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| Author |
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| 25 new of 226 responses total. |
ashke
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response 194 of 226:
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Jan 5 14:35 UTC 2001 |
<hangs her head in half-asleep shame and doesn't mention that she hasn't
listened to it in over 2 years....>
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eeyore
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response 195 of 226:
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Jan 5 15:56 UTC 2001 |
(Meg thinks she's going to wander off today and try to find a Chieftiens w/
everybody CD today.....hmmmmm........)
You know, I can't wait for Solas to get back into town,...
And if I remember, I'll try to take the Altan to work....see about giving it
another chance.
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albaugh
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response 196 of 226:
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Jan 5 19:40 UTC 2001 |
My intro to Clannad was the Dulaman album, and there is GREAT STUFF on it.
My latest acquisition is a CD (I think it's called "Themes"), which has some
interesting textures on it, but is definitely "commerical".
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micklpkl
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response 197 of 226:
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Jan 5 20:06 UTC 2001 |
I just got notice that Green Linnet (www.greenlinnet.com) is having a Winter
Clearance Sale, on over 150 of their Celtic titles. Looks like CDs are $10
and cassettes (anybody still listen to those?) for $8.50.
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anderyn
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response 198 of 226:
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Jan 6 02:43 UTC 2001 |
ohMiGawd... I am going to have to check their website. Wow.
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micklpkl
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response 199 of 226:
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Jan 6 03:03 UTC 2001 |
Yes, I know --- Wow. :) I took a brief look through the list, and found lots
of Tannahill Weavers that I don't have and would like to get, at the price.
Gulp.
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dbratman
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response 200 of 226:
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Jan 6 04:22 UTC 2001 |
Ashke 184: It's a fair question; but cries of "oh no, my favorite band
sold out" are often misinterpreted (by those who like the new stuff) as
merely code for "I resent that other people have discovered my hidden
favorite." That's not true for me. I was unspeakably delighted when
one of my hidden modern-classical favorites, Gorecki's Third Symphony,
was discovered by a large audience. And the only band besides Clannad
that dropped like a stone off my favorites list into the dust heap
didn't sell out. (Its genius retired, and it fell apart without him.)
I reserve the term "sell out" for jumping from obscurity to great
popularity as a direct result of losing the very quality that made them
good in the first place.
Now it's my opinion that they lost that quality, of course, but, pray,
who else's opinion am I supposed to hold?
If you like the newer Clannad, then the only response can be "How nice
for you." Note that I took no offense when the first response to my
Enya essay read simply "New Age craap." I thought that a deeply
ignorant remark, but I cannot argue with the taste of the person who
made it.
I'm beginning to think that most of the people in this discussion have
never actually heard any early Clannad, so no wonder they seem to be
groping around a bit in making judgments. (No, Mickey, 1983 is not
early Clannad, but just after the "sell out", and I vaguely
remember "Newgrange" as one of the tracks I found particularly
disappointing, as it was claimed to be good by those who liked the new
sound.)
Ken: My copy of the Dulaman CD is from Shanachie, so that may explain
it. I haven't been disappointed in their Steeleye releases, but
Steeleye's rockier sound may be less susceptible to bad engineering
than the extreme delicacy of early Clannad.
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micklpkl
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response 201 of 226:
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Jan 6 05:07 UTC 2001 |
Well, I am truly sorry I commented without really knowing the whole story.
I'll keep my fingers silenced until I can remedy that situation.
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dbratman
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response 202 of 226:
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Jan 6 15:09 UTC 2001 |
Mickey: No, don't be sorry you commented. You asked a question
("Is 'Newgrange' early Clannad?") to which the answer was no.
I do hope you can hear some early Clannad some time, because as someone
who likes Enya but not late Clannad, your tastes are so far with mine.
Be cautious about judging from "Fuaim", because 1) Enya only appears in
a minor role on it (she is lead singer on one song, I don't remember
which offhand), and 2) it _is_ a transitional album, and opinions
differ. I count it as the last good Clannad album, but Ken at the time
of its release was strongly of the opinion that it was the first bad
one.
