I've been listening to Canterach again. It's a bit like the shepherd pipes CD in that the music is good, the tunes and the musicians are good, but there is a lot of percussion, bass lines, and general background stuff that I could live without.
It reminds me a little of the Mozart in the 70s LP my parents had. In many ways it was dire, but the beauty of Mozart shone through, and when I got to hear proper Mozart, as it were, it felt familiar and was easy to get to know and like. I suppose the same goes for the snippets of "proper" poetry that were in the books of verse for children I had when I was small. It meant that when I came across a full poem by Tennyson or Longfellow or Shelley I wasn't thrown by the patterns and rhythms - they felt vague familiar and sometimes I'd find a couplet or a verse that I really did know from my reading. So hopefully Canterach made it easier for some people to move from a rock/pop version of Scottish traditional music to the real thing. It all sounds rather 80s - I'm amazed it's dated 2001...
Nothing can spoil the beauty of the Highland Brigade at Magersfontein, my favourite track. Nor does anything spoil the beauty of James Duncan Mackenzie's playing and his choice of tunes on his eponymous CD. I really love the Heights of Dargai, and long to play it but the dots don't seem to match up at all. I could understand it if the tune was a Reel by Anon, but as it's a named tune by a known composer it's all rather odd.
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