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Apr 12, 2012What comes across most effectively is the ease that both Roberts and Morrison have with one another. Their vocals settle in together comfortably. That feeling adds even more bubbling warmth to this already toasty disc.
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MojoApr 20, 2012Urstan find Roberts'signature whistling-kettle delivery ... framed with guitars, fiddles, drums and brass. A peaty, heathery authenticity pervades - to compelling effect. [May 2012, p.88]
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The WireApr 18, 2012Urstan can be seen as a remedial effort. [Apr 2012, p.58]
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UncutApr 17, 2012No museum piece, Urstan energizes the past. [May 2012, p.80]
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Apr 12, 2012The pair dovetail beautifully on the mostly traditional ballads and work-songs.
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Apr 12, 2012The lilt of the melodies, the consistent surprises of the production, and of course the poetry of the lyrics are all more than enough in and of themselves to keep listeners fully engaged.
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Apr 12, 2012Urstan is worth a plunge, even for listeners new to the musical genre.
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Apr 12, 2012The album is full of superlative performances, and exudes an uncommon level of energy and joy, even at its more melancholic moments, and is a far cry from Roberts' often cold and hermetic (but excellent) solo performances. Despite Morrison and Roberts's being the featured performance, this is clearly a group effort, a fact further underlined by the band-credited arrangements.
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Apr 12, 2012Roberts and Morrison have crafted an elegant and vivid love letter to the music and culture of Lewis, and certainly brings to life the storytellings and traditions of this remote outpost.
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MagnetApr 12, 2012The LP works, but just barely... [Roberts] doesn't always mesh well with Morrison's cheerful singing. [No.86, p.57]
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Apr 12, 2012Forget austere, bleak, slavishly traditional renditions – this is Roberts and Morrison we're talking about. These love and 'waulking' songs – one of them originally sung by women weaving tweed – are expansive, joyful, mysterious things.
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Apr 12, 2012Morrison and Roberts aim somewhere in the middle, not immediate, not really elegiac, dealing with the song as a song, ["Never Wed an Old Man"] not as a story, when more story-punch would have given the thing kick. This measured approach works out for them on other tracks, however.