Recommendations for good Irish/Celtic music.

Cafe Society
1

I am looking for traditional Irish/Scottish/Celtic/Gaelic music.

I am not - obviously - an authority on the type of music I am looking for. I just know how it makes me feel when I listen to it. Quite literally it feels empowering! Briefly, the music has no bag-pipes, it sounds as if it is whimsical, low tones, high tones, sometimes spoken in Gaelic, sometimes not.
There was a new band at the local Irish Pub last night that was playing amazingly, they are on their second tour of the states and the music made my wife and I feel absolutely elated! There was a woman playing a violin (plugged in) another with an acoutstic guitar, a man playing another stringed instrument I could not identify…

Links would be fantastic…w/sound clips even better. I’ll look for a clip of what I am thinking of as well…Irish/Scottish/Brittish dopers … I need your help!

2

For Scottish, check out Capercaille. Good modern folk with traditional instruments.

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any Irish groups that would suit your needs without being terribly cheesy. There are some good singer/songwriters out there but they’re not terribly Celticy - try Paddy Casey for some good acoustic guitar music.

John Spillane is very good as well, and he does use some trad instruments and arrangements too.

3

Well, given your description, I’m not entirely certain what it is exactly that you’re looking for, but I can recommend some of my own favorites to you, you can listen and decide for yourself what you like!

Seamus Kennedy - sort of a Roger Whittaker-ish Irish folk singer whose live shows incorporate a great deal of light, silly comedy. Great deep voice.

The Minstrels of Mayhem - my all-time favorites. They do contemporary versions of Irish traditionals, and some damn good originals, too. They tour the Renaissance Faire circuit, but that particular venue does NOT allow them to really strut their stuff the way their CDs do. If you’re loving the violin, check out their CD Rocky Road - their violinist, Thomas Nuendel, recently left the band, and this is the only CD he’s on, unfortunately. He is AMAZING. Nuendel also has a solo CD that’s more rock-and-roll than traditional, but well worth hunting up. The Minstrels have a website (http://www.minstrelsofmayhem.com) where you can order CDs.

Hair Of The Dog - another band that does Irish folk with a rock sensibility. They’re out of New York. Not spectacular musically, but some great vocals. Definitely look for their versions of The Parting Glass and Come Out Ye Black and Tans.

The Chieftans - been around forever. They do a lot of traditional stuff and most of their more recent recordings feature guest vocalists from Mick Jagger to Alison Krauss.

Great Big Sea - this is an Irish-traditional-inspired band from Newfoundland. A lot of original stuff and sea shanty type music.

Seelie Court, Tourdion, Bounding Main, Old Soles, Celtic Nots - other Celtic flavored bands that have come out of the Renaissance Faire circuit. If you like acapella, check out the Corsairs, too - they do acapella sea shanties and they’re AWESOME.

Masterless Men, Sons of Erin, The Fables, Runrig, Saw Doctors and Shanneygannock - all Newfie bands (I think), and very similar in style to Hair of the Dog and Great Big Sea.

Really traditional stuff: Corries, The Clancy Brothers (with or without Tommy Makem), Dubliners, Mary Black, Natalie McMaster, Wolfe Tones, Stan Rogers (whose version of The Witch of the Westmoreland is, IMHO, the best ever.)

“Punk rock” Celtic: The Pogues and Dropkick Murphys.

If you really don’t like bagpipes, steer clear of the Scottish Rogues and Seven Nations, but if I were you, I’d check 'em out anyway - both made me LOVE bagpipes.

I HATE Enya, but others think she is awesome. YMMV.

Sorry about the lack of links/clips – I’m no good at that – but a Google search on any of the above should yield a ton of resources.

4

I was going to recommend the Chieftains, too. It’s hard to go wrong with them. They’ve been playing forever (it seems) and while are predominantly traditional Irish Celtic they’ve pulled in other influences from China to… well, yes, Mick Jaeger. Songs in both English and Gaelic.

They do use Irish pipes (piob uillean) as opposed to the Scottish pipes (piob mhor). The Irish variety are a lot less obnoxious and mellow. Many folks who don’t like the Scottish pipes enjoy the Irish variety.

My personal favorite of the Chieftains’ albums is Boil the Breakfast Early, but there are probably some greatest hit type compilations that would be a good place to start.

5

OK, re-reading the OP, I want to say that I would definitely recommend Old Soles and Brollywacker. Same vocalist (Misti Bernard) in both groups. In Brollywacker she paired up with John Talbert, in Old Soles she’s with J. Bradley Collier. Misti does vocals, tin whistle, flute and guitar, Talbert does hammered dulcimer, and Collier plays bass violin, guitar and pretty much any other instrument you can think of.

