The last album was released June 2009 and all the reviews that we could find are below.
Lira.se - Lars Fahlin (November 2009)
Akustisk folkduo. Det första intrycket man får av multiinstrumentalist duon Vicki Swan och Jonny Dyer är ett spår som musikaliskt tangerar Kathryn Tickell. Swan spelar scottish smallpipes med tickellsk fart och fläkt, och Dyers dragspel bidrar med ljuvlig kontrapunkt. Men Swan och Dyer har fler färger på sin palett. Swans låtar Fikavalsen, Skön Åsa och Norrahammarsvägen är klart svenskinspirerade melodier. Och Swans nyckelharpa har både fin ton och exemplariskt flyt. Dyers sång är stram och uppstyltad, medan Swan låter avslappnad och naturlig. Hans Follow me home är långdragen, trots fint gitarrspel. Medan hennes söta, vaggviseliknande The "Dood" night kiss, med text av hennes farfars farfar (om dennes sonson), är skivans bästa sångspår. Det är dock som instrumentalister de gör störst intryck på mig. Låtparet The Revelstoke wedding/Whist with a twist (av Vicki Swan) lyfter fram både Dyers gitarrspel och hennes oklanderliga kontroll av scottish smallpipes. Men det bästa spåret är Time out, som består av tre funkiga säckpipelåtar komponerade av Jonny Dyers.
Lars Fahlin
Translation:
Acoustic Folk Duo. The first impression one gets of the multi-instrumental duo Vicki Swan and Jonny Dyer is a trace of musical touch of Kathryn Tickell. Swan plays Scottish smallpipes with Tickells speed and breeze, and Dyers accordion contributes with delightful counterpoint. But Swan and Dyer have more colours on their palette. Swans tune Fikavalsen, Skön Åsa and Norrahammarsvägen are clearly Swedish inspired melodies. And Swans nyckelharpa has both fine tone and exemplary smoothness. Dyers songs are austere and styalized, whilst Swan sounds relaxed and natural. His follow me home is long, despite fine guitar playing. Whilst her sweet, lullaby-like The "Dood" Night Kiss, with the text from her grandads grandad (about his grandson), is the CDs best song track. It is however as instrumentalists that they give me the largest impression. The pari of tunes The Revelstoke Wedding/Whist with a Twist (by Vicki Swan) lifts forwards both Dyers guitar playing and her uncriticiseable control of the Scottish Smallpipes. But the best track is Time Out, that consists of three funky bagpipe tunes written by Jonny Dyer.
What's Afoot - Colin Andrews (November 2009)
I had the pleasure of seeing this talented duo
perform last summer at the Bideford Folk
Festival, but I think this is the first of their albums
that I have personally reviewed. Strangely
enough, I preferred the album to their live act,
probably because I could listen to them in a
leisurely manner rather than keeping one eye, as
the compere, on the clock.
Their music I find very relaxing. Jonny’s guitar or accordion blending very well with Vicki’s Scottish small pipes, flute or nyckelharpa (that’s a sweet sounding Swedish fiddle-like bowed instrument with keyed notes played a bit like a hurdy- gurdy). The title, Gleowien (a middle English word meaning to make music and be merry), is the last tune of the opening medley, and sets the gentle tone of the instrumentals. Other Dyer and Swan compositions feature in the Swedish style Asavagen and Fikavalsen, and most of the other sets of tunes.
On the whole I found the instrumentals more satisfying than the vocals, but that is very much a personal preference rather than a criticism in any way of their singing. Vicki translated the lyrics of a traditional Swedish song, to give us The Roses Three, an idyllically happy song (unlike Lord Ullin’s Daughter where all perish in the storms!) There’s a family connection, in the ‘Dood Night Kiss, written for her grandfather by his grandfather.
Jonny can fairly turn out some pretty good songs of his own. Follow Me Home, a chorus song calling the family home from the fields, isn’t traditional and doesn’t sound so. William, on the other hand, is a cleverly re-crafted version of False Knight on the Road,, or Child Ballad No.3 The Smart Schoolboy, and only reference to the sleeve notes gave away its recent authorship.
