Customer Reviews

Inne Amarach (Yesterday Tomorrow)

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I have to agree with an earlier review posted here: best Irish trad of 2006. A few years back, from their first two albums, Danú led the pack before they shifted with a new vocalist (see my review on Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh's solo debut) into more of a Sandy Denny/ Fairport blend of folk, trad, and light rock. Fifteen years ago, Altan. Twenty-five, Bothy Band. Thirty, Planxty.

This package offers eleven traditional tunes and a DVD feature that places the band within their influences, interviewing not only the musicians in Téada but their mentors in Sligo. Fittingly, this third album by this innovative quintet places Téada in the front ranks of younger Irish traditional groups. They delve deeply into the albums they have and the sessions they attend for selections from primarily Sligo and Clare. They merge these two traditions, usually kept apart by most musicians on their records, and this matches the make-up of the band: two Sligomen, a Dubliner, and one each from Laois and Monaghan. Guitar, flute, button accordion, fiddle, piano, and bodhrán work together.

The DVD shares this cooperative spirit, as fans of the band, local veterans of the music scene, and the band all contribute their appreciation of traditional music. The results here are not stodgy, however. The youth of the band ensures that the tunes are played with the proper balance of respect and rearrangement. All instrumental, the concentration of their energy bodes well. Given the decline in intensity by their somewhat older peers as shown on recent recordings by Lúnasa and Áltan, Téada continues to hone a sound that avoids concessions to synthetic production or diminished purity; this makes "Inné Amárach" a perfect title. Blending "yesterday" with "tomorrow," the audio with the video, studio talent with pub spontaneity, this handsomely designed CD-DVD set fulfills the promise of their first two solid records. It probably surpasses it; the confidence here should fuel more such albums by the five lads for many years to come. (Last 2 paragraphs from my review on rootsworld.com)

Just hearing this CD brought back memories of great sessions in Ireland over the last 20 years. The difference is that the musicians here lift the "session" to a level of perfection that is a pleasure to listen to beyond the ordinary. Sweetly distinct instruments blend into a fusion that evokes those meetings of talented musicians (usually in pubs!) that one was rarely privileged to stumble into on the byways and highways of Ireland. Listening to this CD is like having your own top class session on hand when you need it! The changing balance of instruments on each track keeps the listener captivated.

It's been a couple of years since Téada's last album, but man! was it worth the wait! This is a fantastic album of traditional music, in my opinion clearly the best traditional album of the year. It includes examples of many different types of tunes--you don't just get jigs and reels on this, no sir, you get planxties, marches, polkas, and even a "descriptive piece," "Nóra Críona," which is beautifully done, by the way. It is really seldom a traditional CD presents one with such a range of types of tunes, and seldom that such interesting tunes as these are included. For my part, my absolute favorite track on the whole album is the one that includes "The Shelf," a polka that Damien Stenson learned from Harry Bradley, though the track including the march "Jamesy Gannon's" is also wonderful (three members of Téada are also part of a ceili band which played this march as one of their selections in the Fleadh Cheoil competition). Each of the instruments gets a chance to shine on the various tracks, and from beginning to end this is a resolutely exciting album that shows off the tremendous talent of one of the finest traditional-style bands ever to come out of Ireland. What's even better is that, in addition to the wonderful music, there is a DVD containing a short documentary that addresses the musical influences of the band, which mostly consist of the musical traditions of North Connacht. There are interviews here with each of the band members, as well as the great fiddle/flute player Peter Horan, Verona Ryan, and Paddy Ryan, as well as stunning scenery from the Sligo region. If you love Irish music, you MUST HAVE this CD!

This music CD and DVD combination is a great purchase for TRADITIONAL Irish folk music fans. Please understand that there is traditional Irish music played with more ornamentation and percussion, so we are talking about a less ornamented style of playing more typical of small groups involved in music sessions in pubs throughout Ireland, and of those sessions through the last couple of decades. The music CD is a tour of the length and breadth of this music and different rhythms. The DVD is a showpiece for County Sligo, including beautiful green scenery, the elder Sligo musicians being interviewed, pub sessions and studio work. That is alot of Ireland for the price of the purchase! Best viewed with a pint (or more) of Guinness.

This is a young band, and I am eagerly awaiting any future albums and/or DVD's. Their DVD is an especially valuable addition to my collection that includes Dervish at Johnny Fox's, Midsummer's Night Session (Dervish), One Night Stand (Danu), Water from the Well (Chieftains), Solas (Solas Concert), and Gael Force (Various Musicians).