Unfortunately it appears that the CD re-releases of early Clannad don't
always give a fair impression of them either, because of poor
transfers. The one other suggestion I can make is to note that you
like Capercaille - their earliest 3-4 albums (I haven't heard later
ones, and understand they're different) sound a lot like early Clannad
in general terms. But I didn't keep up with Capercaille because, nice
as they were, they lacked the full sublime ethereal beauty of early
Clannad, and which is, IMHO, the only thing that Enya has inherited
from the band.
Somebody uptopic defended the newer Clannad sound on the grounds that
bands have to change. That's a silly argument, akin to defending GWB's
policies on the grounds that Clinton had to leave office anyway. Some
bands change a lot, some don't change much. Some change for the worse,
some for the better, others in ways that aren't better or worse, just
different. The question is, which kind of change was this one?
In any case, Clannad had made five albums without changing, so it's
hardly inevitable.
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albaugh
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response 203 of 226:
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Jan 6 15:41 UTC 2001 |
And there's different kind of change. A band that is particularly good at
something, then changes to something generic or of lesser quality to make a
buck, then maybe you can criticize the band for "selling out". But a band
or artist that just wants to go in a different direction, try something new,
well that's their right, and shouldn't be subject to criticism. Take Linda
Ronstadt: I really liked her country/rock ("early") stuff. Then she decided
she wanted to to big band, then Mexican folk. I really didn't care for it
that much, but respected her decision, since she certainly didn't go that way
to "sell out".
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dbratman
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response 204 of 226:
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Jan 11 01:15 UTC 2001 |
True. It depends what the direction is.
In Clannad's case, they wanted to do the same thing (in fact, several
pieces on their early "sellout" albums are re-makes), only soggier. If
they'd just lost their touch, that would be something else, but this
was clearly deliberate.
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micklpkl
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response 205 of 226:
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Jan 12 14:36 UTC 2001 |
Here I go again, letting my fingers get the best of me. :)
I was just checking out the webpage of the Austin Paramount Theatre, looking
for information on silent movies, and I found an announcement for a "Celtic
Rock Musical" called CELTICFUSION. I thought I'd mention it here, since the
touring show will play 3 venues in Michigan, this Spring. (Is March Spring
for y'all?)
From the information I've gleaned from the website
http://www.celticfusion.com
I gather that this is another type of Irish step-dance show, in the same vein
as "Riverdance" and "WAVES." Co-creators Liam Harney and Kevin Patterson,
along with composer Ivan Drever and lighting designer Eric Lotze are the only
team members listed on the website, and it looks as if they are trying to
recruit champion Irish step dancers from around the country. It will be
interesting to see how this all comes together.
The three Michigan performances are:
Mar 9 - River Raisin Center - Monroe MI
Mar 11 - The Rozsa Center - Houghton MI
Mar 17 - Sturgis-Young Auditorium - Sturgis MI
and last, (but never least)
Apr 7 - Paramount Theatre - Austin TX
the remaining Spring dates are listed at
http://www.celticfusion.com/showlist/showlist.html
It looks like there was an Autumn tour, in the Northeast, Virginia, and
California, so maybe somebody out there has seen this already, and can
comment.
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eeyore
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response 206 of 226:
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Jan 12 15:00 UTC 2001 |
Kinda looks like an "Off Off Broadway" type of production.....
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krj
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response 207 of 226:
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Jan 13 22:31 UTC 2001 |
Ivan Drever, listed as the "Composer" in Mickey's resp:205, was in
the band Wolfstone.
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micklpkl
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response 208 of 226:
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Jan 14 02:32 UTC 2001 |
Yes, he was. I meant to mention that. You can read a short bio and discography
on the Iona Records webpage:
http://www.lismor.co.uk/drever.html
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lumen
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response 209 of 226:
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Jan 24 01:59 UTC 2001 |
Waaaay back there: I listened to snippets of the new Enya album, and
the critique here is accurate-- same ol' stuff I like more or less. I
would have to get it and listen to it more to say anything further.
