There is no monstrosity here. Just interesting lively music from UK based Celtic electronica band the Monster Ceilidh Band. The website design is really cute. But wait until you listen to one of the tracks. You will be overwhelmed by how much artistry and innovation this band have placed in their compositions. Part Japanese anime music, part traditional Scottish.
They have made quite a stir in the UK being electronic and folk crossover band. They are on tour this month and with the kind of style they have, they will draw a lot of cult following from those who are into the hip and the novel. Just take a look at that video below. I love what I am seeing and hearing!
The band are:
• Amy Thatcher – Accordion.
• Carly Blain – Fiddle.
• Kieran Szifris – Mandocello
• David de la Haye – Electric Bass
• Joe Truswell – Drums
My friend Christi posted this video and while I was watching I realized the woman singing is Margaret Bennett, the mother of the late Scottish piper who passed away in 2005, losing his battle with cancer.
I can’t pretend I know the intensity of the pain a mother suffers when she loses her child. But I can imagine that it must be so devastating. And Margaret found a way to deal with it-singing. Doesn’t it touch the universal chord in all of us? Singing one’s blues is the ultimate consolation.
“How do you come into terms losing a son like that?”
“I think you just have to learn to live with it. I know that anybody who has experience it will tell you that nothing again will ever hurt. But of course, music is a great consolation”.
look for her album : Love and Loss – Remembering Martyn in Scotland’s Music, 2007.
“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
― Mark Twain
“Well, now
If little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you
Little by little
If suddenly you forget me
Do not look for me
For I shall already have forgotten you
If you think it long and mad the wind of banners that passes through my life
And you decide to leave me at the shore of the heart where I have roots
Remember
That on that day, at that hour, I shall lift my arms
And my roots will set off to seek another land”
― Pablo Neruda, Selected Poems
“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”
― Kahlil Gibran
What I learned about life is that, never ever be ashamed of your pain just because other people tell you so.In the end people will do what they must do either for practical or for selfish reasons. Everyone is guilty of doing what they must do because it is either survival or because it looks right. I have established this blog in such a way that I can just write about anything without losing followers. So today’s article is dedicated to heartbreak.
These are recurring themes to most Irish and Scottish tunes and also in anything that is relatively Celtic. I think that we all have our dark times but what sharing it with true friends can ease down the pain. Before I post songs let me share a prose I wrote today. I won’t call it poetry because I don’t think it has what it takes to be called poetry, but what is important is the emotional feeling behind it.
It’s Just Blood and Milk
Like a mother of a dead baby
whose breast is aching
because she is full of milk
that’s what this heart is suffering now
bleeding because it has no one to give its love to
not anymore…
and if you happen to pass by
please take what I can give
until the walls stop turning
until the pain subsides…
it’s all that I got now
all dreams
all hopes
now dying slowly….
so take what you can
out of this blood that is given freely
until time erases
what’s left,
and all shall fade in the wind
like the husk of memories
turning to ashes.
But don’t despair dear readers…at the end of this is a redemption song.
The first track is called I Used To Dream by Scottish band Broken Records. It’s taken from their album Let Me Come Home released in 2010. Here’s an interesting blurb:
Use of the violin, cello, and accordion gives them a distinctly Scottish edge and their faster numbers have been known to provoke ceilidh dancing at gigs. The NME branded them the Scottish Arcade Fire, although this is an accolade previously bestowed on My Latest Novel. The band, who swap instruments when performing live, have received numerous comparisons to Arcade Fire, and have also been compared to The Verve and The Levellers. They were described by NME in 2008 as “one of the country’s most exciting new bands.”
My heart is sore, I dare not tell, my heart is sore for Somebody
I would walk a winter’s night all for a sight of Somebody
Music: traditional Irish; lyrics: traditional Scottish
Adapted by Connie Dover
From the CD, Somebody (Songs of Scotland, Ireland and Early America) by Connie Dover
“Ailein Duinn” performed by Karen Matheson (from the film’s OST)
Here is a story that ends tragically. The song itslef has an interesting background:
Ailein duinn (“Dark-haired Alan”) is a traditional Scottish song for solo female voice, a lament that was written in Gàidhlig for Ailean Moireasdan (“Alan Morrison”) by his fiancée, Annag Chaimbeul (“Annie Campbell”). In 1788, Ailean, a sailor, set off with his ship to Scalpay, Harris, where he and Annag would be married. In a tragic twist, the ship sailed into a storm and all on board were lost. Annag was devastated and lost her will to live, dying several months later. Her body was later discovered on the beach, not far from where Ailean’s body was found. Before she died, Annag composed this lament for her lost love.
Jealous Heart-Moya Brennan
Two thumbs up to the wonderful haunting voice of Moya Brennan.
Sinead O’Connor performing The Wolf Is Getting Married from her forthcoming album ‘How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?’ live on The Graham Norton Show 17th February 2012.
Here is the older and wiser Sinead O’Connor performing to the beat of her drum. Her style has always been a cross between traditional Irish and also modern rock. After all these years, the voice is still beautiful as ever.
