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Songlines
Karan Casey
Shanachie
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Roger The MIller- She Is Like The Swallow
- Ballad Of Accounting
- Shamrock Shore
- Martinmas Time
- An Buachaillin Ban
- The Creggan White Hare
- The Song Of Wandering Aengus
- One, I Love
- The World Turned Upside Down (The Diggers' Song)
- The Labouring Man's Daughter
Average customer rating:
Stunning voice, mixed performance
Karan Casey has few rivals for sheer vocal beauty in Irish music, and this album shows her voice off beautifully. The only blemishes are two of the three protest songs--the arrangement of 'World Turned Upside Down' is strident and distracting, and while her rendition of MacColl's 'Ballad of Accounting' is creditable, its repeated phrases are perhaps the least pleasant singing I've heard from her. There's plenty to love about this album, from the breathtaking unaccompanied 'An Buachaillin Ban' and 'Laboring Man's Daughter' to the feisty and funny 'Roger the Miller'.
A beautifully sung, varied collection
The arrangements in this collection of traditional and contemporary songs are consistently good and Casey's voice unfailingly beautiful. Her precise, breathy, lilting delivery is magical; the vocal equivalent of a flute.
The opening track, Roger the Miller, is a classic, and surprisingly sophisticated musically. Ewan McColl's rant Ballad of Accounting is a weak point, a typical 60s angry anti-capitalist protest that made a great deal of money for the performers but no difference to society. Also, there is one song in the original Gaelic, which I could have done without. It is not an especially sweet-sounding language so you lose the meaning but gain nothing in return. But that of course is personal preference; in a collection as various as this, we will all have preferences.
The insert notes are excellent, with full lyrics of all the songs and short notes by Casey on each.
Recommended for all lovers of Celtic music or of traditional music in general. If you like Casey's voice, you should also try Iris DeMent, who has the same combination of childlike vulnerability and captivating phrasing.
Takes my breath away
As musician, I deeply respect Karan Casey for the beauty of her voice. Honestly, her singing takes my breath away. Her tone is gorgeous, and the nuances she brings into each song make them especially beautiful.
Wonderful addition to any Celtic library!
During a promotion for a concert I was giving for someone else in October, we played a brief clip of "martinmas time" (my group, the Celtic Music Society of Montgomery, was bringing Casey in four months later). By the time I got back to my desk, we'd sold 6 tickets.
Casey has studied jazz, and it shows. These are not staid, "safe" renditions of traditional songs-- these songs really move along, with fire, a little swing, bounce and joy. "Roger the Miller" with its mockery of a young man who got greedy when he beheld his fiancee's riches makes me smile every time I hear it.
I love her version of "Creggan White Hare"-- though I first learned it from Andy Irvine and Dick Gaughan, I think her cover is even more memorable. Casey's voice takes you on a journey through her songs. She has a light quality to her voice-- a bit like Triona O'Domhnaill (Bothy Band, Relativity, Nightnoise) rather than someone like June Tabor-- and it makes the more serious songs very fresh. It's just impossible not to care about the narrator when she sings!
A really terrific CD.
An exciting natural voice
I'm the type of listener who hones right in on the voice, and having been around singers and been one myself all of my life, I don't get excited about everyone who is good. But "exciting" is the only word to describe my discovery of Karan Casey, who manages to ring, trill, and thrill a totally unpretentious breathy voice with the purity of a child. The effect, especially in the high ranges, feels something like a pinwheel being blown at a tremendous speed--you are pulled in and mesmerized by the obvious energy involved, and yet the energy is self-sustaining. I just have to perk up and listen every time "Roger the Miller" comes on, because I can hear that she is one of the naturals.
She has a great selection of passionate frolicking songs, and the slower Shamrock Shore and the a cappella finale are worth having as well. There are some slower and lower range songs that don't make the most of her voice--which is not usually the case with the Irish ballads, but is here. Still, the album holds together out of a unifying theme of subtle politics. The arrangements are sparse and elegant, giving precedence to Casey.