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$13.50
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ARTIST
TITLE
Urstan
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
DC 498CD DC 498CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
3/27/2012

"The Gaels of Scotland are a Celtic people, related to the people of Ireland, the Isle of Man and, more distantly, to the people of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany in France; they share cultural and linguistic similarities with them all. As with their Celtic neighbors, the Gaels are the keepers of an ancient and noble folk tradition, one which the American folklorist Alan Lomax referred to (in a letter to the Scottish poet Hamish Henderson) as 'the finest flower of Western Europe.' The Scottish Gaelic tradition is incredibly diverse for such a small country -- each area, each island, has its own repertoire of songs and tales and many towns and villages formerly had their own 'bards' and storytellers. The combined efforts of these talented young singers and musicians transcend the density of explication here -- this is no po-faced unearthing of dusty old songs! Rather, Urstan presents a spirited and innovative musical re-imaging of a number of classic traditional Gaelic and Scottish numbers and one original tune each from Mairi and Ali. There's fastidious notes included in both Gaelic and English, but the compulsive rhythms and moods conjured by the band will leave you little time to read while the music plays -- Urstan is a physically absorbing experience, filled to abundance with color and the love of life. And so to Mairi and Alasdair and the band, we say -- Urstan!"