Shovel Dance Collective - Everything in Readiness

Shovel Dance Collective bring their exploratory approach to traditional music to Everything in Readiness, drawing songs from overlooked folk sources and reworking them through improvisation, field recordings, tape manipulation and largely acoustic instrumentation. The nine-piece ensemble move from the rousing ‘Jer the Rigger’ and chaotic ‘Tally Ho! Hark Away!’ to mining song ‘Jowl, Jowl & Listen Lads’ and the sorrowful closing prison medley. Political histories of labour, imprisonment and expropriation run throughout, while increasingly adventurous arrangements stretch folk tradition into strange and powerful forms.