Broadcaster feat Peggy Seeger – Folksploitation (Review)
Review by Jack Foley
SO, dance music can still surprise! Dance producer Broadcaster has teamed up with folk grande dame Peggy Seeger to offer a dance-folk hybrid unlike anything else you’re likely to hear on the current dance scene.
Described as both a musical collaboration and a concept, Folksploitation offers the unlikely juxtaposition of Seeger’s delicate vocals and Broadcaster’s dub, hip hop, funk and techno beats.
It maybe shouldn’t work, but it does. And it delivers a genuinely different but mostly fun listen.
An early taster was offered in the lead single First Time Ever, which sets a sample of the Seeger classic The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face against a backdrop of dub, groove and techno. It has a cheesiness to it, while the opening is pure Richard X with Sugababes.
But it works and has a funky element and a beguiling quality, with Seeger’s vocals managing to maintain the melancholy, beguiling quality they did way back when the song was first written for her.
But further highlights come in the form of Three, which is arguably the most out and out funky of all the tracks, complete with blues and bluegrass nods, and a breezy, free-spirited set of vocals from Seeger.
Away from fun, there are even harder hitting songs in which the lyrics explore hot-button issues. Annie, for instance, examines teen pregnancy and reigns in the feel-good beats in favour of a more subtle arrangement designed to bring Seeger’s vocals more to the fore.
While Welcome To The Neighbourhood (which opens with the line “daddy’s got a .38”) tackles inner city violence with a dirtier, more dub-heavy back-beat and vocal samples that would sit more easily on a Prodigy record, or even a Happy Mondays one.
With only seven tracks, the album also doesn’t outstay its welcome. Rather, it kind of leaves you wanting more, especially once the reflective Gone rounds things off with another of the LP’s highlights.
It’s clear that both Broadcaster and Seeger are having fun and, for the most part, the album boasts a highly infectious quality.
Download picks: Three, First Time Ever, Gone, Annie
Track listing: