Religion and Spirituality

Serundal:Channeling Celtic Myths on the Coil of New Age

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Hypnotic, soothing and beautiful. It is always a blessing when musicians reach out to CMF to let me hear what they are doing. Wales is the homeland of Serundal, a duo composed of David king and Maxie. Maxie reminds me a bit of the lead vocalist of another Welsh duo Ceredwen. But Serundal’s songs are less wispy and more organic.

Like their New Age peers, Serundal relies heavily on atmospheric tunes and steady beats. These aspects give each songs room to breath on the part of the listeners. Whither you want something soft to play on the background while doing something else or you really want to dissect the mythical inspirations behind the tracks, Serundal has them.

Stone of Destiny, The Hag of Winter, White Stag and The Water Dance are among the best examples of their captivating sound. Their music can be described as electronic/New Age with songwriting structure heavily influenced by folk music. You can sample more of their tracks if you go to their CD baby page http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Serundal.

Band bio(from their facebook page)

Biography
UK Songwriting Contest 2010 four tracks submitted- Three from ‘Land of the     Sixth  Moon’  one from ‘Yule’ all voted semi-finalists 2010. 2009 Semi-finalists in the UK songwriters Contest for ‘Lady of the isles’
Members … David: producer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist/lyrics / vocals Maxie: research/ lyrics/lead vocal
Hailed by one reviewer as ‘the new Clannad’ since 2006  Serundal has produced eight full albums and two E.Ps have been released.       Maxie has been a published poet since the age of  fifteen, and Serundal was first born through a    combination of her ideas set in poetry and David’s musical  creativity.      Together, born of Scottish, English and Welsh ancestry they have managed to weave together what has been described as ‘a truly magical mix of  Celtic and Anglo-Saxon storytelling traditions with the energy of 21st century arrangements.’      Their music has been described as ‘timeless’ ‘cinematic’ and ‘visual’ and since 2007, they have been a featured artist on www.ubl.com      Their track  ‘Lady of the Isles’ (Waiting Rooms) has reached number 20 in the world chart of 521 artistes in  www.iacmusic.com      Through listeners votes their songs have scored highly in charts like www.songvault.fm where Serundal was the first artiste in the folk genre to have  fifteen tracks on the songvault directory and to receive permanent airplay
‘The Elven Robe’  featured on Gene Godfrey’s Classic f.m  www.angelfire.com      ‘The Storm’ featured on Andrew John’s station on www.celticaradio.com       ‘The Elven Robe’ played on Bill Everatt’s Underground www.celticaradio.com       ‘Lady of the Isles’ played on Highlander radio (Live 365) www.celticradio.net       ‘Snowy Owl’ on Deep Cuts radio    http://www.live365.com/stations/4music2       ‘Incantation’ reached number 2 in the folk charts on www.somojo.net
Both Ab Initi (2006) and ‘Leylines’ (2007) have received excellent reviews.
Christmas 2008 saw the release of ‘Dark Days White Knights’ an album based on medieval Celtic and Arthurian legend, which has taken their musical journey into the world of progressive folk.
In the summer of 2009  ‘Lady of the Isles’  (Waiting Rooms 2006) was voted one of the songs to make it to the semi-finals of the prestigious UK Songwriter’s Contest, a remarkable achievement since this was Serundal’s first submission and there were over 6,500 entries of a very high standard.
Christmas 2009 sees the release of ‘Yule’ a special edition Christmas E.P  a magical mystical blend of the Winter Solstice and the Christmas story.
Follow Serundal on twitter www.last.fm/serundal www.myspace.com/serundalmusic www.serundal.com www.cdbaby.com
members of:  http://www.songwriters-guild.co.uk/

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To those who are trying to get in touched with me, I took a one month off from facebook. Please use my email joseromel.labatos@gmail.com. To current contacts all my fb messages go directly to my windows mobile but I would not be able to see your posts.

