Margeson on the Music May, 2008
Well, there ARE some very tasty treats this time, to
be sure!! Enough lollygagging. Let's get to it!
We have two very top picks this month. The first is the
last. By that, unfortunately, we mean the last from the
master of real honest-to-God Irish music, Frank Harte. If
you don't know, there are many who would argue that Frank
was the pre-eminent collector of Irish songs in his long and
storied life. Beginning at the age of 10, the collecting bug
hit Frank when he bought his first Irish broadsheet. These
were songs on paper sold for a penny at fairs, markets, in
town---or anywhere a buyer could be found. Pubs were, of
course, also favorite points of commerce. These songs
covered the entire waterfront when it came to topics. Love,
emigration, abandonment, war, lboring conditions, and—in
many cases---current events. Some of the best are political
in nature---and not ALL of the political ones decried the
British, as you might think. Over his life, Frank collected
an estimated 10,000 of these---many on just scraps of paper.
Many would have no melodic notation, and many would. In
thousands of cases, these songs represented a local musical
newspaper, of sorts. Singers selling these songs would
gather at the markets and hold forth, actually presenting
the songs live—so you know they had to be good to gather the
attention of the listeners, as well as their pennies. Very
often, they were intended to be sung in song pubs. One of
the things we remember the most about Frank was his perfect
song pub voice. High, nasal, edgy—just perfect to cut
through the din of the drinkers packed into their local. You
could hear Frank---and you could understand him perfectly.
When not tending to his duties as Professor of Architecture
at University College Dublin, he would be found in a wide
variety of settings---both educational and entertainment. He
was a master. We were the last to interview him. We had
known him for a number of years, and were saddened along
with everyone else in Irish music when this master passed
from us two weeks after we spoke for the final time.. He
left behind a number of incredible gifts in the albums he
recorded over the years sotto voce, as well as with Donald
Lunny. The last of the albums has been released. He was
working on it at the time of his death, though the
recordings had, thankfully, been finished. It is entitled,
There's Gangs of Them Digging. There are 19 songs
chronicling the Irish worker abroad---mostly relating to
those who went to England and Scotland. This is the real
deal. Over the years, Frank recorded entire albums on topics
like the Famine, the Irish in the Napoleonic Wars (a double
album!!) and Dublin street songs, among many many others.
The last word we heard is that the legendarily knowledgeable
Harry Bradshaw, formerly the archivist of the RTE trad music
library, is handling the codification of the Harte
Collection. No small task, to be sure. In any event, the old
saw about "Frank never being truly gone" is true. We have
this music. And, on There's Gangs of Them Digging we have a
history lesson and a wonderful piece of music at the same
time. Not to be missed. It is on the Daisy label.
Rating: Four Harps to Infinity
Next up is a new fav, The Parish Platform by Rattle the
Boards. Four musicians, with guest stars. John Nugent, Benny
McCarthy, John Egan and Pat Ryan offer an album of great fun
and a sense of the real trad. This is not the honed studio
perfection of so many albums today. This is a big, blousy
thing with a great sense of the music, the rhythms and the
meaning. It is the most fun we have had listening to
anything in quite a while. We frequently smiled, and even
got up to shake a foot occasionally ourselves! The role of
ceili and set dancing is well recorded in Irish music, and
vastly overrated. And, if this album in description pays a
little too much of a tip of the hat to the dancing
tradition, it delivers the essential goods---the music
itself. You will love this album. It will be a contender for
Vocal/Instrumental Album of the Year. It is their second
album and is offered through Doon Productions. Go to
www.rattletheboards.com. Find this album and buy it. Then
turn it up. Smile.
Rating: Four Harps
Capercaille is out with their new one, Roses and Tears. It
is on Vertical Records. It is Capercaille, all right. We
have always loved this group. Now, this album plows no real
new ground for them---but does it need to? Any group that
has Karen Matheson, Donald Shaw, Ewan Vernal, Manus Lunny
and the man—Michael McGoldrick in it is already a winner. It
is not their best—nor is it "important" in the way some of
their earlier work was. But, it IS perfectly played and
highly enjoyable. Capercaille fans will, of course, run to
get it, love it and will play it ceaselessly. We ARE fans,
but we won't be playing it ceaselessly---but we will play it
a lot.
Rating: Three harps
Compass Records has Karan Casey's new one, Ships in the
Forest. There are masses of Karan Casey fans, and we number
ourselves among them. A lot of her work has been almost
angry. Social protest and musical lectures on various topics
both current and historical. We thought she was moving past
all that. Now, this is a purely personal observation of
taste. Many love those types of tunes. We do not. When we
were working as a studio musician decades ago, the saying
for singers was, "If you want to send a message, use Western
Union." Karan Casey has a superb voice and a real sense now
of who she is. Many, many of her songs are not message-based
and they are superb, as well as her voice. She had the good
sense to leave Solas, where she originally came to all our
attention. Since then, she has recorded a number of albums,
first for Shanachie and now, Compass. These major labels
know a star when they hear one, and Karan is a star. A
lovely gal with a great voice. But, we hear a little too
much of Western Union calling.
Rating: Three Harps
Last is a lovely album distributed from Copperplate in
London, probably the best in the world at finding and
marketing this kind of thing. It is The Factory Town by
Damian O'Brien and Oliver Loughlin. These two Leitrim
musicians (Damian on fiddle and Oliver on piano accordion)
have produced a lovely all-instrumental outing of taste and
precision. These lads can play. A minor bone of
contention---like so many other albums today, the album
notes are being over produced, resulting in their being
almost impossible to read. And, that is a shame, in that we
want to easily know more about these tunes and musicians.
They are joined by some lovely side musicians, including the
legend, Arty McGlynn on guitar. As we said, this is a lovely
album, even if it breaks no new ground---and is not mant to.
Rating: 3 Harps
Note:
* Go to
www.cfstours.com and click on the "Tours" section, pull
down November, check the tour out and join us for an
incredible combination of The Great Sights and Sounds of
Ireland. Check it out. You'll see. Incredible.
* Blarney on the Air—7-9 Chicago time, every Monday night.
WDCB, 90.9 fm, or www.wdcb.org Shay Clarke and I spinning
all the best platters and hottest wax for you---wait, what
decade did we just shift into? Listen in, you'll have a
ball. !
* Ta!
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