Search Results for: clannad

Hello music lovers!

After a Castlefest Winter Edition weekend with a lot live music, we have much more music for you!

Today I present you: six albums of the CeltCast Fantasy Award longlist “Best Album 2019” and eight older (or digital) ones. Music from a lot of different countries and with a broad range of styles!

M’ANAM — M’ANAM (2019) — Ireland and Iceland
On Saturday, February 16, 2019, we were asked to make a live stream during the M’ANAM concert in Rotterdam. That was a very special evening and… it was an honor to be there! (You can see these livestreams on our webpage or Facebook page.) The men of ANÚNA , “M’ANAM” have also released this album and it is beautiful! 👨‍👨‍👦‍👦

Nadia Birkenstock – Celtic Harp & Song (2013 and 2019) — Germany
This week we have an older and a new album of Nadia! Of course, the harp is a well-known instrument in the folk scene. Nadia has made another album to dream away with magical harp tunes! 💭

Imbue and Twigs & Twine — The Netherlands
On the 12th of September the CeltCast team went to the Gasthuiskapel (-chapel) in Zaltbommel for the album release party of Imbue (folk, medieval music) and Twigs & Twine (folk pop). Although the bands are certainly not similar, it was a very interesting combination of musical sounds in this beautiful chapel. Both albums are beautiful in their own way! ⛪️

North Sea Gas — Hearth And Homeland (2019) — England
On our way back home after the Fantasy Forest Festival in England Alex and I travelled to Oxford. In a nice pub we met musicians during their Folk Session. After a couple of weeks, we found this amazing album in our mailbox! It’s their 21st album, so… a new collection of Scottish Folk Music! 🎻

EMIAN • PaganFolk Music — Egeria (2019) — Italy
Years ago, we’ve met the members of Emian in person at the lovely festival Celtic Night Geluwe and… they stole our hearts with their music ánd their personalities. I don’t have to say much about this album, because our Cliff de Booy did that already. You can find his review here (November 6th ) (pssst, I LOVE it <3)📜

Bruni — Kynda (2018) — England
The band Bruni released their first album last year. Their own words are: “Across borders, across languages and across the ages”. And, that is wat this album you brings. Keep an eye on this young band! Our own CeltCast Dylan Kerr (and his girlfriend Alana Bennett) are musicians on this album! 💫

Jolin – no physical album yet — Germany
This young lady has just started yet! She has a beautiful voice and we’re curious to what she is going to bring us in the near future. There is no physical album yet, but… we have permission to play a couple of her songs already! You can find Jolin regularly with The Dolmen clan. 😊

Victor Santal — Arpa Celtica (2012) — Spain
Yes, we finally have permission to play this wonderful album on our radio station. Enjoy this magical harp sounds! 🧚‍♀️

Tevenn — Rhuys (2007) — France Years ago, Alex and I were on holiday in Brittany (France), where we bumped into this folk band at our campsite. And, we still like to listen to this album! We hope for new material from this band soon. 🇫🇷

Clannad Irish Band — Past Present (1989) — Ireland
On June 26th, our Cliff de Booy wrote a large review about Clannad, so… if you want to know more about this Irish band, go to: https://celtcast.com/?s=clannad 🇮🇪

Kallidad — Unplugged 2018 (2018) — Australia
At Elfia Arcen we met the Australian band Kallidad (a band with Mexican and flamenco influences). Fantastic energetic music to listen to. When we brought home several albums, we already knew that most of it would not fit in the format of our radio station, but … there is one song on this unplugged album that we can play, yes! 💃🕺

Cuélebre — Anaman (2017) — Spain
This band brings us pagan folk music from Spain. This album Anaman made in 2017 takes you to earlier times, that’s for sure. We are eagerly awaiting new material! 🍃