Steven Hawson: Shamus and Steve’s Crazy Celtic Journey to Glasgow, Vol. 1

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STEVEN HAWSON: Shamus and Steve's Crazy Celtic Journey to Glasgow, Vol. 1

 Winner:Clean and intelligent fun with Steven Hawson’s Shamus and Steve’s Crazy Celtic Journey to Glasgow, Vol. 1

1 – Top O’ Da Morning
2 – Here We Go, Amigo
3 – Only One Room Left
4 – The All-You-Can-Eat Celtic Buffet Sketch
5 – The Boyisshecrankie Sketch
6 – Hold the Mayo
7 – Rockabye Steve

For those who are in need of something informative but at the same time entertaining then I better introduce you to something I stumbled upon this weekend. The album is called Shamus and Steve’s Crazy Celtic Journey to Glasgow, Vol. 1. by Steven Hawson. It’s  an audio comedy presented the creator’s notable talent for voicing different characters. He also created an interesting plot that really works.

The main characters of this story are Steve and his twin brother Shamus. Steve plays an accordion while his twin plays the banjo. Steve works as a manager of a fish and chips store while Shamus is a free-spirited entomologist. Their personalities are complete opposites. Steve is uptight while Shamus is cocky and loves adventures. It’s Shamus who actually dares Steve to go on a road trip. The aim is to attend the first annual Glasgow Celtic music festival in  Montana, with hopes of playing on stage with the great musicians. I found myself drawn to the banter between the two.

Steve: What’s really amazing in how negative in effect your exiting the womb three minutes before I did has had in your personality-

Shamus:I am the older and wiser than the two of us. It’s not your fault really, I simply have three more minutes of life experience than you do. So you need to follow my lead. It’s a clan obligation!

I am sure you will enjoy the Steve and Shamus series. A volume two is coming very soon. Although this is Celtic culture project, the recording also celebrates the cultural diversity of  the United States. There are several references that point to the connection of the Celts to other cultures. This happens when they start their journey.

For example, there is a part that explains the  deep connection between Mexico and Ireland as Steve and Shamus stop to buy burritos from their Mexican friend. For the delicious Indian curry, it is explained how India is deeply connected to the Celts. A quick stop to buy Chinese food( The All-You-Can-Eat Celtic Buffet Sketch)  uncovers a Scottish Celtic ensemble based in China. History goes further as how the Celts reached the tropics  in the 10th century. This little known but significant history happened in March 17 1065 in Northern England(The Boyisshecrankie Sketch). Wait until you get to  Hold the Mayo where Steve pretends to be Irish in order to impress the motel residents only to find himself in embarrassing situations. The recording closes with both of them halfway through their journey. I can’t wait to get the volume 2 and find out if Steve really got to become an accordion superstar during the Celtic music fest. It remains to be seen. Bring on volume 2!

If you want clean and intelligent fun, then better keep Steven Hawson in your Celtic radar. He is the funny man with great love for Celtic history. Buy the album here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/stevenhawson2

Huzzah!

Now it is time to help out of Celtic musicians to make their projects come true and also to spread the word. Let’s do what we can to keep the spirit of Celtic music alive.

HELP MAXIM AND GERVAIS CORMIER MAKE AN ALBUM!! Watch the video and go to the indie gogo page for details.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-maxim-and-gervais-cormier-make-an-album

Promotional video by John Breen:

Wezen by Alicia Ducout

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wezen

Alicia Ducout (piano, harpe celtique et chant), Florian Baron (guitare et oud), Kenan Guernalec (flûte traversière irlandaise), Marc Blanchard (arrangements électroniques), Anthony Debray-Laizé (percussions)

The world can be a dark and scary place. That is why we have music to escape to when things start to get chilly. I would recommend Alicia Ducout’s (who also goes under the name Luascadh) ambitiously atmospheric project called Wezen. It is a CD-Book with accompanying artwork . Her works are always marked with her classical, renaissance and Celtic influences. This is an album that’s a treasure to own because this is not something you can find in mainstream music.

I like the Celtic harp because it conjures  images of Tolkien’s characters. Alicia Ducout is based in France. A detailed information about the album can be found below. Wezen is not just eclectic in the musical sense but also in its use of different languages. This calls to mind works of groups like Dead can Dance and artists like Loreena Mckennitt (for the eclectic instruments) and Connie Dover (for the multi lingual approach).

I love it when artists venture outside the English language or from their own native languages. I think language is essential for an album in addition to the instruments and arrangements. I think it adds to the authenticity of the sentiments you are trying to create and also the feeling of the song. It gives that feeling of being transported into the native soil of the composer and not in an urbane setting which is always characteristic of English songs. This is not to belittle the English language because it is what i use to blog, but being bilingual myself, I appreciate the beauty of being able to walk in the two worlds of spoken and written words.

