Drumspyder – ‘Fivefold Craft’ Review

What does Drumspyder sound like?

Framedrums and tambourines take to the medieval dance floor.

The review of ‘Fivefold Craft’ by Drumspyder

Drumspyder is the moniker for Scott Sterling. Scott composes music that brings in rich Celtic and British folk music and often merges it with contemporary electronica. Central to his sound are his collection of framedrums and hand percussion, and the duality of real wooden hand drums mixed in with the electronic beats is what sets Drumspyder apart from many other artists.

Loosely inspired by the five elements, ‘Fivefold Craft’ brings traditional Celtic and British folk music to the dance floor. ‘The Roscommon’ is an uptempo dance piece, allowing rich tambourines and Celtic whistles to lead the way. Female guest vocals add an extra layer, but they take the lead for ‘As I Walk’d Out – Childgrove’, which is a slinky mid-low tempo track with traditional lyrics. Dulcimers, synth sitars, keyboard atmospherics, whistles, and shanty-like harmoniums fill out the world, bookended with bird song. It feels like something you might hear by Unto Ashes on a happy day, or early Qntal on a quieter day.

The skippity jig of ‘Midsummer Hornpipes’ has Drumspyder take us to Ireland. This jaunty mid-tempo piece lets the Irish whistles take centre stage with a featherlight melody and bassy beats. This is a niche reference, but the sound palette of this EP reminds me of Dark Cloud and Legaia 2, both PlayStation 2 era RPGs. The electronics have a retro clean tone to them, whilst the live percussion gives a fuller body to the tracks. ‘Lilting Banshee’ is the most trance-genre track on the release. Pulsating basslines warble up like aura arcs whilst fiddles and whistles take turns to call-and-response motifs and melodies. Since the bass-led track is more dubby than the rest, I thought it may lend itself more towards some hand percussion solos. Instead, Drumspyder keeps the electronics up front.

If anything, it’s left to the closing track, ‘Man Mei Longe’, to showcase the richness of framedrums and tambourines best. It’s the slowest piece on the EP and verges on meditative, rhythmic drone music. Based on a 13th-century Middle English song, the harmoniums and synths drone over searching and subdued guitar plucks and low whistles you’d normally hear in calming Asian tracks. Oddly, despite having four folktronica dance tracks, this more natural feel is my favourite on the EP.

If you like your folktronica more towards the dance or trance end of the scale, or you particularly love framedrums, then give Drumspyder a spin. I’d also recommend it to fans of the chillout electronic label Cosmicleaf, too. Whilst some of the electronic elements are a little too clean and rigid, I found it to be characterfully quaint. What I’d love to hear is Drumspyders framedrum work in full swing, leading the mix, rather than the electronics being in the foreground. So much excellent rhythmic work is hiding in the shadows of the margins of a bar of music. Let it shine.

Recommended track: Man Mei Longe

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