Releases > Releases May 2018
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PLANXTY
One Night In Bremen
Radio Bremen MIG 02062CD, 12 Tracks, 60 Minutes
www.mig-music.de
Back in the early 1970s I was too young to have seen the initial outings of Planxty, then in 1975 they split. I was bereft, until they reformed in 1979 with Matt Molloy recruited for his famous flute playing, That year the band embarked on a tour that lasted 58 days and took in 45 gigs. I saw them at the Liverpool Philharmonic. I was enthralled, and for nearly forty years I thought it was just a treasured memory, until this album arrived. Here is a recording from that tour, made at the Uni Mensa in Bremen. According to the liner notes by Andy Irvine the tour was the impetus for the lads to record After The Break; this live recording isn’t quite its prequel, but it is close.
The opening track has Christy Moore’s earthy bodhrán at the end of The Pursuit of Farmer Michael Hayes, and throughout we hear the band settling in with new boy Molloy. It also features Raggle Taggle Gypsies from the Black album, the song that introduced the world to the signature complex bouzouki playing of Lunny and Irvine.
Planxty fans will warm to the content, The Rambling Suiler, Smeceno Horo, a slightly different version of Nancy Spain, big beefy reels: Blackberry Blossomand Lucky In Love. Some fine slip jigs Hardiman The Fiddler and the Yellow Wattle. Molloy takes a solo lead on the jig East at Glendart, O’Flynn counters with his own solo on Bryan O’Lynn and the whole band pump in extra adrenalin on Pay The Reckoning.
There’s so much energy here, that sometimes the sound engineer is taken off guard, this was the time of the analogue desk, when you had to listen and watch the needles. With the passing of Liam O’Flynn this recording has taken on even greater significance. It is one for the fans and if you have never heard Planxty before this will be a revelation. If like me you were fortunate to have seen one of those gigs on that ’79 tour, this is gold dust.
Seán Laffey
OPEN THE DOOR FOR THREE
The Joyful Hour
Own Label, 11 Tracks, 46 Minutes
www.openthedoorforthree.com
This is the third album from a US-based trio who have impeccable pedigree in global trad circles. Liz Knowles is an acknowledged fiddle maestro, Kieran O’Hare an uilleann piper of distinction and Dublin-born Pat Broaders on bouzouki and vocals, whose deep understanding of the song tradition, combined with an innate empathy for accompaniment, permeates the recording.
From the opening bars of the first set Boyne Water, there is an assurance and confidence in the ensemble playing which enthuses the listener. Their reading of The Monaghan Jig in the Church Hill set breathes fresh life into this most elegant of jigs, and a beautiful reading of the air Heavy Is My Fate is a testament to their instinctive sense of musical space. Overall, a wide variety of sources are explored to deliver a balanced range of material, carefully constructed, arranged and played to perfection – the title track is another great example along with the emphatic closing set of reels, Charming Mary.
The song choices reflect Pat Broaders’ wide interest in material drawn from all avenues of his musical journeys, including rare English folk songs like Creeping Jane, and Carrig River from his cherished family roots in Co. Wexford. Perhaps the standout song is Clyde Water, learned from the singing of the great Nic Jones. Recorded mainly in Dublin with engineering support from Trevor Hutchinson, this CD showcases the combined talents of all three players as a wonderful ensemble, always greater than the sum of its parts, which reflects huge credit on all those involved.
Mark Lysaght
SHANE MULCHRONE
Solid Ground
Raelach Records, RR015, 13 Tracks, 48 Minutes
www.raelachrecords.com
Jack Talty has a series of very interesting recording projects in train at Raelach Records in Clare. Jack is a concertina player, an academic and a sensitive producer; he brings all these skills together on the production of this album from banjo player Shane Mulchrone.
There’s succinct yet telling research in the liner notes, where we find that Dan Cleary wrote the Trip To Durrow and that Mulchrone’s versions of The Night Cap and Saddle the Pony were found in PJ Giblin’s 1928 collection of Irish Music.
The playing breathes new life into those old tunes, sometime solo, sometimes in the assembled ensemble, which features Mulchrone on banjo and tenor guitar augmented by Talty on piano and bass concertina with Noel O’Grady on bouzouki and Heather Cole-Mullen on melodeon. There’s a solid honesty in both the playing and the recording, take The Geese in the Bog, we can hear Shane’s foot tapping out the beat, holding the tune in check until the others join in as the tune turns to Jim Donoghue’s Favourite. There are tunes from the Sligo tradition, Miss McGuinness, The Pride of Clúinte and Paddy Joe Tighe’s three reels which will reward players with a few hours of studious listening, the piano accompaniment on the Pride of Clúinte drives us on without distracting us from the banjo’s pivotal position in the tune.
