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  Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Celtic Music (World Music Network 1155 CD, 2005)
Most folks know by now that "Celtic" and "Irish" are not synonymous. Still, it
doesn't hurt to get an occasional reminder that ancient Celt tribes settled all
over Europe, establishing a culture that paved the way toward the Celtic music
that has become so well known. This Rough Guide includes sounds from Canada,
Spain, France, Scotland, the USA, Wales and, oh yes, Ireland. Quite a sharp
selection it is, rife with artists who embrace tradition as well as those who
nudge it just a bit and those who really take it and run with it. Ireland's
Kila and Scotland's
Capercaillie, for example, have long specialized in spurring Celtic
foundations along with added global textures and grooves, and both have solidly
representative tracks here. Likewise,
Shooglenifty (also from Scotland), Galicia's
Mercedes Peón and sprightly Cape Breton fiddler
Natalie MacMaster show how effectively varying degrees of modern electronic
textures can judiciously be thrown in.
More along purist lines are pieces by
Llan
de Cubel,
Bohola,
Niamh
Parsons (with an a capella song guaranteed to make the world around you
stand still) and relative newcomers
Flook,
but everything here is really quite good. With some strains of Celtic music
having reached and seemingly passed something of a trend-fueled saturation point
on the global scene, it's still refreshing to revisit how uniquely satisfying
the wider-ranging sound of it can be. Whether this disc comes across like a new
revelation or an old friend, it's consistently pleasing.
[Buy
The Rough Guide to Celtic Music].
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