Kim Edgar

When an artist schedules a gig at The Roundhouse in Camden they are usually aware of the venue's illustrious past. Furnished with this knowledge they know that nothing less than a spectacular show could easily be frowned upon. Evidently Karine has considered this theory as on the Polwart tour bus this time is not only her regular band but special guests Kim Edgar and Kenny Anderson - aka King Creosote. However the ground work didn't stop there. The audience find themselves ensconced in a cleverly curtained off auditorium. A low tier of seating surrounds tables which are all decked out in red, black and gold. It's topped off by two glitterballs and the feel is rather special. Something akin to a folk club that has been designed in Las Vegas.

The presence of Kim allows Karine to reach parts of her repertoire recently left untouched on stage, namely material from her Fairest floo'er album. So although it may be a little unorthodox to open with a seven minute Scottish Borders murder ballad, 'Dowie Dens Of Yarrow,' and later 'The Learig,' make for a stunningly stark juxtaposition against the lush surroundings. Kim's piano arrangements spur Karine onto greater heights with her voice and together they give us a boldly stripped down version 'Painted It White.'

The premier rhythm section of Mattie Foulds and Kevin Maguire are on hand to help back Kim through a rollercoaster of highlights from her 'Butterflies And Broken Glass' release. The swooping ballads move unexpectedly from delicate to muscular and are typified by 'Just Outside Your Door.' Steven Polwart's e-bowed guitar is layered by sheets of instrumentation until the whole group appear to be lost in raptures. This heady cocktail of Carole King and Regina Spektor has sure signs of star quality.

Karine's old favourites such as 'Daisy' and 'Harder to walk these days than run' are called on but it's the recent material that predominantly excites the Spiral Team tonight. This band are now really inhabiting the arrangements on 'This Earthly Spell' and letting fly with some extraordinary flourishes of instrumentation. Kevin Maguire's diving bombing double bass on 'Sorry' and the close harmony singing on 'The Good Years' send a buzz through us and the crowd. We're led into a series of tunes that were the result of a meeting of minds in the Burnsong SongHouse. Karine 'The Collaboration Queen' invites Kenny 'Two Chords' Anderson to the stage. He gives us a master class in minimalistic creativity, on accordion and guitar. Backed by Karine on Shruti Box Kenny's dusty brogue sounds a touch hesitant on 'Fallen Out.' To remedy this subsequent numbers are aided by a note book perched on his guitar. It all appears to be done in the spirit of spontaneous creativity and doesn't detract from a wonderfully countrified 'Turn On The Light' or the epic 'Helpless To Turn.' Mid-set Kenny springs Adrian Crowley's 'Walk On Part' on the band who admirably rise to the challenge of the two chord vamp with relish. It's a chance for them to let their hair down and blow the cobwebs away.

The Burnsong organizers had wished for songs about 'anything and everything, such as: humanity, equality, the environment, comedy, identity, politics, heritage, love and friendship.' This team delivered on every count.

The more the Spiral Team have delved into this world of music the more we hear how Karine is an inspiration for this generation and the next. It's her ceaseless imagination, tenacity and lust for continuous growth that moves people to seek her out. So whilst this is certainly a celebration of her career to date, you can guarantee for her, it's also another stepping stone.

David Kushar, Spiral Earth