Customer Reviews

Local Ground

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Absolutely understand that it is not in Altan to turn out a bad record, even if they came perilously close to becoming the baby-boomer Chieftains (venerable, but hardly exciting), what with the tour with the faux-Mairead (to paraphrase Joan Cusack, 'sure you're blond and can play the fiddle, but that doesn't make you Mairead.') and the parade of guests on recent CDs. But it seems rather convincingly that what drove Altan all through the Green Linnet years has resurfaced, resulting in what is the best CD since ISLAND ANGEL. There is a root sensibility to this that always infused the early records but was becoming lost in the move to a big label. What had been authentic was teetering on cliche in the Virgin-Narada releases of the past years. None of that is the case here.
Instead, Mairead seems more in charge of the proceedings than ever and Dermot Byrne has found an urgency to go with his fleet command of the button accordion, kinda like a Belfast flautist I remember from some years back. It was never just the technique, but the fire within. Dermot's playing is quantitatively and qualitatively different and that pushes this band in ways it hasn't been pushed since the 90's. At the risk of committing heresy, the attack on the second set of reels, leading off with "Tommy People's" ( a reel covered on the Ceol Aduaidh CD) packs a dynamic that actually transcends the earlier take from Frankie, Mairead and the inimitable Ciarn Curran. And while we're on the subject of Curran, I haven't heard him this fired up outside of a live set ever, and it is a joy, in fact one of the reel seminal joys of Irish music to hear Ciaran Curran lit up and playing like his life depended on it. The most unsung hero of the Irish bouzouki ever asserts himself, balls forward, and Altan is the better for it.
There is a terrific take on all the songs. "Adieu, Sweet Lovely Nancy," otherwise a chestnut, verging on party-piece, is given just enough of a countertempo to put a little something in the trunk. That is true throughout the disc, courtesy of unofficial seventh member, percussionist Jimmy Higgins. Steve Cooney drops in for a bit of even heavier bass, though not quite as slap driven as Manus Lunny in Capercaillie. Carlos Nunez appears twice with his earthy gaita playing, and it all serves less to highlight what neat friends they have, and more to underscore what great musicians can do when they surrender to the confidence of Music.
Any complaints? Quibbles only: the reverb is a little too Clannad on "Amhran Pheadar Bhreathnaigh". And why on earth is it necessary to put an FBI warning on a nice bit of graphics. I suspect mairead gave some thought to the artwork selected. Is it really necessary to put a legal threat overlaid upon it? The only other element I continue to ponder is the under-utilization of the voice of Daithi Sproule. In addition to being one of the exceptional guitarists in any discipline, Daithi's Derry accent brings a bittersweetness that is the absolutely perfect compliment to Mairead's unique pipes. In Concert, the man who is essentially at this point the George Harrison of Irish music, gets his couple of tunes, and his backing harmonies give a dimension to the songs they so desperately need. Yet, on CD, you'd have a good night's fun picking out his contribution. Don't quite get that. Lennon and McCartney never quite got it either. There's likely a Derry seige on ALL THINGS MUST PASS somewhere in the pipeline. Let's hope it arrives in the context of his work with Altan.
All in all, though, 5 stars. Altan has recovered the ground, to analogize Heidegger. This is the Truth. Listen.

Nobody does Irish-traditional better than Altan, though they seemed to have lost some of their edge and authenticity since leaving the marvelous Green Linnet label. All that has changed with the release of this CD, perhaps their best since "Harvest Storm". The joy has returned to their jigs and reels (and nowhere in the genre can you hear tighter ensemble playing), and they will indeed make you dance around the house. They've gone back to some numbers from earlier in their career, like "Tommy Peoples", but they've also brought some "new" ones with unusual time changes. In contrast, their ballads and songs have a deeper ache, thanks to the fragile soprano of fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, who seems to get better with each album. It's interesting to reflect on the history of some of the songs here. For instance, the band learned "Adieu, My Lovely Nancy" from an American friend, who learned it from a woman from the Ozarks, who in turn learned it from her Irish-immigrant grandfather. So the song seems to have come full circle. "The Wind and the Rain" is a revelation too: it's a story of a young woman's murder of her sister, and her sister's unusual vengeance. It's been told in several versions, including "The Bonny Swans", popularized not long ago by Loreena McKennitt. And Bob Dylan "borrowed" elements of the lyrics and melody for an early work of his, "Percy's Song". But history aside, there's no question this band is heir apparent to the Chieftains, as they expertly carry Irish Celtic music into the next generation. They found the spark again, and Frankie Kennedy must be smiling down on them.

