An item in the music conference for discussion of
Irish music.
I've given up and forgoten the John Cussack item.
32 responses total.
Clan na Dore...
This is probably as good a place as any to make various people jealous again. I got to see Clannad on their first US tour, at the old Ark, the house on Hill Street. This was 1979, when I still loved them. We got to sit on the cushions on the floor, right under the band's noses. I had to move my legs out of the way every time Pol Brennan wanted to put his upright bass down.
I think it was when the ARK moved to somewhere on Main that I saw Eric Bogel.
Mickey mentioned a band called Cuig to me today. They're playing the Ark at the end of March; they have five full-length medium-fi MP3 songs and tunes at their website at http://www.cuig.co.uk which I found pretty enjoyable. They're a young band and so this is a cheap show at the Ark: just $12, IIRC. They have a somewhat pop-influenced rhythm section with mostly traditional melody instruments. (At least, if you consider the Chieftains traditional... :) )
I guess I need to mention this here, since Twila did not know it. "The Thistle and Shamrock" airs in Ann Arbor at 8 pm Saturday, on WUOM, 91.7 FM. Intermission music for the Muzsikas show at the Ark was the new Altan CD, THE BLUE IDOL, which sounds *very* good on first listen.
I suppose I should check whether or not Muzsikas will be showing up in my neck of the woods. Is Marta Sebastyen still with the group?
Yes. She only sings on about half of the numbers, though. Maybe a little bit less than half. I really need to rasp out some concert reviews instead of sitting in party so much.
I know the feeling....I've got to punch something out for last night's GBS show. Have any of you guys heard of Carbon Leaf? They were the opening act last night, and were really really good! They also won an AMAin January for "Best New Group"(?), and preformed there as well.
This year's ritual St. Patrick's Day purchase was Altan's new CD "The Blue Idol." (Which I bought on Friday, because it's almost $4 cheaper at Elderly in Lansing than at Borders.) This is the most engaging Altan CD I've heard in a while. Guest vocal appearances from Paul Brady on a very nice version of "Long A-Growing," and by Dolly Parton. Can't think of much else to say, it just sparkles. The other St. Patrick's observance was to (finally) open up the live CD from Sharon Shannon and the Woodchoppers. The copy I have was produced as a CD-R for sale at gigs in the USA last year, but it's now become a more formal release with some artwork added -- there's a copy for sale at Schoolkids'. This is a pure instrumental set, with Shannon's accordion in the forefront. Pretty lively and energetic the whole way through, and it winds up with Penguin Cafe Orchestra's "Music For A Found Harmonium," which has now passed into the tradition of instrumental tunes.
followup on resp:4 :: the band Cuig, at the Ark, late March: So is it folk-rock/electric folk if the front line is all acoustic instruments? Cuig's front line is accordion, fiddle and cittern; with a rhythm section of electric bass and trap drums. The drum kit was a bit too loud. Presentation of this material with a rock rhythm section is what originally attracted me to folk music back in 1975, so it was pretty clear I was going to like this band. When the accordion takes the lead, they sound like Sharon Shannon's band. Their big weakness is singing, which was rougher than I heard on the MP3 files; I think their youth and inexperience shows somewhat here. The band is from Northumbria, but they focus on Irish music. OK, now here comes the really big caveat. Cuig are flogging their debut album PROSPECT. I had assumed that the MP3 files on their web site, which were very good, were from that album. Alas, no. PROSPECT was recorded before the drummer joined the band, and that album is very uninspired and flat. The MP3 files are mostly songs and tune sets which also appear on the CD, but the MP3s are new recordings with the drummer. Summary: download and enjoy those MP3 files and hope the band sticks around to make a second CD.
Sounds like something I should keep an eye out for.
Ken, I find it so amusing that the combination of rock rhythm and folk music is what originally attracted you to folk music. Don Keller has told me the same thing. The reason I find this amusing is that for me the pathway went in the other direction. I could never find any appeal, or hear any sense, in loud rock rhythm, until I heard Steeleye Span apply it intelligently to folk songs. Sure, it can be "electric folk" if the instruments are acoustic: the early Steeleye, except for the electric bass, was all acoustic instruments. They were just amplified up the wazoo.
...and also, the "electric" in "electric folk" describes the attitude the band brings to the music, not the way the music's amplified. The Clancy Brothers could get the loudest amp in the world, and they'd still be a far cry from Steeleye Span.
Dan, are you sure? Early Steeleye played the same kinds of arrangements, in the same way, as their members had when they were all pure folkies. It was just amplified, very very loud. It wasn't until after Bob Johnson and Rick Kemp, who had more of a rock background, joined, that they began incorporating rock riffs and other rock elements.
