Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Irish Music (Rough Guide Music Reference)

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My only problem with this book is that it wasn't written four years ago when I first became seriously interested in Irish music (I eventually started the Arizona Irish Music Society...). I could not find a quick cure to my ignorance and reading Irish Music Magazine was frustratingly unsystematic.

Most books on Irish music are focused on the early history of the music, but there was little about the last 50 years. For me The Rough Guide to Irish Music is absolute God send. It is incredibly thorough and yet quite readable.

The first part of the book gives an excellant background on the history of Irish music and its evolution over the last fifty years. The next sections give profiles of key artists and bands with recommendations about their best CD's. Beware, reading this section can be very expensive!

I cannot pretend familiarity with all the performers and bands covered, but I was favorably impressed with their coverage of the performers I do know.

The Rough Guide Guide to Irish Music is an incredible achievment.

Subtitled "Dublin to Donegal: essential sessions & evolving traditions" this is a generous selection of Irish roots folk music, with none of the more commercial or country-orientated numbers that often invade this type of CD collections. OK, maybe The Prodigals' The Morning After is a bit corny, but otherwise this is good traditional stuff.

There are many important names here so it is certainly is a good guide for newcomers, while seasoned folkies will appreciate the overall quality and likely find some favourites. Plus there's more than a couple of really fine artists here that I for one hadn't even heard of (and I'm pretty well versed in Irish trad). Unlike many Irish Folk compilations this is not just old material either - Lunasa's contribution is taken from their most recent album The Kinnitty Sessions and Altan's comes from their forthcoming album. Can't get much more up to date than that.

The who's who includes Frankie Gavin, Dervish, Maighread & Triona Ni Dhonhnaill, Donal Lunny, Paddy Keenan, Seamus Creagh, Aidan Coffe, Paul Brady, Matt Molloy, Seamus Begley, Jim Murray, Cran, Lunasa, Altan & Gerry O'Connor.

There's a balanced mix of songs and instrumentals, fast and slow, with an emphasis on excitement and feel rather than standards. This is indeed an excellent guide to Irish music.

The format and content of this compact guide to Irish music makes the reader eager to listen and learn. The guide has three main sections: background, musicians, and listings. Within each section, the layout allows the reader to peruse for specific information, such as recording history, accompanying artists, and recommended CD top choices as well as recording labels. The background section provides an overview of style and form; while the listing section includes resources not readily available to Americans in such a concise format. I recommend the book for the balanced and well researched information, adroitly presented, that can help with purchases for one's own or a Celtic friend's collection.

It is, of course, impossible to know all that is knowable about Irish music, much less present it in a single book. Geoff Wallis and Sue Wilson come amazingly close to accomplishing that daunting task, however, with The Rough Guide to Irish Music.

The volume is deceptively small, though thick, and it's packed with information. It begins with an explanation of the roots of Irish music, its relation to "Celtic" music -- the terms are synonymous in some circles, antithetical in others -- and the people responsible for keeping the music alive and/or bringing it back into the public's fickle consciousness. Next, an excellent chapter spells out the differences among the many Irish vocal and instrumental styles. Do you know whan "sean nos" really means? Can you identify a reel, jig, slip jig or hornpipe by its time signature? This section will help.

The bulk of the book is devoted to a "who's who" of Irish music, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a reference more complete. After dividing the musicians into loose categories -- singers, groups, families, fiddlers, harpers, etc. -- the book provides concise but thorough biographies detailing their influences and impact on the music scene. Each entry also notes the most influential albums from each band/musician, making it easy for readers to know where to expand their collections.

The book ends with a listing for sessions around Ireland, plus music festivals, schools, media, recommended reading and other resources.

If you have any interest in expanding your knowledge of Irish music and Irish musicians, this is the place to do it. The Rough Guide to Irish Music is a phenomenal package that's useful and well-written to boot. It's compact size makes it easy to stow in a music case or jacket pocket, and I predict you'll find yourself pulling it to browse a lot more often than you'd expect for a reference book.

Fantastic album! Covers a vast selection of Irish music. Great to listen to with friends and family while having a few pints!

You cannot go wrong buying this album.
Slainte

I don't remember where I got this CD. But I do remember many times its songs have made me spontaneously burst into joyful tears. Probably my two favorite are Mary and the Soldier and Curve of the Lake. Just beautiful.

The music on this CD is good, but listeners will be led to think that Irish music has not evolved at all since the 1950s. There are plenty of Irish singers and musicians releasing their own excellent material these days in all genres, especially rock, pop, cabaret and singer-songwriter. The CD would be better if some of them were included.