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slipjig3Back in 1993, I had a radio show on WEFT Champaign, Illinois called "Requiem for Finnegan," which was devtoed to English and Celtic folk-rock of all sorts. I stretched the boundaries of my playlist as I went, generally allowing myself anything that included both traditional Anglo-Celtic and contemporary influences, be it modern interpretations of folk songs, straight-up rock with folk instrumentation added, or what have you. It only lasted seven months before I moved out of state, but I still miss it horribly—it's one of the most fun things I've ever done.
For some reason, lately I've been pondering the whole Anglo-Celtic folk-rock genre, and so, what with the ongoing incipient boredom at work, I ended up cobbling together a list of my top 50 songs that either were or could have been played on "Requiem for Finnegan." My one restriction was that I couldn't include more than one song by the same artist (although the folk-rock genre being what it is, there's a lot of cross-pollination between bands, anyway).
NOTE: This is all one man's opinion. Your mileage may vary.
So. Counting it down, from number 50 to number 1:
50) "Living in America," Black 47, Living in America From deepest, darkest New York City, we present the Irish E-Street Band, the Next Big Thing that never happened. They're probably best known for their Celtic rapping and odes to the hundreds of women they left behind in Dublin, but my money's on this stunner, the best use of "The Foggy Dew" ever forged.
49) "Le prince d'orange," Malicorne, Malicorne en public From the Irish E-Street Band, we move on to the French Clannad. Their marriage of the traditional and the modern is quite sophisticated, but it's their a capella numbers like this live track that'll get under your skin, and stay there.
48) "Pharaoh," The House Band, The World Is a Wonderful Place: A Tribute to Richard Thompson The original version of "Pharaoh" is a dark slab of mournful rock; the House Band manage to turn it into a wry bit of boppy accordion-driven satire. Don't ask me how it works. It just does.
47) "Love It Is a Killing Thing," Sheila Chandra, The Zen Kiss Chandra's grand innovation is marrying her two cultural heritages together, by singing traditional English folk songs with traditional Indian inflections and styling. Usually, she doesn't have anything more than a synthesizer drone backing her up. On this one, she doesn't even have that, and it's more mind-blowing than ever. Just...wow.
46) "Rocky Road to Dublin," The Young Dubliners, Rocky Road to Dublin If you're gonna rock it out, rock it like you mean it. I first heard this one on college radio, and literally had to pick myself up off the floor. I feel the need to make devil-horns and mosh for a bit now....
45) "Nine Stone Rig," Linda Thompson, Fashionably Late The return of Linda Thompson to recording was a miracle almost too shiny to hope for. But return she did, with a host of exceedingly talented friends and her golden voice and songwriting chops intact. I still don't know what actually happens in this foreboding little murder ballad, but it still gives me the willies every time.
44) "Woman of Ireland," Weddings Parties Anything, The Best of Weddings Parties Anything Many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
1phish2phish for turning us on to this Aussie band that comes off like Midnight Oil at Irish Fest, and especially to this rocking ode to the chick at the party you'll never stand a chance with. (Bonus points for name-checking Christy Moore, Van Morrison and Bob Geldof.)
43) "Hey Jude," De Danaan, A Half Set in Harlem Whendaev first slipped this one on a mix for me 15 years ago, he commented that the band had to have gotten hammered to do this album; if this is true, buy them another round, on me. Yes, it's the Beatles classic. Yes, it's done as a jig. Yes, it's awesome.
42) "An Irishman in Chinatown," Luka Bloom, Riverside Bloom has an interesting way of letting his heritage show, preferring to let it slip out in quieter ways—unless, of course, he's chatting up a pretty young thing on the street. This one has one of my all-time favorite lines: "She says, 'I come from China,' I says, 'I'm from Ireland / And isn't this a fine small world?'" 'Tis, indeed.
41) "Black Water Side," Bert Jansch, Best of Bert Jansch I'll go on record as saying that Bert's inclusion on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists list when John Renbourn isn't included is a trifle unfair, but he's still one of the originals, one of the the folks who forged this whole thing. Understated, fascinating, nasal and yet compelling. Good stuff.
40) "All Souls Night," Loreena McKennitt, The Visit Look, Enya fans: if you're going to listen to swirly, New Age-y Celtic-based stuff, at least do it right, wouldja? I was prepared to hate Loreena, and was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised. This song...well, I'll be honest: it gets me high, all by its lonesome.
39) "Kiss Me, I'm Shit-Faced," Dropkick Murphys, Blackout Ahh, yes, the joys of the desperation-play closing time pickup attempt! The Murphys have the refreshing ability to take themselves seriously when they need to, and chuck every last bit of their dignity out the window when it's time to dance. Hilarious.
38) "Candee-i-o," Nic Jones, Penguin EggsMy current addiction. Nic's been hitting his old Bert Jansch LPs pretty hard, but he's putting it all to good use. Some of the most gorgeous acoustic guitar work I've ever heard, coupled with a gift for musical phrasing. Yum.
37) "Coinleach Ghlas An Fhómhair," Clannad, Clannad 2 For years, I held that Clannad was at their best before "Harry's Game," before they went all synthish and frou-frou. But then I get reminded of this song, which is like a warm blanket you can bury yourself in, and which most definitely comes after the band's paradigm shift. Mea culpa.
