Tunng - Comments Of The Inner Chorus

Tunng are often at the centre of discussions of Britain's "new" folk music. This is in many ways a good thing – there's much to like in the integration of traditional folk, glitch electronics, Books-style sampling and singer-songwriter warmth. Such syncretism can yield really marvellous results – and there were certainly moments of pearly brilliance on Tunng's debut. But now the band are back and I can't help but worry that they are helping along another trend in "nu-folk": extreme dullness. 'Comments Of The Inner Course' is often much closer to muzak than to Bert Jansch or Fairport Convention, everything milky and pleasant. While groups like Espers, Alasdair Roberts or – at times – Lucky Luke plow a folky trail between the comforting and the utterly chilling, Tunng seem happy being solely the former. If British folksong had started out this boring, no one would have bothered to teach it to their kids. [Sean Michaels]