Music

All Souls by Eamon O’Leary is a Celebration of Simplicity and Clarity

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All Souls: A trip to humanity’s light and darkness.

All Souls by Eamon O’Leary is what happens when a crystal clear recording highlights  the beauty of beautiful melodies. The near-minimalist approach is a breath of fresh air, when the current trend of music is mostly about overblown production. His warm baritone voice is suited to such intimate songwriting approach. 

The songs are predominantly melancholic, but there are moments of clarity and joy-a celebration of humanity. It’s as if he is singing about your experiences because All Souls is an album written through experience. You can’t write this kind of stuff in your twenties. No sir. That’s why albums like these are hard to find. 

If you are wondering who he is, here’s what I gathered. Eamon O’Leary is a singer-songwriter from New York’s Lower East Side, originally from Dublin, Ireland. ‘All Souls’ is his first album for Reveal Records. I also found out that it was entirely self-written and recorded with Jefferson Hamer (Anais Mitchell), and Benjamin Lazar Davis (Cuddle Magic, Joan As Police Woman, Okkervill River).  My favorite tracks are Bywater, Marina Blue and The Weary Child.  

Although references to other artists are obvious when you listen to him, he truly has an original sound. If you are the type who prefers simplicity and clarity over embellishment in a production sense, then this album is for you. 

 

 

‘AIDAN O’ROURKE – ‘365 VOLUME 1 Brilliant music for quiet spaces

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365: Volume 1 is a new double album on Reveal Records from one of Scotland’s finest musicians, fiddler and composer and member of LAU,  Aidan O’Rourke.

I usually listen to instrumental or folk music after a quiet run. I say quiet because I am an early riser and I love to be out on my fixed gear bike before sunrise. It’s usually followed by running for support fitness. And in these quiet times, nothing beats the new release of Aidan O’ Rourke’s 365 Volume 1 as ‘recovery music.’ Such is best played on huge speakers with the volume turned down. O’Rourke’s approach to music is unique. He emphasizes on clarity that draws the listener to the surface of the sound. In this recording, the fiddle becomes a paint brush of many worlds, as he paints a joyful picture of rural simplicity, and sometimes the sadness of obsolescence. It’s music for verdant and wide open spaces or quiet coffeeshops.

There are twenty two tunes in this double album, with an approximate playing time of an hour and fifteen minutes. Although his backbone is Scottish folk music, one can still notice Jazz and Classical influences especially with his command of scales, nuance and also an underlying control in the execution of these tracks. He is joined by piano/harmonium player Kit Downes giving this album both an urban and spiritual appeal. There are times when the music approaches  abstract territory like in the case of “There was once a man so old that most of his family and all friends had left.” Yes seriously that’s the title, and majority of the tracks in this double album are like that. 

A beautiful album design gives justice to the music. A remarkably stunning presence both aurally and visually around your coffee table.

Recorded by Mattie Foulds at Caribou Recordings Mixed by Calum Malcolm
Mastered by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound Studios

Produced by Aidan O’Rourke

All music written by Aidan O’Rourke / Kit Downes (Reveal Publishing / SGO Publishing)

Artist Management by Tom Rose

Design by Martin Rowsell Images by Dalziel and Scullion

 

WEB SITE: www.aidanorourke.net AND www.revealrecords.co.uk

Buy the album: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YVF98P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_sLH6AbS2Q57RH

The Gap Of Dreams by Altan Released!

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I was already aware when their new album dropped. But I haven’t caught the blogging momentum yet at the time. But things have changed lately.

This is HUGE because any Altan release is always worth celebrating and talking about. While most bands in their category have either stopped recording or changed direction musically, they remain obstinate in their passion and vision. They’re like a home you want to come home to when all the world’s in chaos.

Thirteen tunes comprise The Gab of Dreams. Here’s the blurb taken from their release:

“After thirty years of playing on stages all over the world from Dublin to New York, Tokyo to Sydney, premier traditional Irish band, Altan came back to the hills of Donegal to record their new album, The Gap Of Dreams. The 13 tracks transport the listener to the lifestyle of rural Donegal, to a time before electricity when folks would gather together in the mists of winter to tell stories, sing songs and dance into the wee hours of the night. The music lifted the locals’ spirits and helped elevate them beyond the hardships of the day like famine, conflict and emigration.”

 

 

Let Atlas Be Part Of Your Morning Music.

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Writing this in my mobile phone because I can’t wait to go home for the computer. This is just after stopping by for a coffee after a fixie ride. Yes it is a beautiful day. And one of the reasons is after hearing Atlas again! They have a music video. Check it out. It has a lot of amazing things. If you remember, the music was taken from their album Affinity which was launched using a kickstarter campaign.

The track I am talking about is called Tontine. It has that classical and jazz feel. The string section adds warmth and the groove section of bass and drums make you want to snap your fingers and tap your feet(which I was doing while listening to the music).

Atlas are Cillian Doheny and Cillian King. I followed then since the beginning of this decade because if their exceptional talents in trad music.

 

Listen to this: Canções De São Patrício (Saint Patrick’s Songs)

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Today, we are going to Brazil and listen to Irish songs. I can imagine that ‘buffering data’ from old computer  look from your face. How is that possible? Teleportation is not yet in the market. So how?! Well it’s easy. Just close your eyes and listen to this album. I am sure you will float too. And I can imagine that ‘buffering look’ suddenly transformed into something else. But whither you are going to throw irony this way, we can’t deny the fact that Celtic and Brazilian fusion is amazing!

I just love this guy’s music. It sounds so refreshing. It’s like letting someone wear a different pair of shoes for the occasion. So fans of Gilberto, Jobim, Nascimento and Mendes will appreciate this one. Canções De São Patrício (Saint Patrick’s Songs) is a new release from independent digital label Progshine Records.

Rafael Senra is a name you should put in your memory because I think his music deserves a lot of exposure. He is a musician, writer and cartoonist. On August 2017  he released his first album called Canções De São Patrício (Saint Patrick’s Songs). On this record Rafael took famous Celtic songs and made Portuguese versions for them. Something that, up to now, was unheard of.

Released August 9, 2017

Rafael Senra: arrangements, versions (*), compositions (bonus tracks), vocals, acoustic guitar, Melodica.

  • except on track 4, lyrcis by Cláudio Manuel da Costa – excerpts from À Lira Desprezo e À Lira Palinódia.

Recorded in March 2017, at Casa dos Senra studios (Congonhas – MG, Brazil).

Mixed by Renato Lopes and Cleiton Lupe at Ômega Studio (Congonhas – MG, Brazil) in April/May 2017

Graphic design by Rafael Senra.
Pictures by Mauro Fernandes Barros

copyright © 2017 Rafael Senra