Very happy that these beautiful CDs have been processed: 📀

M’ANAM — M’ANAM (2019) — Iceland and Ireland
Nadia Birkenstock — Whispering Woods (2019) — Germany
Imbue — Ut solis radium (2019) — The Netherlands
Twigs & Twine — Long Story Short (2019) — The Netherlands
North Sea Gas — Hearth And Homeland (2019) — England
Emian Pagan Folk — Egeria (2019) — Italy
Bruni — Kynda (2018) — England
Jolin — From the Woods (2019) — no physical album yet — Germany
Victor Santal — Arpa Celtica (2012) — Spain
Nadia Birkenstock and Steve Hubback — The Glow Within (2013) — Germany
Tevenn — Rhuys (2007) — France
Clannad — Past Present (1989) — Ireland
Kallidad — Unplugged 2018 (2018) — Australia
Cuelebre — Anaman (2017) — Spain
🎵🎶🎵

https://fantasy-awards.com/

Musical greetings, Ilona CeltCast

Photo of the albums

A very special CeltCast week!

It is Monday again, after a very special CeltCast week! We have become a foundation and we have also been in the air for five years! On this birthday we started a ‘give away’ promotion for two beautiful albums of PerKelt and Paya Lehane Music ! Do you participate (see livestream last Thursday) and win these albums?

Last week CeltCast colleagues came home after a beautiful Autumn Moon weekend and in the meantime, others were getting ready to go to Fantasy Fest Rijswijk and Zotte Zaterdag Gouda . Of course, we collected new material there!

On the 17th October we visited the concert of Irfan and Cesair , location Poppodium de Peppel . It was a very special evening and we received two remastered albums from Irfan, of which ‘Seraphim’ is now ready for the new server (the old album will be replaced).

In addition to an older Pyrolysis album, the new album ‘Daylight is Fading’ also goes to the new server. Unfortunately this beautiful album is not in the photo, since CeltCast team members really want to have this album at home. And, with reason, since CeltCast is mentioned in the booklet! A big hug for that! 🥰

There’s also an album from Calasaig (2003) transferred to the new server, this album dates back to the time that Alex Sealgaire and I ( Ilona CeltCast ) regularly went to the theater. Our love for the folk music has grown by listening to these old albums.

Today there were thirteen (old and new) albums ready for a new start! Do you know all of them?

Names of the artists: SKRÖMTA , FAUN (2), Clannad Irish Band , Loreena McKennitt , Aelixihr , Naragonia , Calasaig , Triskilian , Irfan , Pyrolysis (2) & VIRELAI

CD's

Drowsy Maggie – Nú Trad (2017) Review



The coolest thing about working for CeltCast is that you never know where you will end up next! By now I’ve discovered some lovely local festivals that have become regulars on my musical calendar. The latest one on this list is Folkerdey. A really cool, cozy folk festival in Ratingen, Germany. It started out as an idea by 2 members of the folk band Drowsy Maggie and two youth centers in the city of Ratingen and is heading towards its 14th edition next year.
In 2019 it featured folk bands like Stout, Wait For June and Sunfire, the pop-folk hurdy gurdy player Patty Gurdy and, as the headliner, the Irish folk band Drowsy Maggie. Never heard of them? Well, that is about to change. Their performance at Folkerdey was so good I found myself buying their CD the minute the show ended and it did not disappoint! Nú Trad is filled with upbeat Irish folk with a twist. With a lot of twists, actually. Drowsy Maggie added a whole bunch of musical flavors to the songs they recorded. It keeps the album interesting right to the very, very end. But I’ll come to that. First things first. Who are Drowsy Maggie?
Drowsy Maggie Headlining the Folkerdey festival 2019

Drowsy Maggie are a German folk band based around Düsseldorf. The band was formed by accordionist Alex Otto and guitar player Thomas Gurke. Later on drummer Christoph Zimmermann and vocalist/fiddler Sebastian Zimmermann completed the line-up. Their repertoire is filled with classic Irish folk songs, part traditionals and partly works from the likes of Christy Moore; Michael McGoldrick; Richard Thompson (whom we know from Fairport Convention); Gordon Duncan, (a bagpiper/low whistle, composer known -amongst other things- for his work with the Dougie Maclean band); the Irish band Kila (a cool band who mix Irish folk with the energy of gypsy- and Latin American music, think Santana goes folk) and -wait for it- Metallica !!! Did you just say Metallica? Yes! Coming from a pop/rock background Drowsy Maggie play acoustic Irish folk, but they do give it their own energetic twist, just like some of their influences, making Nú Trad a pleasure to listen to. So let’s dive into their music.

