Music diary, March 14, 2026
Well this was worth waiting for… I don’t think I can call Astro Bloc a Celtic supergroup, but it’s close, very close: fiddler Eryn Rae is a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician winner, fiddler Éadaoin Ní Mhaicín has a formidable career going as one of Ireland’s foremost folk musicians of her generation, and drummer Paul Jennings has been one of Scottish contemporary folk’s cornerstones (and a great percussion educator, too) for quite a long while already. Only the guitarist Gillie O’Flaherty is someone I’m meeting for the first time, on this album, that is, not in real life.
So I expected quality from them, having heard two of their singles before and I got it – lots of it. I just get a hell of a positive kick out of this, their debut album; it’s one the albums I’d like to play to friends not yet familiar with this genre. They just might be converted by this.
Astro Bloc’s place in the map of current Celtic/Irish could be somewhere between Breabach and Talisk, without actually resembling either. It’s modern Celtic folk with shades of jazz and even some brief rock moments; very, very groovy stuff, with excellent playing and lots of details to discover on repeated listenings. Starts out somewhat deceptively with the gently hypnotic Mesa and its complex time signature (I think it’s 9/8… isn’t it?) but when the next track, April, explodes into a really tight beat halfway through the tune, the entire album goes into a great foot-tapping spirit without losing any of the tunes’ quality. This is brilliant stuff that makes me feel just joyful, and it’s also the perfect soundtrack for this year’s early spring here in Finland.
Also, I can hear how much these guys enjoy playing, and especially playing together; there are many just crazy energetic moments like Le Kleub (this reminds me of both Ímar and Mec Lir) where you can feel on your skin the charge the band emits. Stuff like this is precious in this regrettable time when AI-generated crap is out there to drown out real music created and performed by real, beautiful people.
I also love the chillier moments; track #8 is the serene, lovely Deer Park that comes as a welcome breather after many a great groovefest. And to make it clear: when I say “groove”, I mean it in the old school sense, not the pounding steady digital beat of modern pop but the living, breathing layer of rhythm that master Jennings effortlessly provides here.
But, as Marti DiBergi once said, enough of my yappin’. It’s Astro Bloc – go and check this out right away if you haven’t already. It will make your day better and your blood flow faster and make you happy to be alive to hear this fab music.
Yeah, it’s that good.
FolkNotes 