music

[winterbadger]

In Which Jan Splurges on CDs.

So, it had been a while since I went music-mad bought any CDs, and I wanted a few Billy Bragg CDs of my own to share with Amy so she could decide if she wanted to come to his concert at the Birchmere with me (thanks again to vatoengland and poliscidiva for introducing me to him!)

So I wandered into Borders thinking I'd get one or two CDs.

Evil, evil people that they are, they were having a "buy three, get one free" sale. And I was not in my right mind feeling expansive, so I ended up with

• Life's a Riot With Spy vs. Spy by Billy Bragg. A lot of the early BB CDs that I borrowed from policsidiva are out of print; I could get them used online, but I wanted one or two in my hot little hand. This one has two tracks I particularly like: "The Milkman of Human Kindness" and "A New England".
  
• Brewing Up with Billy Bragg
  
• Chasing the Sun by Karan Casey: I've had her Songlines for a while now, and like it, so I know that I like her work.
  
• The Rough Guide to Scottish Music. The Rough Guide to Bhangra was pretty good, and I know several of the artists on here, so I figured it would be a good intro to others. I see they have Irish and Scottish folk CDs too. Hmmm.

Then I started getting adventurous...

• In Play with Liz Carroll and John Doyle. I've heard a great deal about John Doyle, so I thought a fiddle and guitar combo would be irresistibly good.
  
• Se by Lunasa. A group I've heard of (I *think* also heard...) that looked good.
  
• Local Ground by Altan, another famous group I've not heard before. Picked because it had some tracks in Gaelic (OK, it's not Gaidhlig, but...)
  
• Fit? by Old Blind Dogs. Includes a selection of good trad folk tracks by another group I'd heard of but not heard. And
  
• The Farthest Wave by Cathie Ryan. I was speculating about several other artists they had there, and then I noticed this album was produced by John McCusker, and that sold me on it instantly.

Assuming I like these all, I can see other artists beckoning, like Solas, Danu, Susan McKeown... And, of course, the collector in me wants to add to my store of recordings by Dougie McLean, Tannahill Weavers, Silly Wizard, Andy Stewart, Planxty, the Bothy Band...

Comments

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

*hands you the "preview" button*

*kiss*

[winterbadger]

Preview generally doesn't help me much. Don't know why. It doesn't actually preview anything, just shows me what I've already typed.

I'm trying to fix it, but it is resisting my efforts. I may just say screw it and delete the links.

[magaidhbhan.livejournal.com]

Fit? is a great CD (in my humble opinion) -- though I think I'd say that Close to the Bone is their best album (as far as all the music going together, with a couple of tremendous stand-out tracks). If you like their stuff and are looking for more (next splurge time :) I'd also recommend The World's Room.

As far as Altan goes, it's basically pretty hard to go wrong. They're giants. I heard them in Glasgow a month ago -- I swear, the first time i heard them (in Boston) I wasn't overwhelmed, but this time ... wow. Amazing stuff. And I'm a harsh, harsh critic, particularly when it comes to Irish music (which, as I don't know it quite as well as I do Scottish, I can find a bit repetitive). I've only got Blue Idol and Another Sky, but looking through the track list on Local Ground, seems like a good bet :) The song The Wind and the Rain (and all its many versions and permutations) is a minor obsession of mine. And that is a particularly interesting version of it, as instead of actually using one of the many many Irish cversions still extant, they used the best-known of the Appalachian ones, and Irish-ized the accompaniment. But yeah, annnnd there's the fact Mairead has the lovliest Gaeilge! :)

All ending artists seconded. Though be careful -- someone once bought me an Andy Stewart CD, but it was NOT Andy M. Stewart. It was some crazy oompah-tartan-trews-Flower-of-Scotland-Donald-where's-your-troosers-type madman -- good for a laugh, but that's about it.

Here endeth the novel.

[winterbadger]

Though be careful -- someone once bought me an Andy Stewart CD, but it was NOT Andy M. Stewart. It was some crazy oompah-tartan-trews-Flower-of-Scotland-Donald-where's-your-troosers-type madman

Heh. On my last music-buying excursion, I was looking over several CDs by Mark Knopfler, who I love, eventually picked one, bought it, took it home, started listening to it, and found it rather unlike his other work and, frankly, not quite as good.

Then I looked more closely and realized I'd accidentally picked up a CD by his *brother*, David. D'oh!

[azbound.livejournal.com]

I'm also a huge fan of "The World's Room" by OBD. I got to see them live for FREE at the Kennedy Center! They were great. Interestingly, Jim Malcolm is leaving the band (Mom knows all - this isn't the first time they've replaced a lead singer, so I'm not seeing it as all-tragic.

A cd I'd recommend is Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns. It's a lovely listen...."Jamie Come Try Me" is just sweet.

Oh - and Skyedance Live in Spain. I much prefer it over their studio sessions. It's Alasdair Fraser corraling amazing talent into one recording.

[winterbadger]

Cool! Thanks for the tips.