By the time of
Fairytales of Slavery, the seemingly winsome trio had left their medieval a cappella roots long behind them, as the transformation apparent in following records had reached a new level of intensity. It didn't hurt that
Alexander Hacke from
Einstürzende Neubaten was producing; bandmate
F.M. Einheit contributed some typically atypical percussion here and there to lend even more of an extreme stamp on the results. Swirling with a rampaging intensity right from the start thanks to "Cut" and in particular Trevor Sharpe's absolutely massive drumming work in partnership with Donna McKevitt's strings,
Fairytales of Slavery is a lost delight of an album. Out of place in 1994's music scene and even more of a strange jewel when viewed at a distance, the only contemporaries for the group might well have been
Cranes, but even that misses the essential differences between the two excellent bands. McKevitt and Katharine Blake aren't Alison Shaw, for one thing, their singing more straightforward and direct even when swathed in layers of music and stretched out syllable by syllable. Meanwhile, there's less fragile darkness in the band's collective work and more gripping, brisk assault, as "Cover My Face" and the ever-more-fired-up "Wheel" readily demonstrate (though "A Fairytale of Slavery" does come close to a very
Cranes-like death-march-with-piano crawl). Elsewhere, songs like "Fly" and "Serial Angels" balance quiet parts with sudden, dramatic explosions. The twinkling delicacy of "The Wooden Boat" in particular catches the imagination, with Trevor Sharpe's percussion work again lending a hefty undertow, but without overpowering the song until the increasingly frenetic conclusion. Perhaps the best comparison in the end is to labelmates
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds -- gifted, intriguing lead singers with music able to work in both low-key and amped-up fashion. Points as well for the spectacular cover of the Brecht/Weill classic "Havana Lied," in the original German. ~ Ned Raggett