Vicky Swan & Jonny Dyer offer an interesting
blend of original material, accompanied by
instruments not often seen around the club and
festival circuit.
Colin Andrews
Folk World (Germany) - Adolf 'gorhand' Goriup (November 2009)
Gleowien is a Middle English word meaning to make music and merry. I don’t know if the two British musicians are actually married, but they definitely make great music together. Vicki Swan is a second generation piper following her father’s footsteps and plays wooden flute and nyckelharpa while composer and award winning guitar player Jonny Dyer also adds the accordion and the Swedish cittra to the line-up. Together with guest musicians Mark Southgate (bass), Pete Flood (percussion) and Roy Jones (bodhràn) the duo recorded ten self-penned songs and tunes as well as two traditional tracks.
They start off with the title track, an instrumental set by Dyer, and the playing together of accordion and pipes. A fine romantic air is followed by two dance tunes rhythmically supported by bass and percussion. Both musicians have beautiful voices and the five songs are perfect showcases to prove it. Dyer wrote “William” inspired by an old child ballad. His lead vocals as well as Swan’s harmony vocals are hauntingly beautiful and the accompaniment by guitar, bass and nyckelharpa match perfectly to the old time style song. Swan who speaks Swedish fluently composed the melancholic tune “Asavägen” in the typical Swedish style and they bring it forward with nyckelharpa, accordion and cittra. She also brought to music a poem by her great great grandfather Robert M. Swan, “The ‘dood’ Night Kiss”, and the result is a wonderful lullaby with Swan’s superb singing. A majority of the songs and tunes are rather melodic, but then they also play intoxicating dance sets and catchy rhythms. Dyer’s “Time out” is a remarkable set with modern grooves played on bass, guitar and percussion and Swan’s terrific piping makes it to my favourite track. A waltz in Swedish style by Swan and Dyer, “Fikavalsen”, and a Swedish traditional song, “The Roses three”, follow behind and bring the listener back into a melancholic mood before Swan gets back to her Scottish Small pipes to play another self-crafted set with a beautiful slow air and a great ceilidh tune. To close up the album Swan plays three traditional pipe tunes rhythmically driven by Dyer’s terrific guitar playing.
With their forth album Vicki Swan and Jonny Dyer install themselves on top of the British folk scene. They are brilliant musicians, gifted singers and exquisite composers and their mix of Swedish and English style music distinguishes them from the mass of traditional musicians.
Mardles - Anahata (September 2009)
This is Vicki and Jonny's third duo album on the Wild Goose label, though their studio friendly musical talent has also led to their collaboration on two other Wild Goose albums recently.
Gleowien (pronounced "Glay-or-we-en", we are helpfully told) is a middle English word meaning to make music and merry. They certainly know how to make music, whether it's their own compositions or based on traditional tunes from Sweden, England or Scotland. To their previous sound palette of smallpipes, flute, accordion and guitar they now add a nyckelharpa, Jonny's Swedish Cittra and Vicki's solo voice, and their recent research into the Swedish half of Vicki's ancestry has provided some unusual source material, though in all cases the final product is very much their own. Some tracks feature guest musicians Mark Southgate on Bass guitar and Roy Jones on Bodhran and especially Pete Flood's superb percussion.
The opening title track is a medley starting with the spine-tinglingly majestic slow air Rosey Jones, followed by Pine Dance, a jig and Gleowien, a syncopated reel, all written by Jonny. "Best served with a pint", they say, perhaps with an eye on the typical club and festival audiences for their live set.
The 'Dood' Night Kiss is Vicki's setting of a poem written for her grandfather when a small boy by HIS grandfather! I don't recall having heard Vicki's voice solo before, and it's gentle slightly dark tone suits this song perfectly.
Apart from that and Jonny's Follow Me Home, with it's memorable and catchy chorus and deliciously blended harmony singing, it's the instrumentals which really caught my attention, with their usual faultless playing and superb arrangements. Vicki is making some sweet sounds on her recently-acquired nyckelharpa, and if only a few other "folk piano accordion" players (or guitarists, in some cases) could listen to and emulate Jonny's sensitivity!