Shane takes up the tenor guitar for Fowley’s Mazurka, which he had from a tape of Verona Henry-Ryan, sister of Kevin Henry (a giant of the Irish music scene in Chicago). There’s an Irish American flavour to The Boys of Knock, a simple duet on banjo and melodeon, its style harking back to Dan Sullivan’s Shamrock Band and the Irish Boston of the 1920’s.
Mulchrone plays the air Ciaciín Ghleann Neifinn, straight with the most minimal of tremolo, a device that is often over-employed to create the long notes so typical of slow airs. The tune develops, the melodeon providing the drone as the piece reaches its climax. He turns back to Giblin for the final track a pairing of O’Flynn’s Fancy and Delaney’s Donkey, the former perhaps better known as the Town of Ballybay from the singing of Tommy Makem. Delaney’s Donkeytrots the music off to a happy conclusion, with Talty having great fun with jaunty jangly piano accompaniment and Mulchrone spattering a few triplets for a bit of sport.
In an age when commercial Irish banjo music has drifted towards Celt-Grass this collection from Mulchrone reminds us of the joy that the banjo has been bringing to traditional music for nearly a century. It oozes with respect and gentle fun and not concerned with flash, and that is itself a hallmark of Raelach Records.
Seán Laffey
BOXING BANJO
Round #1
Own Label BBCD001, 11 Tracks, 41 Minutes
www.boxingbanjo.com
Four young lads from the west of the country and that’s how De Danann started out of course. Boxing Banjo boasts fiddle and guitar from Joseph McNulty and Sean O’Meara but Mick and Dara Healy on banjo and button box occupy the centre stage. Their music is more Flanagan Brothers than De Danann, that1920’s show band style drive and funk with an emphasis on Munster tunes. Polkas, jigs and barndances, a couple of sets of reels.
Boxing Banjo keep things moving, and they’ve absorbed the lessons from Sharon Shannon, Máirtín O’Connor, Mike McGoldrick and others, so there’s never a dull moment on Round #1. A thumping version of The Mouse in the Kitchen, bags of swing on Rocking the Boat, and a splendid romp through Lough Mountain are highlights for me.
Mick ventures vocals on Don’t Think Twice, and it pays off: his Dingle Dylan delivery is very pleasant, drawling and tuneful, with a bouncy bluegrass banjo break to top it off.
McNulty turns his hand to song accompaniment effortlessly, and lashes into the tunes too, while O’Meara follows Steve Cooney and Gavin Ralston with his percussive guitar style, hitting the beat and hitting it hard. Reels range across Ireland for The Jolly Tinker and Dinky Dorian’s. A couple of tracks stray even further afield with Carna Czardas and Fleur de Mandragore. The only time these lads slow down is for the Brian Finnegan 7/8 Marga’s Moment, and the song Fire and Rain, which was written by James Taylor. Otherwise it’s full steam ahead, sucking diesel, fuelled by red-hot banjo and pumping box, great entertainment from start to finish.
Alex Monaghan
CHARLIE McGETTIGAN
Tuesdays with Paul
Jargon Records, CMcG Jargon10, 10 Tracks, 30 Minutes
www.charliemcgettigan.ie
It’s not easy to place singer/songwriter Charlie McGettigan in any particular genre of song type and style; so we can say he’s in a class of his own. We can certainly say of him that all of his compositions are easy on the ear, thoughtful betimes, distinctive, and always appealing. Added to that is his attractive singing voice and skilful guitar accompaniment, and you have a summing up of what’s on offer in Tuesdays with Paul, his 10th CD.
I asked Charlie how the CD title came about, because naturally enough, one wonders who’s Paul, what’s special about Tuesdays and what happens? Well, it’s all quite straightforward, he tells you: “I go to Paul Gurney’s place in Longford most Tuesdays and we talk and jam together playing guitars and piano.” Paul is a sound engineer and musician, and obviously his jamming with his buddy, Charlie, works to good effect because the ten new songs that make up the new album reflect well on both of them. Most are written by Charlie and for others he supplied the melody.
The song, Flying Away deals with friendship and the strength friends draw from one another. Charlie says of the song’s theme: “It’s great to have a soul mate – someone who you can really trust to stand by you as you fend off the nastiness of the outside world.”
