Terror

Album Review

Folk singer/songwriter Kath Bloom has a small cult following from the half-dozen LPs, all pressed in small quantities, she issued from the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s with guitarist Loren MazzaCane Connors. Terror is the second album she issued after returning to recording after a gap of about a couple decades. Bloom's older records were rather eccentric folk efforts, owing both to her shaky if endearing vocals, her precious heartfelt songs, and the minimal lo-fi aura of the production. Not much has changed on Terror, except the production isn't as lo-fi, the arrangements are fuller, and the overall execution, while still on the gentle side, doesn't have as much of a hushed, tentative air. The backing even verges on the conventional for a modern folk recording, including bass, mandolin, recorder, drums, electric guitar, slide guitar, violin, and supporting vocals. Bloom's singing still has an odd quiver and vibrato, however, that many conventional folk fans will find too strange to embrace. Some might find her ditties too mawkish, too, though here again they're just that little bit too weird and flighty to be dismissed as run of the mill hippie-ish folk. Not as strikingly original as her vintage work, it's still an engaging listen for those who want quiet folk that doesn't fall into clichés, though it's probably too unusual for most folkies and too folky to find favor in much of the underground.