Back to the harp, the beauty of her playing is her understanding of the emotional range of the Celtic harp or other harp instruments. Ducout studied drama at Lyon, and after 10 years of piano practice, she joined several medieval ensembles. The artistic  journey opened the doors of Celtic civilization and ancient traditional music to her and now we have Wezen.

Wezen is a tale  written in 2008 by Alicia Ducout. It tells the story of a strange character and the essential question: how to fight fear? This story deals with issues of identity, trust in yourself and others. The graphic novel and its soundtrack  was released in December 2012.
To echo a history, music is at the crossroads of several traditions, as shown by the choice of instruments: harp, bodhran and Irish flute for the Celtic sound. Oud for the Eastern source. The nyckelharpa for Northern anchor (Swedish), the piano like a familiar linking that connects us to our own history. The electronic sounds are even more subtle we can say connect this traditional matter and to present to the world today, bringing a breath of timelessness work.
This alchemy is born a minimalist style (inspired by Philip Glass, Bruno Coulais, Steve Reich) speaking we can say here instrumental or sung in several languages.

A journey through the sounds of German, English, Norwegian, Irish, Spanish, Aramaic, and even Elvish!

http://www.aliciaducout.jimdo.com/

http://projetwezen.tumblr.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaMFQmnTDT4

Bring Back the Bees Faerie Camp

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Canadian Celtic musician Oona McOuat is very active in giving back something to the community. Whither  it is about saving whales or bees, she continues to make something happen. Teaching is part of her passion. According to her website: Oona teaches children these sacred values at her unique Faerie Camps and her singing & harp lessons: Honour the wild and her creatures; protect the elements that provide Life for all beings, and honour the Spirit of all these things. A lesson we all need to embrace at this crucial juncture in civilization. Last time, I featured One World One Heart Beating project. I think it is one of the best videos I have seen this year! This time I am posting  a video about Bring Back the Bees Faerie Camp. Oona has interesting workshops and you can check them out in her official website:

http://www.oonamcouat.com/

 

 

16 girls spend a week exploring their love for Faeries & learning about disappearing honey and bumble bees.

Music: BE MY LITTLE BABY BUMBLE BEE
(Henry I. Marshall / Stanley Murphy)
Performed by Doris Day

Music: BE MY LITTLE BABY BUMBLE BEE
(Henry I. Marshall / Stanley Murphy)

The Wild Ones
(Oona McOuat)

The Heart’s Sweet Sob: Kate Rusby

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My friend and I posted the songs of Kate Rusby a lot recently . These are days when songs of her’s create a beautiful backdrop against life’s stressful activities. But it is more than that. She addresses some of the most common human conditions .

For instance the song Wandering Soul from the album The Girl Could Not Fly, talks about finding one’s true home after countless times of fumbling and stumbling. I think I can relate to this, especially that I found a special circle I call home. I have been in different circles but this one is like a crater formed after a meteor drop-a truly life altering experience.

I often joke to one of my friends that if this is made into a movie,  it’s gonna be a story shot in different locations in the world with quirky characters and nice cinematography. And yes, lots and lots of music. There will always be other circles- little ones but not like this where you find everyone who appreciates the kind of music that I blog about here.

You will realize that friends whom you met through music are friends who stay with you much longer. Because when everything fails, there is always music to talk about. And even if you don’t have to talk, you let the music do the talking for you.

There two memorable paragraphs from an article I read about her:

She lost two close relatives while putting the album together and the split with husband John McCusker meant she needed a new producer. With indomitable Yorkshire practicality, her decision was to face that problem herself and with help from her brother Joe, Awkward Annie sees her not only doing the songwriting but also the knob-twiddling.

Still, it’s a long standing truth that from hard times comes fine art, and Awkward Annie is testament to that. While Kate describes the making of the album as “extremely tough” in her notes, the resulting songs have a refreshed vibrancy and depth that was occasionally lacking on The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly

-BBC Review(Kate Rusby in a wonderful return to form…) Chris Long 2007-09-07

Kudos to Kate and her beautiful music : a combination of English, Scottish and Irish folk  styles resonating the sweet, and sometimes trying times we often face in life, as we journey through relationships. It is a hard road but in the end there is always the door to what you can call a home. And someone whom we can call our true love.