The opening track Broken Pledge starts with the deep sound of the floor tom, some intriguing mystical guitar effects and a staccato fiddle that has Cesair’s Diex, Nox Et Omnia written all over it. Alex Otto’s Accordion is fast to follow with a lovely catchy accordion melody, that could have easily come from a Wouter en de Draak album. To my pleasant surprise the band takes their time with this intro, it’s only after 2 minutes that the beat kicks in and the song turns into a catchy Irish jig with the cheerfulness of a Shantalla or Finvarra. Everybody who loves Irish folk will be hooked after this song alone, trust me.



With the second song Drowsy Maggie take on a real classic: Christy Moore’s I Wish I Was In England. And again the band convinced me in every way. Sebastian Zimmermann has a warm and really pleasant voice – with some imagination you could call him an Irish version of The Belgian singer-songwriter Milow – and I can only compliment them on their interpretation of this evergreen. Especially with that French style folk accordion solo thing at the end. Lovely stuff.

These two songs were just a prelude to one of the biggest surprises on Nú Trad and at the same time one of the best and most original songs on this CD. The song is called Superflying Popcorn Drive and the title is just as positively weird as the music itself! Just as Clannad many decades before them, Drowsy Maggie mixes their Irish folk with a jazz flavor! As in the sound of a jazz big band! From the first notes of the bassline, you know you are gonna going to be in for a treat! When the brass section – Avelina Thole on trumpet and Will Wilzek on trombone – step in I am thinking Dizzy Gillespie, Glen miller or – more incoming with the Castlefest style – Berlinkski Beat. And it does not stop there, Sebastian throws in a lovely gypsy style fiddle solo while Otto’s accordion is still insisting to take you down to France. After two and a half minutes the band switches tune and the popcorn really starts to fly. That accordion and fiddle combo is sooo freakin’ catchy, by now I’m bouncing and dancing around the room.
But we are not done yet! The musical flavors change one more time as the brass section goes into marching band modus, including the obligatory drumroll on the snare drum, while the accordion is still cheerfully popping musical popcorn all around my headphone. I know it sounds like an impossible mix to put together, but not for Drowsy Maggie. They manage to get all these crazy ideas into one song and somehow make it work. In the end, you still listened to a folk song. An extremely danceable, cheerful and weird one, but folk nonetheless. 10 out of 10 for originality and musical talent!



And there is more to come. Drowsy’s Bar, for instance, starts as a delicate gypsy solo played by the fiddle, but unexpectedly the song picks up speed and goes into a French folk song with Spanish percussion, still with that gypsy feel although that ends abruptly! After one last chord from the accordion, the song continues as an uptempo Celtic folk tune from Brittany. It isn’t long before the flavor of the song changes yet again, into bluegrass this time! Really?! Yep, no problem in the Drowsy Maggie world.

With Tell God and The Devil the band throws another twist at you. This song is best described as uptempo pop-folk, with some gypsy influences, a heavy bluegrass feel, sung by the Belgian singer-songwriter Milow. Just as the Irish band Kila, Drowsy Maggie seems to throw all those different influences in a blender, put the machine on full speed and just flow with it. It shouldn’t work, but out come the most upbeat and danceable pop-folk songs that you ever heard, by no means traditional, but very, VERY cool.

Want me to describe another one of those musical cocktails? Well, it comes right after Drowsy’s Bar and Tell God and The devil. It’s called The Barre and again it features that typical marching band sound I mentioned before. In Germany, you have something called a musikkapelle , a (small) marching band playing really melodic brass evergreens. (In the link you’ll find a video of the muzikkappelle from Ratingen.) Somehow Drowsy Maggie managed to capture that typical German sound into their folk music and make it feel fresh, young and cool. Don’t ask me how but they did it but it works sooooo well! By the way, did I already mention the band is actually playing a bit of Metallica here? No? Well, they do and it actually works!! French accordion meets German brass section on a Celtic folk album playing an adaptation of a metal song. Only in the Drowsy Maggie world can you fit those four together. It gets even better, after the Metallica-goes-folk-brass-section, Drowsy Maggie push up the beat, pull out a wah-wah guitar, throw in a lovely accordion hook and eventually pull out some groovy disco vibes as well. Seriously? This even beats Clannad’s early 60’s acid folk experiments on their debut album and I’m only halfway through this CD! Now I could go on like this for the next seven songs but that would spoil it all, so I’ll stop here and let you discover the remainder of this album by yourself.

