seeking recommendations

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Nov 03 - 07:44 AM

Lara, when you mentioned "The Parting Glass", I immediately thought of our own Judy Pinder here in Sydney, who does a beautiful rendition of it. She has an amazing low voice full of warmth, and I can heartily recommend her CD "Foreign Shore" here click.

Jenny

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: gone-a-bit-Lara
Date: 16 Nov 03 - 04:24 PM

okay, from my recent happy listenings (and top volume bawlings!) here are some more songs i've discovered that suit my taste:

Brian Hughes: The Ships Are Sailing/Ambrose Moloney's/The New Mown Meadows

Reeltime: The Trucks of Bohermore

Sean Ryan: London Lasses/Coast of Austria

Sean Tyrrell: Mattie
(that one i really really really love)

Colm Murphy: Lord Gordon's/Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrell

does this help with the recommendations? i'm developing a taste for lively agile whistling, particularly over drumming, maybe with some heated fiddle or strummed guitar thrown in. stuff that makes me want to dance abd yell. of course "mattie" is none of these things, but i still love it nearly best of all.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: CraigS
Date: 15 Nov 03 - 07:02 PM

If you don't know, the FIRST folk album that ANYONE should buy is Penguins' Eggs by Nic Jones. Why no-one's mentioned this I do not know. It has all the influences form the four corners of the English speaking globe that are worth mentioning, and every song is a gem.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST,van lingle
Date: 15 Nov 03 - 04:09 PM

...and Dick Gaughan is kind of required listening, especially his masterpiece "Handful of Earth". I hope it's still available. vl

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Nov 03 - 01:41 PM

The music on records is always just the tip of the iceberg.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: gone-a-bit-Lara
Date: 15 Nov 03 - 01:23 PM

oops! thanks Bill for alerting me to the cookie-problem. it was indeed me enthusing about the pogues.
(i posted that from our temperamental work computers, the settings of which are a mystery to me.)

and thanks again to you all for your suggestions. this is a whole lot of fun. that all music guide thingy is really interesting too. i could spend a long time exploring there. not to mention a lot of money (uh oh!)

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST,Rich_and_Dee
Date: 14 Nov 03 - 12:03 PM

Hi Lara,

The Joe Strummer version of Minstrel Boy is pretty good. He performs it faithfully and with feeling.

If your introduction to folk music is through that somewhat rock n roll influence, there are plenty of cds to check out. Among my cd collection are the following:

Great Big Sea - Newfoundland-based hard driving songs
The Pogues - The missing link between Irish folk and 1980's punk. All acoustic with some brilliant song-writing. "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" was their high-water mark.
Silly Wizard - Scottish. Anything by Andy M. Stewart is excellent
Christy Moore - Irish. The Man, The Music. Pick up Ride On or The Voyage for starters.
Richard Thompson - England. When he performs traditional music he's unbeatable. His recordings are a mix of rock, folk, original and traditional. Talk to a fan and you'll hear some live recordings. Alone with a guitar, Richard Thompson is a stunning performer.

That should get your busy. Most of my list involves acts attempting to bridge old songs with contemporary sensibilities.

Rich

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: SueB
Date: 14 Nov 03 - 01:55 AM

Three words. The Clancy Brothers.

Or six words (bg!) The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 10:24 PM

Two words. Tommy Makem.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 01:09 PM

lara..(I assume..*grin*) you lost your cookie! keep an eye on the 'from' box when you post to be sure it is there. Do you have some browser setting that tell it to get rid of cookies?

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 12:50 PM

just got the pogues if i should fall from grace...

oh boy oh boy i love this! nearly blasted my ears today, whiling away the hours in standing traffic.

thanks so much for pointing me in this direction. i always thought i might like the pogues, but have never previously been very daring about just buying a cd on the off-chance.

also picked up a cheapy disk of the chieftains, and think this is going to be good fun.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 09:26 PM

When you're exploring any new genre of music, a good source of information is AMG – The All Music Guide (click). Go to their homepage, type "Irish" into the search box, click the little bullet-hole in front of the word "Styles" and then click "go." It will bring up a page of information about Irish music, with names of lots of exemplary albums, songs, artists, and related genres.

AMG doesn't give you sound samples directly, but when you come to the description of an album, you will sometimes (if the album is still in print and it is published by a major label) see a little box containing the words "Barnes&Noble". Clicking there will take you to the corresponding page at Barnes & Noble, which often has sound samples.

Happy exploring!

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Ned Ludd
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 07:36 PM

Welcome Lara, as you can tell you'll get swamped with information! I'll add Silly Wizard for the scottish end!

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Amergin
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 07:31 PM

Planxty.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 07:26 PM

Lara: welcome aboard, (I see you're not signing in as Guest now) as to what 'Mudcatters' means, I've been here a few years & I'm not sure yet. I sometimes feel you could replace the 'udc' with 'adash' and it would still make sense.
I also realise this posting does not help your search, but as I said "WELCOME!"

