Flook

Brigitte · Post by **Brigitte** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:41 am

amar wrote:
DreamOgreen wrote:Yeah I like Flook too. I have their "haven" album and play it alot but I notice their are really no slow tunes at all. Does the "Rubai" album or any of their others have some tunes that are not high speed so to speak?
Rubai has one of the most beautiful slow tunes I know. Rosbeg. That tune alone is worthwhile buying the album.

I'll second that

Brigitte

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:17 am

As much as I like Flook, Millish really blow them out of the water.

These guys draw from everyone and blend it all together like nobody.

They deserve far greater recognition.

Slan,
D.

Post by **Dale** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:23 am

I do love me some Flook. True, not exactly Trad, but just fabulous stuff. I've got a live video somewhere.

Dale

Brigitte · Post by **Brigitte** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:28 am

dubhlinn wrote:As much as I like Flook, Millish really blow them out of the water.

These guys draw from everyone and blend it all together like nobody.

They deserve far greater recognition.

Slan,
D.

Their Stairways to Heaven version is fabulous great, you cannot listen on their site to it though....
Brigitte

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:32 am

Brigitte wrote:
dubhlinn wrote:As much as I like Flook, Millish really blow them out of the water.

These guys draw from everyone and blend it all together like nobody.

They deserve far greater recognition.

Slan,
D.
Their Stairways to Heaven version is fabulous great, you cannot listen on their site to it though....
Brigitte

Agreed.

I have the CD.

Slan,
D.

amar · Post by **amar** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:08 pm

Brigitte wrote:
amar wrote:
DreamOgreen wrote:Yeah I like Flook too. I have their "haven" album and play it alot but I notice their are really no slow tunes at all. Does the "Rubai" album or any of their others have some tunes that are not high speed so to speak?
Rubai has one of the most beautiful slow tunes I know. Rosbeg. That tune alone is worthwhile buying the album.
I'll second that
Brigitte

hast eben guten geschmack.

arnie · Post by **arnie** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:42 pm

They are terrific. I'm gonna see them at the Folkwoods festival in the Netherlands this year. I have their albums, but never saw them live. There are some terrific videos of them also on the kerrywhistle-website.
For those who look for similar music, also listen to Flairck.

amar · Post by **amar** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:19 pm

arnie wrote:They are terrific. I'm gonna see them at the Folkwoods festival in the Netherlands this year. I have their albums, but never saw them live. There are some terrific videos of them also on the kerrywhistle-website.
For those who look for similar music, also listen to Flairck.

http://www.mp3.com/flairck/artists/13845/summary.html

amar · Post by **amar** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:26 pm

Brigitte wrote:
amar wrote:
DreamOgreen wrote:Yeah I like Flook too. I have their "haven" album and play it alot but I notice their are really no slow tunes at all. Does the "Rubai" album or any of their others have some tunes that are not high speed so to speak?
Rubai has one of the most beautiful slow tunes I know. Rosbeg. That tune alone is worthwhile buying the album.
I'll second that
Brigitte

just for all to know I'm not joking.

http://www.kerrywhistles.com/movies/f1_sm.mov
and here's the joy. that tune, as beautiful as it is, is also very easy to learn. ain't that a good deal?

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:12 pm

dubhlinn wrote:As much as I like Flook, Millish really blow them out of the water.

Is this some sort of Battle of the fish logo bands?

</a> <a href="http://www.millish.com" target="blank">

</a>

I had never not previously of Millish. Have they been doing much stuff outside the US? From their myspace page they sound a bit more free jazz influenced and less ITM than Flook. The playing is good and it's a similar sound but they lose me a bit where Flook hold me.

But then I reckon that Flook are the most exciting thing to happen to Irish music over the past 7 years so I guess you could say that I am biased.

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:51 pm

I agree Flook is more ITM influenced than Millish. I think Millish reserves their concerts to the Great Lakes area. One needs to check out Millish's videos they do....hilarious.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:10 pm

Millish do reach out a lot more than Flook, on that there is no doubt.

What I adore about Millish is how they take so many styles and influences and blend it all into a dustproof coherent sound. It is always a good crack, when listening to the CD, to try and spot the reference or influence..sometimes a short riff comes in out of nowhere and I'm thinking.."Mmm, touch of Parker there through a Doc Watson filter.."

A truly great band that are pushing it out.

The vids are hilarious as well.

Slan,
D.

feadog39 · Post by **feadog39** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:14 am

I'm sorry to rain on the flook love fest parade here, but the high expectations i had about them were really dashed when i heard them for the first time in concert last year in chicago. all of their tunes were non-memorable and that jazzy riff finnegan puts in all of his phrasing drove me freaking nuts. the slow tunes struck me as fast tunes slowed down, and were lacking in that subtle and complex beauty that irish slow airs have. You know, they could really also use a fiddle and/or box player or something to balance the sound out.

Just my impression. I give them credit for doing their own thing and trying out new musical expression. More power to them. It's just that i don't happen to like the results.

pureshift · Post by **pureshift** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:02 pm

feadog39 wrote:I'm sorry to rain on the flook love fest parade here, but the high expectations i had about them were really dashed when i heard them for the first time in concert last year in chicago. all of their tunes were non-memorable and that jazzy riff finnegan puts in all of his phrasing drove me freaking nuts. the slow tunes struck me as fast tunes slowed down, and were lacking in that subtle and complex beauty that irish slow airs have. You know, they could really also use a fiddle and/or box player or something to balance the sound out.

Just my impression. I give them credit for doing their own thing and trying out new musical expression. More power to them. It's just that i don't happen to like the results.

From the little bit that I've heard of them, I might have to agree a bit. I'm more into stuff like Old Blind Dogs myself.

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:46 pm

feadog39 wrote: all of their tunes were non-memorable

What? All of them?

I haven't heard a Flook CD in over a year and I can off the top of my head recall 5 or 6 of their tunes.

feadog39 wrote: the slow tunes struck me as fast tunes slowed down, and were lacking in that subtle and complex beauty that irish slow airs have.

I agree with you on this. Flook's strengths lie in their dance tunes. I suppose that for the many non-ITM enthusiasts who might attend a gig in the US the inclusion of slow tunes avoids the potential for monotony that can come with a constant of stream of jigs and reels. It's hard to achieve this without using slow tunes unless you have a singer in your band.

feadog39 wrote: You know, they could really also use a fiddle and/or box player or something to balance the sound out.

I think adding a box or fiddle would muddy up the clean unique sound they currently have and could turn Flook into just another trad-sounding band.

feadog39 wrote: It's just that i don't happen to like the results.

Fair enough. I have seen Flook 5 or 6 times and do like the results. I would say that on occasions I have come away from a gig with a bad impression of an act only to be completely won over the next time. It may simply have been the case that the act was having an off night or that I was having an off night or both.

If you are someone who loves the pure drop and go to a Flook gig expecting a trad gig then you may be dissapointed. If you like <a href="http://www.flook.co.uk/tracks/ballybrolly.mp3">the sound they make</a> you won't be. I can say that Flook are well liked by many in the pro./semi-pro. trad scene in Ireland. It is rare in my experience that a trad album would be put on at a late night after-gig or after-session house party, but if one was it would invariably be Rubai.