New Irish Music Releases November 2003
Claddagh Records
Dame House
Dame Street
Dublin 2
Telephone +353 1 6778943 Fax +353 1 6793664
www.claddaghrecords.com mail...@crl.ie
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November 2003
CAVAN'S LILTER. Séamus Fay. CAVANMUSIC 00708. This is the record of the
month and one of the records of the year. While it's essential for every
musician to be able to lilt, it's rare to find a lilter who's good enough to
stand up and entertain an audience, and Séamus, at the age of seventy, could
keep a crowd going all night. He's also a fine singer (check out his 'May
Morning Dew' and compare it to the pretentious, overloaded treatments given
it by younger singers in recent years). As a celebration of a local
tradition, the album includes archive tracks of Seamus lilting in duet with
his mother, some younger lilters and one of the finest young singers of
songs I've heard in years, Aoife Murray.
THE BEST OF ALTAN - THE SONGS. Virgin 7243 593027 2-0. A selection of the
vocal tracks by Altan on their more recent albums.
INNISFREE. Alec Finn. AFCD 001. No need for introductions. You know each
other. Alec has made an album of slow tunes on bouzoukis and guitars. The
tunes are both traditional and modern, with the modern leaning towards the
cinema and the Irish-American. Among his able assistants are Brian McGrath
and Kevin MacLeod, with whom Alec recently made a most alluring album of
Scots tunes.
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED. Danú. SH 78057. The latest offering by the very
popular and hard working band. This time around they have a new singer,
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, and the one of the featured guests is Dubliner John
Sheahan.
ANGELINA CARBERRY & MARTIN QUINN. RTR 001. Angelina has recorded before with
her father Peter, and Martin has recorded with Na Dorsa. This banjo and
accordion duo have made a lovely album, with tunes from several collections,
others learned from friends, and a nice barndance composed by Martin. Given
the instrumentation, there are one or two occasions when the sound is
reminiscent of the Flanagan Brothers at their best.
BEYOND THE MEARING WALL. Maigh Seola. SEOCD 01. This record is based on
'Amhrain Mhaighe Seola', a collection of songs from East Galway by Eibhlin
Bean Ui Choisdealbha in the early twentieth century. Played and sung by a
group of excellent musicians from the locality, it performs a service in
allowing us to hear songs that in many cases have been confined to the
written page for almost a century.
HOUSE AROUND. Brian Boru Ceili Band. A selection of sets - the ones included
are The Caledonian, The Tipperary Lancers, and The Connemara Set. Well
played by musicians who themselves are no strangers to dancing.
LIGHT SLEEPER. Mick Fitzgerald. Mick is from one of the big music centres in
Dublin, the Navan Road. For many years he and Johnny Keenan played nightly
in the front bar of O'Donoghue's, and he was also a member of the groups
Tipsy Sailor and The Wild Geese. This is a selection of his own songs,
written over a long period. His songs have frequently been recorded by
others, including June Tabor, but Mick is their best interpreter.
WATER FROM THE WELL. The Chieftains. EREDV 116. The DVD of The Chieftains'
album - the band at home relaxing with friends and revisiting their earliest
musical memories. It also includes video footage of their album 'Santiago'
with narration by Paddy Moloney. Among the guests are Altan, Steve Cooney
and Van Morrison.
MUSIC AT THE HOUSE. Brendan Bulger, Marty Fahey and Kathleen Gavin. Brendan
is a Boston fiddler, Marty is a boxplayer from Chicago, and Kathleen is one
of the Gavins from Mayo and Balbriggan, who plays piano. They play lovely
old-fashioned music in a way that can only be done by people who know each
other very well. Anyway, it's well worth a listen, and one listen will make
up your mind that you should have it.
BAVAN. Meabh O'Hare & Conor Byrne. MOHCBCD 001. Well-known players, Conor on
flute and Meabh on fiddle have made a very good album, with traditional
Irish tunes, some Breton ones and some original compositions.
WINTER SONGS. Anuna. DANU 016. This is Anuna's Christmas album. It's as good
as their other ones.
UP AND AWAY. Paul Smith. REELCD 001. Paul is a flute player from Kilmovee in
East Mayo. This is a lively, accomplished and well-played recording, on
which he is accompanied by Ged Foley, Mike O'Connor, Michael Cooney and
Padhraic Sweeney.
SILVER RIVER. Matthew Manning. SR 001. This one is subtitled 'The Music of
Michael McGlynn'. Manning is an oboist and here he plays 15 tunes with
orchestral accompaniment both traditional and classical which have become
associated with Michael McGlynn of Anuna
AR SCÁTH A CHÉILE. The Neff Brothers. T 003. Music on the fiddle and
uilleann pipes by the two Cork brothers, joined by many of their friends.
PUBLOCKED. Ding Dong Denny O'Reilly & The Hairy Bowsies. IRL04. Re-issue of
an album by a skit Dublin 'ballad group'. It's highly entertaining, and
actually very well done. But beware - it's frequently obscene and everyone
will find something in it to offend them.
CHRISTMAS. Mary Coogan and friends. COOG 01. Mary is the same woman who
plays with 'Cherish the Ladies' and is the daughter of the box player Jim.
An album of songs and tunes associated with Christmas, and pleasantly
arranged.
A HIDDEN ULSTER. Padraigin Ni Uallachain. This is the history of the last
days of the South Ulster Gaeltacht, situated in North Louth, South Armagh
and South Monaghan. This Gaeltacht continued its existence into the 1950s
and Padraigin details the lives of the last native speakers and those who
collected their lore and music. This was the area where flourished the great
Gaelic poets of the eighteenth century, and their memories and poetry were
still alive and part of the tradition when many of us were children. She
also provides the words and music of the songs that were collected from
these people. Fascinating.
WITH FIFE AND DRUM. Gary Hastings. This 115 page book is accompanied by a CD
with 17 tracks of tunes and conversations. It's a history of the fife & drum
tradition in Ulster, now associated in the popular mind with the Orange
Order, but once shared by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. It's a
fascinating history, well researched, of a tradition that manages to live
side by side with what is popularly seen as 'traditional music'. Gary makes
the point that all the fifers he has admired have also been good
'traditional' musicians.
IN SEARCH OF THE CRAIC. Colin Irwin. This 256 page book is subtitled 'One
Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music'. Presumably the 'craic' is a
misspelling of 'crack'. From a brief dip here and there it seems to be quite
entertaining.