Bellowhead disappointing? Well, maybe you mean that the material isn't groundbreaking. In that sense, I'd agree; the tracks on E.P.ONYMOUS are re-arrangements of well-known Spiers & Boden mainstays of the past couple of years or so and all have been previously recorded - by them and by many others before

But it is, surely, the arrangements that are the point. It's now possible to distinguish exactly what is going on in Jon Boden's complex musical patterns and hear just where this band is taking our music: yes English music is joining the world.

A live performance is something else. Bellowhead's debut last April in Oxford was so triumphant and unbelievable that I've found it impossible to find sufficiently ecstatic words to convey to those who were unfortunate enough not to have been part of the exuberant explosion in Oxford Town Hall, just how important this was. 'Cotswold' was previously just a kind of cheese to many of those unable to resist leaping up and following the lead of a few Morris Offspring up and down the hallowed aisles of local government. As the latest fRoots cover proudly announces:

Morris dancing is 'cool' shock!