36) "Fog on the Tyne," Lindisfarne, Fog on the Tyne Grab your buddies. Go out. Have a drink. Have a bite. Have a few more drinks. Have quite a few more drinks. Widdle on a dumpster in an alley. Now why, you may ask, has no one ever written a song that truly captures that kind of evening? Look no further.
35) "Rusty D-Con-Struck-Tion," Ashley MacIsaac, Hi®, How Are You Today? I remember that when this album first came out, I literally had four or five people come up to me in the space of a week or so, asking if I'd heard it yet. They asked with good reason: I'd be hard pressed to name anyone in the last 12 years who has done more to push the Celtic folk-rock envelope than MacIsaac, the rare musician who truly understands folk and rock,a nd the intersection between the two, in equal measure.
34) "The Drinking Gourd / Miss Brady," Lehto & Wright, Ye Mariners All Multiculturalism done up right and proper. Acoustic guitar, bouzouki and a rock drum kit are used to paste together a traditional reel and an old African-American Freedom Road song—and they do it like they belonged together all along.
33) "Nottamun Town," Tempest, Sunken Treasure I know there are places on this list where I'm going to step on some toes (the Enya fans are already assembling on the street with pitchforks), and I'm afraid I need to tread on a few right now: I find Tempest usually to be derivative and pompous at best. *ducks* But when they get it right, man, do they nail it. Here, they strip it down, way down, down to slide guitar, bouzouki, spare fiddle and the least intrusive percussion I've ever heard. It sounds almost like a demo, but by God, it's awesome.
32) "John Barleycorn," Traffic, John Barleycorn Must Die I had to write a 20 page paper on the history of "John Barleycorn" in college, and I still remember the guy in the computer lab who said, "Wait, I thought Steve Winwood wrote that." It's hard to truly own a song that's 400 years old, but Traffic managed and a jazzy edge and a soul deep as Earth itself.
31) "Lead the Knave / Bunker Hill," Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey, Leading the Knave In actuality, this one's all Arty's doing, a heavy cut of masterful electric guitar work that is the best argument I know that, if the Fender Stratocaster isn't a traditional folk instrument, it bloody well should be.
30) "Poor Old Horse," The Albion Band, Harvest Festival I'd always thought of the Albion lineups as lesser cousins to the Fotherspanport wing of Englishness, until I heard this song. A rollicking piece of silliness that builds from wink-and-nudge to full-out house party in under six minutes.
29) "Mari-Mac," Great Big Sea, Up Okay, remember when I said I was going to step on some toes? Right, I'm putting on my crash helmet right now: I've never gotten into Great Big Sea. They're not bad, mind you; I just never took a shine. Sorry. But whether or not I dig them as a whole, there is no way I could fail to get into "Mari-Mac." I mean, the band is a truck, the song is a steep hill, and the brakes have failed. If you're not chair-moshing by the end, check your pulse, because you may be dead.
28) "Devil's Dance Floor," Flogging Molly, Swagger Dance. Do it right f***ing now. *moshes*
27) "House Carpenter," The Pentangle, Basket of Light The Pentangle were my entry point into the Anglo-Celtic folk-rock world, way back when I was 17 and I wore the cassette copies of my now-ex-stepmother's LPs into little plastic nubs. I spent a lot of time trying to decide which of their songs would show up on this list, and for some reason I landed on their take on an American version of "The Demon Lover," a compelling case in favor of sitar and banjo being used together.
26) "I Am Stretched on Your Grave," Sinéad O'Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got The song, which dates back almost a thousand years if memory serves, is one of the creepiest tales of obsession and grief I've ever heard. Sinéad gets that, and keeps the production as stark as possible, until the ghosts arrive in the form of Steve Wickham's fiddle. Dayum.
25) "Flick It Up and Catch It," Jim Sutherland, Folk 'n' Hell Pure adrenaline in fiddle-tune format. This is how I wake up for long road trips, although I need to remember to keep the cruise control on for safety's sake.
24) "Traveller's Prayer," John Renbourn, John Renbourn's Ship of Fools Intricate four-part madrigal harmonies, in service of probably the only spiritual tune that makes both Christians and Pagans ooh and ahh. True story: A leader of a local madrigal group in Urbana where I went to school wrote a letter to the record label, begging for sheet music for this piece so they could perform it. When told it wasn't available, he wrote again, saying, "Oh, c'mon, somebody's gotta have it." What he got back was four handwritten pages of sheet music from John himself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is class.
23) "Ballybay," The Prodigals, Go On Killer funk-folk. 'Nuff said.
22) "Lovely Joan," Miranda Sex Garden, Iris When Miranda Sex Garden cut their first album, Madra, they were a dedicated madrigal trio, classically trained and strictly traditional. Then came Iris which starts with this track, which begins as an a capella round, until the electric guitar feedback and industrial noise fades in, and the measured singing gives way to wild shouting. I wonder how long it took their fans to reattach their jaws....
21) "Black Jack Davy," The White Stripes, iTunes single Wait, hang on: Jack and Meg White are applying their indie crunch to a "Gypsy Laddie" variant? What is this, my birthday? Where do I sign?