I can imagine that after reading this review you might think this album sounds like a patchwork blanket, but it doesn’t. The album is surprisingly coherent considering all the different styles and that is because of two very good reasons. The first one is that under all those nice quirky ideas it’s all still upbeat, really danceable Irish folk music. Admittedly, with a big wink towards Brittany, but it always returns to those Irish roots.
The second thing that keeps this whole album together is its fresh, spontaneous sound. All the songs were recorded in two live sessions, one of the 29th and one on the 30th of October. And you can hear that. It is clear that the band prepared themselves well for these two sessions and it’s that freshness, together with the originality and quirkiness of the band that makes Nú Trad such a good album. But don’t take my word on it. Go listen for yourself!! Preferably with a suitable dance partner. Because with half of the album filled with upbeat cheerful reels and jigs this is just as much an album for the balfolk enthusiasts as it is for the fans of fun Irish folk. Now let’s get these guys back to Elfia ! Or on the stage of Keltfest . They so deserve it!

– Cliff
Editor: Gwendolyn Snowdon
Sleeve art: Andreas Heller
photo credits: Andreas Heller

CeltCast Classic
Cara – Yet We Sing (2016)



We didn’t focus that much on pure Irish folk CDs in this review section yet, Gwendolyn Snowdon‘s Three Strand Braid, Shantalla‘s From The East Unto The West and of course Clannad‘s early works are the only ones I can think of. But that is about to change. A while ago I got the request from Ilona to review one of her favourite bands, together with a pile of music to listen to. The band is called Cara and the music doesn’t get more Irish than this, even though Cara are a German band. Since their origins in 2003 the band produced 7 CDs, toured the better part of Europe, became successful in the USA, even being voted best new artist of 2009 and top group of 2010 with the Irish Music Association. They were also nominated for a best record award three times. In 2007 in Germany for the CD In Between Times and in 2010 Long Distance Love was nominated, not only in their homeland Germany but also again with the Irish Music Association based in the USA, so you can safely say that Cara have had a successful career up till now. It was almost Inevitable that they would be the second band featured in the CeltCast Classics series. So let’s introduce Cara a bit more.


It all started in 2003 when Gudrun Walther (vocals, fiddle and accordion, left on picture), Jürgen Treyz (guitar, right on picture), Sandra Steinort (vocals, piano and flute) and Claus Steinort (uilleann pipes and flute) formed Cara. Shortly after Rolf Wagels (bodhrán) joined and in this formation the band recorded the studio albums In Colour (2004) and In Between Times (2007) followed by a live CD and DVD called In Full Swing (2008). From 2007 onwards Cara did several tours throughout America, gaining more and more success. It was in these years that Cara won the two Irish Music Awards. Also at this point Sandra and Claus Steinort couldn’t mix the busy tour live with their other obligations and decided to leave the band.



In the video above you see the original line-up playing Please Be Peter – taken from their second CD In Between Times – live at Bonfeld Folk im Schlosshof 2008.

They were replaced by Jeana Leslie, winner of the BBC radio 2 young folk awards (vocals, piano and flute) and multiple all Ireland uilleann pipes champion Ryan Murphy. You could call it a winning line-up. The result was Long Distance Love that came out in 2010.
In 2013 Jeana Leslie started studying *) and in her place Scottish singer/songwriter Kim Edgar joined the band. In that line-up the band recorder Horizon (2013). In 2014 Ryan Murphy had to leave the band due to his busy schedule **) and he was replaced by German uilleann pipe player Hendrik Morgenbrodt. With this line-up the band recorded the albums Yet we sing (2016) and their latest CD Live (2018). Shortly after that long time member Rolf Wagels left the band and Aimée Farrell Courtney was welcomed in the Cara family.

