I met the two amazing people behind 67 Music through social networking. They also gave me the opportunity to contribute articles which I think is awesome because 67 Music is a music magazine that takes the music scene seriously. SkOtCranmore, Steve Behrens (and the rest of the amazing staff here) always do huge things like promoting interesting bands in the industry. They also do merch and video interviews.
The 67 Music website has a simple and clean interface. It is easy to browse for something you are looking for.It is based on wordpress so that makes it very familiar and aesthetically pleasing. You can see my featured article about John Breen in their archive: http://67music.net/features/john-breen/ The events section has the calendar of music gigs. The reviews page has albums that passed the quality test of 67 music. I like the Music apparel section because those shirts are awesome. If you are looking for bands you can’t find in this blog or other blogs in the internet then I think you can find them in 67 music.
If you are a solo artist or in a band, you can send your recordings for review in these addresses:
CD submissions, notices, and other snail-mail:
67 Music10441 SE Cook Ct.#186Portland, OR USA 97222
A Winter Gathering by Shauna Burns ~ now available at www.shaunaburns.com ~
Winter Star
Carol of the Bells
White Christmas
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Luma
The First Noel
Silent Night
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
The Gathering
What a Wonderful World
Carol of the Bells (Instrumental)
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (Instrumental)
I’ve always been picky when it comes to holiday albums. The holiday or Christmas albums I like should contain the following:
1. It has to possess a haunting element that makes your hair stand.
2. It if isn’t haunting , at least it has to sound jazzy, traditional or classical to show that the musician is really into deep stuff.
3. It must contain at least one track that has a long history that goes back to the Medieval times(Gabriel’s Message for example) so I can say that the artist has done his or her research and is not making a Christmas album just to hand out something to the consumerist culture that makes Christmas music dull. It has to have SOUL.
Priestess of the Piano: Shauna Burns
A Winter Gathering by Shauna Burns made it to my list must listen to albums because of the three things I noted above. If she’s not singing in any track I really admire her talent with the piano. I know comparison to artists like Tori Amos might be common. But what makes her stand out as an artist in her own right is where she bends musically in terms of style and origin. I hear uilleann pipes and Celtic harps in some of her tracks. I think she is schooled well in the tradition of mystical sounds as she incorporates this imagery in her music. She even goes further as ‘wearing’ this style in her album artwork.
Ms Burns is also keen on layering her voice and doing experiments with her vocals so fans of ambient music can relate to this. I will take Luma as an example. She only sang few words and left the rest to the piano to communicate the emotions. O Come, O Come Emmanuel is another stirring track. I love this tune. I heard this version in And Winter Came by Enya. Loreena McKennitt also covered this in her A Midwinter’s Night Dream album. I am pleased that the version of Burns version is unique as it incorporates the use of uilleann pipes and the piano takes center stage again.
There are two instrumental tracks like Carol of the Bells and God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. They make me travel through the mind when I listen to them.
Looking for something really seasonal-sounding and unique this Christmas? Try A Winter Gathering by Shauna Burns and it will be a good introduction to her other recordings.
Hi readers and listeners. Podcast 15 is up and once again, I was able to keep the show going. I hope you all have great weekend wherever you are. I always say this to beings of this world and beyond: Come out, come out, wherever you are. I hope this podcast will keep you warm as I bring you rare and current tunes. I really enjoyed my interview with Patrick Brazel jr and we had an amazing craic. I had to edit bits of the conversation for the show but it was fun.
I also played a traditional Manx tune from Emma Christian. Anybody out there knows what’s going on with her career? She seemed to have disappeared from the Celtic music radar after the 90s.
I have been checking out the instagram pics of my online pals. I see snow everywhere. Sad to say, there’s no such thing where I am. The tropics can be cold but not THAT cold. I take comfort in the way music takes us to places we’ve never been. Like books, they let you live life vicariously. And such is found in the album And Winter Came by Enya. Yes I have mentioned that this month is mostly about holiday albums, and I am taking my time to listen to albums I bought through the years.