6

The Pogues, of course!

Unless you’re looking for something traditional. I’ve always liked The Dubliners, although their recordings seem harder to find (for me, anyway) than The Chieftains.

For beautiful Celtic music with a depressing undertone, there’s always Loreena KcKinnitt.

7

For something a bit different, try Kornog (a group hailing from Scotland and Brittany). Their album Korong is about as close to perfection as you can get.

8

Check out Flogging Molly. The band is fronted by the guy who, believe it or not, sung for the 80s (not quite sissy hair metal, but close) band Fastway!! Luckly, his voice dropped an octave or two, and they don’t spound anything remotely like Fastway. They’re heavier than The Pogues, and not quite as dopey as Dropkick Murphys.

Jon

9

get thee to www.greenlinnet.com

They distribute much of the celtic music to North America, and you could spend days listening to their samples…

My favourites right now are Lunasa (otherworldly ethereal flutes and whistles), Milladoiro (high-energy celtic music from spain) and De Dannan (more fiddling and singing)

10

Based on the gig you describe, check out Donal Lunny, Moving Hearts, Old Blind Dogs, and CHristy Moore (more singing than trad).

if you search on my user name and Irish music back a year or so, there was an identical thread with lots of recs.

11

Why not give The Afro Celts a go? The name kinda sums them up. I managed to find a demo track at this site, and although this track is a bit more of the Afro than the Celt, a lot of their stuff includes the more traditional ‘haunting’ type stuff you seem to be interested in. They have done some beautiful stuff sung in Gaelic. I love them.

12

Bugger. Couldn’t find a link that I could get to work, but if you want to have a listen to them go to their record label site, realworld.com, and you can link to the demos from there.

13

I know you said “no bagpipes” but you might want to check out Rawlins Cross anyway - they’ve got a version of “MacPherson’s Lament” that brings a tear to the eye…And Spirit of the West can be fun.

14

Loorena McKennit - excelent
Clannad - Enya’s original group
Adiemus (similar) - not celtic but good stuff

I suggest using Kazzaa to download the songs and check 'em out...
15

Great Big Sea! Woooooooo! Yea, they’re from Newfoundland, but if GBS doesn’t make you want to 1. Drink Guinness and 2. Sing along loudly, there is something seriously wrong with you.

16

Oh, I don’t think it’s quite what you’re looking for, but check out Ceredwen’s Or Mabinogi album. They sing in Welsh, I think, but it’s beautiful/haunting.

17

I love Loreena McKennitt, although some of her albums are more Celtic in their inspriation than others. Her more recent stuff shows a fair bit of Spanish, North African and Middle Eastern influence.

If you want something a little different, try Celtic music from more unusual locations. The Celts left their influences on various parts of Europe, and you can still get music from those areas that has an obvious Celtic influence.

For example, the band Milladoiro, from Galicia in the north-west of Spain. Their album, Castellum Honesti: Celtic Music from Spain, is very beautiful, with a good mix of slow airs and rollicking reels.

Or you could try Ad Vielle Que Pourra, from Brittany. Their album Come What May is obviously Celtic, but also has a very French flavour in places. Excellent stuff.

You can listen to samples at the Amazon links that i gave. Track number 3 on Come What May, “Evit Gabriel,” is one of my favourites.

A good way to find out what sort of Celtic Music is most to your taste is to buy a couple of the compilations from Green Linnet records. This company specializes in Celtic and folk music, and releases compilations that showcase many of the best artists around. Search their site for the albums Heart of the Gaels and The Celts Rise Again. You can also find Milladoiro, Ad Vielle Que Pourra, and many other artists on this website.

Personally, i’m a big fan of Scottish band The Tannahill Weavers, but if you’re not into bagpipes then you might find them a bit overpowering. I also like Altan, Patrick Street, Capercaillie and the cittern player Gerald Trimble.

18

John Doan, Glenn Morgan, and Joemy Wilson are some favourites of mine.

19

WOW!! I downloaded stuff from **Loorena McKennit, Great Big Sea, The Minstrels of Mayhem, The Chieftans **.

I never new there was this much diversity, and what a doper following too! I must say Great Big Sea is great! I love the sea shanty-ness of it. I’m very big into Shanties…***Or anything you can Swing a frothy Stella Artois at and sing along real loud with! *** I love it! Thank you all sooo much!

20

I keep a couple steins on my desk, just so I can swing them when I listen to Great Big Sea.