a hymn-like paean to the splendour of the dark sky, something we are belatedly learning to celebrate and protect from the scourge of light pollution, suitably stately cello providing the perfect backdrop.
Ideally, you then play the whole thing again, and maybe again, from the beginning, it has that sort of effect. You should probably take a moment for reflection between plays, however, if not for too long. Cooper has really excelled here, moving steadily forward through his solo recordings. With a flavour of the snowbound forests, it has a feel of lockdown in its optimistic melancholia, if there is such a thing. He is, hopefully, touring the U.K. in July and it will be intriguing to hear these songs in an instrumentally stripped back setting.
Year 2021 | Classical | FLAC / APE | HD & Vinyl
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