For the most part, Watermark and Shepherd Moon were my favorite
albums.. although there is material in other ones I like.
Forgot to get "Paint The Sky With Stars" when it was available as a
single CD-- I didn't want a "Best Of"-- just that particular title
track.
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dbratman
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response 210 of 226:
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Jan 26 07:44 UTC 2001 |
There were two new tracks on "Paint the Sky", and that was enough for
me: I bought the album.
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micklpkl
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response 211 of 226:
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Jan 31 16:21 UTC 2001 |
There's a nice review of last night's Chieftains concert in Austin here:
http://thebards.net/tales/articles/journal20010130.shtml
Written by Marc Gunn, a member of the local band The Brobdingnagian Bards.
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ashke
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response 212 of 226:
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Jan 31 17:36 UTC 2001 |
Ooohhhhh....okay, I'm jealous...
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krj
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response 213 of 226:
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Feb 26 04:38 UTC 2001 |
Patrick Street, the Ark, 2/25/2001:
I've been in a cranky mood so this won't be the best review.
Instrumentally the Irish supergroup was very tight; the songs
in the first set were mostly dreary emigration songs which
didn't appeal to me at all. Second set picked up quite a bit,
with Ged Foley singing the Australian song "The Diamantina Drover,"
a favorite of mine, and Andy Irvine singing "Stewball."
Irvine joined Foley on acoustic guitar for a fine version of
"Music for a Found Harmonium," originally by the Penguin Cafe
Orchestra, which has become a folk standard in Ireland and Britain.
Foley played guitar throughout, and he's a great anchor as a
rhythm guitarist; Andy Irvine mostly played bouzouki, which
instrument was his contribution to Irish music. (Mike had some
comment last time I mentioned that, and I didn't understand it.)
So I was glad to get to see Irvine, who's a bit of a legend
for all the work he's done over the last 30 years.
Lots of kids in the audience; I had the impression they were there
in large groups as part of a cultural outing.
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dbratman
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response 214 of 226:
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Feb 26 05:00 UTC 2001 |
Isn't "Music for a Found Harmonium" on one of the Patrick Street
albums? I hadn't known that when I first heard it played by (some
other) Irish folk group: I was quite startled to find it in such an
unexpected (to me) setting.
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krj
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response 215 of 226:
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Feb 26 05:13 UTC 2001 |
It's on the "Live" album from 1999 which I bought at this show, and the
band said they recorded it a long time ago. <krj grubs around on
allmusic.com> Says here "Harmonium" is on the "3 Irish Times 3"
album from 1989. I can't even remember which of their albums I have
after the first one.
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krj
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response 216 of 226:
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Mar 17 22:49 UTC 2001 |
St Patrick's Day, 2001. I was going to skip the ridiculous ritual
purchase of Irish music CDs this year, but then Thursday's NPR/BBC
show "The World" concluded with a review of the new album from
singer Karan Casey, and I liked the snippets a lot. So, off to
Elderly, and shake out the wallet thoroughly.
Only two Irish discs in the pigout. This one's WATER FROM THE WELL
by the Chieftains, which I'd been meaning to pick up for about
half a year. Every Chieftains album has to have a gimmick, I
suppose, and the gimmick this time is that the album was recorded
in various locations all over the country. Almost all the tunes
are traditional this time, and the most pop of the guest players
are Ashley MacIsaac and Altan. Good to have this band, who
more or less invented band-style Irish folk music, playing a
traditional sound again. It's not that I hate the collaboration
albums, but except for the CHINA and Van Morrison ones, I never
seem to play them, and the album with women singers from two years
ago was dreadful.
The Chieftains album reminds me that somewhere on the web I saw
a 2-CD set of Greatest Bodhran Hits, or something like that, and
now I can't find it.
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krj
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response 217 of 226:
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Mar 17 23:01 UTC 2001 |
(Ah, there it is. The title is "Pure Bodhran.")
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orinoco
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response 218 of 226:
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Mar 18 02:10 UTC 2001 |
Tell me this is a joke.
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