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The Fairest Floo'er | 
| Artist: Karine Polwart
Label: Hegri Music
Category: Music
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £8.78
You Save: £4.21 (32%)
New (17) Used (1) from £8.77
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 5225
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 805520212519
EAN: 0805520212519
ASIN: B000Y5VIJI
Release Date: December 10, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Dowie Dens Of Yarrow | | • | Thou Hast Left Me Ever Jamie | | • | Mirk, Mirk Is This Midnight Hour | | • | Birks Of Invermay | | • | Will Ye Go Tae Flanders? | | • | The Learig | | • | The Death Of Queen Jane | | • | The Wife of Usher's Well | | • | Bonus track: Can't Weld A Body |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
The Fairest Floo'er of CDs! May 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I came across the CD by chance as I'd never heard of Karine Polwart, but decided to give it a try after listening to a brief extract of Mirk, Mirk is This Midnight Hour. I am so pleased I took the risk - it is absolutely astounding. I have always liked Dowie Dens of Yarrow since I heard Bert Jansch's version, but Karine's is so beautifully sung with such a hauntingly sparse accompaniment it has me in tears every time I listen to it. A wonderful CD!
Over produced?? Maybe not then April 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this on the back of her album Scribbled in Chalk and I have to say that after the first listen I was wondering what I'd bought but I persevered and now this is up there with the best. I even have my two very young sons singing the Dowie Dens in the car and around the house. I explained that one to them but drew the line at Queen Jane. Such a sumptuous beauty in the girls voice and a real achievement to convey the stories held within old poems and the dialect that goes with them. Each day a new track sticks out and I find myself grieving with the mother of the three sons with the grass at their head and the clay at their feet one day and the next my sympathies are with King Henry and as for the girls brother in the Dowie Dens well I just want to sort him out.
Will Ye Go To Flanders? sticks with me at the moment. Strong youthful Scotsmen heading off for an adventure and then wiped out in to the sound of the bloody cannon. Haunting stuff.
Recommend this?? Yes I do but if you choose to buy this then I suggest you give it time to grow on you. Listen to the stories told and you will undoubtedly be captivated by Karines melodious unique vocals.
Remarkable March 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Karine Polwart, in my mind, has without doubt the most beautiful singing voice i have ever heard. Her 2 solo albums are simply stunning, and this is no exception. She sings the songs with such emotion that I find tears rolling down my cheeks. Especially the tragid tale in Dowie Dens of Yarrow and The Death Of Queen Jane. She is someone Scotland should be proud of.
Another stunning album February 9, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I only recently discovered Karine Polwart, I can't even remember how (possibly through lastfm), but I was hooked the minute I heard the album Faultlines and intend on buying everything she's ever done! This particular offering had me spellbound. It is mostly a series of fresh and evocative arrangements of traditional songs, none of which I was familiar with, but Karine really manages to clearly communicate the emotions behind the songs, and the whole recording is haunting. "The Death of Queen Jane", as an earlier reviewer said, is a brilliant interpretation, very sobering, but the track I cannot shake at the moment is "Will Ye go to Flanders". If you like Scottish music and want to listen to someone whose voice is pure and beautiful, and who knows how to arrange a piece in a sublime fashion, I'd definitely give this a shot.
Beautiful new interpretations January 25, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I'm not really a fan of old ballads but bought this album on the strength of Karine's other (original) work, which I really enjoy. I'm really glad I did. Clearly a lot of care and thought has gone into crafting modern, fresh, arrangements of these old songs, all of which were unfamiliar to me from before. Despite being a pretty diverse bunch of songs all of these new arrangements are totally successful and really convey the emotion and story behind them to the modern ear.
What is particularly striking is the pared back style of the accompanying music which really allows Karine's expressive voice to flourish. All of the tracks on the album have something going for them but there are three that particularly stand out for me, the first "the Dowie Dens of Yarrow", "the Learig" and "the Death of Queen Jane". The Dowie Dens tells a typical ballad-type story of young lovers tragically separated by a meddling family, but the arrangement is so well put together and Karine's singing and expression so varied that I think this is probably my favourite track. The Learig stands out because it sounds to me so fresh (apart from the old Scots of course) it could have been written yesterday. The Death of Queen Jane actually tells a pretty gruesome and sad story but is sung in a style so pure and innocent that I didn't realise what the song was really about until I'd heard it a few times.
An exquisite and unusual addition to any CD collection - I can strongly reccommend it.
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