My CD shelf

This page is part of a projected set of NAQs - that's Never Asked Questions as, other than the standard questions about what sort of pipe I play, no one ever asks any. But these are the questions I would want to ask me, if I stumbled on this blog.

My CD shelf is to help you find recordings of Scottish smallpipes, Great Highland Bagpipes and Scottish traditional music. I've talked about many of these CDs in my blog and I also talk about seeing some of the bands. This isn't a comprehensive listing either of what I own or of what's out there, but hopefully it's an introduction for anyone curious to hear more pipes and more Scottish music.

Real CDs
CDs? Really? That's right. A house stuffed with them. I like the boxes, I like the sleeve notes. I like to know why someone picked the tunes, a bit of history about the music. I like the pictures. I like being able to flick through boxes and find something I'd forgotten I had. I buy all my music this way.

Shopping
I buy my CDs online for the very good reason that unless I happen to have the good fortune to be in, say, Edinburgh, where I could walk into the very lovely Coda, the CDs I want don't seem to be available in ordinary shops. I buy from Coda online, All Celtic Music and Footstompin (which appears now to be defunct).

What's on my CD shelf?
My CD collection is a mix of small pipes, GHB, other Scottish stuff, Irish stuff and other, non traditional music. This end of the shelf is dusty, to say the least. My preferences tend towards what the fan describes as the "chamber music" end of things - a couple of musicians, no drum, no guitar, no songs. Perfect.

I wanted to give you lists by CDs with GHB, with smallpipes, with pipe tune etc, but most CDs refuse to be so easily categorised. So I've given you an alphabetic list of (mostly) Scottish bands playing (mostly) Scottish music by title and then told you whether they contain Great Highland Bagpipes (GHB), Scottish smallpipes (SSP), other bellows pipes (BP), pipe tunes played on other instruments (PT), or Scandinavian tunes (SC). The Irish music gets a section of its own.

Scottish
Affric - Duncan Chisholm
All Dressed in Yellow - Fiddlers' Bid
Bann - Breabach (GHB)
The Big Spree - Breabach (GHB)
Borders - Ossian (GHB)
Canaich - Duncan Chisholm
The Carrying Stream - Ossian (SSP)

Desperate Battle - Breabach (GHB)
Dorney Rock - Kevin Macleod (PT)
Doubling - Anna Massie and Mairearad Green (GHB)
Eclection - Gabe McVarish (PT)
Farrar - Duncan Chisholm
Grand Concert of Scottish Piping - various (GHB) (SSP)
Highland Strands - Kevin MacLeod (PT)
Inner Sound - Whistlebinkies (SSP) (OB)
James Duncan MacKenzie - James Duncan MacKenzie (GHB)
The Lassies fashion/A Jock Tamson's Bairns - Jock Tamson's Bairns (PT)
Lochbroom - Alasdair Gillies (GHB)
May You Never Lack a Scone - Jock Tamson's Bairns (PT)
A Month of Sundays - Mike Katz (GHB) (SSP)
Ossian - Ossian (PT)
Piob is Fidheall - Kenneth and Angus Mackenzie (GHB) (BP)

The Royal Scottish Pipers' Society Recital - various (GHB) (SSP)
Salamander - Bellevue Rendevous (SC)
Seadan - Seadan (GHB) (SSP)
Sealsong - Ossian (ST)
Sealbh - Iain MacInnes (GHB), (SSP)
Single Track Road Trip - Carol Anderson and Martin MacDonald (PT)
Skippinish - Skippinish (SSP), (GHB)
Smalltalk - Smalltalk (SSP)
Springwell - Kevin Macleod (PT)
St Kilda Wedding - Ossian (GHB) (PT)

Tryst - Iain MacInnes (GHB), (SSP)
Urlar - Breabach (GHB)
A Wanton Fling - Whistlebinkies (PT) (BP) (SSP)
Vamm - Vamm (PT) (SC)
The Worlds - various (GHB)

Irish 
Deadly Buzz - Mick O'Brien and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh
Howsingland to Howth - The Sea Stallions (SC)
Kitty Lie Over - Mick O'Brien and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh
Next Stop - Caladh Nua
Welcome Here Again - Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill

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