July 2003
Pirates Of Puirt Review
By Will Lamb, Am Paipear
Dàimh has only been swashbuckling for a few years now, but this follow up to their 2000 debut firmly establishes them as Scotland's finest young traditional tune band. With their myriad of origins-Morar, Cape Breton, Arisaig, California and Dublin-one would perhaps expect a Celtic soup of the runniest proportions. However, Dàimh is more like a single malt, and what a punch.
The sheer tightness of the playing, particularly between MacKenzie and McVarish, is stunning and hits you in the solar plexus harder than a broadsword. Understated guitar and bodhran from Martin and Bremner hold everything together and provide a kick in just the right places. O Rua's plucky banjo and fine tune writing (especially mazurka 'Down and Out in Santiago de Compestella') seals the package. Great tracks include #1, which hovers in Allan MacDonald's strange reel 'Tar the House' until exploding into 'Castlebay' and 'The Antrim Rose', and set #6 'The C Tune'. Apparently, Martin found the first tune of the set 'The Wren's Death' in MacKenzie's drawers, and they transposed the last tune 'The First Month of Spring' to C major to fit on the Scottish small pipes in A. OK. Anyway, the liner notes make amusing reading whilst listening to this superb album.
press photo by Louis DeCarlo |
