sábado, 15 de febrero de 2020

Take A Look Around • One For The Foxes

When three great musicians with solid careers behind them come together to form a trio all their magic crystallizes in albums like Take A Look AroundTwo very talented Irish musicians, Dave Curley and Tadhg Ó Meachair, who had been part of major bands of the most recent Irish folk as Goitse or Slide, and an American fiddler, Joanna Hyde, form One For The Foxes.

Each of them brings their magic to this album that is based on traditional Irish music, but does not hesitate to cross the Atlantic to explore its connections with North American root music.


Although all three musics are great instrumentalists, I think Take A Look Around's strong point is its beautiful songs. From the first time I heard Ghost & Dreams (one of the songs they are using to promote the album) I thought that would be one of the great folk songs of 2020, but when I finally heard the album in full I discovered We Wander Through that It is even a prettier song.

You can purchase Take A Look Around here. I think it is a record that will give much to talk throughout this year and that deserves special attention. Then don't say I didn't let you know 😁
x

domingo, 9 de febrero de 2020

KELTIKO. Demo


Irish music has the almost magical ability to captivate musicians of any latitude, so it is not uncommon to find bands that play this kind of music in places with a remote relationship with Ireland. That would be the case of Kéltiko, a quartet of Cádiz musicians who in 2019 officially presented themselves with these seven cuts recorded live during a concert at the Clautros of Santo Domingo. 

In my opinion, presenting yourself with a recording of a live performance is a risk, but in this case, the bet went well and the demo of Kéltiko is a very good recording. A recording that even deserves to become more than just a demo. One of the great advantages of this band is to have an Irish vocalist, John Cargo (who also plays the Irish flute). That advantage allows Kéltiko to risk interpreting the rich Irish vocal repertoire with all confidence, for my taste the songs are the best of this recording (and that does not mean that in the instrumental seta they lower the quality level), but the songs chosen and the way of interpreting them has been a great success.

Contact: Kéltiko • Actos Pro

sábado, 14 de diciembre de 2019

Quarehawk • Michael Walsh

This album co-produced by Michael Walsh and Mike McGoldrick is one of those little musical jewels that 2019 has given us. An album recorded with care, with extreme delicacy and exquisite good taste. Personally I think it is one of the best folk albums that I have been able to listen this year.

Michael Walsh has put his whole soul into a job in which his Irish musical heritage, his stay in Asturies and Michael's memories of his father, Patrick Walsh, are interwoven. The result is a music capable of touching our soul, it goes one step beyond virtuosity (and in this album there are many front-line musicians as McGoldrick, Kepa Junkera, Rubén Bada, Simon Bradley, Liz Hanks, Paul Daly...). It's not only about gifted musicians performing traditional music, Quarehawk tells us a story and it tells us about Michael's memories of his father, in that sense we can almost see it as a conceptual album.


As I said before, this is one of the essential albums of 2019.
You can buy Quarehawk here.

lunes, 9 de diciembre de 2019

Looking for New Bands & Young Musicians



  • We're always looking for new bands and gifted young musicians. We would like to hear from you and your music, just contact us, don't be shy. 
  • Buscamos nuevos grupos y jóvenes músicos de talento. Nos encantaría saber de vosotros y de vuestra música, simplemente contactad con nosotros, no seáis tímidos.
  • Toujours à la recherche de nouveaux groupes et de jeunes musiciens talentueux. Nous aimerions avoir de vos nouvelles et de votre musique, contactez-nous, ne soyez pas timide.



lunes, 2 de diciembre de 2019

4th. Willos'

Celtic music has the ability to surprise in many ways, listening to Willos' will surprise you because their music will make you think of Ireland, maybe Scotland... but in reality you will be listening to music made in Tuscany. I recognize that, at least, I was surprised by their mastery in playing and singing Irish repertoire. I don't know the Italian folk scene very well and that ignorance allows me, from time to time, to discover small musical jewels like 4th, the latest Willos' EP.

Willos' is a band from Siena that was formed in 2001 and has specialized in playing Irish music, the true Irish accent they can boast is provided by their violinist, Stephanie Martin, and vocalist, Angelica McGlynnThree albums published before this and more than 500 concerts in Italy, Switzerland, France and Ireland are an enviable curriculum that indicates that we are not talking about an amateur band. This EP, 4th,  that they now present to us supposes a return to the stages after a stop of almost six years, a return with renewed spirits and with a tremendous desire to conquer the heart of all those who love this kind of music. The EP has 5 cuts: a set of reels; a set of jigs and three songs, one of them, Ballysillan, acts as a single of this recording and it's an original composition by Steph Martin on some verses written by his grandfather. This EP is available in streaming on platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud

Many thanks to Giulio and Steph for telling me about this beautiful recording 😉



jueves, 21 de noviembre de 2019

The Left & The Leaving. KERN

Almost three years have passed after the publication of his first album False Deceiver that was acclaimed unanimously by critics. Now, Kern, presents his new album The Left & The Leaving, an album produced by Trevor Hutchinson (Lúnasa, The Waterboys). 