As the interpretation of "Gleowien" goes, the merry making side of it is more refined than you might expect, but no matter - the whole album has a very polished air about it, and is a delightful listening experience.
Wild Goose: www.wildgoose.co.uk
Vicki and Jonny: www.swan-dyer.co.uk
Anahata ~ September 2009
Folk News Kernow - CWR (October 2009)
This talented duo has been making big waves both at festivals and clubs, and on
other singers' CDs, and justifiably so. Vicki plays Scottish smallpipes and flute
while Jonny plays guitar and accordion; they both have terrific voices. With Doug
Bailey here giving us one of the best productions I've yet heard on this label, this is
a tremendous CD. The twelve tracks, whether self-arranged or self-written, have a
traditional flavour, yet stand on their own as jewels. You'll love it. CWR
English Dance & Song Magazine - Clive Pownceby (September 2009)
This fourth duo release since the demise of former band Serious Kitchen sees Vicki and Jonny throwing all the right shapes in what is a bold and fully-realised work. Building on the strengths evidenced on 2007’s Sliptease, they’re on solid ground with a mix of trad and own-writes plus a variety of instrumentation that takes in Scottish small pipes and Swedish nyckelharpa (Vicki) with guitar and accordion (Jonny). Vocals come courtesy of both and there’s plenty of creativity in evidence here, rather than arty experimentation for its own sake. The record begins and ends on a visceral high with the title track being a simmering instrumental set, while the traditional pipe tunes, termed ‘Trad II’, that close proceedings have a sense of quiet turmoil that’s similarly potent.
Elsewhere there’s an incongruously jaunty, yet noteworthy, version of Child no.3 (‘Fause Knight On The Road’) in ‘William’, contrasting with the sun-dappled ambience of Jonny’s ‘Follow Me Home’ and demonstrating how Swan and Dyer get it just right with a good balance of the slightly muscular with the subtle/gentle. Together they fashion some perfectly weighted, tasteful music that’s an object lesson in less-is-more.
Hardly putting a foot wrong, focused and with a deeper ambition whilst remaining egoless and enjoyable, this is rightly an album that takes itself seriously and aptly mirrors its title –verb, ’to make music, to make merry’ (Middle English). You suspect that Swan and Dyer are only just coming into their own.
Spiral Earth - Iain Hazelton (September 2009)
Swan & Dyer get better with every album, Gleowien is the much anticipated new album from this wonderful duo. Vicki is one of the very best contemporary pipers, with Jonny there is a kind of alchemy going on, blending a whole cauldron of influences and coming up with something provocative yet warming to the heart.
Netrhytms - David Kidman (September 2009)
Just to put your mind at rest, Gleowien is a middle-English word meaning to make music and merry: a decidedly worthy activity to which Vicki and Jonny’s fourth album (and third for WildGoose) is dedicated. As was apparent right from their days in Serious Kitchen, Vicki and Jonny certainly enjoy making music at any time, and with each of their records (and live performances, come to that) I’m brought up sharp by their natural and apparently effortless multi-talentedness. Gleowien is a glorious celebration of that trait, sure, but it also marks a further milestone in their development as musicians.
Not only are Vicki and Jonny both continuing to grow in stature as singers and song-interpreters, but they’re also expanding their available instrumental sound-palette. In the latter respect the most striking element is the latest addition to the duo’s already impressive instrumental armoury: Vicki’s fairly-newly-acquired nyckelharpa (that determinedly unwieldy-looking but wonderful Swedish instrument), which provides yet another string (or 16!) to her bow (!). She adds its distinctive, haunting timbre to a goodly number of the tracks (but to her credit, she refrains from over-exposing the instrument’s delights). Textures are sensibly well varied over the course of the disc, with Jonny’s trusty and friendly guitar overlaid and/or counterpointed by a melody (or harmony) line or two from Vicki, who flits mercurially between Scottish smallpipes, wooden flute and the aforementioned nyckelharpa. Jonny also adds further colours to the mix with accordion and cittra (a Swedish zither), while there are some wondrously subtle yet inventive guest contributions from a neat little rhythm section comprising bass guitarist Mark Southgate, Bellowhead’s mad percussionist Pete Flood and bodhrán player Roy Jones.