20) "God," Seven Nations, Seven Nations I have never heard a song wrecked like the hatchet job they did on this one. I first heard it on WEBK Vermont, back when they were the best radio station on the planet. Once I got over being blown away and got my pulse rate back down to baseline, I began wishing everyone could hear this track, knowing that they'd love it. And then, a few months later, I heard it on a major college rock station—with a new remix that made it sounds like a Limp Bizkit outtake, complete with a talent-impaired frat boy yelping, "Up to me!" at regular intervals. *shudder* Success isn't worth that, people. The original still rocks, though.
19) "Fionnghala," The Bothy Band, Best of the Bothy Band Everybody and his probation officer has done this one by now, but that's only because the bothies did it first, and better. It's what mouth music should be: angular, dramatic, almost uncanny. Sing along, kids!
18) "Jig of Life," Kate Bush, Hounds of Love The one item on this list that is best appreciated in the context of the full album. Kate has done a number of songs that would qualify for this list ("The Red Shoes" came damned close), but Hounds of Love is one of the greatest albums every recorded, and this song, with her dad on dramatic recitation, is a sizable portion of the reason why.
17) "Cuckoo's Nest," Morris On, Morris On Morris On is one of the weirder one-off projects in that whole 70's Anglo-folk-rock movement, one that alcohol almost certainly had something to do with. Here, they take one of the naughtier songs of the canon, and give it the almost bluesy bump-and-grind that it so richly deserves. Pure sex.
16) "Pastures of Plenty," Solas, Reunion: A Decade of Solas Obscenely talented and chemistry-ridden Irish band, meet Woody Guthrie. Woody, meet obscenely talented and chemistry-ridden Irish band. You would not believe how well they get along. I first heard this one on Thistle and Shamrock, and had to pull over to avoid driving off the damn road.
15) "Tir An Airm," Runrig, Recovery I feel a bit guilty on this one, because unlike much of Recovery, this track is more straight-up stadium anthem rock than bagpipe-influenced rock. But I tell ya, one listen, and you'll want to go find a British invading army for the sole purpose of rebelling against them. If Braveheart took place in the 1980's, they'd be listening to this.
14) "Oxford Girl," The Oyster Band, Wild Blue Yonder In the British Isles, and Scotland especially, there is a tradition known as the "incest ballad," wherein brother knocks up sister, brother kills sister to save face, brother begs mother to protect him, which mother does. Ahem, no. (See Boiled in Lead's "Son Oh Son" for a slightly more realistic version.) The Oyster Band did something novel by telling the story from the poor sister's point of view, and made it rock in the process. Remind me to cover this one in concert.
13) "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," Richard Thompson, Rumour and Sigh Try and look surprised. Thompson was trying to create nothing more or less than a traditional-style death ballad in contemporary clothes. What he ended up with is (a) the closest thing he ever had to a hit, (b) a song that trumps the very works he was attempting to honor, and (c) the line, "Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme," which alone is enough to earn real astate on this list.
12) "Alison Gross," Steeleye Span, Parcel of Rogues Steeleye Span has a sizable cult surrounding them, and always had. My feelings for them are a tad more complicated. For years, I've said that they recorded about a dozen songs that, had they been on the same album, it would have been one of the truly greatest folk-rock records ever made; unfortunately, it took them nine years to records those dozen songs. This one, however, would definitely be one of those dozen, a tune that choogles so hard you don't even notice that they don't have a drummer. And that's even before the sinister speaker-blowout distortion at the end.
11) "Hay Wrap," The Saw Doctors, All the Way from Tuam When I left my radio show in 1993, this is the song I used to fill my last few minutes on the air, and when I went to give my LJ a title a decade later, I grabbed it from this song's lyrics. A foot-stomping, ass-kicking, roll-down-the-car-windows-and-scream-along battle axe from a band that you just know throws better parties than you do. Get that wasp off my sandwich!
10) "Bedlam Boys / Rights of Man," Old Blind Dogs, New Tricks I have the feeling that the future of Scottish traditional music is in the hands of Old Blind Dogs, a band that is reverent enough to put every ounce of their heritage behind what they do, and yet innovative enough to almost convince you that conga drums have always been used out on the moors. I've heard at least a half-dozen versions of this song in my day, and almost invariably it's the best song on whatever album it's on. And among all those versions, this one's hands down the best.
9) "Gypsy Davey," Fotheringay, Fotheringay Half-dozen versions, nothing—I've lost count of the number of versions of "Gypsy Laddie" / "Raggle-Taggle Gypsies" / "Black Jack Davy" / "Gypsy Rover" / etc. etc. etc. I've encountered over the years. Some are great, some are okay, some are wretched, but only one has Sandy Denny's soaring crystalline voice suspended miles over a rhythm section keeping the song aloft by sheer force of will. I mourn Sandy's passing often, but seldom more than when I'm listening to this song.
8) "Annie," Slainte M'hath, VA Oh, hell, yes. I received this one from bothnonethewiser and zarhooie, completely independently and two weeks apart from each other. There's something about the Canadian acts that intuitively knows that intersection between folk and rock inside-out, and here the band uses that knowledge to layer sampling with funky guitar, with Uillean pipes with the kitchen sink, creating something worth waking up the neighbors with. This is how I gave up my caffeine habit right here.