“When the cares of the world get us down,
When it seems there’s no reason to stay,
When the answers just cannot be found,
We can go flying away.”
In a more serious vein, Charlie deals with the impact of the terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers in a song he calls You the Tower and me. “New York has always been a city which people from every nation in the world felt a part of,” says Charlie, “and where personally I felt safe.” He and Paul are joined in the song by Danny Sheerin who does backing vocals and plays drums.
In another of his songs, Comfort in a Song, Charlie writes about another support mechanism of sorts when the going is tough:
“If you feel you’re losing the game,
And there’s nobody else you can blame,
You might find some comfort in a song.”
Indeed, in Charlie’s new album one can say just that about the whole production, and to the lover of good songs, there’s much to please and delight.
Aidan O’Hara
TOMMY AND SAUNDRA O’SULLIVAN
Safe Home
Own Label, 12 Tracks, 49 Minutes
www.osullivanscourthousepub.com, www.cdbaby.com
This is a beautiful refreshing album mixing many well-known and sometimes overplayed songs with a few relatively unheard pieces. The husband and wife team from Dingle must surely be the best exponents of what Irish folk should be.
As always this is a blessing and a curse for a performer. There is the fear that a listener has an all too favourite rendition that no other performer gets a chance to better. But also there is the challenge to rescue a hackneyed song and breathe new life into it. Thankfully this duo is well up to such a challenge and one is left thinking of either “how did I get so hung up on the old version” or “was that a new song with the same title?”
Feel So Near is a wonderful opener on the album giving us the fresh voices that are not submerged in overproduction and the instrumental at the conclusion enhances the feeling to perfection.
We have heard many versions of Lord Franklin over the years and seeing the title here we wonder what they can do with it. The answer is that they give it a great fresh rendition. They move from the well known to the lesser-known Do Carlow Boys Come Home and show their versatility to full effect.
Their acoustic renditions of songs like The Galway Shawl remind us of the beautiful simplicity of such songs. They may often gain from a full-bodied band but these are classics needing just good voices and minimal backing. They are the essence of Irish folk and one loves the chance to return to those quiet beautiful renditions.
A new one to me was Steel and Stone and I must confess to being won over by this lovely song beautifully rendered and it will get lots of plays in the days and months ahead.
Add to these their lovely versions of Peggy Gordon, Saw You Running and the very much underrated and under performed Song for A Winter Night and the listener gets a fantastic bargain of great songs, great performance and the resurrection of some of the best music to be played on this island.
Nicky Rossiter
BOBBY GARDINER
Melodeon Mad
Own Label, No Catalogue Number, 15 Tracks, 45 Minutes
www.bobbygardiner.com
There are some great names connected to this album, Bobby Gardiner of course, Jack Talty, Garry O’Briain and Joe Power of Dungarvan who is a life long fan of Bobby’s music. Joe writes; “when my friends idolised the Beatles I was obsessed by Bobby Gardiner and his 1962 accordion album - Memories of Clare”. Run on almost 60 years, and Bobby is as fresh and fun as he was when Joe was a ten year old, so here is a melodeon album this time for him to enjoy!
The C/D includes a number of well known favourites, The New Mown Meadows, The Independent Hornpipe and Devaney’s Goat. Gardiner is able to push and draw something elemental and inspiring from every track. Much of this comes from the way that he stitches tunes together, for example the reel The Wind that Shakes the Barley is preceded by the waltz - Pull down the Blind. Bobby has an ebullient way of allowing tunes to surface. He is joined by daughters Kelley on piano, Lynda on concertina and Fiodhna on Low whistle on 3 tracks.
He has an ear for the newer tunes too, with Michael McGoldrick’s – The full Set - played after Ed Reavey’s jig - The Town of Coothill. There is a solo Polka - I know what Mary Wants - Bobby playing an antique 1904 Hohner melodeon, a gift from Steve Chambers – a collector of old instruments. He adds a bit of lilted doggerel composed by his wife Ann, giving a taste of a time long gone. He has adapted Bonnie Kate to suit the melodeon style and does the same with his gorgeous version of The Blue Danube waltz.
Bobby has had a long and distinguished career. The Kilfenora Ceili Band was his Alma Mater, and that enjoyment of dance music has never left him. He has many seasons at Bru Boru in Cashel to his credit and his music has the pulse and power to lift ones feet from the floor. He still loves the old tunes and the company of fellow musicians. One telling remark in the excellent inlay card notes, refers to ‘The Crosskeys’ from Ballindangan, Co Cork – a group of musicians who have been enjoying sessions in each other’s houses every week for twenty years! Isn’t that what music is all about? Melodeon Mad is a pure tonic.
