Newsletter Feb/Mar 2018 Candy Floss
Candy Floss – Memories For Sale
Candy Floss, one of Slovakia’s finest established bands, released this album entitled “Memories for Sale” at the back en of 2017. They represent the some of best of European bluegrass, with original songs and instrumentals in a contemporary Bluegrass style. Having more than one member of a band who can take on lead vocals is a bonus, but Candy Floss has three and with the same in harmony vocals it allows them to mix and match to great effect without losing the band’s overall identity.
Working as a band since 2004 Candy Floss current line-up includes two of original members Simona Schmidtová on vocals and banjo, and Anton Národa on bass. It is one of Simona’s songs “How Do I Love You” that opens the album, sung by their main lead vocalist, Patricia Pivolusková, the arrangement shows the overall musical talent in the band from the guitar/mandolin/banjo intro through to the harmonies.
How Do I Love You
In ‘Without Your Love” Patricia’s voice delivers a melancholic song of lost love with sweet support from the fiddle and mandolin. This is followed by “Go Back to Her” similar in its sentiments but more up-tempo.
Without Your Love
Every album has to have a good instrumental and this is no exception. Michal Barok’s mandolin playing on “Duck or Goose”, his own composition, is exactly what we expect from him – clean and with tone and feeling.
One More Chance is probably the “best” track on the album. It grabs you from the start with the banjo backed by a quiet drone from the guitar until the mandolin comes in gently to introduce the vocals. With the banjo rolling in the background and the mandolin and fiddle doing the main back-up. There are some subtle changes in tempo and the strong bass keeps everyone on track.
The title track Memories for Sale has Dusan taking the lead vocal with Michal Barok and Michal Kváč providing the harmonies. It’s a solid song with feeling and again gives the band the opportunity to show that they can do light and shade with both voices and instruments.
Memories For Sale
To have a well-written song like “Pocket Full of Broken Dreams” done in a bluesy style with just one voice, a guitar and a piano might seem very strange for the bluegrass purists. But in today’s world musicians work in many different musical genres and this is a beautiful song to which Patricia does full justice. It is refreshing to see the band has the courage to challenge the bluegrass listener.
This is an excellent album with twelve excellent and original tracks!
Recorded at Studio Sabik and Studio Peter Kravec
Mixed and mastered by Peter Kravec
Candy Floss are:
- Patricia Pivolusková – Lead Vocals
- Simona Schmidtová – Banjo Harmony Vocals
- Dušan Hronec – Guitar Lead and Harmony Vocals
- Michal Kváč – Fiddle Lead Vocals
- Michal Barok – Mandolin Harmony Vocals
- Anton Národa – Double Bass
- Special Guest Filip Fejtl on Piano (track12)
