Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Where The One-eyed Man Is King
© 2007 Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (634479534102)
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A quirky 10 track cd of funky music from one of Ireland's most creative fiddlers, featuring new multilayered compositions as well as traditional tunes transformed with cool crosstunings and soundscapes.
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"it's like if you untangled an irish session and hung up the choicest
bits each in front of its own glowing christmas light and viewed
through 3D glasses made of paper and cellophane." [ Kristin Andreassen ]
This short CD consists of 10 quirky tracks: six brand spanking new pieces from his own imagination, alongside four novel interpretations of traditional tunes.
Some tracks, like 'Fead an Iolar' and 'Dún do Shúil', are straightforward - they feature Caoimhín playing solo hardanger fiddle, using weird and wonderful crosstunings to create a new ambience for these old tunes. 'The Old Waltz' and 'Wild Goose Chase' find him creating a new approach to presenting traditional tune forms, with a sense of soundscape and beauty. Other tracks, like 'its all about the rhythm of her toes' and 'the mole man of hackney', are multilayered creations of madness, a quirky and fun stereo abstraction.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is regarded as one of the most exciting and creative musicians in traditional music. His album 'Kitty Lie Over' with uilleann piper Mick O'Brien was named #1 Traditional Album of 2003 by Earle Hitchner in the Irish Echo. He has recorded, performed and collaborated with the likes of Iarla Ó Lionáird, The Waterboys, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Breanndán Begley. He performs happily in many combinations all over the planet.
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Top stuff
author: Gordon Wilsonnot many cds make you want me want to just stick them on again when theyve finished. Saw him play in Glasgow a while ago, Kitty Lie over tunes are some of best irish music Ive heard, but solo slow air (not even tempered) enjoyed even more I think, never heard better fiddle. This cd comes as no surprise
Enchanting....
author: Erin M. JonesI found you on MySpace. Listening to "The Bright and Shining" takes me straight to my Irish roots . Do you ever play in the states? I love the entire C.D. . Will be back for more.
Sublime
author: BelindaBrilliant! If I were a film maker, this would be my muse!
astral centuries
author: Kevin McAleerI heard 'Siochain' on the radio and just had to have the cd. This is dreamtime music, a pure breath of fresh air, an open fire in slow motion, what a gift, thank you
a truly new direction for traditional irish music
author: Brian Millerartists who experiment with blending traditional irish music with contemporary musical genres seem to usually tend toward a combo of trad with bad rock or simplified jazz. this is entirely different. irish music has provided the inspiration here for thoughtful and whimsical art music with a sort of young indie-rock type aesthetic that is very, very cool, ... to me anyway.
a magic bow
author: robert shanahanyes it is inventive but good traditional music is all true musicians add to the tradition this makes it live and reamain relative to the people of its day and caoimhin o' raghallaigh surely delights its beating heart he is a musician of outstanding vision which fortune he can play his playing is at once thrilling and dreamlike traditional soundscapes for this unsettled world a magic bow
All the way into your HEART he goes
author: carhyI was kicking around on myspace when I turned over A man who can talk to your soul with his fiddle.
Rich, imaginative, playful music with a stamp of individuality!
author: Tony CunninghamO Raghallaigh, the master Irish fiddler, stretches his wings on this one. Each piece is a thing unto itself. You can tell they all come from the same imaginative mind, but you can't quite say how you know it. You could use a whole lot of good adjectives about these pieces - rich, haunting, quirky, playful, inventive, surprising, charming, captivating...ok, that's enough adjectives for one review. Wahoo!
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh plays hauntingly, joyfully beautiful music.
author: Bronwyn KellyCaoimhín Ó Raghallaigh's Where the One-Eyed Man is King is one of the most refreshing CDs I've listened to in many years. He brings traditional sounds into a modern, and often quirky, light and makes them accessible to a whole new audience. This CD proves that it is possible to maintain tradition without losing innovation or creativity. Both haunting and cheerful (occasionally at the same time!) Where the One-Eyed Man is King is well worth the price of admission!
- author: Tamara at CD Baby
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is not your typical Irish fiddler nor does he have a standard vision for his instrument. Removing the fiddle from its traditional role as a folk vessel and letting it speak purely in texture, atmosphere and timeless, motivic layers, conversing as a quality and as a color in a way that beautifully throws off its ancestry and stereotype, it is clear that Caoimhín hears a world unexplored and awaiting, somewhere between the lines of traditional music and sound collage. The Irish Times defined him as “inhabiting the eccentric fringe of Irish music,” and while seeds of traditional music are certainly budding within these ten striking tracks, his eyes and ears are looking further into the distance, almost seeming to musically illustrate the mist that mysteriously obscures the heather-dotted hills trying to emerge and be seen from behind. Sometimes soloing on hardanger fiddle, using crosstunings and layering his performances with juxtaposed styles and emotions, tapping into harmonics and extended techniques, this man truly pokes at the imagination, stirring a real awakening to the voice of the fiddle and its potential in Irish music of today. Where The One-eyed Man Is King features fiddle not just as a driver of reels and jigs but with an ability to command context and atmosphere, as much as a guitar or the Irish landscape itself can.