Seán Laffey
BAILE AN SALSA
Ériu
Own Label, No Catalogue Number, 11 Tracks, 45 Minutes
www.baileansalsa.com
The name of the band gives the game away: a fusion of Spanish, Irish, Galwegian and something else, a musical crossbreed of cultures, innate talent and great youth-filled energy. The vocals vary from acapella, in unison, harmonised, call and answer songs and innovatively, voice-over-tune songs.
Opening with mouth music, an exotic chant that sits comfortably beside Fred Finn’s, Tommy Peoples and Sean sa Cheo on the first track The Dancing Bodhrán. The band’s repertoire is varied, the accordion, flute and fiddle are instruments of unity, the songs also notable, in particular, Long Way Home sung by Andrés Martorell. Dublin Town is a poignant love song and waltz, Conmigo Te Llevare is more upbeat. Sábado en Sea Road is an outstanding set, traditional Irish meets hot blooded Spanish, percussive, timely and skilfully arranged, an exciting aural snapshot of the Sabbath, on a street that hosts one of Galway’s finest traditional music pubs, the Crane Bar.
The Louth Samba depends beautifully on piano and percussive brushing at the start and grows into a playful, really endearing tune. Composed by Bríd Dunne, it is an invigorating piece, full of surprises with dramatic sectioning using the male chorus or solo male voice to break up the orchestral. It has strains of jazz and classical but could easily be a Spanish ‘céili’ set.
The castanets will meet Irish dancing shoes when Baile an Salsa play Monroe’s Live on Saturday May 26th and in Whelan’s Live, on Sunday May 27th. They also play Kansas City Irish Center, Missouri 4th May, Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago 5th May, and The Cedar Cultural Centre, Minneapolis, 7th May.
Anne Marie Kennedy
CUA
Songs of the Hollow
ANSEOCEOL 005, 15 Tracks, 61 Minutes
www.cuamusic.com
Cua consists of three people, Shane Booth (guitar), John Davidson (fiddle & percussion) and Ros O’Meara (bouzouki, guitar & percussion), each of whom contributes on a collective basis to the execution of their shared musical vision which they describe as Atlantean, an acoustic model underpinned by stunning vocals, as all three members are accomplished singers.
Instrumentation is confined to those listed, yet they achieve an impressive spectrum of musical colour with a sometimes-breathtaking palette of colours. The opener, Atlantic Cross serves as a manifesto, with a number of distinct sections introducing the concept. As the CD progresses, the listener can identify a range of influences which shape the music – Irish traditional and folk structures interwoven with mainstream US rock constructs, with tinges of neo-classical and jazz.
Very soon however, you may be compelled to abandon attempts at formal classification; there are frames of reference but they are not explicitly defined. The Other Man is an acapella tour de force, released as a video and emphasising the sheer vocal power of the trio. Other highlights include Kings and Queens, delving into our collective past, Animals, an emotional reflection on the effects of an assault, and Mother Earth, with a carefully layered intro leading to an infectious jig to close the album. Black Dog is an instrumental outing, which showcases the ability of the band to shift the gears in an effortless display of synchronised excellence. Overall, this is an extremely impressive CD which rewards repeated listening; a quality debut. More please!
Mark Lysaght
SHARON CARROLL
A Journey In Time
Own label, No Catalogue Number, 15 Tracks, 50 Minutes
www.sharon-carroll.com
Newry-based harpist Sharon Carroll has produced a fine collection of the great harp tunes. Presented in chronological order, starting with Brian Boru’s March,and ending with The Butterfly, with O’Carolan classics in between; Si Beag Si Mhor, Eleanor Plunkett, The Princess Royal. You might say the collection is book-ended by two joyful mysteries; there’s much speculation and virtually no concrete knowledge on the exact age of Brian Boru’s March and some would point out that the Butterfly is Tommy Potts reworking the 18th century Jacobite song Came Ye O’er Frae France known to Scottish pipers as Skin The Peeler.
At first I thought Sharon was playing a wire-strung instrument, but a bit of digging revealed that she is a client of Teifi Harps, a not-for-profit community business based in the small town of Llandysul, West Wales. Now, before yez all roar “Treason!!” and say that she should have come South for her shopping, let me explain that the results are very fine: not only does the instrument carry the tunes very well, but it also puts manners and stately rhythm on even the pipes in the group tunes.