Donal McCague (fiddle): Sep 20, 2011 Unitarian Church, Dublin( with Dave Sheridan (flute) and Michael McCague (bouzouki)
A friend told me that the mother of the dog that he has passed away. On top of that I have this frustration that I find hard to describe except this: the feeling you get being nominated several times but not bagging even just one award. So what to do? Nothing. But the feeling of being confined eats you. In times like this only music is the way out. Let me give you a list of performers that merit a listen in situations like these artists:
Eden’s Bridge: Grow- Taken from the upcoming The Longest Day EP. The freshness of this track will carry you into caress of waves and prairie leaves. Transporting, uplifting, let it carry you to the silver lining of your personal clouds:
Explosive shimmering interpretation of traditional pieces from this young Irish fiddle player. The golden album cover speaks of the tracks-utterly timeless, radiant and mesmerizing. Here’s the preview:
Nuala Kennedy creates a mood that kicks off the blues. This Scottish singer/flutist has made a following of her own with her style. Check this info from reverbnation :
Based in her adopted homeland of Scotland, Irish singer and flautist Nuala Kennedy performs a range of material from across the Irish and Scottish traditional music repertoires.
She also composes her own idiosyncratic brand of traditional music and tours in a variety of lineups from duo and quartet to a nine-piece festival band.
She has a new album (Tune In) released on Compass Records in March 2010. It was described as ‘A Picaresque Adventure and A Delight’ **** by THE IRISH TIMES
Pipedown is a band from Scotland under Greentrax records. It’s the same record label that brought us the wonderful vocals of Fiona J Mackenzie. If you like your Scottish pipe music as quirky and upbeat, then this band will satisfy your cravings. The extensive use of poly-rhythms and solid harmonies make them a force in the Scottish Folk scene. They are currently working on a third album.
Members:
Lee Moore-Highland Bagpipes and Scottish Smallpipes
Steve Reid-Guitar
Axel Campbell-Mandolin
Stevie Fivey-Percussion
I love this solo from Lee Moore
***
Acapella group Caarjyn Cooidjagh from the Isles of Man have been warming ears from both sides of the Atlantic with their blend of folk hymns and subtle arrangements. Like Irish or Scottish music, I would characterize Manx to be on the same league in terms of subtlety and gentleness of tone. They sing in their native Manx dialect which calls to mind(like all Celtic music) the maritime beauty and the mystery of the sea. Beautiful, at times energetic but generally relaxing. This is worth a listen.
Check this video called Cre raad t’ou goll, my chaillin veg dhone?(Where are you going, my little brown girl?) a youtube site.
The words to this song come from a collection of ballads noted by A W Moore in the late 19th century. The song is a conversation between a young man and woman, he asking her where she’s going and if he can accompany her and she replying that she’s going milking and yes, he can come along…
Caarjyn Cooidjagh is a group of singers based in the Isle of Man. Performing a selection of traditional and contemporary Manx songs, they usually sing arrangements in Manx Gaelic by the group’s director, Annie Kissack. The nine women and five men who make up the group come from various musical backgrounds, and, although they differ in their formal training, they share an enthusiasm for Manx culture and good music performed simply. Their busy yearly schedule usually includes ceilis, church services, music festivals and community events.
Caarjyn Cooidjagh means ‘friends together’ in Manx Gaelic.
For more information on booking this band for your festival please contact mhfmusic@mhf.org.im.
Filmed by the Manx Heritage Foundation for the promotional DVD Manx Music & Dance/ Kiaull as Rinkey
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Music News & Gigs
Liam Ó Maonlaí & Glen Hansard @ Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland
LIMITED NO of SPECIAL RE-LAUNCH TICKETS €12 ARE ON SALE AT THE HOTEL – MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE . ON SALE UNTIL Sun 20th or until all sold.Spring Sessions Launch Mon 21st Feb 9.15[m till late…. with support.
The De Danann ensemble is lead by Frankie on fiddle, flutes and whistles.
Damien Mullane on accordion, Eric Cunningham on percussion, flutes and whistles, Mike Galvin on bouzouki and guitars and Michelle Lally on vocals.
A new Album entitled “Jigs, Reels and Rock ‘n’ Roll was released in Sept ’10 includes a Guest appearance by Ronnie Wood of the “Rolling Stones”.
“Frankie Gavin and De Danann are the jewel in the crown, and as the musicians hit top gear some of the fast reels in particular are mesmerizing! – The Irish Examiner
“Rightly heralded as the greatest Irish fiddle player, Frankie gavin has nothing left to prove… Gavin is a true fiddle-playing genius, one who continues to inspire and dumbfound in equal measure! – The Scotsman
Fiach Moriarty and Colm Lynch – RESCHEDULED FOR FEB 25TH
Two of Ireland’s finest songwriters team up for a one-off Christmas special in Dublin’s Cobblestone. Meteor Award nominated Colm Lynch has received critical acclaim for his latest album Tickety Boo while similarly Fiach’s debut album So I was instantly made RTÉ 1’s ‘Album of the Week’ upon its release. Adm €7
Celtic Music Fan 