The debut In colour

With all those line-up changes you would think that the sound of the band changed tremendously over the years, but actually it didn’t. It’s still lovely Irish folk music, featuring female vocals, uilleann pipe, flute and violin. All in a clean, calming and almost fragile way. I didn’t hear any distorted instrument or forced singing note on any of the CDs. From the first notes of the opening track on the debut CD In Colour it is clear that the strongest point in Cara’s music are the stunning vocals. The voices of Gudrun Walter and Sandra Steinort are beautiful, crystal clear and work really well together. (As does the combination of Gudrun together with Kim Edgar on later albums.) The harmonies between the two ladies are beautiful. The clean sound of the guitar, violin and uilleann pipes even enhance those lovely voices. Track one, The King And The Fair Maid, is a cheerful introduction into Cara’s music that made me eager for more. Luckily there is more, a lot more actually. You have Three Ravens for example. A beautiful ballad that is a bit in the tradition of Twa Corbiez. The way it is sung reminds me a lot of Gwendolyn Snowdon on her album Three Strand Braids. Or listen to There Is Light, the last song on In Colour. It starts as a lullaby, so tender and fragile with a lovely piano accompaniment – not to mention the acoustic guitar solo in it – but it ends as a grand acoustic power ballad.
From the CD In Between Times (2007) I could name the uptempo, slightly eerie Poisoned Peas with it’s lovely harmony singing and the fast pace of the guitar and uilleann pipes in it, I could name the strong ballad The House Carpenter or I could mention The Maid Of Whitby a nice upbeat song, with a slight country slide guitar in there and a lovely violin solo. This song makes me think of an acoustic version of the Corrs. Both CDs are lovely examples of Irish folk. They have an almost 50/50 balance between instrumental – and vocal songs, all well played. Both In colour and In Between Days will not look out of place in any folk collection.


Cara playing Odd Rhythms a song written by Jürgen Treyz, taken from the 2013 album Horizon

Now I didn’t have the pleasure to listen to In Full Swing (2008) or Long distance Love (2010) yet, so I pick up the story with the 2013 album Horizon. For me the odd one out. On this CD Cara chose a more pop orientated production, with a electronic keyboard sound at times and a strong bass guitar. It turns the feel of the music in a mix of folk and soul/jazz, even funk/jazz in some songs. Just listen to Master Of Consequence or Odd Rhythms, both instrumental songs sound like funk legends Shakatak gone folk music. It takes a bit of getting use to but it actually works. Good examples are the upbeat jazz/folk instrumental Big Jigs or the pop-like Be Gone. Other highlights on Horizon are the beautifully sung ballad Blood, Ice And Ashes -think Matt Bianco meets Irish folk – and the more country orientated ballad The Bonny Lad. Cara are sooo good with their ballads, it is really one of their strong points.

Yet We Sing, The CeltCast Classic

With the 2016 album Yet We Sing, Cara pick up their old sound again, losing the pop/jazz production of Horizon. Opening A Leaf For A Sail is another one of those beautiful ballads that Cara are so well known for. With a theme and a feel that takes me back to Sandy Denny‘s The North Star Grassman And The Ravens and a feel that reminds me a lot of Gwendolyn Snowdon’s interpretation of that song on Three Strand Braid. The Elfin Knight could also have been on Three Strand Braid. Kim Edgar has the same tone of voice and the same style of singing as Gwendolyn Snowdon. There is yet another similarity between Cara and Gwendolyn Snowdon. Their ability to tell a story. Cara clearly stepped away from the traditional call and response type of folk songs that made up the majority of their first two albums to lean towards modern popsongs, with strong lyrics telling a story, sung solo by either Kim Edgar or Gudrun Walther. Cain’s War for instance is a pure protest song, making a powerful statement against fanatism, religion and weapons, Cara I fully agree! Anchor In The Sky and Yet We Sing are two more beautiful ballads. I keep mentioning those, I realise, but honestly, the vocal quality of Cara make buying all of their CD’s worthwhile.