A second album in which Kern strengthen the musical proposal that was guessed in their first work. A mature and direct sound supported by the musical virtuosity of Barry Kieran and Brendan McCreanor, a deep knowledge of the traditional repertoire of their native Louth plus the original songs composed by the vocalist of the band, SJ McArdle. The most elegant Irish folk music that can be enjoyed today.


You can buy The Left & The Leaving following this link

lunes, 11 de noviembre de 2019

Raw. Jarlath Henderson

Jarlath Henderson's album that we all had been waiting for so long is finally here. In Raw we can finally enjoy the essence of this great piper, the one that we enjoyed in almost all his performances but that had never been well reflected in the studio. Four talented musicians performing a repertoire they know perfectly, no more artifacts or more tricks are needed to make an almost perfect album like Raw: simple, authentic, direct. Music sometimes needs nothing more than that simplicity to become sublime.

The album Raw is dedicated to the memory of the four doctors of Medicine Sans Frontiers slain in Syria. You can hear and buy the album here.

viernes, 8 de noviembre de 2019

The Livelong Day. Lankum

This blog was born about a month ago and, practically at the same time, the third album by the Irish band Lankum was released. That coincidence was not the result of chance. After being away from folk music for more than 10 or 12 years, it was this record that prompted me to create this blog and to know the latest trends in Celtic music.

This is not the Irish music we are accustomed to listening to, many may even have difficulty identifying it as traditional music... but it is impressive. Seemingly simple and pure melodies are enveloped by a dense sound atmosphere created thanks to the drones of Lynch's uilleann pipe and Peat's accordions. MacDiarmada's heartbreaking fiddle and Daragh Lynch's murky guitar of are the elements that complete the complex, almost surreal, acoustic landscape of Lankum.




Personally I would like to highlight the voice of Radie Peat, a deep and impressive female voice, rooted in the earth like that of the great blues singers, a voice from another time. It is that voice that becomes the protagonist in the last cut of the album to give us the most painfully beautiful song I've heard in many years, Hunting The Wren, for me it's the best track of The Livelong Day.
You can buy The Livelong Day here.


lunes, 4 de noviembre de 2019

Scots Trad Music Awards: Best Album Nominees

We have put together in a single playlist the ten albums nominated for Best Album of 2019 at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. So you can get an idea of how much good music has been produced in Scotland in the last 12 months.

sábado, 2 de noviembre de 2019

Madness Is Convention. Charlie Le Brun's debut album

Charlie Le Brun is a classical training flutist born in Rennes. In 2008 he moved to Wesport and began to frequent the jam sessions of Matt Molloy's Pub and to deepen his knowledge of the Irish flute repertoire. Ten years later Charlie has settled in Dublin and now launches his debut album Madness Is Convention. An album that has been recorded live in Belfast and produced by Dónal O'Connor at RedBox studios. In Madness Is Convention Charlie has the collaboration of Aoife Kelly (Concertina), Eamon Rooney (Bodhrán) and Feilimí O’Connor (Guitar).
The official presentation of the album will be on November 9 during the Ennis Trad Festival.
You can buy the album here.

jueves, 31 de octubre de 2019

C3LT4.TR4D?_2019_Oct16 Playlist

Our second video-playlist is ready, a selection of six clips with a lot of female prominence. We hope you like it:

The Old Woman's Dance/The Skylark's Ascension a set of tunes by Brìghde Chaimbeul from her debut album The Reeling (2019).
What Makes You by Elephant Sessions, from their last album What Makes You (2019).
Mazurca do Cachoupiño, an unrealeased tune by the Galician band Tor.
Trip to Ireland, a set of jigs by Steph Geremia extracted from her 2018 album Up She Flew.
Parmogeddon, an unreleased tune by Monster Ceilidh Band.
Felton Lonnin is the last clip of this playlist, a beautiful  Northumbrian  lullaby performed by Kathryn Tickell Band in 2015.



Crowdfunding for Sarah Markey's Debut Album

Let's help Markey Markey fund her debut's album. You can help her backing this crowdfunding campaign.
Her debut album will be an exciting new project that highlights the diversity and openness of the traditional music scene in Scotland.  Descending from an Irish background, growing up in Scotland and exploring new cultures whilst living in Spain have all been key inspirations in Markey's music.  The album itself will be a unique collection of self-penned tunes, songs and traditional music from these countries in order to reflect my own experience of traditional music as being a connected, global identity.

martes, 29 de octubre de 2019

Playlist C3LT4.TR4D?_2019_Oct15

Now you can enjoy our first Youtube playlist following this link. In that playlist you'll find the videoclips shared on our official Facebook C3LT4.TR4D? page on October 15.
This playlist features the following clips