7) "Turkish Song of the Damned," The Pogues, If I Should Fall From Grace With God I've seen the following procedure take place more than once. One: A friend is forced to listen to this song. Two: Said friend falls over. Three: "Bottle of Smoke," the follow-up on the album, plays about halfway through. Four: Said friend leaps up, runs out and buys the CD. (And that's before they even get to "Fairytale of New York.") Every time I run into some pipsqueak who admirably says he's totally into the whole Dropflog Molphy thing and yet has somehow never heard of the Pogues, I want to kick them square in the toolbag.
6) "Fisherman's Blues," The Waterboys, Fisherman's Blues My God, has there ever been a more joyous song? The Waterboys started out as a brassy blues and soul-type outfit sorta, so their detour into Celtic folk-rock could be seen as a quirky phase that Mike Scott was going through. But you'd never know it listening to this. It's happiness and good will molded into the shape of a song, and nothing less.
5) "My Son John," Boiled in Lead, From the Ladle to the Grave A sonic kick in the teeth. An electrical storm on a English battlefield. A mosh pit on the third rail. A Tasmanian devil built out of saxophones and feedback. You may think you're ready, but I assure you, you're not. Not even close.
4) "Jesuitmont," Kornog, Premiére For sheer musicianship, this one beats any and all comers. Kornog was a Breton outfit with a Scottish lead singer, which alone makes for somewhat strange bedfellows. But then they bring to the table a willingness to play with convention and an astonishing amount of talent and technical skill, and all of a sudden there's no one left standing. On this track, there's not a single note out of place, impressive under normal situations, until you realize that they're careening in and out of 7/8 time at will and doing it with a live audience. Just...damn.
3) "The Boys and the Babies," The Drovers, World of Monsters Of all the bits of good fortune I've been graced in my life as a music lover, I am especially grateful for the dozen or so times I got to see the Drovers live between 1991 and 1993, the best stage act I have ever, ever encountered. This is the act and the album I've gotten more people hooked on than any other bit of media evangelism I've ever pursued. I had to narrow it down from a good four or five tracks from the CD, but I think I've chosen the right one, if only for that moment when the band's jamming has reduced itself to rubble, and out of nowhere comes that perfect fiddle tune....
2) "Queen of Argyll," Silly Wizard, Kiss the Tears Away How awesome is this song? In 1992, I put it on a mix for my metalhead sister, and it instantly and singlehandedly turned her into a Celtic folk fan. Do I need to go on?
1) "A Sailor's Life," Fairport Convention, Unhalfbricking The gold standard of English folk-rock. I'm not going to mince words: Late 60's-era Fairport Convention is the greatest band ever, Unhalfbricking is the greatest album, and "A Sailor's Life" is the greatest song. End of sentence, full stop, no qualifiers necessary. Liege and Lief may be the album that made the genre truly explode, but it all started here. It's eleven minutes plus of pure perfection, recorded live in the studio in a single flawless, energetic take. In music, I seek out "perfect moments," those few seconds when the whole becomes so much greater than the sum of its parts, and we need a moment to catch our breath and our emotions and try to absorb what just happened. Most bands are lucky to pull off just one perfect moment in their careers. "A Sailor's Life" contains four. A decade and a half and a thousand listenings later, I am still in awe.
Honorable mention: Rare Air, the Battlefield Band, Davy Spillane. And I forgot the #%&@* Strawbs! Dammit!
Feel free to discuss.
For some reason, lately I've been pondering the whole Anglo-Celtic folk-rock genre, and so, what with the ongoing incipient boredom at work, I ended up cobbling together a list of my top 50 songs that either were or could have been played on "Requiem for Finnegan." My one restriction was that I couldn't include more than one song by the same artist (although the folk-rock genre being what it is, there's a lot of cross-pollination between bands, anyway).
NOTE: This is all one man's opinion. Your mileage may vary.
So. Counting it down, from number 50 to number 1:
50) "Living in America," Black 47, Living in America From deepest, darkest New York City, we present the Irish E-Street Band, the Next Big Thing that never happened. They're probably best known for their Celtic rapping and odes to the hundreds of women they left behind in Dublin, but my money's on this stunner, the best use of "The Foggy Dew" ever forged.
49) "Le prince d'orange," Malicorne, Malicorne en public From the Irish E-Street Band, we move on to the French Clannad. Their marriage of the traditional and the modern is quite sophisticated, but it's their a capella numbers like this live track that'll get under your skin, and stay there.
48) "Pharaoh," The House Band, The World Is a Wonderful Place: A Tribute to Richard Thompson The original version of "Pharaoh" is a dark slab of mournful rock; the House Band manage to turn it into a wry bit of boppy accordion-driven satire. Don't ask me how it works. It just does.
47) "Love It Is a Killing Thing," Sheila Chandra, The Zen Kiss Chandra's grand innovation is marrying her two cultural heritages together, by singing traditional English folk songs with traditional Indian inflections and styling. Usually, she doesn't have anything more than a synthesizer drone backing her up. On this one, she doesn't even have that, and it's more mind-blowing than ever. Just...wow.
46) "Rocky Road to Dublin," The Young Dubliners, Rocky Road to Dublin If you're gonna rock it out, rock it like you mean it. I first heard this one on college radio, and literally had to pick myself up off the floor. I feel the need to make devil-horns and mosh for a bit now....
45) "Nine Stone Rig," Linda Thompson, Fashionably Late The return of Linda Thompson to recording was a miracle almost too shiny to hope for. But return she did, with a host of exceedingly talented friends and her golden voice and songwriting chops intact. I still don't know what actually happens in this foreboding little murder ballad, but it still gives me the willies every time.
