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The Dreadnoughts are Vancouver's biggest, baddest, drunkest, punkest celtic band. One part roaring sea shanty, one part haunting Irish melody, and a solid chaser of gut-crunching street punk.
The Dreadnoughts: One part roaring sea shanty, one part haunting Irish melody, and a solid chaser of gut-crunching street punk. This ragtag group of drunken misfits stays true to the ancient ballads and bawlers that once drove sailors around the world, all the while smashing out modern punk with a fury and intensity that is unmatched in their home city of Vancouver, BC.
Formed in 2006 over pints of cheap beer at East Vancouver’s notoriously violent Ivanhoe Hotel, the Dreadnoughts cut their teeth in the roughest dive bars in the city. They started by opening for (and earning the praise of) celtic-punk grandfathers The Real MacKenzies, and since then have never looked back. Hauling a fiddle, an accordion, a mandolin, a tin whistle, guitars and drums into every venue that would have them, they quickly became known for their powerful, chaotic live performances. In three short years they have slowly but surely joined the ranks of Vancouver’s punk rock heroes.
The Dreadnoughts are nothing new to all of us in the Celtic Rock… but to many this band has remained underground until we started getting in requests for their music lately here from around the world. “Legends Never Die” is The Dreadnoughts first release, but this is not a CD made by amateurs… these musicians are by far more talented than some of their peers and other media give them credit for. To grasp the sound of this diverse group could be summed up as a mixture of Great Big Sea, Circle J, Finn’s Fury, Blaggards, and even some Flogging Molly mixed in between. “Legends Never Die” could have been in our Top CDs of the year for 2007… if only just they would have got it to us by then. Pick this one up today if you are looking for a little Sea Shanty, Celtic Trad Jigs, Celtic ROCK, and a little punk added to the mix. This is the next Celtic Rock band to watch for years to come! Tracks of interest: “Fire Marshall Willy”, “Mary the One Eyed Prostitute….”, “Sons of Murphy”, and “Roll the Woodpile Down”.John B. www.paddyrock.com
01. Old Maui
02. Katie, Bar The Door
03. Fire Marshall Willy
04. Antarctica
05. Leonard Cohen
06. Mary The One-Eyed Prostitute
07. A Rambler's Life
08. Sons of Murphy
09. Elizabeth
10. Roll The Woodpile Down
11. The Dreadnought
The Dread Pirate Druzil: Mandolin, Tin Whistle, Banjo, Skin Flute
Seamus O'Flanahan: Fiddle, Accordion
Uncle Touchy: Guitar, Shouting, Vomiting
Stupid Swedish Bastard: Drums, Flatulence
Squid Vicious: Bass, Intimidation
Cockface: God, Merch, Sex
Link
pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com
"In both Polish and Hebrew, the word "balagane" means either "big mess" or more colloquially, "whorehouse." It is also the name of the second album from Montreal-based group Jeszcze Raz (pronounced YES-chay Raz), led by the irreverent poet/songwriter Paul Kunigis. Balagane is a playful collection of rollicking songs driven by elements of Jewish, Gypsy, and Arabic folk, with hints of French chanson, jazz and blues in the mix.
This array of influences is skillfully woven by polyglot pianist and songwriter Paul Kunigis. Polish-born of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, Kunigis was raised in Israel where he went to a school run by French Jesuits and took Hebrew studies on the side. He plays his upbringing like a trump card, laughing, "I had a first communion AND a bar mitzvah!" with self-conscious irony. In his music, Kunigis acknowledges the myriad of sometimes opposing cultural forces that created him. Most of all he identifies as an outsider.
Songs in Polish, Hebrew, Arabic and French lambaste bar-stool philosophers, celebrate the lives of rag-pickers and prostitutes, and dream improbable dreams of a lasting peace in the Middle East. The impassioned lyrics are bittersweet and gutsy: Kunigis pulls no punches. In concert, he likes to say with a twinkle in his eye, "My music is not politically correct. It's just correct."
Balagane was produced by Yves Desrosiers of Lhasa de Sela fame, and features Desrosiers on guitars. The elements that made Lhasa's La Llorona sound great (including a careful attention paid to arranging and dynamics) make this album a success, too. A song that starts with bare-bones percussion and bass might evolve into a raucous burlesque sing-along with swirling violin, snaky accordion and sleazy bass clarinet blats. Percussion lines laid down by the rock-steady Rémi LeClerc are played over in such a way that individual songs integrate klezmer, Latin and Arabic influences effortlessly.
If there is one shortcoming to the album, it is that you may recognise some concepts from earlier tracks returning in some of the latter songs. But Kunigis and Jeszcze Raz can hardly be classified as one-trick ponies. No, they are the whole crazy circus. Balagane, indeed."
In March of 2003, Jeszcze Raz won the 2002 Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammies) for World Music Album of the Year.
01 - Balagane (Bordel)
02 - Czarna kawa (Café Noir)
03 - Alte zachen (Vieilles Guenilles)
04 - Yahayouni (Mes Yeux)
05 - Bamidbar (Dans le Désert)
06 - Zimbergaya (Tzimbergaya)
07 - 3 pajaci (3 clowns)
08 - Swetlana (Chviétlana)
09 - Tiberiade (Tibériade)
10 - Ostatni dzien (La Derninre Valse)
11 - Mamaleh (Petite Maman)
12 - J'aimerai te dire
13 - Shequette (Silence)
Link
pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com