The disc more or less alternates between instrumental sets (seven) and vocal items (five); all but one of the former consist of original compositions in traditional style by Jonny or Vicki - and by traditional I mean Scottish, English and Swedish, and often you can’t feel the join, so authentically are they managed. Pick of these for me is the central Whist, which pairs a beguilingly reflective slow air with a more vigorous depiction of a game of cards (the real deal!), while the more rhythmic Time Out set ingeniously pulls the smallpipes away from their Highland heritage. Similarly, the songs range over (or are strongly influenced by) the traditions: first, there’s two fine examples of Jonny’s creative synthesising of classic ballads (Child #3, here called William, and Lord Ullin’s Daughter), on which at times I can’t help hearing the spirits of that admirable Australian duo Cloudstreet (no aspersions intended!) in terms of tone, manner, phrasing and presentation. Then there’s Vicki’s translation of an enchanting Swedish love song (The Roses Three), and a delicate setting by Vicki of a charming poem (The ‘Dood’ Night Kiss) written for her grandfather by his own grandfather! Arguably the most enduring of the vocal tracks, though, is Jonny’s genial and memorable (if gentle) chorus song calling the family home from the fields (Follow Me Home).
With its exceedingly well balanced menu and a light, airy and thoroughly infectious vibe amply befitting its title, this refreshing CD communicates every scrap of the musicians’ enjoyment of their craft while managing to quietly impress without needing to shout or boast.
Essex Folk News - Andy Stevens (July 2009)
From the first skirl of the pipes this is evidently another excellent album of songs and tune set compositions from the renowned local duo. Vicky features both her Scottish smallpipes and Swedish nyckelharpa on this album, accompanied by Jonny on guitar and accordion. Both composers work with evident folk traditions, mainly celtic but with two Swedish style tune sets on this CD. Both musicians are strong singers. "William", the first of Jonny songs, is based on a well-known Child Ballad, but my favourite on the album is "The Roses Three" a quest-love song. The lyrics of Vicky's "Dood' Night Kiss", a Victorian type sentimental ballad were actually by and about her grandfathers. These songs are balanced by strong rhythmic piping tunes from Vicky supported by Jonny, and sometimes guest musicians. A well-produced album from these talented musicians, well-known in local clubs and regional festivals, but who deserve better recognition nationally
Folk North West - Derek Gifford (July 2009)
When I first read the title of this latest CD from Vicki and Jonny I thought it was a new way of spelling ‘Gluwein’ - oh good, I thought, this’ll be a wino’s album - just the job for me! It isn’t of course, Gleowien is middle English for making music or to make merry. Ah well, at least I wasn’t totally disappointed because this is an intoxicating album.
All the songs and most of the tunes are penned by Vicki and/or Jonny. Vicki plays Scottish smallpipes, Swedish nyckelharpa (a sort of keyed fiddle - don’t ask!) and wooden flute while Jonny plays guitar, accordion and Swedish cittra ( a chorded zither) with both of them vocalising along the way. Mark Southgate adds bass guitar, Pete Flood percussion and Roy Jones bodhran effectively on some of the tracks.
Of the songs written by Jonny ‘Follow Me Home’ is very catchy and lilts along nicely and his riddle song ‘William’ is equally as good. The other songs are adapted from the Swedish and British traditions with one from a poem by Vicki’s Great Great Grandfather called ‘The ‘Dood’ Night Kiss’.
It is however, the tunes that feature most prominently on this album with the smallpipes and Vicki’s Swedish influences very much to the fore. ‘Fikavalsen’ (Fika is the Swedish act of drinking coffee and eating cinnamon buns) written by Vicki is a lovely tune and ‘Vintage Puget’ which is the name given to a home-made red wine - I knew I’d find some booze in there eventually! - is another cracker. Jonny replies with ‘Time Out’ and ‘Clattering About’ on another track illustrating very well their joint talents as tunesmiths.
This album is so entertaining that I think it might just find its way into my car for a while as ‘music to drive with’. Good stuff.