The Fuzztones "Monster A-Go-Go" 1992💀💀💀💀💀

Oops! It nearly passed by me. I had prepared another post for tonight, but that would not do! I can't not acknowledge Halloween! Even though, as a child growing up in Greece, Halloween meant nothing to me except maybe the name of a movie I wasn't allowed to see. Kids (adults, too) masquerade and party wildly during the Apokries carnival season, but that witches-and-pumpkins stuff? Total American nonsense! (though Irish in origin, as it seems to have its roots in the Celtic pagan feast of Samhain.) Fun nonsense nevertheless and, as with other irresistible American inventions, we were swept away in the early 90's even if we weren't little kids anymore. Filmmakers like Tim Burton and rockers like Rudi Protrudi had a lot to do with it.

Not that Rudi was among the first to sing horror-themed rock'n'roll: there's a great tradition from the childish "monster" songs of Bobby Picket to English lunatic rocker Screaming Lord Sutch - the British have an unhealthy obsession with horror, ever visited the London Dungeon? But nobody delves into the Halloween spirit as deeply and gleefully as Rudi and his Fuzztones. They've been covering (and writing) "horror" rock since they began, so it was only a matter of time until they made the ultimate Halloween album. It was only released in the U.S. and Canada, but I was lucky enough to get one of the original orange vinyl copies, to which I later added the CD I got as part of the Psychorama Box Set. As Rudi says on the cover, his goal was to do for Halloween what Phil Spector did for that other holiday. He even closes his album with a parody of Spector's narration at the closing of his Christmas album. Being even more of a perfectionist than Spector, though, Rudi also designed and drew the album cover himself. For the LP he chose 13 (naturally) songs, some of which have been in the Fuzztones' repertory for quite some time. Here they are re-recorded for maximum campness, with even spookier organ, and a cornucopia of special effects: creaking coffins, thunderstorms, howling wolves, rattling chains, the works... Screams? Need you ask? The album opens with a radio announcement carrying some "tragic local news...a young girl has been found dead at Hyde Park. The body has been badly mutilated. Because of these murders police requests that all women stay inside their homes after dark"...and, of course, The 'Tones launch into their hi-energy garage punk cover of Sutch's "Jack The Ripper", followed by another monsterpiece of his, "All Black and Hairy". Rudi's psychedelic ballad "Charlotte's Remains" is introduced with a wailing musical saw and features his best "sensual" slow vocal and Doors-y keyboards. "Dinner With Drac" is the cover of a 50's R'n'R novelty, followed by "The Night Of The Phantom" by Larry & The Bluenotes. Originally called "Night Of The Sadist", the producer thought it'd never get played on the radio and had Larry and the band overdub themselves on the studio. The censored title is more Halloween-y, though, so Rudi kept it. 

CD cover art

Original LP and back cover art

Then, of course, what is a Fuzztones album without a Sonics cover? Here they choose "The Witch" as most appropriate, delivering a fast punk-rock version with lots of screaming vocals. "Happy Halloween" is a fun and festive song introducing all the stars of the holiday. Side 2 opens with Bloodrock's "D.O.A" a ghostly heavy psych song from '71 and continues with the 'Tones own garage stomper "Cellar Dweller", and rockin' romps through Round Robin's R&B classick "I'm The Wolf Man" and "Goin' To  Graveyard" (the latter is attributed to Carroll, Hill & Burton, but I couldn't find who sang on the original). We also get a slow sensual take on Kip Tyler's exotica/rockabilly "She's My Witch", and the LP closes with Roky Erickson's "Night Of The Vampire", all imposing organ and ghostly vocals. Roky is different to the other songwriters here as he wasn't just innocently playing with horror, but was actually living through it (incarceration, electro-shock therapy, terrible psychedelic trips) and channelled his experiences into his songs. The CD adds a cover of The Driving Stupid's surrealistic "Horror Asparagus Stories" and Rudi's Halloween message. All in all, The Fuzztones can be credited with producing the perfect Halloween party album: the band are rocking hard, audibly having a great time playing and sending good-time silly vibes all around the place. It's perfect for your Halloween party - and, saving the best for last, it has just been re-released on vinyl in time for Halloween 2016. It's a limited edition of 500 copies, so hurry up if you want to grab one "in your grimy little claws", as Rudi would put it. It's a 5-skull album, all the way!