44) "Woman of Ireland," Weddings Parties Anything, The Best of Weddings Parties Anything Many thanks to
1phish2phish for turning us on to this Aussie band that comes off like Midnight Oil at Irish Fest, and especially to this rocking ode to the chick at the party you'll never stand a chance with. (Bonus points for name-checking Christy Moore, Van Morrison and Bob Geldof.)43) "Hey Jude," De Danaan, A Half Set in Harlem When
daev first slipped this one on a mix for me 15 years ago, he commented that the band had to have gotten hammered to do this album; if this is true, buy them another round, on me. Yes, it's the Beatles classic. Yes, it's done as a jig. Yes, it's awesome.42) "An Irishman in Chinatown," Luka Bloom, Riverside Bloom has an interesting way of letting his heritage show, preferring to let it slip out in quieter ways—unless, of course, he's chatting up a pretty young thing on the street. This one has one of my all-time favorite lines: "She says, 'I come from China,' I says, 'I'm from Ireland / And isn't this a fine small world?'" 'Tis, indeed.
41) "Black Water Side," Bert Jansch, Best of Bert Jansch I'll go on record as saying that Bert's inclusion on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists list when John Renbourn isn't included is a trifle unfair, but he's still one of the originals, one of the the folks who forged this whole thing. Understated, fascinating, nasal and yet compelling. Good stuff.
40) "All Souls Night," Loreena McKennitt, The Visit Look, Enya fans: if you're going to listen to swirly, New Age-y Celtic-based stuff, at least do it right, wouldja? I was prepared to hate Loreena, and was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised. This song...well, I'll be honest: it gets me high, all by its lonesome.
39) "Kiss Me, I'm Shit-Faced," Dropkick Murphys, Blackout Ahh, yes, the joys of the desperation-play closing time pickup attempt! The Murphys have the refreshing ability to take themselves seriously when they need to, and chuck every last bit of their dignity out the window when it's time to dance. Hilarious.
38) "Candee-i-o," Nic Jones, Penguin EggsMy current addiction. Nic's been hitting his old Bert Jansch LPs pretty hard, but he's putting it all to good use. Some of the most gorgeous acoustic guitar work I've ever heard, coupled with a gift for musical phrasing. Yum.
37) "Coinleach Ghlas An Fhómhair," Clannad, Clannad 2 For years, I held that Clannad was at their best before "Harry's Game," before they went all synthish and frou-frou. But then I get reminded of this song, which is like a warm blanket you can bury yourself in, and which most definitely comes after the band's paradigm shift. Mea culpa.
36) "Fog on the Tyne," Lindisfarne, Fog on the Tyne Grab your buddies. Go out. Have a drink. Have a bite. Have a few more drinks. Have quite a few more drinks. Widdle on a dumpster in an alley. Now why, you may ask, has no one ever written a song that truly captures that kind of evening? Look no further.
35) "Rusty D-Con-Struck-Tion," Ashley MacIsaac, Hi®, How Are You Today? I remember that when this album first came out, I literally had four or five people come up to me in the space of a week or so, asking if I'd heard it yet. They asked with good reason: I'd be hard pressed to name anyone in the last 12 years who has done more to push the Celtic folk-rock envelope than MacIsaac, the rare musician who truly understands folk and rock,a nd the intersection between the two, in equal measure.
34) "The Drinking Gourd / Miss Brady," Lehto & Wright, Ye Mariners All Multiculturalism done up right and proper. Acoustic guitar, bouzouki and a rock drum kit are used to paste together a traditional reel and an old African-American Freedom Road song—and they do it like they belonged together all along.
33) "Nottamun Town," Tempest, Sunken Treasure I know there are places on this list where I'm going to step on some toes (the Enya fans are already assembling on the street with pitchforks), and I'm afraid I need to tread on a few right now: I find Tempest usually to be derivative and pompous at best. *ducks* But when they get it right, man, do they nail it. Here, they strip it down, way down, down to slide guitar, bouzouki, spare fiddle and the least intrusive percussion I've ever heard. It sounds almost like a demo, but by God, it's awesome.
32) "John Barleycorn," Traffic, John Barleycorn Must Die I had to write a 20 page paper on the history of "John Barleycorn" in college, and I still remember the guy in the computer lab who said, "Wait, I thought Steve Winwood wrote that." It's hard to truly own a song that's 400 years old, but Traffic managed and a jazzy edge and a soul deep as Earth itself.
31) "Lead the Knave / Bunker Hill," Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey, Leading the Knave In actuality, this one's all Arty's doing, a heavy cut of masterful electric guitar work that is the best argument I know that, if the Fender Stratocaster isn't a traditional folk instrument, it bloody well should be.
30) "Poor Old Horse," The Albion Band, Harvest Festival I'd always thought of the Albion lineups as lesser cousins to the Fotherspanport wing of Englishness, until I heard this song. A rollicking piece of silliness that builds from wink-and-nudge to full-out house party in under six minutes.
