Six pipes, three drummers, a bassist and a massive wall of sound are what Latvian band Auļi offer, and this album shows the band collaborating with a score of modern musicians updating a powerful ethnic sound. According to the Bandcamp site, “this album is dedicated to the Latvian masquerade traditions in winter. Starting from the Winter Solstice and ending with Meteņi.”
A big and hearty thanks goes out to my dear friend and brother in music, Hubert, for turning me on to this album. Brìghde Chaimbeul plays smallpipes, a wonderful instrument criminally neglected in comparison to its more famous cousin, the Highland pipes. These smallpipes have a more ethereal sound to them, and in the hands of a master piper like Brìghde, they sound as elegant as any orchestral instrument.
Tündra are a massively interesting bands from La Rioja, Spain, mainly famous for its red wine and its location on the Camiño de Santiago. The music shows traditional Iberian and Celtic roots, and one can hear influences from bands like Milladoiro and Dead Can Dance in pieces here and there. It’s a stunningly good album.
Galicia is a land of gaiteros and gaiteras, bagpipers of fine quality. Susana Seivane is one of the best of the newer generation, and she brings a raw, almost punk-like power to her performances. This album is a more subdued affair, but she plays so well that the more controlled atmosphere does her music a service.
Our friends at Tejo Milenario have introduced us to yet another one of their brilliant band and we are expecting to highlight quite a few more as the weeks pass by! Albaluna are a project from Portugal whose stage performances blend together music, poetry and dance, combining cultures of the Silk Road into one well-woven tapestry. The music is a mix of electronic progressive music, pure folk forms from the Mediterranean, North Africa and even hints of Chinese music. They literally sound like they are able to vacuum a genre of music and easily mix it into their palette. They…
Seirios Savvaidis is a Greek singer and songwriter who brings a raw, ancient sound to his brand of folk music. One can hear not only his acoustic guitar, but also bagpipes, bouzouki, percussions, electric guitar, accordion, synths, and polyphonic ensembles. The music is dense, rich, and harkens back to a hazy, mystical era in Greek history. A really impressive album. This will appeal to fans of the Japanese band Ghost, Krautrock like Popol Vuh and perhaps to those who like Current 93 as well.