Fit?

Old Blind Dogs

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2001)
• Original Release Date: May 15, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Green Linnet
• ASIN: B00005BGU0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #160,345 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Old Blind Dogs may flirt with modern harmonies and ethnic percussion on Fit?, but when they sing an old Robert Burns song like "Is There for Honest Poverty" in their thick Aberdeen accents, you know they are traditional Scottish musicians to the core. The Dogs mix old ballads like "Awa' Whigs Awa'," an 18th-century anti-British song, and "Reres Hill," which they perform with a Pentangle-like jazzy folk feel with lively sets of dance tunes like "Black-Haired Lad" and "Country Girl." The jigs and reels have a light, airy feel thanks to piper Rory Campbell, who eschews the more familiar Highland war pipes in favor of the smaller Border pipes, which have a softer, gentler tone. On Fit?, an expression of disbelief in their local Aberdeen dialect, Old Blind Dogs continue the tradition of high-energy playing and intensely felt singing that have made them one of the most popular contemporary Scottish folk groups. --Michael Simmons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to Scottish music, August 31, 2001

By	Robert Shepard Jr. (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been a fan of Celtic music for some years now, particularly of the Irish and Spanish varieties. Up until very recently, however, the only thing I knew about Scottish music was the highland war pipes, tunes like "Scotland the Brave" and "Amazing Grace". Nice, but not something I listen to every day or even every year.

So it was quite a pleasant surprise when I noticed "Fit!" on a listening station at the local Borders shop. "Old Blind Dogs," I thought. "What an interesting name for a group!" So I gave it a try. And instantly fell in love with "Is There For Honest Poverty", particularly at the end when those wild border pipes kick in. I got the CD (and also "The World's Room", the group's next most recent title) for that track alone. It's just what I've needed the past month to help me cope with some serious blues. The tunes will not exit my cranium. In fact, I'm listening to "Fit!" right now, as I write this.

One of the biggest differences I've noticed between Scottish and Irish music, if the work of "Old Blind Dogs" is typical, seems to be that the Scottish is more mathematical in nature, whereas the Irish is more melodic. In particular, a number of the CD's bagpipe melodies tend to jump around quite a bit. Very odd intervals. For a computer programmer and mathematician like me, this is quite appealing. For the same reason I adore the music of Jose Angel Hevia, from northern Spain. But the more flowing, melodic sort of music is also very nice, and the group also handles this quite well.

It's hard to explain why, but the CD also reminds me of Gaelic Storm's most recent effort, "Tree". Something about the mood of the music, I think. Especially the purely instrumental pieces. I've been going back and forth between the two CD's quite a bit.

And, finally, there's that thick Scottish dialect. Thankfully I have the CD's linar notes and a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, because otherwise I wouldn't have a clue what these guys are singing! Hardest to follow are the two Robert Burns songs, written over 200 years ago.

It appears that the group has changed its membership quite a bit over the past ten years, but I'm plenty happy with the current lineup. This CD is definitely worth a try! One of these days I'll try some of their earlier works.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars as good as it gets!, February 6, 2003

By	Thomas Eden (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This band is amazing and this is my favorite cd of theirs (but all of them I've heard are great). I have been into Celtic music for a long time, but my teenage son and all of his friends love this cd, and they are mostly into punk and ska. The perfect blend of contemporary and traditional. Malcolm's vocals are smooth, deep and FIT? perfectly with the grooves of the tunes. The turns that most of the songs take keep everything exciting, especially the time changes. The instrumental mixes vary and are always played with the touch of a master. After listening to this cd 30 or 40 times you still have to hear it again and again.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it., March 13, 2002

By A Customer

I saw these guys recently in a small pub, in Talequah, Oklahoma of all places.
They were absolutely wonderful. Jim Malcolm has the voice of an angel. -What a range, smooth as silk, with a soulful power as well. Paul Jennings multi-ethnic percussion is a wonder to listen to, but even more entertaining to watch. This guy is pure energy with a deeper groove than an old 78.
The rest of the band are fantastic as well. If you can see them live, don't miss the chance. They are well worth it.

Fit? is a great representation of the "New" Old Blind Dogs sound.
Some ultra snobbish traditionalists may not like the non-Scottish percussion, but these guys have not resorted to synths and over-produced tricks... it's just raw playing at it's finest... so I say just relax those rectal muscles a bit and give it a try.

If you like it, get The World's Room.
If you are intrigued by Jim Malcolm's voice or song-writing... check out his new solo CD, Resonance... (try his website, if Amazon doesn't carry it.)