In today’s review, we introduce the music of
Gói,
a young historical folk project Ilona discovered while roaming Bandcamp. Gói, a band from South Ostrobothnia – a region in the southwest of Finland – combine the well known Nordic legends with the much less known Sami mythology in their lyrics and music, translating it into wonderful Nordic style soundscapes with-a-punch. Now it would be easy to say Gói are jumping on a style that is becoming more and more popular, but that would be highly unjust to these talented young musicians.
If there’s one thing I found while digging a bit deeper into the subject before writing this review, is that Gói are really interested in the history of their homeland. Just read the liner notes accompanying their single
Saivo
on Bandcamp, and you will find their genuine passion for the Sami history right there.
I had so much fun talking to Rauni Hautamäki, founder, composer, musician and singer of Gói, about the Sami traditions, their place in history, and the relationship between the early Scandinavian people and the Sami culture. Through it all, I found a huge interest in the subject matter, but also a huge respect for the cultures involved.
The music of Gói got me really involved in a part of Nordic history I didn’t know up till now, and I’m hoping that, by introducing this lovely band to you all, more people will get as interested in the subject as I got. Did I make you curious? Good, then just follow the link right
here! You won’t regret it.
Introducing Irdorath’s Music
30Sep
My first introduction to
Irdorath’s
music was their ‘performance’ on the Castlefest home edition. It was a professional half-hour video the band recorded in the Belarussian woods and a video that made a huge impact on me. But not only on me. The Livestream exploded with positive responses with two general themes in them: ‘Who are those guys?‘ and: ‘They Are great!‘ People who saw them play on Middeleeuws Winschoten and several German festivals confirmed what we were all saying in the stream. ‘These guys are special.‘ So I decided right there and then I just HAD to introduce Irdorath’s music through a review.
During my research, I discovered that Irdorath is more than just a band. For them, it’s a way of living. They truly put their heart and soul in this project. Moving to an abandoned sanatorium in Kyiv to build a performance stage there, Marrying on stage, or more recently going on the streets to play for a better life for themselves and their fellow countrymen are just a few of the things I discovered researching the story behind the three albums We are going to introduce to you in this review marathon, Ad Astra (2012), Dreamcatcher (2015) and Wild (2017)
Before I post the link to the reviews I want to share one video. It is the making of video of Serca Raskolata, a new song Irdorath released in January. This video says so much about Irdorath, about who they are. Musicians; with a healthy interest in spiritual things and in history; with a good pinch of fantasy and theater in their performance; slightly mad with a lot of balls. That’s Irdorath! And I happily admit I fell in love with them, with their music and with them as people. I sincerely hope you will fall in love with them too.
The link to the reviews you find here.
Sowulo is in need of a Viola!
14Sep
Ever wanted to join a Nordic Pagan folk band? Well here may be your chance! Sowulo is looking for an additional musician!
Are you a viola player or do you know somebody who is, please let them know!
The perfect match would be somebody who is used to play in a group like an orchestra or even better a string assemble. Somebody who has a classical background but feels lured by the music of
Sowulo
.
The only requirement is that you live in the Netherlands and willing to rehearse (and possibly record) in the city of Arnhem.
Reactions can be sent to
this
webpage!
A Review of Grumpy O’Sheep’s first album East of Talisker
11Sep
France, a land with a huge folk scene. A land that gave us folk legends like
Alan Stivell,
Dan ar Braz, and
Tri Yann.
A land that hosts one of the biggest folk festivals:
Le Festival Interceltique de Lorient.
A land with a folk scene so interlocked in their culture that it even appears in mainstream music.
Sadly up till now, not that many French bands have reached the CeltCast headquarters, but luckily one has now, and what a special album it is! Grumpy O Sheep is a folk duo that mixes Irish folk, Spanish fury, and the French ‘joie de vivre’ together in a unique style. Their debut album East of Talisker will give you enough energy to last you a whole week. Want to know more?
Just follow the link and you will!
Cliff
Viral Sessions: Chapter 2 – 141 artists, 5 cats, some goldfish and 1 parrot!
19Apr
The last couple of months we have been hard at work at CeltCast HQ, to not only bring you all the best acoustic folk music we can find, but also to give you – listeners and readers – as much background info as we possibly can. One of the things we were working on was getting a news staff together that would try and collect background information on our favourite style of music; would do interviews with artists; would do festival reports and share all the other folk related news that we could find.
Well with the start of the Corona crisis we stepped up our game a bit and went for it, hence the news items you are seeing on our page the last weeks. So if bands, artists or festivals any have news they want to share, just send us a message and we will happily pick up on it.
This whole idea also means we now regularly wander around the big wide web looking for news that we can write about. Well, I found something. But this is sooo big, this is so cool, this is soo proving the creativity and resilience of the folk scene, I am not gonna tell about it myself. I’m just gonna copy/paste the message as I found it.
Viral Sessions: Chapter 2 – 141 artists, 5 cats and 1 parrot grand Irish session!United despite the distance, above borders and differences, Viral Sessions is collaborative folk music and dance project, an inclusive, informal gathering of artists from all over the globe. It is an undertaking unique in its plurality, playfulness and a universal goal – to warm people’s hearts, lift their spirits and cheer them up in the troubling moments of isolation caused by the global pandemic.
It all started as a spontaneous initiative to bring performers together for the St. Patrick’s Day 2020. As the first video went viral, we (Vanessa Medecin,
Jan Gałczewski
and Jakub “Goldfinch” Szczygieł) received an astonishing response from all over the world. Out of this unbelievable enthusiasm and the apparent global need for a genuine human connection we decided to try something really crazy and to coordinate efforts in creating Viral Sessions: Chapter 2, in which every volunteer could participate.
A total number of 141 amazing artists, 5 cats and 1 parrot from 6 of Earth’s continents have answered our call, played and danced their hearts out straight from their homes in this set of traditional Irish reels.
What we did here together is brilliant beyond measure! We can’t thank you enough! You are all legends!
Names of the tunes: Earl’s Chair / Sporting Paddy / Silver Spear.’
Well I can only say this is a great piece of music. Especially the grand finale is giving me goosebumps all over my body, just by hearing the sheer power of it. As the organizers say themselves: ‘Music and dance make a difference. We make a difference together, united, despite the distance.“
So true and we at CeltCast can’t wait for Chapter 3!
– Cliff