29) "Mari-Mac," Great Big Sea, Up Okay, remember when I said I was going to step on some toes? Right, I'm putting on my crash helmet right now: I've never gotten into Great Big Sea. They're not bad, mind you; I just never took a shine. Sorry. But whether or not I dig them as a whole, there is no way I could fail to get into "Mari-Mac." I mean, the band is a truck, the song is a steep hill, and the brakes have failed. If you're not chair-moshing by the end, check your pulse, because you may be dead.
28) "Devil's Dance Floor," Flogging Molly, Swagger Dance. Do it right f***ing now. *moshes*
27) "House Carpenter," The Pentangle, Basket of Light The Pentangle were my entry point into the Anglo-Celtic folk-rock world, way back when I was 17 and I wore the cassette copies of my now-ex-stepmother's LPs into little plastic nubs. I spent a lot of time trying to decide which of their songs would show up on this list, and for some reason I landed on their take on an American version of "The Demon Lover," a compelling case in favor of sitar and banjo being used together.
26) "I Am Stretched on Your Grave," Sinéad O'Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got The song, which dates back almost a thousand years if memory serves, is one of the creepiest tales of obsession and grief I've ever heard. Sinéad gets that, and keeps the production as stark as possible, until the ghosts arrive in the form of Steve Wickham's fiddle. Dayum.
25) "Flick It Up and Catch It," Jim Sutherland, Folk 'n' Hell Pure adrenaline in fiddle-tune format. This is how I wake up for long road trips, although I need to remember to keep the cruise control on for safety's sake.
24) "Traveller's Prayer," John Renbourn, John Renbourn's Ship of Fools Intricate four-part madrigal harmonies, in service of probably the only spiritual tune that makes both Christians and Pagans ooh and ahh. True story: A leader of a local madrigal group in Urbana where I went to school wrote a letter to the record label, begging for sheet music for this piece so they could perform it. When told it wasn't available, he wrote again, saying, "Oh, c'mon, somebody's gotta have it." What he got back was four handwritten pages of sheet music from John himself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is class.
23) "Ballybay," The Prodigals, Go On Killer funk-folk. 'Nuff said.
22) "Lovely Joan," Miranda Sex Garden, Iris When Miranda Sex Garden cut their first album, Madra, they were a dedicated madrigal trio, classically trained and strictly traditional. Then came Iris which starts with this track, which begins as an a capella round, until the electric guitar feedback and industrial noise fades in, and the measured singing gives way to wild shouting. I wonder how long it took their fans to reattach their jaws....
21) "Black Jack Davy," The White Stripes, iTunes single Wait, hang on: Jack and Meg White are applying their indie crunch to a "Gypsy Laddie" variant? What is this, my birthday? Where do I sign?
20) "God," Seven Nations, Seven Nations I have never heard a song wrecked like the hatchet job they did on this one. I first heard it on WEBK Vermont, back when they were the best radio station on the planet. Once I got over being blown away and got my pulse rate back down to baseline, I began wishing everyone could hear this track, knowing that they'd love it. And then, a few months later, I heard it on a major college rock station—with a new remix that made it sounds like a Limp Bizkit outtake, complete with a talent-impaired frat boy yelping, "Up to me!" at regular intervals. *shudder* Success isn't worth that, people. The original still rocks, though.
19) "Fionnghala," The Bothy Band, Best of the Bothy Band Everybody and his probation officer has done this one by now, but that's only because the bothies did it first, and better. It's what mouth music should be: angular, dramatic, almost uncanny. Sing along, kids!
18) "Jig of Life," Kate Bush, Hounds of Love The one item on this list that is best appreciated in the context of the full album. Kate has done a number of songs that would qualify for this list ("The Red Shoes" came damned close), but Hounds of Love is one of the greatest albums every recorded, and this song, with her dad on dramatic recitation, is a sizable portion of the reason why.
17) "Cuckoo's Nest," Morris On, Morris On Morris On is one of the weirder one-off projects in that whole 70's Anglo-folk-rock movement, one that alcohol almost certainly had something to do with. Here, they take one of the naughtier songs of the canon, and give it the almost bluesy bump-and-grind that it so richly deserves. Pure sex.
16) "Pastures of Plenty," Solas, Reunion: A Decade of Solas Obscenely talented and chemistry-ridden Irish band, meet Woody Guthrie. Woody, meet obscenely talented and chemistry-ridden Irish band. You would not believe how well they get along. I first heard this one on Thistle and Shamrock, and had to pull over to avoid driving off the damn road.
15) "Tir An Airm," Runrig, Recovery I feel a bit guilty on this one, because unlike much of Recovery, this track is more straight-up stadium anthem rock than bagpipe-influenced rock. But I tell ya, one listen, and you'll want to go find a British invading army for the sole purpose of rebelling against them. If Braveheart took place in the 1980's, they'd be listening to this.
14) "Oxford Girl," The Oyster Band, Wild Blue Yonder In the British Isles, and Scotland especially, there is a tradition known as the "incest ballad," wherein brother knocks up sister, brother kills sister to save face, brother begs mother to protect him, which mother does. Ahem, no. (See Boiled in Lead's "Son Oh Son" for a slightly more realistic version.) The Oyster Band did something novel by telling the story from the poor sister's point of view, and made it rock in the process. Remind me to cover this one in concert.
13) "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," Richard Thompson, Rumour and Sigh Try and look surprised. Thompson was trying to create nothing more or less than a traditional-style death ballad in contemporary clothes. What he ended up with is (a) the closest thing he ever had to a hit, (b) a song that trumps the very works he was attempting to honor, and (c) the line, "Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme," which alone is enough to earn real astate on this list.