Nigel

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: michaelr
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 07:22 PM

Hi Lara --

it sounds as if you like the modern end of "Celtic" music, i.e. traditional songs with modern arrangements. Therefore I recommend that you check out Donal Lunny, especially his bands Moving Hearts and Coolfin, and the Scots band Capercaillie.

Mudcatters are members of this forum. Quite a lot of them have recordings available, including me (see my website at www.celticfusion.org). As a member, you can contact other members via Personal Message (PM) to find out how to get their CDs.

Welcome to the `Cat!

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: gone-a-bit-Lara
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 07:11 PM

i took your advice alanabit, and have joined up.

i've made a note of all the recommendations so far, but am not sure how to find some of them.

for example, recordings by mudcatters - like The Boat Band, or Dan Milner, or Big Mick (i think all these are mudcatters, though i'm not yet sure what that means!) - available through mudcat? how do i find them? and is it possible to listen to samples to get a feel for them, so i can decide whether to buy whole CDs or not?

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: SueB
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 11:14 AM

Scots, not Irish, but you might like to sample some
Old Blind Dogs and some Dougie Maclean.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 06:04 PM

And you'd probably love Big Mick, whose rendition of the Parting Glass is on the Mudcat CD Series.

A

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST,Van Lingle
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 05:31 PM

Hi Lara, I'll second the idea of a Dubliners collection and will suggest that you also might want to check out The Pogues who recorded a couple of great albums, "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" and "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash" (Strummer was in the band briefly but not for either of aforementioned recordings) they did some traditional tunes and some fine originals with a kind of punk flavor. Early Planxty recordings with Christy Moore and Andy Irvine singing could also prove interesting. vl

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Anarchy
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 03:36 PM

I reckon you might quite like Eliza Carthy... taking the tradition of English folk (she's a fiddler) and adding a brilliant band of electric instruments, Red/Rice in particular I would recommend.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 01:28 PM

wow! you guys - thanks! i will be checking these out for certain - including the flamenco :-)

i've just got hold of some stuff by the dubliners, but i'm not exactly sure about this. terrible recording, so probably doesn't do it justice. but i rather like the mixture sound that shaun davey and the mescaleroes bring, combining the traditional sounds with orchestra, or with electric guitar.

i'm working my way through the rough guide to irish folk, so once i've got a feel for what i like best on that i'll add it to this thread, to see if it helps focus the search a bit.

thanks again!

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 10:50 AM

lara...you will get some good answers, but it is a good idea to put something more specific in the thread title..like "Irish folk-good bands/artists?" to attract those with the same interests.

One Mudcat member.. Liam's Brother (Dan Milner) has some wonderful Irish recordings, as well as many posts about Irish music.
this link will get you ALL his posts as a member---if you have time, you can browse at random and see what turns up....Other ideas will come from other folks, no doubt.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 10:07 AM

yo lara,
       the following people I would consider to be compulsory listening:-
             paco de lucia
             amalia jandra
             camaron de la isla
             chano lobato
             vicente amigo
               
             you may find they have a hint of flamenco about them though!!!!
                   the true path!!

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: alanabit
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 09:09 AM

You are in the right place here Lara. You should join up. It's free and it only takes a minute. You will be particualrly welcome among our more traditionally minded fraternity.
On the Irish side, the most obvious point of entry is probably the well known stuff like the Dubliners, The Chieftains or Christy Moore. There is much, much more though. In Scotland there are a whole load of wonderful bands. A personal favourite of mine is the brilliant singer/guitarist Bert Jansch. He does some blues based and orginal material as well. He is more traditional - so probably to your liking - but Dick Gaughan is a mighty player and singer too. Let the Australians and Americans advise you about their own great artists, but can I mention England's Martin Carthy and Mudcat's own eclectic folkies (Cajun to Northumbrian dance tunes) The Boat Band. You may well like all these people, but they are only the tip of the iceberg.

Subject: RE: seeking recommendations
From: DMcG
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 05:19 AM

This is certainly the place to ask!

From the Australian viewpoint, I would say anything by Martyn Wyndham-Read is worth trying, and I'd recommend Song Links (FECD 176D). What this set of CD does is give an English and Australian version of 17 songs, and it has a good compare-and-contrast set of notes as well.

Subject: seeking recommendations
From: GUEST,lara
Date: 10 Nov 03 - 04:58 AM

hi. i'm new here, and don't know how things work at mudcat yet, so apologise if this isn't the place to ask...

...but i've heard couple songs of irish folk origin which i loved, and wondered if anyone could suggest bands/artists that i might also like, on the strength of these?

the culprits are:
- "the parting glass" arr. shaun davey (from the film waking ned)
- "minstrel boy" - i have version by joe strummer and mescaleros

i've also found a cd of australian songs, about sea-faring, sheep-shearing and cattle-droving. and i love these too. it is becoming an addiction - can anyone help me to feed the habit?

thanks,

lara