They're back! The lovely Queen Mairead of Irish traditional music is back! She is truly one of the larger than life personalities for her beautific voice, easy smile and laughter, and her whole sense of musical enjoyment. This is a new album, new material and renewed energy. Altan has been with us since the 80's and have been easy to take for granted as Irish traditional music history after a "best of album," a "finest" album and a gap of time. Just when we are ready to bid a fond farewell, they are rejuvenated and back with the inspiration of yesteryear. Mairead's beautiful voice, and spirited fiddle playing, teaming up with her husband, Dermot Byrne playing button accordian, are a grand picture of marital and musical harmony. Ciaran Tourish is back with very spirited lead fiddle. Then there is the solid foundation of Altan music, the excellent bouzouki (deep voiced, large mandolin) playing of Ciaran Curran. He has been one of the real pioneers of this instrument. He teams up with the excellent veteran guitar player, Daithe Sproule. If all lead instruments were muted, this two person team accounting for more than a 60 years of experience between the two of them would be astounding. Jim Higgins is back again on bodhran and provides an extra snap to the faster pieces to get your toes tapping. Taken as a whole, this album repeats a previous Altan formula of playing lively, music and then changing the pace with gorgeous vocals from Mairead. This is a must have for any Irish Traditional Music collection.

Well, anyone fanatical enough to be interested in making fine distinctions between Altan's albums surely realizes Harvest Storm and Island Angel were miraculous. It brings to mind -- to my mind, anyway -- Yavanna's lament (she who created the Two Trees of Valinor): "Even for those who are mightiest under Iluvatar there is some work that they may accomplish once, and once only." It doesn't seem right to judge this album less than five stars just because those others were off the end of the scale.

Local Ground is similar to their earlier albums, in contrast to certain of the more recent ones, which were throwing out signs of drifting towards a more contemporary sound, at least in matter of the song selection (which is my chief interest). One of those (which shall remain nameless) was drifting pretty far, and for some reason had a concentration of English songs (some of them being a bit slow and somewhat unmelodic) that obscured the whole Gaelic aura of the thing. Although I might not have noticed this had I not listened to it every day for three years (I told you I was a fanatic).

I'm not sure I agree with the official reviewlet, above, claiming Mairead has a girlish soprano -- whatever that is. This comes across like an offhand and harmless remark by someone who doesn't know any better. A beautiful voice is more like it. I tell you what, sit in the third row sometime; it might happen that she'll sing "Uncle Rat." There is nothing girlish about it. What might be more to the point is that she is a native speaker of Donegal Gaelic, and so she renders the songs therefore with precision and authority (also the English ones). Most languages sound better sung (especially by a woman or a female chorus) than they do spoken, but there is a peculiar indescribable magic to the Gaelic songs, deriving largely, as it seems to me, from the language itself.

Altan is sitting on a treasure: Irish music in general but in particularl the songs. Liam O'Conor and the late Derek Bell, in their book Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, put it like this: "The Gaelic Songs are incomparable." Typical laconic Irish understatement. But there is not much to be added to that observation other than to say it is most certainly true. And here, in Local Ground, we find more treasure brought out into the open.

Overall it is energetic, lyrical, and memorable. It is reminiscent of Blackwater; it might be considered a little brother to Blackwater. And it includes an alternate version of one of the songs earlier appearing there (I love alternate versions, both the idea and the execution). Of course there is fiddling, too: the fiddles "sing," so to speak. They always do. Nor is that all; Altan has a very rich sound, as they are all virtuosos who play extremely well together. A lullaby concludes the album, one that is beautiful, beautiful, done with a mother soprano, with an echo of the Otherworld.

Thank God for Altan.

Not having heard Altan before, I took a chance on LOCAL GROUND, convinced by those who said this was one of their best, and I'm certainly glad I did -- the format is songs with lovely vocals by Maread Ni Mhaonaigh, who also plays fantastic fiddle, alternating with instrumentals, lively toe-tapping jigs and medleys of reels. I listen to all sorts of music, I'm not immersed in this style, and so I lack the knowledge to compare this album to other traditional Irish music. I do know Altan has the reputation of being the finest of its kind in the world, and based on LOCAL GROUND I can see why. Absolutely timeless, this is music that humans might have made from the beginning of time and might be making until the end of time, with joy, sorrow, love, regret, nostalgia, longing, and sheer celebration of being alive another day!

