celtic music question

[phil h]

I was watchin MOTG and there was a house party, there was music being played.
it was modern dance club music but with pipes etc
I like the sound of pipes, but would rather listen to modern music with a beat to it.
anyone know any good band/groups? that plays this type of dance club celtic stuff?

[phil h]

BUMP

[Graham]

you could try looking under the Scottish Country Dancing type of music.

[phil h]

you could try looking under the Scottish Country Dancing type of music.

thanx

[Rufus]

I've been trying to find something for you Phil, but no luck so far.

[Graham]

Try this: http://www.scottishdance.net/music/

[Alan H]

Celtic Rock is a hugely expanding field right at the moment. I could write volumes on it, so I'll keep it short for now. (Now that I've written this post, I see that it's not so short, after all!)

Here are two very good labels to look into. They cover the gamut from celtic rock to absolutely traditional music:

http://www.greenlinnet.com

and

http://www.shanachie.com
Shanachie covers a whole lot or "World Music" as well. I have a number of klezmer albums from Shanachie.

Now, some favorites...

Undisputably the best, most high energy Scottish Celtic Rock band is Wolfstone. I've seen them live and have several of their CD's and I thoroughly enjoy them. They drive hard, but I'd say 80% of their songs have a strong fiddle/highland pipes traditional line running through it. If you like traditional reels, jigs and so on, but want to rock out, late 1970's-early 1980's style, Wolfstone is your band.

If you want to look into the Irish side, try "The Pogues". They're less flat-out traditional...more of a "real" punk-pop-rock band, but they use a lot of traditional instruments like whistles and uillean pipes. The Pogues changed their name a few years ago to an Irish Celt term that basically means "kiss my ***". I think they disbanded around 2002. Anyway, here's a link with more information about The Pogues..

http://punk.freeservers.com/pogues.htm

There's a techno-dance-mix-celt band (now, THERE is a mouthful, but I strain to describe them) called the Afro-Celt Sound System...

http://www.virtualhebrides.com/music...music/afro.htm

College kids and high schoolers who dig instrumental mixes will probably like the ACSS. I have two of their CD's and while it's not earthshaking music, a lot of it is danceable at a loud party and a lot of fun. It's not too often you hear Irish harp mixed into a dance-trance beat! The whistle player in Afro Celt Sound ?System is James McNally, who has a really nice low whistle album out, solo. He used to be with The Pogues.

For a USA-based truly 'back to the roots" band, google for "Cherish the Ladies". Their flute/whistle player is Joanie Madden, who is just wonderful. Joanie has a couple of solo albums out that are very nice..."Whistle in the Wind".

You like Irish/Scots guitar playing? Arty McGlynnn is your man. Whooooo-boy! You like incredibly musical and introspective "chamber music" that's really Irish reels and jigs? Get stuff by Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahhill. Martin Hayes is the ONLY celtic fiddler I've ever heard that can make fiddling sound like classical chamber music in terms of his phrasing, intonation and absolutely oustanding musicianship. He's amazing.

Eileen Ivers is the original fiddler from the original Riverdance show. She's been in the business for years and is a fine lookin' woman, to boot. She's got a retrospective album out, which I own (it's currently ont he splash page at Green Linnet) and I recommend it. It's a mix of traditional stuff with the most kick-*** version of "On Horseback" I have ever heard.

There's a tremendous amount of really new and different celtic music developing that's not rock-based, or only peripherally rock-related. If you wanted to give a listen to a bunch of it, go to the Green Linnet website and order these "sampler" CD's.... Which as of right now, are all on sale for, like FOUR BUCKS. Four lousy bucks per CD! They're all in the "celtophile" series put out by Green Linnet, which is all samplers from a wide variety of artists.

Playing with Fire: all celtic instrumental music, I have this and it's great.

Legends of the Scottish Fiddle: obvious..I have it and I like it.

Piping Hot: mix of highland, smallpipes and uillean. I've heard this, though I don't own it. I gave it to a mate for a Xmas present a couple of years ago.

Celtic Music Today: I haven't heard this one, but it's in the series and should be good. In fact, I think I'll order it right now!

Gentle Breeze: All flute and pennywhistle music. I LOVE the album, but then I'm a woodwind player.

OK, that should get you started! In fact, a whole lot of the Celtophile CD's are on sale right now for CHEAP at Green Linnet. If you wanted to spend $20+ for five or six albums and you bought the ones I listed up above, you'd have a really good cross section of what's going on in Celtic music today, with a lot of traditional flavor to it.

One of the primary Celtic Rock bands in the USA is "Tempest". Now, I have to tell you, Lief, the leader of Tempest, like a lot of loud, heavy, distorted electric guitar. Lief personally plays a couple of double-necked electric mandolins. The fiddler (from Fresno, California) is a monster, but he doesn't mind rocking out, either. You have to dig for the traditional melodies in Tempest's music, but if you like seriously hard rock, you'll probably like Tempest. Lief is a mediocre singer, but the drive of the band makes up for it.

Finally, if you are seriously interested in Jazz AND Celtic music, like I am, I encourage you...I can't say this strongly enough, to check out:

http://www.mistletoemusic.com

Melanie O'Reilly is FANTASTIC, absolultely fantastic and there is NOBODY like her. Listen to some of the downloadable tunes on her web pages and I think you'll agree. I'm going to a talk/workshop she's giving here in San Francisco in a couple of weeks and much looking forward to it.

Happy Listening!

Alan

[Alan H]

If you have any questions about Celtic music, I guess I'm a bit of an enthusiast, so fire away and I'll do my best!

Personally, I play clarinet and saxophones...that's my jazz background, clarinet is my classical instrument and really where my "heart" is. On the Celt side I mostly play whistles and flute, but I can thump away pretty good on a bodhran, too. I'd love to get set of uillean pipes, but I won't buy junk and a new set from Ireland is about $2500 or more, with a two to three year wait to get one. I might break down sometime soon and get a less expensive set of Scottish smallpipes, which I can play in the local sessions and not blow the roof off the building like I would if I had Highland pipes. They're available locally (here in the SF Bay Area) for around $500.

BTW, the best source on the West Coast of the USA for world musical instruments, including bagpipes, flutes and bodhrans is Lark in the Morning..

http://www.larkinthemorning.com


Alan

[Graham]

Alan, you'ver listed some of my favourite record labels there. I have bought from both.

I'd love to try the small pipes too, I had a set of Uillean pipes a couple of years ago but didn't get far with them, I needed a tutor and there was no one in our area, so I sold them to someone in the USA.

One of the members of our local Pipe band recently bought a set of small pipes, they sound great, she paid about $1500 AUD for them, I wish I could buy them here for $500!

[phil h]

I've been trying to find something for you Phil, but no luck so far.

thanx, and thanx to graham
and alan H (WOW, you da man)