***** for Jack The Ripper, Night Of The Phantom

**** for All Black And Hairy, Charlotte's Remains, Happy Halloween, Cellar Dweller, The Witch, She's My Witch, Goin' To A Graveyard, Night Of The Vampire, Horror Asparagus Stories

*** for Dinner With Drac,I'm The Wolfman

** for D.O.A.

Bakerloo "Bakerloo" 1969****

I had stumbled across the (sole) Bakerloo album several times and entertained the idea of buying it because of its cover. It's an engraving of what initially appears to be a battle scene but reveals itself as some short of industrial accident - possibly on the worksite of the Bakerloo (Baker street-Waterloo) underground line in the late 19th century. It makes me think of how many wokers lost their lives to build the train stations, roads, stadiums and common facilities we use each day, and how I've never seen a commemorative plaque to them. In Greece every public building from the grandest concert hall to the tiniest playground has a plaque saying it was built during the administration of Mayor X or Minister Y, as if they had built them with their bare hands or, for that matter, paid for out of their own pockets. No such distinction for those who actually did the work.

But, of course the cover alone (usually) isn't reason enough to buy an album. I bought it when I saw who the guitarist of this band was: I've always considered Dave "Clem" Clempson to be one of the great unsung heroes of the electric guitar. He's done great work with Colosseum and Humble Pie and could have replaced Blackmore as Deep Purple guitarist in '75 - a job that went to Tommy Bolin instead because Clempson didn't want to mimic Blackmore's style. At first I thought that he probably wasn't fast enough, but "Bakerloo" proves me wrong. He was only 19 when he made this album but he totally shreds from the opening minutes of "Big Bear Ffolly", a double-time jazz instrumental with supersonic guitar that reminds me of Ten Years After's Alvin Lee. Drummer Keith Baker and (especially) bassist Terry Poole prove themselves equally good. The power trio format was all the rage back then, with Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream and Groundhogs some of the top examples. Like those groups, Bakerloo played a mix of blues, hard rock and psychedelia. "Bring It On Home" is a great Willie Dixon blues with prominent harmonica. Led Zeppelin covered that same song on "II", released the very same year - incidentally, Bakerloo were the support band on Zeppelin's very first show. "Drivin' Bachwards" (notice the pun) is their take on Bach's Bourrée in E minor, covered (also later in the same year) by Jethro Tull. It is a natural and effortless mix of classical music and rock, one of the first of its kind. "Last Blues" is a wonderful psychedelic ballad, interrupted by a hard rock middle section with fast solos. It's followed by "Gang Bang" a hard rock instrumental with a lengthy drum solo, kind of like Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" - now that I think of it also released in '69, a few months after Bakerloo. Coincidence or what? "This Worried Feeling" is another excellent blues ballad, reminiscent of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. "Son Of Moonshine" is a 15-minute heavy blues jam. Mostly improvised and recorded live in one take, it shows great ingenuity on behalf of the players and chemistry between them. It used to close the album, but the CD is augmented by two further tracks, the psychedelic Cream-style "Once Upon A Time" and an alternate take on "Worried Feeling". On a whole, Bakerloo is an excellent album - among the best in its style, but of its time and not individual enough to really earn the distinction of a classic. It's mostly worth for Clempson's great guitar work. He would later be invited to join Colosseum and Humble Pie. Poole and Baker would form May Blitz, after which Poole played with the band Vinegar Joe and Graham Bond before he left music for a career as a...croupier at casinos. Baker joined Supertramp and Uriah Heep for a while. Heavy metal fans may be interested to learn that his predecessors in Bakerloo's drum stool (not playing on this album) included John Hinch (original drummer of Judas Priest) and Bill Ward (of Black Sabbath, of course). Sabbath, Priest and Heap drummers who played in the same 60's blues band - I sense a very difficult music trivial pursuit question here, and the only ones who can answer it are you, my readers. You're welcome!

