''The Bairns'' was the second album by

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

(now the Unthanks), which then comprised Rachel Unthank, her younger sister Becky, pianist

Belinda O'Hooley Belinda O'Hooley (born 18 July 1971) is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Yorkshire, England. Formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now The Unthanks), she now records and performs as O'Hooley & Tidow with her wife Heidi Tido ...

and fiddle player Niopha Keegan. Produced by

Adrian McNally Adrian McNally is a record producer, a composer/songwriter and a musician with English folk group the Unthanks, which he also manages. As well as producing all of the Unthanks' albums he has produced the compilation album ''Harbour of Songs'' for ...

and released by Rabble Rouser on 20 August 2007, it was nominated for the Best Album award at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards and was also nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. It received a four-starred review in ''The Guardian''.

Reception

Reviewing ''The Bairns'' for

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

, Mel Ledgard described it as "an album with a cinematic quality, huge in dramatic atmosphere". Nic Oliver, in a 4.5-starred review for ''

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

'', said it was a "remarkable album that is both contemporary and timeless". Iain Hazlewood, for

Spiral Earth Spiral Earth is an online news channel and website, based in Cambridgeshire, England. It covers folk music, roots music and the alternative music scene in the United Kingdom. It is edited by Iain Hazlewood, who founded Spiral Earth in 2004. Sp ...

, described it as " gorgeously melancholy and sensual album that has raised the bar several notches". ''FolkWorld'' said that ''The Bairns'' is "not your run-of-the-mill folk music. It is fragile and intimate, dark and chilling, with influences from blues and jazz music. It makes you shiver at times, at others uplifting like a vaudeville stage act." Justin Hopper, writing in '' Paste,'' called it "a milestone in English folk music". In a four-starred review,

Robin Denselow Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, wher ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' nominated it as "one of the folk records of the year". ''The Bairns'' was nominated for the Best Album award at the BBC Folk Awards 2008 and was also nominated for the 2008

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

. The album debuted in the UK Top 200 Albums Chart at number 178 in the week after the Mercury Prize award ceremony.

Track listing

# "Felton Lonnin" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

3166) (

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

/ Johnny Handle, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 7:23 # "Lull I" (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 1:23 # "Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk" (traditional/

Belle Stewart Belle Stewart, born Isobella McGregor, (18 July 1906 – 4 September 1997) was a Scottish Traveller traditional singer. Her biography, ''Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart'', was written by her daughter, Sheila Stewart, and publis ...

, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 5:13 # "

I Wish I WiSH was a Japanese pop group consisting of two members, Ai Kawashima and nao. Ai is responsible for the vocals and occasionally plays the piano also with nao on the keyboard or piano. Their most notable track is and was in the Oricon ranking ...

" (Roud 60;

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

P25) (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 6:24 # "Blue's Gaen Oot o'the Fashion": "The Wedding O' Blythe" / "When the Tide Comes in" / "Blue's Gaen Oot o'the Fashion" / "The Lad With the Trousers on" / "The Sailors Are All at the Bar" (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 4.31 # "Lull II: My Lad's a Canny Lad" (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 0:23 # "Blackbird" (

) 2:53 # "Lull III: a Minor Place" (

Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

) 0:22 # "Sea Song" (

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

) 6:19 # "Whitethorn" (Belinda O'Hooley) 6:04 # "Lull IV: Can't Stop It Raining" (Richard Scott) 1:45 # "My Donald" (Owen Hand) 8:06 # "Ma Bonny Lad" (Roud 204) (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 1:57 # "Fareweel Regality" (Terry Conway) 6:20 # "Newcastle Lullaby" (Roud 2644) (traditional, arranged by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset) 6:23 ''Album length = 65:11''

Personnel

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

* Rachel Unthank – voice, cello,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

, feet

Clog dancing Clog dancing is a form of step dance characterised by the wearing of inflexible, wooden soled clogs. Clog dancing developed into differing intricate forms both in Wales and also in the North of England. Welsh clog dancing mainly originates fr ...

– and the sound that the feet make when they do it – is integral to the Unthanks' stage act and to the recording of some of their songs. They list "feet", alongside vocals and instruments, in the album's sleeve notes. * Becky Unthank – vocals, feet *

– piano, voice * Niopha Keegan – fiddle, voice

Additional musicians

* Neil Harland – double bass * Julian Sutton –

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: * Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ), a type of 19th-century reed organ *Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts), a concert hall in 19th-century Boston * Melodeon Records, a U.S. record label in the ...

* String section on "Felton Lonnin":

Iona Brown Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Early life and education Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were b ...

– violin; Andre Swanepoel – violin; Michael Gerrard – viola; Rosie Biss – cello

Production and release

The album was recorded and produced between January and March 2007 by Adrian McNally. It was mastered by Adrian McNally and

Denis Blackham Denis Blackham (born in 1952) is an English music mastering engineer. He began his audio mastering work in 1969 at IBC Studios in London, and later worked for Polygram, RCA, The Master Room, Nimbus Records, Tape One and George Peckham, Porky's ...

at Syke Mastering. The sound engineer was

Oliver Knight Oliver Knight (born 1969) is a British singer-songwriter and sound engineer. He is son to folk singer-songwriter Lal Waterson and George Knight. He is brother and stage partner to folk musician Marry Waterson. Early life Oliver Knight was born i ...

. The CD sleeve was designed by Steven Wainwright, incorporating photographs of the band taken at

Beamish Museum Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it wa ...

, Co. Durham. The album was produced by Adrian McNally and released in the UK by Rabble Rouser on 20 August 2007.

Notes

References

External links

The Unthanks: official website

Listing on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bairns 2007 albums Albums produced by Adrian McNally Northumbrian music The Unthanks albums