Up till now didn’t mention the instrumental songs much, although 50% of the albums are filled with them. The instrumental songs on the first two Cds are nice Irish folk tunes, mid tempo Jigs and reels played to perfection in the pure Irish way. Nice duets between Violin, flute or uilleann pipes. They may not have the adventurous arrangements as some of the vocal songs, but therefore are islands of calm between the vocal escapades. I love Songs like Reels For Hecki, the balladesque Buddleja, the gypsy style And Off He Went -all found on In Colour– or the almost Arabian sound of C’mon Tiger – found on In between Days- and fans of traditional folk will find many more instrumental gems on the first two Cara albums. As I mention earlier Cara leave the traditional approach of the instrumentals on the CD Horizon, opting for a more groovy jazz approach.
On Yet We Sing I notice a wee bit of a difference in those instrumentals. Although returning to the traditional style of folk Cara played on the first two albums, on Yet We Sing they start adding little twists and improvisations that make music so interesting for me.
There is Heroes, a nice upbeat collection of jigs and reels, with the third section going into a reggae rhythm (!?), just to spice things up, as the band writes themselves in the CD insert. Now that got my attention! Land Of The Midnight Sun is folk meets chamber music, while The Legend of Lisalway, with a lovely uilleann pipes melody, takes us back to the jazz influences on Horizon for a moment. The Naked Man In The Whirlpool starts as a lovely guitar piece and continues as an instrumental ballad instead of a traditional Irish dance. A Wee Dobro Tune is indeed written as a dobro solo piece, with some additional piano and violin. All in all I love the instrumentals just as much as the vocal pieces on this album, making Yet We Sing a clear CeltCast Classic!

So we come to the traditional conclusion and I can tell you that the more I listened to Cara’s music, the more their music grew on me. If I would compare them with a bottle of wine I would describe their music as a mature, yet supple, easy to drink red wine with a lovely bouquet of exquisite vocal harmonies. The instrumentals give the music a lovely vanilla tone with notes of surprising melted dark chocolate especially on the later CDs. fans of the early Clannad albums – especially Clannad 2 or Shantalla really should give Cara’s music a listen, and Yet We Sing is the perfect CD to start that journey.



– Cliff
– Pictures by Gregor Eisenhuth , taken during the Yet We Sing release tour in 2016

PS. I started listening to Cara’s music and writing this introduction in the spring of 2019. Since that time Cara released a new single called Móran Tang. A really touching story that actually says a lot about Cara so I’ll quote Kim Edgar from the Cara site:
“As some of you will already be aware, my dad, Derek Edgar, sadly died of cancer in March 2017. He was an extra-ordinary man: creative, gentle, positive, loving, and determined. He remained just as extra-ordinary in facing cancer of an unknown primary source, for which no successful treatment could be found. In the last week of his life, I wrote him a thank you card, because I wanted him to know how grateful my brother, myself and my mum were to have him in our lives. He challenged me to take the words of that card, and turn them into a happy song – he knew/knows I find writing happy songs difficult! And he has always tried to encourage me to keep developing my skills. And that’s the song, Mòran Taing. The title is in Scots Gaelic, and the chorus means “many thanks, goodbye for now, fare you well for now, many thanks”.
And with this beautiful homage we end this review. Knowing Cara’s musical story still continues.



*) Jeana Leslie is now part of the Scottish folk band Fara
**)Ryan Murphy is now a member of the Scottish folk band Imar

The First CeltCast Classic!!!

Clannad Irish Band . Is there one band that we play that is less in need of an introduction? All folk music lovers have heard this family of musicians perform their own style of Irish folk, or Celtic New Age music. I would venture to say we have all drifted away to the dreamy sounds of Theme From Harry’s Game. So why do we bring them up now?

As a first installment of our new series we like to call CeltCast Classics Cliff has written a very extensive review of their first three albums, Clannad (1973), Clannad 2 (1975) and Dúlamán (1976). In this review Cliff not only goes deep into the history of the band and the influences of the time, but because of the timeless aspect of their music he is also able to draw comparisons to the bands that we see at festivals nowadays.

Knowing how much time and effort our review team put into this, not only in deeply hearing and feeling the music, but with research, editing, fine tuning etc, we don’t want to give away too much of this masterpiece in a simple post, so we invite you, no, we urge you, do yourself a favour. Grab yourself a cup of tea (or something stronger), sit back in your favourite easy chair, put on some Clannad, and take this deep dive into iconic music together with us!

Find the review here

Clannad







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