***** for This Worried Feeling

**** for Bring It On Home, Drivin' Bachwards, Last Blues, Once Upon A Time, This Worried Feeling (alternative take)

*** for Big Bear Ffolly, Gang Bang, Son Of Moonshine

Vienna record shops

If only one city could claim to be the city of music that would certainly be Vienna. After hosting so many great composers (from Mozart to Beethoven, Schubert and the Strauss dynasty), classical music lives in every Viennese's DNA - which may explain why pop/rock music hasn't found such a fertile ground here: the only internationally known Austrian pop artist I can honestly think of is Falco. I spent a few days discovering the city sometime ago - drink great coffee in its famous cafes, visit the world's oldest amusement park, taste the most famous schnitzels and, as always, browse at the record shops. Thankfully there are a lot of them still standing, and all in walking distance from the center. I'll start with the one you may have already seen even if you don't know it:

Teuchtler Records (Windmuhlgasse 10) is featured in the cult romantic film "Before Sunrise", a favourite of mine which I've been meaning to watch again hoping I'll now recognize some of the scenery. Teuchtler may be a bit messy and chaotic (qualities not usually associated with Vienna) but that just adds to the atmosphere. So it'll take some searching but you're bound to find something good and cheap, and the staff is really helpful and friendly so you won't regret the time you spent there. Here you'll find both classical and pop/rock CD's and vinyl records for €4-10. Just round the corner on Capistrangasse 3, you'll find Scout Records. Also a bit messy, and rather more expensive (CD's €4-15, LPs mostly €15-25, some offers €1-3). You'll find Classical music, German language music, mainstream pop/rock as well as some rare Psych and Prog and many singles. If you feel like something more well-ordered take the Maria Hilferstrasse shopping street and head for the Saturn electronic chain store. There's a big variety of new (did I mention the previous shops sold mostly 2nd hand stuff?) CD's for €5-18 and LP's €20+. I keep getting surprised with the constantly growing LP section in mainstream shops now. Just a few years earlier vinyl had almost disappeared and now it occupies almost 50% of the shop's surface.

Next up is Recordbag, near the Neubaugasse metro station (Kollergerngasse 4). Its motto is "music and fashion", and you'll indeed find many music-related T-shirts and other stuff. Good selection of new CD's (€13-20) and LP's (€17-30), mostly in alternative/indie rock. Still in the neighborhood (Richtergasse 6) there's Das LoKal, a non-profit cafe/2nd hand store with a good music selection. Many pop & rock CD's on offer for €4, lots of jazz (€5-10) and LP's (€5-15). 

Substance, a bit further north (Westbahnstrasse 16), is a large independent record store selling in equal measure LP's (new around €20, used €6-20) and CD's (€10-20). It has a big variety in indie rock, new wave and electronica, slightly less on classic rock, jazz and world music. If you return on the Neubaugasse and keep going north (left), you'll see on no. 51 a wooden facade. It is the entrance to Black Monk Records, a small but well-stocked shop for vinyl (and a few CD's, mostly around €10). You'll find many cult items, including rare reissues of everything from Kraut Rock to Turkish psych, jazz, Afrobeat etc. Most LP's cost over €20, but there also some offers for €3-4. From Black Monk, the second street to the right will lead you to Neustiftgasse and Sing-Sing - the 2nd hand music store, not the infamous American prison. It is packed but well-ordered with a nice and friendly ambience. You can take your CD's to the player and listen, the discs are still in the box. I've seen it in other shops in Vienna, too: it is as if shop-lifting is something that happens to other, less cultivated lands. Another thing that made a positive impression on me is that almost all shops are equipped with listening stations, making shopping a much more positive experience. Sing-Sing has a wide selection of genres (punk/alternative, classic rock, soul, reggae, metal etc) in great prices: CD's mostly cost €6 (offers  €2) and LP's usually  €5-9, up to about €20. One street above Sing Sing (on Lerchenfelder Str. 33) is Moses Records, possibly your best source of used records and CD's in the city. It's quite big and well-ordered and well-stocked in both CD's and LP's. All genres including Rock/Metal, World music, Country/americana and German language music. 

The prices are also on the cheap side: CD's mostly cost €4-7 and LP's €5-20. There are also a few offers for €1-2. Your walk has now brought you near to the museum quarter and historical center. In the historical center itself, you won't find many record shops other than EMI Austria. It obviously has some connection to the EMI record label and sells lots of classical music and mainstream rock. It is very tidy but the prices are rather high - I wouldn't recommend it unless you are already in the center and don't have time to browse around. 

