CD REVIEWS FOR MAY 2007
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
THE CORRS/DREAMS
The Ultimate Corrs Collection
The Corrs are a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Celtic folk-rock and pop group from Dundalk, Ireland. The members of the band are four siblings: three sisters, Sharon, Caroline and Andrea; and brother Jim.
The band rose to prominence in the late 1990s, and has since sold over 55 million albums worldwide and have had numerous number one singles and albums in Europe, Australia and Asia. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, with over half a million in Canada alone.
The Corr siblings were exposed to music from their early years. Their main influence was from their parents, Gerry and Jean Corr. They played ballads and folk tunes in local bands and formed their own band called Sound Affair. Jean sang and Gerry played the keyboards and they performed songs by various famous bands. The Corr children travelled with Jean and Gerry to the gigs.
They first achieved success after performing on The Late Late Show, then hosted by Gay Byrne, in 1993, with their first single Runaway. American Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith invited the group to perform at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Boston. This performance led to them becoming the supporting act for Celine Dion on her 1996 world tour. And that led to a record deal with Atlantic Records, where they recorded their first album, Forgiven, not Forgotten.
Jim plays guitar, keyboards/piano and does backing vocals. Sharon plays the fiddle and does backing vocals. Caroline plays the drums, bodhran, tamborine, percussion, piano and does backing vocals. Andrea is the lead singer and plays the tin whistle.
The Corrs are currently on hiatus to get married, raise children and explore new options. However, they have taken time out to release another great hits album called Dreams/The Ultimate Corrs Collection. They are joined on this album by Bono, Ronnie Wood and The Chieftains. Released on the Warner label and available at all fine record stores.
BIRCH BOOK
Fortune & Folly
This is a very different CD, from the cover to the album itself, Birch Book, Fortune & Folly takes you on a road less travelled.
Jon Michael B'eirth (otherwise B'ee), who is described as "a poet, pilgrim and progenitor of wyrd-folk," has developed a homespun sonic tapestry with peculiar richness of vision.
He has recorded over 10 full-length albums and performed throughout North America and Europe in veritable itinerant fashion amidst a dozen years against the grain. He is a travelling troubadour keeping alive the ancient organic traditions of a simpler world.
B'ee's style of singing has been compared to Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake as well as contemporary "rural-folk" such as Will Oldham and Iron and Wine.
Visitors to B'ee's website will see a photo of him with a large leaf around his head, which very much reminded me of the mythical The Green Man. This is a face surrounded by or made of leaves as a type of woodland spirit and the archetype of our oneness with the earth.
His album has a very earthy, ethereal quality which can lull you into an almost hypnotic state that feels soothing to the soul and the ears.
The CD was recorded at Helmet Room Recordings on San Juan Island off the rugged coast of the Olympic northwest. For more information, visit: www.helmetroom.com.
ANDREW McFAYDEN
An Rathad Cam's
An Rathad Direach
Many Celtic people at home and abroad are reclaiming and reviving their native language, which is the key to any culture.
An Rathad Cam's An Rathad Direach or The Crooked Road and The Straight Road is entirely in Scots Gaelic, traditional in focus and comes from a Gaelic story.
"Gaelic music is not something from the past," says Andrew, "it is a living, breathing language with a cultural and musical style that is unlike anything in the world. Fusing ancient and modern Gaelic song with other musical styles would be a wonderful thing to do."
Andrew was very influenced by the Scottish Capercaillie and Cape Breton songstress Mary Jane Lamond. He also greatly admires the work of the late young Scottish musician Martyn Bennett.
He was born in Dryden, northwestern Ontario and after receiving his primary and secondary education in Sioux Lookout and Dryden, he moved to Winnipeg to pursue post-secondary studies.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Education, he moved to Prince George, British Columbia, where he completed a Master of Arts in Leadership and Administration with a thesis focusing on the revival of the Gaelic language in Cape Breton.
It was in Prince George, that Andrew discovered that his great-great-grandfather spoke Scottish Gaelic as his first language. Having heard the singing of The Rankins and Capercaillie, he decided to teach himself the language.
In 2000, Andrew attended the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in Nova Scotia. That decision changed his life and put him in touch with his roots more than ever.
His teachers and friends at the college encouraged him to sing publicly. Gradually, Andrew started singing in Gaelic at more and more functions and now his preference is to sing exclusively in Gaelic. For more information, visit:
www.grianmcbuttons.ca
.
|
