BAGAS DEGOL: Tonight We're Going To Party Like It's 1399

Bagas Degol

Tonight We're Going To Party Like It's 1399

© 2004 Bagas Degol (634479087318)

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Modern Cornish Folk music from the Celtic region of Cornwall - bagpipe and dub powered fusion from a trio blending traditional tunes and modern rhythms. As played on Andy Kershaw's BBC Radio 3 show.

notes

"A trio spearheading a vibrant musical movement to fuse the traditions of Cornish culture with modern rhythms."

From Penzance in the far west of Cornwall, BAGAS DEGOL has a fast growing reputation on the Cornish music and dance scene with their distinctive style of traditional music delivered with a powerful, raw edge. Their name in Cornish means 'Feast Day Band' in recognition of the occasion for which they originally came together - to accompany the famous Tom Bawcock's Eve lantern procession in Mousehole.


The band now has a broad, forceful and energetic repertoire spanning the 12th to 20th centuries, with music sourced in the main from their native Cornwall, but also drawing on dance traditions from across Europe. Original arrangements and skilful harmonies give the band their unique sound and invest new life into old favourites. Bagas Degol play stirring themes for processional events and driving dance sets.


The band is Rick Williams (clarinet), David Twomlow (bag pipes and soprano saxophone), and Dave Trahair (tabor drum and percussion).

"This is an exotic blend of traditional Cornish and Breton tunes with some subtle modern undertones.

It's been said that the 14th century was one of the worst to have lived in, but if it laid down the foundations for this album it can't have been all bad. The key to all of the tracks on the album is their dancability and there's not one that doesn't encourage movement.

This is not just an album of soundscapes and landscapes. A number of the songs conjour images of maidens being danced around the village, in and out of houses, around the in and to the stone circle, as part of a local fertility rite.

The core of the tune is generally weaved by tabor drums and bagpipes. Warped around those are the more modern instruments of clarinet and sax. Add in a few samples and dubs to build in the occasional change in the pattern and you've found a common theme.

Cornish and Breton come out of a similar Celtic tradition that holds it apart from it's better known neighbours. That comes through when you pick up the very subtle French undercurrents to some of the tracks. It sort of flits into your mind and leaves again. There was also one bizarre moment where I thought I was being drawn into a West Country war of the worlds, strange.

There seems to be something of a buzz about Cornish music at the moment. Slowly but surely it's making it's way eastwards. Bagas Degol are in a position to lead that march out of the county in the same way that they have lead marches within it.

There are few albums that cover over six hundred years of music, fewer still that do it so well. Bagas Degol have delivered an album for which they can take much kudos. Kernow knows how to party be it 1399 or 2004".

...............

"My castaway today writes for the popular Living Cornwall section of the Western Morning News…. What is your first record?

Well Sue, it’s difficult to distill a lifetime’s listening into just eight Desert Island Discs, but here goes… couldn’t live without The Ramones or the Velvet Underground or Attila Lorinsky, but what about Run DMC, Sam Cooke, Sir Malcolm Arnold and Hen’s Teeth?

Hang on, what’s this? The debut album from Cornish dance trio Bagas Degol. Slap it on the deck Ms Lawley…

This is a real gem. Bagas Degol, a three piece from West Penwith have taken the revolutionary step of fusing traditional Cornish tootlings with deep dub reggae to create a sound quite unlike any other. Entitled Party Like It’s 1399 – a skit on a 1980’s Prince number, this album of thirteen tracks is nothing short of a revelation, and gives new meaning to the concept of world music.

For some years Bagas Degol have provided a set of Cornish and medieval tunes to lead processions for a variety of events including festivals, community pageants, torch lit parades and feast day celebrations.

But anyone who knows the band – Rick Williams on clarinet, David Twomlow on bagpipes and soprano saxophone, and David Trahair on tabor drum and percussion – may be very surprised by their latest offering. Ancient Cornish and Breton tunes from as far back as the 12th century have been imaginatively woven into a soundscape of dub reggae, sampled voice-overs in English and Kernewek, and “found sounds”.

Om some tracks the instrumentals are complimented by the soaring vocals of Hilary Coleman and Bec Applebee, while the diversity of samples appears to include the eerie wail of Tater Du lighthouse.

Titles like Bodmin Dubbing, The Rolling Sea, Dub an Avon, Plethen Newlyn, Saltash Dubbing and A Pyth Yw Dub give an idea of the breadth of their inspiration. Rarely in recent years has a sound so deserved a wider hearing.

The man responsible for this aural assault is multi talented instrumentalist Rick Williams, from Newlyn. A musician who has bought an innovative approach to a number of musical ventures over the years, his imagination has gone into overdrive for Party like it’s 1399.

This is a mighty piece of work: melodically beautiful, chockfull of humour, joyful, celebratory, hypnotic, and with glorious passages of repetitive phrases and rhythms.

Bagas Degol – which translates as feast day band – originally came together to accompany the Tom Bawcock’s Eve lantern procession in Mousehole. They have quickly become a popular feature of festival processions, as well as providing ceremonial music for formal occasions, weddings and funerals. The band now has a broad, forceful and energetic repertoire spanning the 12th to 21st centuries, with music sourced in the main from Cornwall, but also drawing on dance tradition from across Europe. Offering an exuberant repertoire of dance music from the traditions of Cornwall, the British Isles and Northern Europe, they are one of the most popular Noze Looan dance bands around.

And with the release of this CD, their idiosyncratic sound deserves to attract a following far beyond the bounds of Cornwall.

…… Sorry Sue, I got a bit distracted there. What’s that? Oh the Bible, Shakespeare and the complete works of Charles Lee. A Luxury? How about someone to dance with?"

(Simon Parker - Western Morning News - Living Cornwall)

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  • author: the Jax

    Another attempt at getting my boyfriend new indie music for xmas. We both enjoy Celtic music and some dub-crossover stuff (like the Dub Side of the Moon). He likes this one too, and it was a big hit when he played it at the office! At first glance Bagas Degol looks like a very odd fusion project, but is a classic example of how combining two separate musical traditions results in a fresh new sound that everybody digs. Very cool; try it if you are at all interested in Celtic, dub, folk, or just chilling out & having fun.

  • Addictive Cornish folk dub
    author: Francis

    This CD is genius, there's nothing like it. Must have listened to it a hundred times and still love it.

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