The harper’s life is a lonely existence, much of the work is at wedding receptions, but Sharon also teaches and she has a group of her own; indeed the final Track that fluttering Butterfly is an ensemble piece with the group Sonas Harp Ensemble. There are songs too, The Last Rose of Summer, here with Sharon’s perfect diction and bell-like tone beautifully in step with her harp playing. She recounts how she first tasted the sound when she came across an abandoned specimen in the school dormitories. All we can say is: “Child, ‘twas meant for you.” Even more than the historical order she brings to this collection is a musical intelligence, and above all it is the love and enthusiasm for the pieces that shines through. If you are considering a career as an Irish harpist this is a readymade repertoire, ancient melodies, dance tunes, laments and classic songs. Freshly plucked, well-done Sharon.
John Brophy
SALT HOUSE
Undersong
Make Believe Records, MBR7CD, 10 Tracks, 44 Minutes
www.salthousemusic.com
Gorgeous Scottish folk songs imbued with the beat of the sea, and the metaphoric power of that. Not simply because this highly-acclaimed Scottish folk trio; Jenny Sturgeon, Ewan MacPherson, and Lauren MacColl, recorded Undersong in a waterside church in the Outer Hebrides. Salt House share a collective artistic draw and pull to landscape, its possibilities and links to new folk-music embedded in tradition, poetry, folk-tale. Lauren McColl’s renowned expressive fiddle-style carries a lovely melodic appeal across this album, evident from the get-go in Jenny Sturgeon’s anthemic walking-song Old Shoes. Lyrically, Salt House combine reflections on nature with contemporary psychological challenges, creative precision in how the songs link these elements. Sturgeon’s landscape might heal, as in her Burns-inspired Charmer: the scented earth a comfort, but Undersong as paean to nature is never sentimental - the beauty lies in the ‘broken coast’ motif throughout, in Ewan’s stunning depiction of breakdown in Lay your Dark Low:
“All his fortunes down the well,
His skilful fingers quiet,
His friends all gone to hell.”
The brightly-sung Staring at Stars illuminates stark images of a lost mind recovered behind “this lonely house of many weathers”. Gentle string tonality across Scandinavian-based Sister’s Revenge belies a blood-splattered tragedy. Slim and tall, with downcast eyes, they blush as they fasten swords to thighs. If fragmentation is fearlessly explored in Undersong, a rousing note of hope and subversiveness then in how the final (title) song invites us jubilantly over the broken ground, all the way. Outstanding vocals throughout, voices as clear and unforced as Undersong’s sea. Lovely album.
Deirdre Cronin
FRANDER
Mad King Production, No Catalogue Number, 9 Tracks, 47 Minutes
www.frander.se
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Karen Tweed, have all explored Scandinavian music of late, and if you are looking for some Nordic inspiration yourself why not explore the music of Frander? Utilising the folk stylings of Sweden and Estonia, here is a diverse sounding album from four-piece Frander. With the familiar sounds of fiddle, flute and bouzouki (along with double bass), this group of lively musicians produces an altogether different sound than what an Irish music enthusiast might expect of such instrumentation.
Like the opener, Alvefard, the album has an almost folk-pop vibe to it, taking the listener on a decidedly upbeat journey of songs in both Estonian and Swedish influences, with some sweet arrangements and affirmed vocals, as on Vabadus. Incidentally, for an English-speaking audience, the songs are accompanied by bilingual lyrics on the liner notes. A helpful addition for this reviewer, who got to learn that Vabadus in fact means Liberation, though whether that is in Estonian or Swedish, further research is required. On the tunes, the arrangements are deep and technical, like Gnistan, with some classical sounding phrases and vibrato emanating from the flautist, Sade Tatar. The bouzouki is at home with the various timing signatures applied, Gabbi Dluzewski providing subtle and frenetic accompaniment throughout.
An exceptional musical ability is always present, with each musician, Daniel Dluzewski on double bass and Natasja Dluzewska on fiddle, drawing from both folk and classical backgrounds, to put together nine tracks of diverse music and song, the vocals provided by Sade and Natasja.
Given the influences from both genres, the album is softened for new listeners with such classical and folk-pop influences to produce an easy, enjoyable experience over the course of this production.