A shop I definetely would recommend is Rave Up Records on Hofmühlgasse 1, next to the Pilgramgasse station. First of all, what can be cooler than their logo with the face of my favourite politician/singer Screaming Lord Sutch, founder of the Monster Raving Loony Party? Secondly, it sports a great selection of cult Alternative/Indie/Garage/Punk records on vinyl. I never knew they had reissued all that stuff! Great atmosphere, no real bargains price-wise but not expensive either (new LP's €15-25, CD's €13-20). I visited a couple of other shops that didn't have much interest for me, e.g. Dynamic Records (dance music and T-shirts) and Tongues (dance music, according to googlemaps it is now permanently closed). I also got some (60's reissues) records from a clothes boutique with crazy multicolored hippy stuff that reminded me of old Dalianidis' musical comedies - too bad I can't remember the name or location. Last but not least, I'll share the addresses of some Vienna record shops that I've found on the internet but didn't have time to visit. Can't guarantee this info is current or accurate, but you may want to check out these: Disc Point (Linke Wienzeile 64, vinyl/70s rock), Record Shack (Reinprechtsdorfer Strasse 60, 2nd hand & reissues 60s/70s/80s), Audio Center (Judenplatz 9), Schallplatten Brigitte (Laxenburger Strasse 4), Raritaten Kraus (Schonbrunner Strasse 22), Seven Star Records (Siebensterngasse 9), Deep Soul Records (Rotenmuhlgasse 3), Friendly House (Wiednerhaupstrasse 39,  techno/hiphop/dj equipment), Griller Records (Magdalenenstrasse 21, used vinyl, indie/punk/metal etc), Totem Records (Zollergasse 18-20, metal/darkwave), Transformer (Kettenbruckengasse 1, New Wave/Garage/Punk). Quite a bunch, aren't they? Well, good for the Viennese. A healthy number of record stores proves that Vienna really still is the city of music...

Ed Kuepper "Reflections of Ol' Golden Eye" 1990-1998(rec) 1999(comp)***

Ed Kuepper will probably remembered as co-founder of Australian band The Saints, the first punks (together with The Ramones) to put out a record, in 1976. You thought punk was a British invention? Think again! The Clash, Damned, Sex Pistols etc. came to the party later. Kuepper would soon leave The Saints to try and play more sophisticated stuff. Contrary to other punk survivors who quickly ran out of steam, he kept getting better and hit an artistic and commercial peak in the 90's, recording almost a dozen albums in that decade. "Reflections..." gathers 16  previously released songs from that period, all covers. The fact that it sounds consistent as an album is amazing, not only because the songs were recorded in a period of 9 years with different musicians, but mainly because they belong to different genres with very few common threads. One of them is geographical: what could possibly country singer Slim Dusty's "Camooweal" and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" have common other than their Australian origin? Perversely the former is electrified (like Nancy & Lee backed by Dream Syndicate) and latter is slowed down, countrified and laden with ghostly effects. Another Australian covered here is Nick Cave (Kuepper would temporarily join his Bad Seeds for a while in the late 00's early 10's). His version of "Do You Love Me" is good. with interesting orchestration and tempo close to the original's - but far less intense than Cave's. Two 60's garage tunes by Aussie bands are revived for the 90's: "Sad Dark Eyes" (Loved Ones) and "If I Had A Ticket" (Phil Jones). Both sound great, augmented with twanging guitars and dramatic violins. Other 60's rockers (The Kinks' "Steam Train" and Raiders' "Indian Reservation") get a more stripped-down folky treatment. The same goes for traditional material by Johnny Cash ("Ring Of Fire") and Skip James ("Cypress Grove Blues"), while Howling Wolf's "Built For Comfort" is more upbeat and rockabilly-ish. Then we have a couple of ballads by singer-songwriters Tim Hardin ("If I Were a Carpenter") and Gordon Lightfoot ("Sundown") and a couple of fairly straight renditions of rock classics ("The Man Who Sold The World" David Bowie, "When I Was Young" Animals). A simple acoustic version of Ricky Nelson's "Teenage Idol" is followed by an epic 10-minute "Runaway" (the Del Shannon oldie) performed by Kuepper's band the Aints (get the pun?) and drenched in guitar feedback. A hit and miss collection, for sure, but the most part interesting and occasionally inspired. Could work as a left-field sort of introduction to this great, underrated artist.

