Here, after all, is a band that, in Chris Wood and Martin Carthy, has singer-musicians who can hold an audience spellbound alone, but neither managed to impose himself for long over the collective drone of his colleagues.
So much that’s positive has been said and written about The Imagined Village – and indeed so much could reasonably be expected given some of the personnel involved – that it’s difficult to reconcile the disparity between the prospect and the reality.
Here, after all, is a band that, in Chris Wood and Martin Carthy, has singer-musicians who can hold an audience spellbound alone, but neither managed to impose himself for long over the collective drone of his colleagues.