LUNAR CAPE

Twenty-first century fairytales set to music by the Moscow-based trio.

This beautifully presented package comprises three CDs in an LP sized wallet with a large full-colour book: a CD of the tales spoken in Russian, one in English, and other of instrumental versions. Lunar Cape reckon that Lunar Folk Tales lands somewhere between Tull’s The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles and Prokofiev’s Peter And The Wolf. The stories – guest readers include ex-Crimsoner Trey Gunn - are mainly based on Russian folklore with the melody of The Blacksmith recognisable to followers of British folk music. There is wit, wisdom, and a gentle surreal humour. On Doughball’s Travels, an old

couple make a doughball, which rolls off, travels around the world, and returns as part of a pizza delivery. Musically, Lunar Cape’s strength is their invigorating interplay between instruments.

Who Brought The Berries features some tasty wahwah guitar and speedy, squalling flute flurries with the trio augmented by drums, while they deftly navigate the metrically complex structures of Greedy Cousin Leprachaun. Listening to the stories with the book to hand is an entertaining experience, but the purely instrumental CD also stands on its own as an evocative musical suite.