Swap sic CD

Swap return for their second recording, which brings the Celtic tradition of Karen Tweed (accordion) and Ian Carr (guitar) together with Swedish fiddlers Ola Bckstrm and Carina Normansson.

Look up "swap" in the dictionary; it's about giving away something in exchange for something else you need. Swap are the first group to explicitly bring together the Celtic and Swedish traditions; music from near neighbors that's only now being joined.

On [sic], the band's sound has gelled, with a number of original compositions, and a new element of vocals with three songs sung by Carina Normansson. The musical exchange reaches new levels, as the Celtic and Swedish ingredients have simmered together into an increasingly satisfying stew.

Regarding the new album, guitarist Ian Carr says: "When Karen and I learn a Swedish tune off Ola and Carina, we hear it in our style, which is miles away from the way traditional Swedish music sounds in the hands of a real Swedish musician; just as when Karen and I teach an Irish tune to Ola and Carina the same thing happens: the music changes. Calling the new album sic is our way of saying it's not strictly Swedish or Irish music - but that's the way we heard it and that's what it is meant to sound like."

Look up "sic" in the dictionary, it's used in written texts to indicate that a surprising or paradoxical word, phrase or fact is not a mistake. This is Swp to a T, they surprise at every turn.

Reviews

"...a gentle, acoustic blend that is thoroughly fresh and inspiring." - CMJ New Music Report

"Haunting originals by Bckstrm in the manner of the gorgeous Swedish twin-fiddling tradition mesh with modal jigs and reels to form a new synthesis of northern influences. This is world music at its best." - Acoustic Musician Magazine

"Whoever, wherever, whenever, there'll be laughter, imagination, and brilliant playing." - Dirty Linen

"Sensitivity and feeling in the slower numbers, plenty of drive and joy in the faster ones...a well-crafted and enjoyable selection." -- The Living Tradition (UK)

"Music played with such skill, imagination and invention, such a keen sense of dynamics and huge panorama of colour can take as many liberties as it likes." - Glasgow Herald (UK) January 28, 2000

"...arrangements full of kaleidoscopic colour and bold dynamic contrast." - Songlines (UK) Spring 2000

"It is not just the supreme talent and musicianship of this quartet that sets them apart, or their remarkable inventiveness and musical rapport: it is the way they make it all look so effortless, as if the music is pouring out of them by magic." - The Scotsman (UK) February 2, 2000