Customer Reviews

Celtic Voices

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At the moment, Amazon's track listing for this CD is displaying songwriters rather than performers. Here is the track list with correct performer credits:

1. Ar Galon Digorr - Annie Ebrel & Gilles Le Bigot
2. Snow - Loreena McKennitt
3. Raindance - The Iron Horse
4. Ajde Jano - Talitha MacKenzie
5. Beir mo Dhuthracht - Begley & Coooney
6. The Old Hags Set - Tannas
7. Tears... (Skolvan) - Skolvan
8. Ailein Duinn - Capercaillie
9. Seachtain - John Spillane
10. 'Si Do Mhaimeo I - Altan
11. Port Na bPucai - Noirin Ni Riain
12. The Green Laurel - Anuna
13. She's Gone - Dan Ar Braz
14. Rithill Aill - Karen Matheson
15. Sean Deora - Kila

This CD is so worth it! I love every song on here & some songs are very moving to hear them! Highly recommend this one!

The best version I have heard of the exotic and sad Ar Galon Digorr by one of Brittany's best Annie Gilles. Snow is another great song by Loreena McKennitt. Ajde Jano is a wild Celtic song from Serbia by Talitha McKenzie, it will wake you up. Skolvan is another very good and different song from Brettony by the very fine Fest Noz (night dance) group of the same name.

The music included here celebrates a common cultural meaning precisely because not all the songs adhere strictly to the contemporary ethereal and atmospheric niche. Something broader is at work: the crossroads between tradition and innovation. The roots of some of this stuff go back centuries. From Irish sean nos influence in John Spillane to Scottish mouth music influence in Tannas, the listener can hear new things stemming from ancient beauty. (To hear another example of mouth music from other recordings, listen to "Fionnghuala" as done by The Bothy Band and Anúna.)

It's not accurate to say that Skolvan doesn't have a Celtic sound, as one reviewer suggests. Their sound comes from the region of Brittany in northern France. Breton culture is most defintely Celtic!!! The Breton language has some considerable French tonal inflection; the linguistic roots of the words, however, have common ancestry with Welsh. And it's all Celtic.

For those looking for Irish and Scottish sounds, there's plenty of that here. Anúna as usual is a choral blessing. Kíla plays a soft one: their album Tóg É Go Bóg É is incredible fun by comparison. You get some lively stuff here, though; and, for those of you who had no idea that a place called Brittany existed in the first place - Breton music as well. No Welsh performers here - there's a sad paucity of traditional and contemporary traditional Welsh music on the market as of late. I'm waiting. In the mean time, there is Celtic music emanating from Spain as well - from a region known as Galicia. Check out Susana Seivane's album on this site - yes, her music sounds like a mix between Celtic and Spanish music. There's a history behind that! Anyhow, thumbs up for Celtic Voices.

I picked this up today and couldn't wait to listen to it. I saw Loreena McKennit, Capercaillie, and Anuna listed and thought I was in for a nice etherial mix. Well.... Some were indeed etherial and absolutely beautiful, but a good half of this CD was downright annoying -- this coming from a long-standing Celtic/Irish music fan.

The Good Stuff first: Loreena McKennit's rendition "Snow" was haunting in it's beauty and her voice was as usual a treat to hear. Then there was also the group called The Iron Horse with it's rendition of "Raindance" -- it was fast paced and had a great beat, along with nice harmonizing. Very nice. Tannas gave a brilliant fiddle and song rendition of "The Old Hags Set". Very fast paced as well. As usual, my favorite piece was performed by Capercaillie -- "Ailein Duinn", absolutely beautiful!

Now for the bad news: Unfortunately this Celtic mix was punctuated with some pieces which were so deeply irritating that I felt like it was torture to listen -- to be fair I listened fully to all the pieces on this CD. You never know when you'll hear improvement -- it just didn't happen. Sorry, these are the artists that were most irritating -- although, if you have already have established a liking for them, you may not find them irritating: Talitha MacKenzie made my hair stand on end with her piercing nasal voice -- I would prefer that I never hear her voice ever, ever again; Skolvan doesn't have a Celtic sound at all, more Eastern European; Altan's rendition of Si Do Mhairmeo was so deeply irritating I thought I was surely developing a headache (I normally like Altan).

If you are looking for an ethereal mix of melodic Celtic/Irish music you should focus on artists like Loreena McKennit, Capercaillie, Clannad, or Enya. If you are looking for some celtic music with a little more kick check out The Corrs, The Chieftans, Leahy (a personal favorite), or the Saw Doctors.

I picked this CD up quickly at a store which was very environmental and creative. They had this CD displayed and only one left. There was no copy I could listen to, but as I held the CD, I knew I was purchasing quality music. The cover was in its self deeply mature and innocent. It reflected absolute Celtic music. I grabbed the CD and read the back, and saw Loreena's name on it and knew I should try it out, because a CD that includes her will have quality sounds. So I took the risk and was very suprised. This CD became my ultimate favorite CD and was always in my car. I also realised track 4 was my country's song. I am from Croatia. As I heard this I was even more ecstatic. I highly recomend this CD to anyone who wants the PERFECT flavor for what Celtic music is truly. Gorgeous, emotional and innocent!

There is a lot of traditional celtic music complied on this CD, with Lorrenna Mckennet as the most noteable performer.

Also try CD's by Clannad, Enya and Michelle Tumes for great sounds which are regionally tied to this compliation.