I spend most of my time hunting for new tunes on my day off. That is, if I am not out and about riding my bike. I work in chat support which improved my typing skill. Those who followed me since 2009 know that I am not into writing long articles. In the early part of this blog, I used to write a paragraph per post. I also used to not talk about myself because my blogging should only talk about the artists and the music. But as years go by and with the rise of AI, we realize that grammatical accuracy and perfect delivery do not make writing exciting. It is the human elements that count. The human touch still matters, with its power to comfort and to heal. So from now on, I will write that way.
Life has been rugged, and we are tested by being with different situations and people. Just the the band the olllam. Yes, I will spell the name this way, as that is how they do it. This band is a marriage of different experiences, artists who cooked their creativity with other bands before fate put them together. Now they have this music that combines tradition and technology. That is why I gravitate to them. I am part traditionalist and part futurist. I enjoy innovation, but I also love roots. There is this beauty of being anchored on something. In general, that is what makes art so satisfying. You put something familiar with something strange, and what you get is exciting. In their new album Elegy, I see that they balance fast and slow tracks. For example, we hear this contrast in The Burial Stone. They are composed of Scottish-Irish musicians. Note that these are seasoned artists from other bands. And as is always the case, talent and experience make music vibrant and magnetic.
Polyrhythms, chilled beats, and groovy bass grooves dominate the soundscape of Elegy. Traditional instruments like the fiddle, uillean pipes, and flute complement these sounds. This kind of music will feel at home in any environment, but the style can always get that reaction. I realize that making music is like concocting a drink. It has to have certain ingredients or flavors to stand out. A little bit of this or that, so it goes down quickly. And if olilam is a drink, I am sure they will become like a daily dose.