*****for If I Had A Ticket (Phil Jones and the Unknown Blues)

****for Camooweal (Slim Dusty), Sad Dark Eyes (Loved Ones), Do You Love Me (Nick Cave)

***for Ring Of Fire" (Johnny Cash), Cypress Grove Blues (Skip James), Highway to Hell (AC/DC), The Man Who Sold The World  (David Bowie), If I Were a Carpenter (Tim Hardin), Built For Comfort"(Howling Wolf), Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot), When I Was Young (Eric Burdon & The Animals), Runaway (Del Shannon)

** for Steam Train (Kinks), Indian Reservation (Raiders), Teenage Idol (Ricky Nelson)

Banda Do Casaco "Hoje há Conquilhas, Amanhã não Sabemos" 1977*****

Banda Do Casaco is a highly-rated but little known Portuguese prog-folk band. Some of their other albums are closer to pure folk, while this is considered their most experimental and is the highest rated at progarchives.com. It's not quite what expected from a supposedly prog album: it is an eclectic mix of jazz, folk and chamber music - everything but rock: it most definitively does not rock and that's fine with me. There are upbeat folk songs ("Despique", "Dez-Onze-Doze", parts of "Acalanto") but these were also surprising to me as they are closer to Celtic music or Italian tarantellas than to fados, the only traditional Portuguese music I was familiar with. Goes to show how little I know. "Acalanto" opens the album with delicate acoustic guitar and flute, then some chanting followed by the upbeat folk part I mentioned earlier featuring some kind of traditional percussion, festive male/female chorus and swinging violin. "Despique" is robust folk dominated by masculine lead vocal and violin, while "País:Portugal" starts as a pastoral piece with a sweet female voice reminiscent of nostalgic bossa nova before breaking into Steeleye Span-like folk rock, with wild saxophone and playful violin. The lyrical focus seems to be a juxtaposition of a mythical Portugal of "goblins, witches on brooms, rivers and forests" with the modern "country of uniformed force/country forced into uniform/country doomed to the gallows" - or it could be something completely different, what do I know? I'm using google translate here. "Alvorada Tio Lérias!" is a beautiful instrumental mixing classical and ethnic elements in a way that reminds me of Dead Can Dance. "Geringonça" is melodic psychedelia with strings, flutes, mellotron and gorgeous female vocals by Gabriela Schaaf. "Ont' À Noite" is another atmospheric ballad. This time the female vocal parts are handled by the angelic Mena Amaro who sounds like a precursor to Madredeus' Teresa Salgueiro.  The record closes with instrumental "Água De Rosas", an airy piece dominated by gentle strings, oboe and flute. A beautiful and eclectic album, lovingly composed and expertly realised. Makes you wonder how many musical treasures remain hidden just because they come from outside the English-speaking world.

***** for País:Portugal, Gerinçonça, Dez-Onze-Doze, Ont' À Noite

**** for Acalanto, Despique, Alvorada Tio Lérias

*** for Água De Rosas

Flairck "Variaties op een Dame" 1978***

Virtually unknown outside of The Netherlands, Flairck must have been quite popular here in their prime - I'm judging by the amount of old LP's on sale in record fairs and in antique/ charity shops, the everpresent in Holland kringloopwinkels. The band's music is usually categorised as prog, though there's not even a hint of rock about it. It's all instrumental and played on acoustic guitars (Erik and Hans Visser), woodwind instruments (Peter Weekers) and violin (Judy Schomper). A fair description could be "chamber music with folk and world music elements". The latter are, for example, evident in the pan pipes of the gentle opener "Aoife". "Voorspel in Sofia"  is a fast number with gypsy swing guitars, classical violins and Jethro Tull-ish flute. "April 3rd" is a sleepy sitar tune, while "Oneven Wals" is a pastoral piece enlivened by the insertion of Celtic reels and jigs. The main attraction is, of course, the same-named "Variaties op een Dame" (Variations on a lady). It is a 21-minute suite with slow and fast passages through classical, folk and ethnic melodies. Without a doubt a display of superior compositional and instrumental skills. The album closes with the forgettable country-ish acoustic guitar of "Dubbelspel". I'm not really a fan of instrumental music but I enjoyed this album. It works great as background music - who knows? maybe it was conceived as a musical backdrop for intimate sensual contacts. The album title and cover are suggestive enough, as for a title like "Foreplay in Sofia", that goes beyond mere suggestion. Well, maybe that's the explanation for both its popularity in the 70's and why the 2nd hand stores are now all full of it: 40 years later, those former lovers have less use for it, so off it goes to the thrift store. Get it and let their loss be your gain - because all joking aside, it is a very good record!

