Clan Terra, Waiting for the Wickerman
(Clan Terra 2000)
Jules Bitter, Druid Dance A Bardic Experience of Music, Poetry and Dance
(Fluit Praxis 2002)
Celtic music is a strange creature. I know of no other music so well spread over the world. You find groups playing it in almost every corner of the world and often by people who are in no way descendants of people from Ireland or Scotland. Whether we are Swedes, Danes, Germans, Dutch or whatever we all have a go at Celtic music.
These two CDs are examples of this. One was recorded in Canada, by people with English names, and the other in Zeeland, The Netherlands, with many of the musicians naturally bearing Dutch names
Let us start our journey in the land of the maple leaf.
Clan Terra was formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1998. They call themselves a "world beats roots music group". On this, their debut album, they boast six men and one woman. They mix traditional tunes with their own compositions: everyone in the group has helped with writing tunes or songs for the album, and music by people like Phil Cunningham (his "Miss Rowan Davis" is one of the album's stand out tracks) and Penguin CafÈ Orchestra (oh yes, they have recorded "Music for a Found Harmonium", and have done it well).
Their approach is more Scottish than Irish, seasoned with influences from non-Celtic traditions. The Italian waltz "Zingerella" is a pure beauty and shows the group's ability to find hidden musical treasures and make them their own.
Though by no means bad singers (both Duncan McDonald and Barbara Rose manage lead singing very well) Clan Terra mainly play instrumental music. With one accordion, three fiddlers, two guitars and a double bass they are capable of turning out powerful sets of jigs and reels, like the opening "Ice on the Rocks", as well as the haunting slow airs and waltzes mentioned earlier.
The songs are more singer-songwriterish, maybe since they all are written by band members. "Lazy Nights" bears a slight resemblance to the music of Jaques Brel and Barbara Rose's "More of You" is a soft love song with just Barbara's voice and a guitar.
I must say I enjoy Clan Terra's first effort very much and it has been a frequent guest in my CD players over the last month. According to their Web site there is another CD on the way and I am looking forward to hearing that. Meanwhile the Web site offers an opportunity to listen to some of the tracks before purchasing.
I am a little more puzzled by the next stop on our world wide search for Celtic music, a stop with obvious Irish influences.
Druid Dance was recorded in The Netherlands. In spite of most of the musicians present being members of Finglas, the CD is released as a solo recording by their flute and whistleplayer Jules Bitter.
It is a very ambitious project, with Bitter using sounds from tapes recorded in forests and in the streets of Dublin as intros to some tracks. The instrumentation varies a lot, with the flutes and whistles used as the common theme for all tracks.
Most tracks are traditional, with a few self composed tunes and a couple by Carolan thrown in. The CD is accompanied by well researched notes an all songs and tunes performed and the playing is more than satisfactory all along.
So why am I ambiguous about it? Well, there are flaws that disturb the over-all picture. One is the long silence between tracks. With the very silent intros from some of the non-musical sounds they sometimes make you wonder if you have reached the end of the CD. And maybe there is too much variation.
I do admit there are some glorious moments on the record. The sets of jigs and reels with the whole band, like "The Friendly Visit/The Flowing Tide/Rodney's Glory/The Hunter's Purse" and "Flores et mais flores/The Galician Jig/Lots of pots sound very fine" and a CD from Finglas would be a welcome addition to my collection. The two Carolan tunes, "Mr O'Connor" and "Grace Nugent" are also well performed and shows the musicians have a real feel for this kind of music.
My absolute favourite track is delivered by non-Finglas singer and harpist Zara Roberts. Her song "Only in Wales" and tune "Sinead" are nothing short of breathtaking. So together with that Finglas album I would like to see a Zara Roberts CD as well.
So while there is nothing wrong anywhere, and Druid Dance does boast some very good tracks, I am convinced it could have turned out better, more of a "Wow" album than just an "Oh Well" one.
