returned from his voyages of discovery around the globe, alasdair roberts has brought a sack of assorted goods for you merchants, eight epic new songs' 'spoils'. alasdair roberts is one of scotland's best young singers and songwriters, and as the years pass, his artistry borrows more and more from centuries before. on his fourth solo album, alasdair brings with him a crew working with ancient instruments while supporting an album that is meted out evenly with an intense energy always in service of alasdair's finest melodies. on board are alasdair's old hands from appendix out (tom crossley and gareth eggie) as well as free percussionist extraordinaire alex nielson, noted baroque guitarist gordon ferries, emily maclaren, niko-matti ahti (of finnish free-pop duo kiila), and david mcguinness and alison mcgillivray (both of scotland's concerto caledonia), bringing a loose and lively mixture of drums, bass, piano, flute, glockenspiel, harpsichord, harmonium, viol, synthesizer, dulcimer, psaltery, hurdy gurdy, fiddle, and of course guitars and voices. 'spoils' ingratiates new compositions in a deeply personal manner with the world of traditional music that has sunk beyond the horizon for too many of us. it is a gift to these latter days that a man like roberts exists, to sing us back to our ancient home. on drag city.