I think I raved about AWC when it first came out yes, I am writing about it again yay! It is such a joy to talk about music with someone who shares the same interest. I like the white theme of the album. Enya has themes running through all her albums. The Celts- black ,Watermark – orange, Shepherd Moons – blue, The Memory of Trees – gold,Paint the Sky with Stars – sepia,A Day Without Rain- emerald, Amarantine – Red and finally, And Winter Came -white.
The white horse in the cover art. Take a look at that. Is it about The Order of the White Horse? I suggest you Google that and you might find interesting bits in the internet 😉 Her voice has evolved. I sometimes hear a likeness to Karen Carpenter as her voice started to acquire that deeper and warmer shade. Those who listened to her when she was still with Clannad would notice that incredible softness. It is not a girlish kind of softness. It is more like, diaphanous and otherworldly kind of softness. Yet she can hit very low notes that at times made her sound androgynous. But after later albums that signature voice has evolved and became more expressive.
She and producer Nicky Ryan always like trying something new in the studio. I remember after recording A Day Without Rain , they gutted their Aigle studio and replaced everything with hi-tech recording equipment. I keep tabs of anything Enya through the Unity forum. Although, I’ve not been very much active there these days. Her fans are always patient and passionate with whatever she puts out. It is true that any artist can build a career out of looks or spectacle. But when the music is bigger than the artist, fans will stick around.
I like O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I think it’s the Latin verses that really define the power of the melody. Her lyricist Roma Ryan(from Northern Ireland) has a huge background in different languages, mythology and history-Irish or whatever. I think the reason why the songs will remain fascinating through the years is because listeners can uncover different layers and references all the time. For instance, the song Aldebaran (from The Celts) is a tribute to director Ridley Scott ( who also gave us Blade Runner ). There are more things you will discover when you listen to her albums.
My next favorite track is Last Time by Moonlight. (I know Trains and Winter Rains, a single from the album is everyone’s favorite. But I always choose something that doesn’t usually make it to the singles).I used to play this track to my late mom. She would say that Enya has a beautiful voice. My mom passed away this year. But when I play Enya albums, the music brings me closer to my mom because we used to listen to her together. Oiche Chiuin (Silent Night) has a fantastic re recording. This is the second version of the same song she recorded in the late 80s.
I hope there will be another holiday album from her in 10 years. For now, this is my comfort music.
Moya Brennan – Vocals, Harp, Keyboards
Paul Byrne – Drums, Bodhran, Timpani, Tubular Bells, Percussion
Fionan De Barra – Guitars, Bouzouki, Keyboards, Vocals
Cormac De Barra – Harp, Vocals
Éamonn Galldubh – Uilleann Pipes, Whistles, Flute
Yoshinobi Izumi – Electric Bass
Sam Jackson – Piano, Keyboards
Sinéad Madden – Fiddle, Vocals
Frances Mitchell – Keyboards
Additional musicians
Máire Breatnach – Viola, Fiddle
Anthony Drennan – Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Dobro
Úna Ní Chanainn – Cello
Tim Jarvis – Keyboards
Aisling and Paul Jarvis – Vocals on Oíche Chiúin
I can understand why some people get allergic to Christmas songs. It’s because these artists come up with the same old thing. And people get tired of it. I mean, I imagine those vocal acrobats that can make any reindeer suffer vertigo. Give me a break! This season is all about Christmas songs-of a different kind. And I think no better December it is than to celebrate it with An Irish Christmas by Moya Brennan.
I love the way the Carol of the Bells was arrange to give that ‘suspense’ and haunting feel. Then the song explodes into choir and percussion-plus of course, Moya Brennan’s amazing harp. Some tracks are in Gaelic so it works for me. My favorite is Gabriel’s Message. It’s a track covered by such diverse artists as Sting but none had the impact as this arrangement of Moya Brennan has. This tune has a long history that goes all the way back to the Basque. Read the full history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel’s_Message
The reason something like this works again and again is due to the style. Celtic music styles will never go old. Because it is already old. Go figure 😉
This Christmas doesn’t promise us happiness. Personally, I am dealing with few tragedies myself and I know some of you are too.But music is there to keep me afloat. I love this and will play this every year!
Celtic Music Fan 