The Irish Ceili Band sound can be a bit of a joke, compared to the buzzing of trapped insects by some (I can't find the exact quote), although they are great for dancing to.
However these guys have tried something a bit different and instead of every musican just piling in with their settings of the tunes they have come up with a unison sound. While this must have needed a lot of rehearsal time it brings an enhanced clarity and focus to a stale old format. The unison stops come across as a bit mannered after a while, but apart from that it works really well.
I was so impressed I actually bought it - available as a download from Amazon, and you can try before you buy. Checkout YouTube as well.
1 comment:
Bernie:
It was O'Riada, quoted in Tomas O Canainn's biography; he said the ceili bands' sound "resembled nothing so much as the buzzing of a bluebottle in an overturned jamjar."
'Course, he was just trying to justify his more "authentic" approach, using harpsichord as "tiompan" and creating mock-Baroque arrangements (or, as one old man I knew called them, "that group where they're all starting and stopping the chunes all the time").
Love the blog.
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