I think at 28 minutes, Thar Toinn is actually an extended EP rather than an album, but that’s just semantics. Although the unusual playing time does in my mind correlate with the somewhat laid back feeling of the music. I have very much enjoyed her outings from recent years, An Uair Bhig An Lae (2012) … Continue reading Quick Take Album Review / Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh: Thar Toinn (Seaborne)
Category: Reviews
Album Review / James Elkington: Ever-Roving Eye
Let’s take care of one thing first. So okay, Mr. Elkington has lived in the US for over 20 years but he is from England and his music has a definite connection to British folk roots, so this album is just fine to be reviewed here. Right, then. I also wanted to review it because … Continue reading Album Review / James Elkington: Ever-Roving Eye
Album Review / Sam Carter: Home Waters
Times have changed... Four years after Sam Carter’s London-themed How The City Sings comes his new album, Home Waters. It tells a different kind of story: floods rise, storms both natural and political threaten to rip society’s fabric apart, disaster survivors try to cope. But there are also bittersweet memories, slow waves and domestic sanctuaries. … Continue reading Album Review / Sam Carter: Home Waters
Album Review / Mhairi Hall: Airs
Way, way back in 1984 I was a Finnish high school exchange student in Michigan. My love of progressive rock was expanding my musical curiosity and one day I bought the Pat Metheny Group double live album, Travels. It's a fantastic album and features one of the most beautiful tracks I have ever heard: Farmer's … Continue reading Album Review / Mhairi Hall: Airs
Album Review / Salt House: Huam
Be very quiet and sit you down. No rush. Because there are three people with some acoustic instruments, mostly stringed ones, who have made music for you. It's the most human and gentle music you could imagine, not tied to any particular place or time, with such watercolour nuances, you may lose much of it … Continue reading Album Review / Salt House: Huam
Album Review / David Foley & Jack Smedley: Time To Fly
It does not take much but it takes everything. It takes a fiddle and a flute and some other instruments and a few good people with good hands and a lot of soul. RURA's David Foley and Jack Smedley have released their first non-RURA outing, Time To Fly, an album of such natural flow, natural … Continue reading Album Review / David Foley & Jack Smedley: Time To Fly
Album Review / Brian Ó hEadhra & Fiona MacKenzie: Tuath – Songs of the Northlands
...and now for something completely different? The answer is a resounding ”yes” but only if you are not familiar with this innovative team’s previous album, Tìr: Highland Life & Lore, from two years ago. Both Ó hEadhra and MacKenzie are proven and established Celtic musicians who, with Tìr, broke some serious ground with a heady … Continue reading Album Review / Brian Ó hEadhra & Fiona MacKenzie: Tuath – Songs of the Northlands
Album Review / Project Smok: Bayview
Even out here in Finland, I noticed the first single and EP releases from the mysteriously titled band a couple of years ago. The playing was sharp and impressive and the material was very much ok so I earmarked them for further monitoring. And now things seem to be really moving in Smokland. Me and … Continue reading Album Review / Project Smok: Bayview
Xmas Album Review / Kate Rusby: Holly Head
Kate Rusby must be THE Christmas fan in the entire British-Scottish-Irish folk scene. This is her third seasonal album, and she’s been busy with them, too: The Frost Is All Over came in 2015, Angels And Men in 2017 and now this. Looking forward to 2021 already 😉 Or perhaps she’s been doing a Christmas … Continue reading Xmas Album Review / Kate Rusby: Holly Head
Xmas Album Review / The Outside Track: The Christmas Star
Confession: I have nothing against Christmas music - when the music is not godawful, that is. I’m actually quite a Xmas-friendly guy, so any seasonal album that carries the honest spirit and is musically decent is ok with me. And then there are the *really* good modern Xmas albums, most of them by women: Aimee … Continue reading Xmas Album Review / The Outside Track: The Christmas Star
