Runrig
Martin Wendel
Does anyone know what tapes and albums have been
recorded with the scottish group Runrig?
Dougie Nisbet
Play Gaelic
The Highland Connection
Recovery
Heartland
The Cutter and the Clan
Once in a Lifetime
PERSONAL OPINIONS:
RunRig at their best is to be found in "The Highland Connection" and
"Recovery". This music in these albums is very raw, varied and original.
Once you move on to "Heartland", there is a slightly greater emphasis on
English lyrics, and less emphasis on the more folksy elements to be
found on the earlier albums. e.g. You won't get Malcolm Jones playing
the bagpipes as if they were an electric guitar, or some of the great
chanting, stomping classics.
"The cutter and the clan" - This is a yawn. There are too many things
ryming with 'moon' and 'June' and very little of the spontanaity and
originality to be found on their earlier albums. Their are only two
gaelic tracks, "Alba" being a fairly predictable three minute wonder. It
is this album which is providing RunRig with their more modern following
- fans who have never heard of or listened to their earlier stuff.
Naffness and predictability are the order of the day on TCATC.
"Once in a Lifetime" is a live album which is impressive as far as live
albums generally go. Stuff from their old and new material - including
the "This seems like a good time to go to the toilet", 'Loch Lomond".
Tracks like 'Cnoc na feiltte' (sp) and 'Nightfall on Marsco' have some
of the promise of RunRig a few years ago - but you really needed to see
them playing live in small venues 2/3 years ago to see them at their
best.
Dougie Nisbet
Peter McColgan
In article <16...@etive.ed.ac.uk> dou...@etive.ed.ac.uk (Dougie Nisbet) writes:
>PERSONAL OPINIONS:
>
>
>"The cutter and the clan" - This is a yawn. There are too many things
>ryming with 'moon' and 'June' and very little of the spontanaity and
>originality to be found on their earlier albums. Their are only two
>gaelic tracks, "Alba" being a fairly predictable three minute wonder. It
>is this album which is providing RunRig with their more modern following
>- fans who have never heard of or listened to their earlier stuff.
>Naffness and predictability are the order of the day on TCATC.
>
I certainly agree with you about what you said on the "rawness" of
"Highland Connection" - but what about the even rawer "Play Gaelic" ?
(their first album). I think that "Recovery" is a much less "raw"
album than either of their two previous releases.
Run Rig (2 separate words - a form a ploughing that was used on the
highland crofts) are and always have been an evolving band. Since I
first saw them in 1982 at the Glasgow University Union, their music
has definitely become more sophisticated, more "modern" and less
"traditional". Is this necessarily a bad thing ?
Run Rig have always sang about issues which have and still do effect
the Scottish people. Their songs carry meaning. Whether that meaning
is in english or Gaelic is to me of no great importance, though
obviously an english language song appeals to a greater audience.
You seen to be saying that unless the song is in Gaelic and "raw" then
it is really not worth considering. How on earth can you call a song
like "Alba" a 'predictable three minute wonder' ? Have you any idea
what the song is about ? (english translations are provided on the
more recent albums lyrics for the vast majority of their non Gaelic
speaking followers) If you did then I really don't think call it
"predictable" - but there again perhaps you find the tune "predictable" .
Well to me it's as unique as every Run Rig song.
I really dislike generalisations and to call the whole album "Naff"
(boring etc...not complementary) and "predictable" is certainly,
in my humble opinion unfair. It contains some of my all time favourite
songs (of any group). The powerful lyrics, touching on a wide variety
of past and present social issues relating to the Scotland people
combines with great music (not "raw" or very traditional on the
surface) that almost impels you to get up and dance.
Check it out and judge for yourself, but also go back to Run Rig's
earlier albums as Dougie suggests. I wouldn't recommend a particular
one since they each contain their own gems but I would recommend
that you try to listen to them all, and read the translation of the
lyrics (if you're not a Gaelic speaker of course) to get a better
understanding of Run Rig's music.
> Stuff from their old and new material - including
>the "This seems like a good time to go to the toilet", 'Loch Lomond".
>Tracks like 'Cnoc na feiltte' (sp) and 'Nightfall on Marsco' have some
>of the promise of RunRig a few years ago - but you really needed to see
>them playing live in small venues 2/3 years ago to see them at their
>best.
>
>Dougie Nisbet
Run Rig had "promise" and made good use of it - they didn't make the
mistake of many promising bands who faded into obscurity, and stand still
- they evolved. They evolved and developed as a group. Their audience is
enormous within Scotland now, with their "Once in a Lifetime" album
outselling those by Dire Straits and Madonna (sorry I mentioned her).
Will this still local success develop into something bigger as they
undoubtedly deserve and if this happens will it radically change
Run Rig's music ? I hope not.
As I mentioned in a previous Run Rig posting before Christmas, their
concerts have got to be seen to be believed. I have been fortunate
to have seen them over a dozen times since 1982, from small clubs
to large dance halls. They never have seating, so you can get up and dance
to the music as everyone does. The best place to see them though is
in their own back yard - the small concert halls and open air festivals
of the Highlands of Scotland. The Skye folk festival is a particulary
fine event to see both them and many other teriffic Scottish folk bands.
Well I'm sorry if I went on too much and congratulations for reaching
as far as this.
Regards from So. Cal.
a temporary Scottish emigrant,
Peter McColgan.
"When you arrived in Canada you walked the streets
Out of work, out of money, prospects bleak
Now the plane dips down from the morning sky
And you touch the land where the fire won't die"
- from "The Cutter"
off Run Rig's 1987 album release "The Cutter and the Clan"