„A concept album compiled by composer and multi-instrumentalist Roger Eno, Ted Sheldrake is a masterful exploration of mortality and the sadness thereof, one that excels because the universal sentiment offered remains insistently personal throughout. It isn’t a music album as we know it, but rather, a hugely poignant and occasionally humorous musical portrait of the titular man whose fondest years took place in a different era, before the modernisation of society and certainly before the passing of his wife. It is a melancholic tribute to the ‘everyday bloke’ that is as deeply measured and considered in the approach to the concept, as it is lovingly imperfect around the edges of the delivery. Eno successfully harnesses the authentic village atmosphere of traditional folk music, combining and interjecting with sorrow-infused piano keys that unlock the inevitable door to life’s end.You will become attached to Ted (one gets the impression he would have found ‘Mr. Sheldrake’ too grand an address) and by the records conclusion, when his funeral music is playing, you will feel as if you are there in the church, paying your respects to the man alongside the friends that have contributed to these special recordings of life, death and humility. (Jamie Downes, A Lonely Ghost Burning)“
2013 31 Jan