Needles & Grooves AoTM /// Vol. 6 - December 2019 /// The Gloaming - 3 [2019]

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So a few words that need to be said.

I'm absolutely humbled to be given the chance to curate a month for this wonderful little music club and all my friends in it. Eternal thanks to the N&G staff for giving us the space to do this in our own special and unique way and to @ChristoBee for organising the whole thing.

Thanks to last months picker @ThePakoBuelna for attempting to keep up with us nutters, it was not an enviable task, especially as I'm not the type of picker who wants to sit back and watch it unfold, I want to be in there causing as much mayhem as possible.

And finally, to all the pests, this wouldn't be the same without all your prodding, sleuthing and general insanity. Don't ever change!

And now I hand the baton over to @gaporter enjoy every moment of it, its an absolute privilege!
 
Joe Mac said:
And now I hand the baton over to @gaporter enjoy every moment of it, its an absolute privilege!
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I am obviously very excited for next month, but we're only halfway through yours. I want the rest of this month to be all about you and your pick!

That being said - it'll be a pleasure to have you monitoring my thread next month, I am looking forward to it immensely. Hope you're prepared :devilish:
 
Joe Mac said:
I posted my notes in the first post but for the purpose of discussion I'm replicating it here.

So for this month I decided to switch our communities focus to Irish music, a theme that will be continued in the further listening picks that I announce in a little while. For a small island we have a proud artistic tradition that deserves to be cherished and celebrated, I wanted to share a little bit of that with you all.

Once this decision had been made the band to pick was glaringly obvious. For me The Gloaming are quite simply in a class of their own, streets above their nearest competitors here. Formed in 2011, initially to perform as a live act, they released their eponymous debut album in 2013 with their follow ups "2" and "3" dropping in 2016 and 2019 respectively. They have also released the exceptional live album "Live at the NCH" in 2018.

The Gloaming are comprised of Iarla Ó Lionáird on vocals, Dennis Cahil on guitar, Martin Hayes on fiddle, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh on the Hardanger D'Amore fiddle and with Thomas Bartlett (Doveman) as the producer and pianist. With Ó Lionáird's beautiful and plaintive vocals, sung in the traditional sean nos style, Cahill's percussive guitar, Hayes' beatiful fiddle playing which intertwines throughout with Ó Raghallaigh's Hardanger D'Amore fiddle which produces a deeper, almost throaty, and resonant sound. The cherry on the icing on the cake is the beautiful, minimalist piano playing of Bartlett which, while at times is barely present, is always central.

The Gloaming have created a beautiful trinity of albums which increasingly take Irish traditional music into new and exciting places that it has never before ventured. By letting the often dense melodic strands of this music breathe they have evolved our music into a new and exciting form of modern Irish classicism that can confidently stand alongside the very best of the modern European classical minimalist composers.

So why have I chosen 3? I must say it was a very difficult choice between 2 and 3. Both are stunning pieces. The reason is that I think that this album is culmination of the journey they started with their debut album. Through the beautiful half-remembered dream state of "The Lobster", the gorgeous "Pink House" and the joyous "Sheehan's Jig" and finally culminating in the beautiful "Doctor O'Neill". a track that condenses everything they do best into a stunning 10 minute track, and the deep and beautifully melancholic meditation on death. the final journey we all must take, in "Amhrán Na nGleann" (which translates in English as The Song Of The Glens).

This music is the past, the present and the future of Irish music. It is quite simply transcendent in every way.
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This is a great pick. Fantastic musicians. I've always struggled with sean nós, I don't normally enjoy it but in this setting it really works for me.
 
And continuing my goal of highlighting great Irish music could I please have your attention for my further listening picks! I didn't want to repeat myself with Anna Mieke and Lisa Hannigan but please consider them to be in here in spirit.

The Pogues - Rum Sodomy and the Lash

For their second album The Pogues really did step it up a notch. Whilst remaining as wild and chaotic as ever the songwriting of Shane McGowan took a giant leap forward as evidenced in the all time classics "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda'.

Microdisney - The Clock Comes Down The Stairs

This is probably the type of album a tot of people might have thought I would pick! A little heard of indie album from the 1980s haha! An album from a hyper-literate pair of songwriters that melds poetic lyrics with beautiful melodies.

Sinead O'Connor - The Lion and The Cobra

A true original, unbridled ferocity and extreme vulnerability all in one package. Sinead arrived fully formed on her first album, one of the most electrifying debuts imaginable.

Ash - 1977

Pure unbridled fun from Downpatrick's finest. Just an excellent punk album filled with hook laden singles. I dare you not to sing along to "Girl From Mars" and "Kung Fu".

The Villagers - {Awayland]

Conor O'Brien is one of the most interesting lyricists in Ireland at the moment. With this second album The Villagers really being to grow and play with the indie folk sound they established with their debut album.

Hilary Woods - Colt

A beautiful and haunting atmospheric debut album. This was one of my favourites of last years and veterans from our previous incarnation will probably remember me banging on about it over there!

EDIT: Spotify links are in the further listening post on the front page here
 
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loughman said:
This is a great pick. Fantastic musicians. I've always struggled with sean nós, I don't normally enjoy it but in this setting it really works for me.
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Thanks! Traditional unaccompanied sean nós is something that I've always respected but struggled with too. This is one of three modern, accompanied examples of singers versed in it that I've really enjoyed though! I really enjoy the modern trad mixed with it here as well as Anna Mieke who mixes it with folk music and a Belgium based Irish artist @Skalap put me onto, Natashia Kelly, who mixes it with a jazz background.
 
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