Waterson:Carthy, A Dark Light (Topic Records)

ANY temptation to describe the Robin Hood's Bay musicians as "the first family of folk" soon disappears after reading the withering sleevenote from Martin Carthy, in which he asserts that people doing so "want their backsides kicking -hard". Forewarned and protected, let's just say that the great gatherers of tunes have done as much as anyone else to keep folk alive. So A Dark Light is a bit of a puzzle. This is not an accessible collection to attract new fans, so much as a rather stern display of unfiltered folk music, great songs from the soil and the sea perhaps, but often gloomy. Here is folk music as serious study, rather than for passing enjoyment. The best numbers are the liveliest, the sprightly trilogy of Balancy Straw, Seventeen Come Sunday and Whitefriars Hornpipe, and the lovely a cappella The Old Churchyard, which surges with warmth and feeling.