**** for Aoife, Voorspel in Sofia, Variaties op een Dame 

*** for April 3rd, Oneven Wals, Dubbelspel 

The Dubliners "Whiskey in the Jar" 1966-1969(rec) 1996(comp)****

I was yesterday at Zoetermeer's Boerderij for a Dublin Legends concert. The D.L. feature two long-time members of the most famous and historic Irish folk band, The Dubliners. Seán Cannon and Eamonn Campbell have been playing in The Dubliners since 1982 and 1987 respectively, but the name of the band was officialy retired when Barney McKenna, the last of the original band, passed away in 2012. Which doesn't stop Eamonn and Seán from appearing under the moniker of "Dublin Legends, fomerly Dubliners", "Dublin Legends (Dubliners)" or other variations of that theme. And neither should it stop them from it, judging from last night's performance. They gave a compelling show, kept the audience on its feet (even if Eamonn could hardly stand on his), and generally did justice to the couple of dozen Dubliners songs they played, keeping their spirit alive.
Like many others growing up in the 80's, my first contact with Irish music came through the punk-folk of the The Pogues and traditional elements in albums by the Waterboys and Van Morrison. Naturally the next step would be to look for the real thing. Nowadays if I want to look into a new band or style of music, I can google, read reviews on many different sites, listen to a few songs on the internet, maybe download an album and give it a couple of listens before buying it. Back in the 90's it didn't work like that: even if you did have internet, it'd be incredibly slow and information on it was scarce. The only sources were music magazines, radio and friends and none of them were actually steeped in traditional Irish music. So I settled on this box set by chance: it was cheap and it contained "Whiskey In The Jar" which was of course familiar because of Thin Lizzy. I had heard of the Dubliners as a band that influenced the Pogues - though I didn't know yet that The Pogues had recorded more than a dozen Dubliners songs. For someone looking for real traditional music, the guys on the album cover seemed authentic enough. Actually the photos were misleading, as they show the band members in their middle age while these recordings are the work of much younger men - they stem from the mid-60's live and studio albums on the Major Minor label that introduced the band to the wide world and signaled the rebirth of traditional Irish music. It features the classic line-up of Ronnie Drew (voc, gtr), Luke Kelly (voc, gtr, banjo), Ciaran Bourke (voc, gtr, tin whistle) and hotshot instrumentalists Barney McCenna (tenor banjo, mandolin) and John Sheahan (fiddle, tin whistle). Kelly had the strongest voice, heard on the definitive versions of traditional tunes "Whiskey In The Jar", "Black Velvet Band" and the jaunty banjo-led "Paddy On The Railway". He also sings "Kelly the boy from Killan" which isn't self-referencing as I thought at first but a traditional song about an 18th century Irish hero. Luke Kelly was a friend and disciple of English communist folkie Ewan McCall and sings many of his songs ("The Travelling People", "Shoals Of Herring" and "Net Hauling" as well as "Dirty Old Town" which is absent from this particular compilation). Drew deliciously handles the more boozy and bawdy songs like "Whiskey On A Sunday", "Dicey Riley" and the hilarious "Seven Drunken Nights" while Bourke also sings a few sprightly and funny songs including "Mrs. McGrath" and "All For Me Grog". Upbeat and humorous singalongs propelled by violin and banjo make up for the best part of this collection, though ballads also have a place. For some reason there are almost no instrumentals. Love and drinking are two of the main themes, the third being Irish rebel songs sometimes openly supporting the IRA. One has to remember that the IRA were at the time radical, revolutionary even, but not yet terrorist as they didn't yet target "civilians" - that happened later during the escalation of the crisis which became known as the troubles. To sum up, if you're looking for an introduction to The Dubliners or to traditional Irish music in general, this will do just fine. Sure there are omissions ("Molly Malone", "Wild Rover", "Dirty Old Town"...) but none of the countless Dubliners compilations out there has managed to include all of their favorites. I subtract 1* for the indifferent packaging and lack of information over the band and the recordings.

