White Owl

The ways some folk standards such as "Lord of the Dance" or "Cunla" are presented can be taken for a joke. And this is true - it was a joke at first but then the WO found that the idea was well enough for taking it seriously.

Not all song at the new album, ‘Pepper’ are so funny such as "Lord of the Dance" or "Cunla". Everybody who read "The Treasure Island" can guess that "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest" is a harsh pirate song arranged as a nowadays bandit song. A manner the musicians chose for "Personal Jah" is alike. It is not strictly a bandit song even on the contrary: it conveys how a new world can be created. All you need is not to be afraid of letting your crazy imagination free.

The album also contains a number of songs that don't belong to Celtic tradition - Finnish songs. It is a new brunch in a varicolored passage of folk-music life in Moscow. "Kannunkaataija" ("The Tippler") - a cheerful song about a funny drunkard; "Miksi Ne Neijot" (karelian song) can be translated as "Why do the maidens...?" One can try to guess what they do or why or attempt to study Finnish. And another song - "Korppi" ("The Raven") is a very beautiful and emotional song, as you understand about a raven.

"La Rotta" is an Italian instrumental composition that goes back to times before Renaissance. Rotta is a dance that one can find in cultures of different nations (French, Italian and even Moldavian). WO never follows the traditional performance, thus only a tune of an old original "La Rotta" is used and developed into a new dancing composition.

A little number of WO's own songs are plaid now. One can find only three of them at the album -"Just Chains", "Good Old Spider" and "Personal Jah" - that survived in a stream of traditional music and could stand the test of time. - Fuzz Magazine

White Owl do a great job marrying Folk and Rock music. The Pepper album really didn't get rolling until Cunla (though Miksi is good as well). They have a great mix of style, from the speed of Cunla, to the much more traditional folk La Rotta, to the hard groove of Personal Jah. Overall they are great musicians.

Another pleasant surprise about the album is the quality of the recording. It isn't strange for bands who try to fuse different styles to have a terrible time with their early attempts at getting their ideas recorded properly. Here the violin, guitar, drums and vocals are all clear and easy to differentiate, while at the same time being mixed together to form a complete whole.

I have very few complaints about the album. Sometimes the vocalists style does not appeal to me, and there are a few moments I really don't believe it fits well - his tone goes better with the harder numbers, in my opinion. This is a pretty small complaint, and after I got used to the overall feel of the album, I've enjoyed it tremendously. - Reka-etno Zine

This album is as enjoyable as a real Italian pizza with double cheese.

The funked up versions of classic folk songs are well executed. The fiddler is in a category all his own. Absolutely top notch musicianship and production values.

The album has a live, energetic feel from beginning to end. Yet the musicianship all the way around is perfectly executed at full speed ahead.

"The Rising of the Moon" with non-Celtic phrasing is more fun than a crate of yo-yos.

I loved it all the way around! - Folkozine