12) "Alison Gross," Steeleye Span, Parcel of Rogues Steeleye Span has a sizable cult surrounding them, and always had. My feelings for them are a tad more complicated. For years, I've said that they recorded about a dozen songs that, had they been on the same album, it would have been one of the truly greatest folk-rock records ever made; unfortunately, it took them nine years to records those dozen songs. This one, however, would definitely be one of those dozen, a tune that choogles so hard you don't even notice that they don't have a drummer. And that's even before the sinister speaker-blowout distortion at the end.
11) "Hay Wrap," The Saw Doctors, All the Way from Tuam When I left my radio show in 1993, this is the song I used to fill my last few minutes on the air, and when I went to give my LJ a title a decade later, I grabbed it from this song's lyrics. A foot-stomping, ass-kicking, roll-down-the-car-windows-and-scream-along battle axe from a band that you just know throws better parties than you do. Get that wasp off my sandwich!
10) "Bedlam Boys / Rights of Man," Old Blind Dogs, New Tricks I have the feeling that the future of Scottish traditional music is in the hands of Old Blind Dogs, a band that is reverent enough to put every ounce of their heritage behind what they do, and yet innovative enough to almost convince you that conga drums have always been used out on the moors. I've heard at least a half-dozen versions of this song in my day, and almost invariably it's the best song on whatever album it's on. And among all those versions, this one's hands down the best.
9) "Gypsy Davey," Fotheringay, Fotheringay Half-dozen versions, nothing—I've lost count of the number of versions of "Gypsy Laddie" / "Raggle-Taggle Gypsies" / "Black Jack Davy" / "Gypsy Rover" / etc. etc. etc. I've encountered over the years. Some are great, some are okay, some are wretched, but only one has Sandy Denny's soaring crystalline voice suspended miles over a rhythm section keeping the song aloft by sheer force of will. I mourn Sandy's passing often, but seldom more than when I'm listening to this song.
8) "Annie," Slainte M'hath, VA Oh, hell, yes. I received this one from both
nonethewiser and zarhooie, completely independently and two weeks apart from each other. There's something about the Canadian acts that intuitively knows that intersection between folk and rock inside-out, and here the band uses that knowledge to layer sampling with funky guitar, with Uillean pipes with the kitchen sink, creating something worth waking up the neighbors with. This is how I gave up my caffeine habit right here.7) "Turkish Song of the Damned," The Pogues, If I Should Fall From Grace With God I've seen the following procedure take place more than once. One: A friend is forced to listen to this song. Two: Said friend falls over. Three: "Bottle of Smoke," the follow-up on the album, plays about halfway through. Four: Said friend leaps up, runs out and buys the CD. (And that's before they even get to "Fairytale of New York.") Every time I run into some pipsqueak who admirably says he's totally into the whole Dropflog Molphy thing and yet has somehow never heard of the Pogues, I want to kick them square in the toolbag.
6) "Fisherman's Blues," The Waterboys, Fisherman's Blues My God, has there ever been a more joyous song? The Waterboys started out as a brassy blues and soul-type outfit sorta, so their detour into Celtic folk-rock could be seen as a quirky phase that Mike Scott was going through. But you'd never know it listening to this. It's happiness and good will molded into the shape of a song, and nothing less.
5) "My Son John," Boiled in Lead, From the Ladle to the Grave A sonic kick in the teeth. An electrical storm on a English battlefield. A mosh pit on the third rail. A Tasmanian devil built out of saxophones and feedback. You may think you're ready, but I assure you, you're not. Not even close.
4) "Jesuitmont," Kornog, Premiére For sheer musicianship, this one beats any and all comers. Kornog was a Breton outfit with a Scottish lead singer, which alone makes for somewhat strange bedfellows. But then they bring to the table a willingness to play with convention and an astonishing amount of talent and technical skill, and all of a sudden there's no one left standing. On this track, there's not a single note out of place, impressive under normal situations, until you realize that they're careening in and out of 7/8 time at will and doing it with a live audience. Just...damn.
3) "The Boys and the Babies," The Drovers, World of Monsters Of all the bits of good fortune I've been graced in my life as a music lover, I am especially grateful for the dozen or so times I got to see the Drovers live between 1991 and 1993, the best stage act I have ever, ever encountered. This is the act and the album I've gotten more people hooked on than any other bit of media evangelism I've ever pursued. I had to narrow it down from a good four or five tracks from the CD, but I think I've chosen the right one, if only for that moment when the band's jamming has reduced itself to rubble, and out of nowhere comes that perfect fiddle tune....
2) "Queen of Argyll," Silly Wizard, Kiss the Tears Away How awesome is this song? In 1992, I put it on a mix for my metalhead sister, and it instantly and singlehandedly turned her into a Celtic folk fan. Do I need to go on?