Hrm. The early Steeleye Span that I've heard -- which, granted, isn't much -- still seems to have a lot more... attitude than the pure folk from around the same time that I've heard -- which, again, isn't much. More rough around the edges, maybe. Of course, there could have been "pure folk" musicians doing the same sort of thing at the same time, and I just don't know it.
Dan, I don't know what you mean by "attitude", but if you mean the aggressively heavy noise-making caused by amplification, yeah. But only a couple songs on their first three albums _sound_ like rock songs. Afterwards, most of them do. On "Please to see the king", for instance, I'd say "Boys of Bedlam" is the only one that has anything of a rock feel to it; "Prince Charlie Stuart" and "Lovely on the Water" are just massively-amplified folk, and most of the rest are hardly even that.
Doesn't an electric guitar count? Carthy plays electric all over "Please to See The King."
Compare Carthy's with Bob Johnson's _style_ of electric guitar playing, and the difference will illustrate the point I'm trying to make. To oversimplify, Carthy tended to play electric guitar rather as if it were an acoustic guitar. Thus: acoustic style, only amplified. I realize this could be quibbled, but remember, this is a comparison. Johnson didn't do anything of the sort. Indeed, Carthy's making so much noise this way is a large part of what distinguished Steeleye of this period, and (so I've read) caused some difficulties in the band's musical style.
Out this week is Sinead O'Connor's new album. "The Album I've Always Wanted to Make!" says the sticker. It's an album of (mostly?) traditional Irish folk songs; the one track I heard on the BBC today (on a replay of last week's Mike Harding show) was pretty good.
Oh, hmmm. I will have to listen to this one. I've always liked her covers of traditional Irish songs much more than her contemporary music. (I Will Sleep on Your Grave leaps to mind!)
"I am Stretched on Your Grave" --- yeah, that's a good one. This new Sinead O'Connor, SEAN-NAS NUA, is definitely on my list of things to buy.
Yeah, I got it wrong. :-) But I am SURE someone used that title.
Quick name-drop for Wednesday night's show at the Ark by Patrick Street. It felt like a warm cocoon, sitting up close with those greying old pros. Ged Foley on outstanding rhythm guitar and some vocals; Andy Irvine on bouzouki, harmonica and most vocals; Jackie Daly on button accordion; Kevin Burke on fiddle. Patrick Street, as the promotional material reminds us, is a genuine "supergroup", with every member having been a part of previous renowned ensemble. Ged Foley is probably my favorite, though he's very restrained here in contrast with his role as frontman with The House Band. The final encore was their setting of "Music for a Found Harmonium" from Penguin Cafe Orchestra, a tune which is well on its way to becoming a folk instrumental standard.
Sorry I missed them. Bruce didn't get home until nineish.
I know "Music for a Found Harmonium" best from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. I feel so ... ancient? esoteric?
I love PCO. I haven't listened to them in a long long time.
I always liked Penguin Cafe's "Telephone and Rubberband", as well as a number of other tracks from that album whose names escape me now..
For 2003, the ritual St. Patrick's Day CD is "Music From The Four Corners of Hell" by The Woods Band. Terry Woods (ex-Sweeney's Men, ex-Steeleye, ex-Pogues) has revived The Woods Band name for a new folk-rock assembly. I've been describing this as sounding like The Pogues with a better lead singer; it's the same sort of bouncy Irish music for parties. Half the album is traditional songs, including a great raveup on "Finnegan's Wake." Woods' originals are pretty good, even when they're just straight ahead rock songs without much folk influence. The one lame song on the album is "Sea Of Heartbreak," a MOR ditty credited to Hal David. (???) I have no idea why this got included... Anyway, with that one exception, I've been enjoying this quite a bit. The other St. Patrick's observance was to (finally) open up a copy of "Sult: Spirit of the Music." This was a Donal Lunny soundtrack for a TV project about Irish music. On one listen, I really liked the instrumental bits, but I skipped over most of the vocals. I recognized Van Morrison. Oh, one vocal track I *did* like was Brian Kennedy on "Crazy Love," which I *think* was a Van Morrison hit.
Crazy Love was (I think, without verification) Brian Ferry.
Web searching indicates that the song is originally Van Morrison's from the classic 1970 album "Moondance," and Brian Ferry covered it.
I knew I shouldn't have said anything.
How do we learn except by exploring? I had no idea Brian Ferry had ever covered the song, until you mentioned it.
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