***** for Whiskey In The Jar,  The Galway Races, The Rising Of The Moon, Poor Paddy On The Railway,  Nancy Whiskey, Darby O'Leary,  Seven Drunken Nights, Whiskey On A Sunday, The Partin' Glass, Black Velvet Band, Seven Deadly Sins

**** for Quare Bungle Rye, Poor Old Dicey Riley, A Muirsheen Durkin , The Travelling People, Net Hauling Song, Mrs McGrath, (The Bonny) Shoals Of Herrings, Mormon Braes, Go To Sea No More, All For Me Grog,  Gentleman Soldier, I'm A Rover, The Fairmoye Lasses And Sporting Paddy, Many Young Men Of Twenty, Come And Join The British Army, Tibby Dunbar, The Inniskillen Dragoons, Peggy Gordon, Kelly The Boy From Killan, A Nation Once Again

*** for The Old Alarm Clock,  Maid Of The Sweet Brown Knowe, McCafferty, Molly Bawn, Weila Waila, Limerick Rake, The Dundee Weaver, I Wish I Were Back In Liverpool, Maloney Wants A Drink, Croppy Boy, Maids When You're Young Never Wed An Old Man

Planxty "Planxty" 1973*****

Planxty are considered largely responsible (together with the Dubliners and Chieftains) for the rebirth of traditional Irish music in the late 60's/early 70's and subsequent ubiquity of Celtic rhythms and melodies in pop music. They were all four talented instrumentalists and had two great singers (Christy Moore and Andy Irvine). Although they never strayed away from tradition, they were more daring and innovative than their peers, to the point of often being mentioned alongside Pentangle or Strawbs as prog-folk. One of their more surprising innovations was introducing a Greek folk instrument to Irish music: Singer Andy Irvine returned from his travels with a Greek bouzouki which he gave to Dónal Lunny, who until then played guitar. Left handed Lunny custom-fitted the instrument to suit his needs and learned to play it in his own way. Pretty soon it would become a staple of Celtic music, though only after going through some more transformations. Besides bouzouki, the band's sound is also often dominated by Liam O'Flynn's uilleann pipes, while the instrumentation also includes guitar, bodhrán, mandolin and tin whistle. Most of the songs on the record are traditional tunes to which Planxty give a new twist. The opener "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" had been one of my favorite folk tunes ever since I heard it from The Waterboys in 1990, but Planxty's version is the authentic and best one, culminating with a tremendous solo by O'Flynn. "Arthur McBride" tells of an amusing encounter between a couple of Irish lads and an English recruiting sergeant. He tries to dupe them into enlisting into the King's army and they end up teaching him a painful lesson. Another energetic reel popularized by Planxty is "The Jolly Beggar", ostensibly about King James V of Scotland dressing up as a beggar to seduce farmer girls - because, you know, farmer girls snub kings and are reversly dazzled by beggar's rags. "Sweet Thames Flow Softly", "Only Our Rivers" and "The West Coast of Clare" are gorgeous ballads, while "Follow Me Up to Carlow" and "The Blacksmith" are exemplary renditions of traditional folk executed with zest, the latter even introducing some Balkan elements. The rest of the songs are instrumentals, showcasing the band's skills with the pipes ("Merrily Kissed the Quaker", "Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór") and tin whistle ("Planxty Irwin", "Junior Crehan's Favourite/Corney"). I could give this record 5* just because of its historical significance in popularizing traditional Irish folk but -let's face it- it just makes for great listening in any case...

***** for Raggle Taggle Gypsy/Tabhair Dom Do Lámh, Arthur McBride, The West Coast of Clare, The Blacksmith

**** for Planxty Irwin, Sweet Thames Flow Softly, Junior Crehan's Favourite/Corney, The Jolly Beggar/The Wise Maid, Follow Me Up to Carlow

*** for Merrily Kissed the Quaker