1) "A Sailor's Life," Fairport Convention, Unhalfbricking The gold standard of English folk-rock. I'm not going to mince words: Late 60's-era Fairport Convention is the greatest band ever, Unhalfbricking is the greatest album, and "A Sailor's Life" is the greatest song. End of sentence, full stop, no qualifiers necessary. Liege and Lief may be the album that made the genre truly explode, but it all started here. It's eleven minutes plus of pure perfection, recorded live in the studio in a single flawless, energetic take. In music, I seek out "perfect moments," those few seconds when the whole becomes so much greater than the sum of its parts, and we need a moment to catch our breath and our emotions and try to absorb what just happened. Most bands are lucky to pull off just one perfect moment in their careers. "A Sailor's Life" contains four. A decade and a half and a thousand listenings later, I am still in awe.
Honorable mention: Rare Air, the Battlefield Band, Davy Spillane. And I forgot the #%&@* Strawbs! Dammit!
Feel free to discuss.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-13 09:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-12-13 11:37 pm (UTC)I will mention that "Turkish Song of the Damned" was my introduction to the Pogues, on a tape that Kathy Litherland made for me (along with a bunch of weird '80s alternativity), and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Rocked-up jigs & reels I'd heard from the Oysters, Steeleye Span, and the Saw Doctors, but the way the Pogues combined Celtic rock with middle-eastern influences and creepy supernatural fear is like nothing else in the world.
I was thinking your list might make a good mix, but upon reflection I believe these songs work better dropped strategically onto mixes with other stuff. Every mope-fest track needs to be followed by a high-stepping kick to the teeth.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 12:06 am (UTC)By the way, I still have the Anna Livia Plurabelle cassette mix I did just before I skipped out of Illinois, except it's a second-generation copy that I'd burned for a friend and borrowed back after the original died, and the first two-and-a-half tracks were scrubbed clean by another friend who didn't quite know how to use her friend's stereo to copy tapes correctly. But it still exists.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-13 11:40 pm (UTC)"The Clancy Brothers."
Without them, a lot of this does not happen. (I have CDs you can borrow)
But ya got the Dropkicks in there.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 12:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 12:40 am (UTC)I just finished listening to Liam Clancy's autobiography.
The Glens Falls library has it.
Great stuff!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 12:32 am (UTC)Jethro Tull! (Songs From the Wood, Ring out Solstice Bells!, Velvet Green
The Irish Weepie I posted on my lj very recently! (aka One Starry Night) (His name is Jimmy, not sure of the last)!
Davey Spillane! (Yes, he does cool stuff other than Riverdance)
The Pogues! (Rum Sodomy And The Lash)
Mitchell Trio (Whiskey In The Jar) NOT Metallicrap
ANYTHING OFF THE FIRST AND LIVE ALBUM BY THE DROVERS!
Waterboys- The Child
THE ENTIRE SECOND SIDE OF HOUNDS OF LOVE. Jig of Life in particular:D. I agree there.
May It Be from Lord of the Rings.
Watermark-Enya
That's all I can think of at the moment, pardon the enthusiam:D
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 01:03 am (UTC)I *love* this song. Heck, I love just about anything she does. Have you heard her version of "The Highwayman"? Yummy.
Oh, and I like to listen to Enya, thankyouverymuch. But, I also listen to Anuna, Celtic Woman, The Chieftains, Natalie Macmaster, Clannad, and -- to a lesser extent -- Blackmore's Night and the aforementioned Loreena McKennitt. Can I keep my celtic cred card? :)
BTW: A collection of THIS sorta stuff would be awesome in ways I can't contemplate. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 09:34 am (UTC)I like "If I had Maggie in the Woods" by the Chieftains (on their album "The Chieftains in China") - 5 minutes of lively instrumental to 4 lines of bawdy husky-voiced simplicity.
I like Steeleye Span, but am not enamored of Alison Gross... "Fighting for Strangers" is the one that haunts me.
No Heather Alexander? Fairy-Queen, Creature of the Wood...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 02:28 pm (UTC)Long before Gaelic Storm ever set foot on a sound stage to do Titanic - and more so before they made their first recording....they were this pub band - a little rusty around the edges, but with awesome potential. And they did a couple of numbers that had everyone paying attention without fail - particularly that of a much younger red-headed lass who's particularly interested in dragons and later learned to play the violin. ;)
The first was a song called Red Haired Mary. They never recorded it. I'm told there's a story about that and why they don't play it - I don't know how *true* the story is...particularly given that said story involves said red-headed lass above.
The second was Mari-Mac (Or Mary Mack). Honestly? In this song's case, it wasn't so much a group effort as Steve W. singing solo to his bodhran - but damn. That particular rendition of it has thereby skewed how I hear other renditions of it. So when I heard GBS had a recording of it, of course I went to listen to it - but it just wasn't quite...right...for me.
Oh...and you're not the only one who hasn't jumped on the GBS is the super shiniest thing around boat. I like them. They're a good group - and they are most certainly musicians first, which I absolutely respect. But it's not a group I'm going to go all fan-girly over...like say...if Natalie MacMaster or Eileen Ivers were to roll into town, I'd be falling all over myself to try and get tickets (and pout pathetically if I couldn't)....
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 02:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 02:58 pm (UTC)...or at least send me a disk with the music files. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 03:55 pm (UTC)http://www.phui.com/cm/
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-14 11:47 pm (UTC)Kahol is an Israeli band that does rock/Celtic music with middle eastern influences. "Jenny Dang the Weaver" is my favorite track on their album The Celtic Camel.
A one minute sample can be found here.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 01:21 pm (UTC)Their version of Clothes of Sand is really good too.