Derek Copely
SARAH BAUHAN
Elmwood Station
Whistler’s Music 9817, 13 Tracks, 59 Minutes
www.sarahbauhan.com
This recording announces itself with enticing, jaunty whistling, on Blake’s Hornpipe, Ode to Joy and Dermot Byrne’s Daly’s Reel. The B-flat whistle is plaintive and deserves its place here as does the flute throughout the recording. Woodland Dream, a song from the ‘I Roved Out’ stable, tells of a vision: the poet/singer being confronted by a band of angels with ‘faces of sorrow so deep,’ who ask for ‘one short tune,’ to keep them from being ‘as silent as the moon.’ An endearing, morality tale, it explores the misfortunes of greed and corruption, and celebrates the priceless, healing worth of music and song. Brafferton Village and the A-Z Waltz are top-notch waltzes on flute, fiddle, guitar and bass. The orchestral layering and rhythmic structure make them a stand out set. Galopete, like The Long Rain set lures the listener in gently with elegant whistle playing, strong flute, percussive guitar leading into a great crescendo finish.
Female harmonies from Chloe Green, Susie Burke and Sarah Bauhan on Blessed, manage to convert an ordinary song into a powerful prayer, a hymn, a beautiful secular chant. Doc Boyd’s, Thursday night in the Caley and La Maison de Glace is a rousing set, spirited, high energy tunes that dancers could never resist, tunes that work around a fire or at a festival, played in a style similar to an Irish céilí band.
Anne Marie Kennedy
Lori Watson
YARROW ACOUSTIC SESSIONS
10 Tracks, 45 minutes
www.loriwatson.net
I was unsure what to expect on listening to Yarrow Acoustic Sessions from Lori Watson. This collection has been described as ‘a faultless passage through myriad narratives.’ And I was indeed to become another listener travelling that road.
This is Watson’s first major piece of music. Based on life in the Yarrow valley on the Scottish borders this music, song, stories and poetry, creates a mysterious and atmospheric sound from beginning to end.
Nature is ever present from the valley to the forest and we are transported to the very natural world of this Yarrow valley, which has clearly left a lasting impression on Lori. The music is reflecting and exploring connections between the human world and that of the natural world. We are immediately drawn into these connecting factors from the onset. The first song, Yarrow (a charm) opens with a natural sound and then the music takes us instantly into a whole other world. Such is the power of this sound.
Each song draws you into this world of nature and on the 5th number, The Sense of Being Lonely (short poem) we can see the hills Watson talks about. She draws us into this half a minute reading with her vivid description and feeling.
There are just 10 pieces on the Yarrow Acoustic Sessions, and yet each one takes you on another journey. Each piece is sensitive in the music and the voice. This creativity with music is exquisite on this collection.
These 10 pieces are a mix of reflection, contemplative, fun, and turbulence and yet they’re such easy listening. This is music with a difference and it just works.
Grainne McCool
INSCH
Daffy’s Trip
Ride On Music ROM013, 7 Tracks, 21 Minutes www.inschband.com
This young Breton band is based around the piping of Brewen Favrau, on Scottish smallpipes and uilleann pipes, with the addition of fine fiddler Soazig Hamelin and piano accompaniment from Kenan Guernalec. Insch’s short debut album is entirely Scottish material, two songs but mainly recent pipe tunes which give Daffy’s Trip a very contemporary Scottish or Ulster feel - there are similarities with some of John McSherry’s projects.
The songs here are old, collected by Alan Lomax in the 1950s but dating from well before then: Charlie O Charlie was the centrepiece for Ossian’s 1980s album Borders, a powerful song but Soazig stands no chance against the strong North East dialect. Gaol ise Gaol i was collected by Lomax from Flora MacNeil on the island of Barra, and is an old waulking song whose words have no doubt changed over the years: Hamelin’s delivery here is more confident, and it makes a great final track for this teaser CD.
The pipe tunes are well chosen and brilliantly played. From the modern Cape Breton strathspey Father Eugene’s Welcome to Cape North to the slightly hackneyed but freshly polished High Road to Linton, Favrau’s pipes and low whistles sparkle. There are some great touches of fiddle too, on Mike Katz’ The Head Roaster and the Angus Lawrie jig Paddy’s Market for instance. Tunes by Gordon Duncan, Dr Angus MacDonald, Stevie Saint and G S McLennan complete this selection, names to conjure with indeed.
Brewen produces a very Breton take on The Little Cascade, dark swirling dance rhythms on solo whistle, before his bandmates join in for a more conventional treatment. Guernalec is ever present, always in the right place at the right time, adding little bright spots on the white notes. Insch will doubtless pop up at some big festivals, and I’m certainly looking forward to hearing more from them.
Alex Monaghan
