Author Archives: Thomas Ribbrock

CeltCast Fantasy Awards 2020/21

🎤 Best Song 2020
SeeD Pagan Folk – Het Vergeten Volk
📀 Best Album 2020
Ye Banished Privateers – Hostis Humani Generis
🎭 Best Online Act 2020
Ye Banished Privateers – Drunken Rehearsals
🎥 Best Music Video 2020
Ye Banished Privateers – Rowing With One Hand
🛒 Best Online Merchant 2020
Feathers van Raven
🏰 Best Online Event 2020
Castlefest Home Edition (NL)
🍷 Best Drink 2020
Mead and More – warme appel/kaneel mede
📀 Best Monthly Marker 2020
SeeD Pagan Folk  – Het vergeten volk
😊 Positivity Award 2020
Femke van Hilten

Monthly Marker April 2021: Towarb

Cover: Towarb-UnserLand

Our NEW Monthly Marker is… 💿 A little while ago we asked you to help us choose the Monthly Marker for April, as we receive so much incredible music nowadays that we simply couldn’t see the forest through the trees, and you definitely helped us out! Your votes have been tallied, and April’s Monthly Marker is…Towarb’s “Sterne”! 💫

Towarb was founded in 2018 in the Alsace region, inspired by the local legends, stories and folklore. Their first EP “Unserland” was released in October of last year and contains four songs filled with a dark ambience and a deep spiritual connection. As Ilona put it, when this album was the Daily Disc on the 18th of March: Low voices, dark tones, historical instruments and primal forces can be felt immediately! ⚡️

Sterne, “stars” in English, sums up that vibe completely, which is why we are happy that you chose this song to be the theme of April, though the original timing of the song isn’t really set in April. The song is about ancient rites in the Rhine valley during the time known as Samhain. It’s a nursery rhyme that advises the living to light a lantern under the night sky, and to not stay outside too long during this night, as the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest, so spirits can cross easily and will arrive freely. 🕯

Throughout this entire month, the song will be played five to six times a day, so there are plenty of opportunities for you to close your eyes and let yourself drift off to the Alsace and Rhine valley of old… 😍

Towarb can be found on:

Monthly Marker March 2021: Katja Moslehner

Cover: Katje Moslehner-Am Weltenrand

📀 NEW MONTH, NEW MONTHLY MARKER! 📀

The minute we heard the first notes of ‘Am Weltenrand‘, Katja Moslehner’s) first solo single, it wasn’t a question IF we would make it a Monthly Marker, but only WHEN we would do it. Well, the simple answer was: as soon as possible!!! 😍

Originally a Bulgarian circle dance, this version has all the energy of early spring in it. So it is the perfect song to celebrate the month of Ostara, the month of the spring Equinox! 🐣🌷

Eagle-eared people may recognize it from another German band, Triskilian, who recorded this song on their 2012 album Neo. Katja’s German version is just as vibrant and energetic as the Triskilian version, a worthy Monthly Marker to bring some much-needed cheer and energy to these weird times we are all still in. 🌞

‘Am Weltenrand’ is also the title track of Katja’s upcoming solo album, which will be released on the 2nd of April. We were allowed to listen to it beforehand, and although we are bound to secrecy, I can tell you it is going to be a treat! Fans of Katja’s music will definitely not be disappointed, I can tell you that. 🤩

OK, enough of this teasing, let’s focus on ‘Am Weltenrand’. Obviously, it is a German translation put to the original music, and it combines the beauty of German folk, Katja’s love for Eastern European music that goes back to her days with the Balkanfolkband Savica, and the spirit of the native American chants, expertly woven into the music by Bernd Wendlandt. 🎼

You can dance to this beautiful song the whole month, 5 to 6 times a day, all the way up to the spring equinox.., and beyond. So throw off your shoes and let’s dance the whole night long…, until we can greet the morning sun and the start of a new day. 🌤

– Cliff

Photo given by: Katja Moslehner

You can find Katja Moslehner here:

Monthly Marker January 2021: ZiRP

Cover: ZiRP-Cirlce Divine

🎼 Happy new year, new month, and of course a new Monthly Marker!

ZiRPLow Lights (Circle Divine, 2020) 📀

We cannot deny, that these are dark times of worry and loss, and most of us are secluded to our homes, staying safe by minimizing our physical interaction with the outside world. Yet reflecting on the year we are leaving behind us, we are delighted to see that so many beautiful things can arise from our confinements too. Creative resilience brought us livestreams, online festivals and lots, lots of music. 🎶

Going through all the wonderful albums that were recently released, there was one that stood out. The ‘Circle Divine’ of ZiRP is a collection of tracks that are exquisite to dance to, some really powerful bourrées, a cuddly mazurka, bouncy polkas and, of course, a divine circle. But it was the closing Scottish track that struck that chord where we immediately feel we’ve found the one.

Inquiring about the background story of this masterpiece, it became clear why. 🎙Florian: “The song is dedicated to a very good friend, who was a life-long musician, an accordion teacher and also my father. Jürgen Fügemann left this world far too soon in 2017 because of cancer. He would have loved this album, I’m sure, and this song, in particular, reflects his kind of soul. I owe the ‘soft side’ of myself to him.

Florian was not always a drummer. In fact, he started with playing the piano at his parents’ home, the one where the whole family played on. And for his part of this track, he put aside his drumsticks and sat down at that very same piano, still at their house, and recorded his take there. 🎹

Stephan wrote the tune on his Irish low whistle and to keep the piece quiet, Olaf played a reduced picking and Flo took the double bass.

Florian: “Alex, who mixed it, had some trouble connecting all the pieces. But isn’t that closer to what life is really like? It’s not always perfect, but if we find love, we can pass it on. This is what I see in this song.

And as indeed we currently are all struggling and trying to piece things together, this is the core of what CeltCast strives for: at the heart of it all, we want to pass on the love through music and strengthen our connection in these solitary times. Which is why with a heartfelt virtual hug we are happy to play ‘Low Lights’ five to six times a day for the full month of January. 📻

And to boost your spirits and have you dancing in your own livingrooms, we definitely recommend that you listen to the whole album. As I type, Cliff is actually writing his review… and I can already tell you: it is a perfect bringer of those festival vibes, while we eagerly await to get the chance to see ZiRP perform there some sunny day when we meet again. 🥰

– Love, Alex

ZiRP can be found here:

Monthly Marker December 2020: ANÚNA

Cover: ANÚNA-Mai it Be

New Monthly Marker: ANÚNA feat. Sara – May it Be 🍀

As darkness falls across the Northern hemisphere, far from home, we walk our lonely roads and journey on. But here, from the realms of Middle Earth, comes an evening star to shine upon us, and help believe we will find our way to light the day. ✨

Her message, so beautifully sung in both English and Quenya, comes back to us from decades past, when recognized as ‘Best Song’ it won The Academy Awards (FB) in 2002. This time around, in the last month of 2020, it will be our Monthly Marker, to strengthen our Fellowship, 5 to 6 times a day in December, and grow the trust that we will rise to find the sun.

Like Enya (FB) before, it is Sara who rekindles the promise that lives within us, with her enchanting vocals and captivating delivery.

Thank you once again, Michael McGlynn, for dreaming up ANÚNA, the unsurpassed choir of Éire, and high praise too to the artist Renso Tamse, who created the stunning depiction of the Elven-maiden Sara.

Please all, enjoy ANÚNA’s latest single.

Stay safe, stay strong, and stay healthy.

Love, Alex. 💚

You can find ANÚNA here:







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