*** *** *** *** ***
Since writing the original review I sought out HARVEST STORM (1992), which is held by many to be one of Altan's best records, featuring the late Frankie Kennedy on flutes and whistles. While quite fine, I find LOCAL GROUND to be the better album, with stronger melodies and stronger rhythm throughout. There's nothing on HARVEST STORM, for instance, that makes me want to jump up and dance like the reel medley "Tommy Peoples/ The Road to Cashel/The Repeal of the Union/Richie's Reel" here!

The cover art by Bernadette Kiely is fantastic too, as is the 16-page booklet with all the lyrics in both Gaelic and English. (November 18, 2011)

In my opinion, Altan hasn't released a single good album since Island Angel until now. After the death of Frankie Kennedy, they got worse and worse, culminating in the horrible Blue Idol with irrelevant guest artists and poorly conceived tracks. However, that appears just to be a slump.

Local Ground picks up right where Island Angel left off, showing a mature band in top form. "Eirigh 's Cuir Ort Do Chuid Eadaigh" is one of my favorite songs and hearing Altan perform it is such a delight. Mairéad ní Mhaonaigh's voice is perfect for this song and it reminds me of Altan's recording of Dulaman several years earlier. The sets on this album are impeccably performed and the guests on this album are both relevant and sensitive to the power of Altan's playing.

Overall, an excellent CD that rivals the playing on their first albums. I highly recommend it!

It's simple really. Just put together great tunes and fine musicians; stir in a judicious mixture of traditional and recently-penned music - making sure you include a couple of memorable songs - and you have an Altan album. It's a formula that has kept the Donegal group near the top of Irish traditional folk for 20 years. After all that time you could forgive them if their 10th album showed signs of staleness or repetition. Instead, absolutely to the contrary, "Local Ground" exudes a freshness and pared-back honesty that must be the envy of those who have yet to master Altan's "simple" formula.

The beautifully simple Gaoth Dobhair song "Arise Now and Dress Yourself" - which we heard Clannad do decades ago - opens the album sounding as crisp and new as if it had just been minted. Other trad. songs, including "Adieu, My Lovely Nancy", "Amhran Pheadair Bhreathnaigh" and "The Wind and the Rain", are also delivered with straightforward grace and strength by Mairead ni Mhaonaigh. The jigs, reels and other tunes are mostly "trad: arr.", and beautifully played, with twin fiddles, accordion and fretted instruments taking turns to feature. Alongside these older tunes stand a wonderful pair of more recent efforts, one by band member Daithi Sproule ("The Roseville") and the other by rising legend Peadar O Riada ("Sport"). Each stakes a claim to be the album's most memorably jaunty tune. If pushed I'd have to say that the beautifully crisp mandolin work of Ciaran Curran, which defies the feet to remain still, inclines my vote towards "Sport".

As the album title implies, Altan have gone back to their roots for this effort, with Donegal music a strong feature. As a result "Local Ground" exudes a powerful and fresh energy for their tradition, and re-launches the band into a part of the stratosphere inhabited by precious few others on the folk scene.

This is my favorite Irish Band--by a longshot. This is my favorite CD by Altan. All their releases are grand, but, for me, this is a jewel.

I'm new to world of Altan's music and while at first I couldn't make up my mind which of the CDs to download via MP3 I chose songs from various Altan releases to get acustomed to their music--I love Amazon's MP3 download feature which offers the ability to download both individual songs and whole CDs. I love this group, who in addition to making some of the best sounding irish/celtic music my ears have heard also do so with a polish and quality that make it pleasing to play up a bit on the stereo.

After recently seeing them at the Wolftrap Barns in VA, I took the chance and bought Local Ground on a whim and I must say there hasn't been a collection of music that has so pleased me as this one. Every song is very well done and the instrumentals seem to have second gear that have you tapping and smiling all the way through. For anyone who wants to get acquianted with Altan's music, I couldn't think of a better way than getting this release. If you can get it, I also recommend Mairead's solo release "Imeall" only available on her website and at Altan concerts.

Altan has been doing this a while, and they've got a knack for it. I could write paragraphs about them and lose you halfway through, but I won't try that.

If you're new to Altan, this is a good CD to get. I think it will encourage you to try others. If you're a longtime fan, you'll appreciate the craftsmanship and you won't be disappointed. This is one I recommend to anyone who wants to add to their traditional collection.