Solas....so long

smoro · Post by **smoro** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 5:30 am

Someone should explain to all supergroups that we don't want them to change! We want them playing the same kind of music and arrangements. Boring? I don't think so...I've stopped buying Solas CD's too after "The hour before Dawn", I'm not bored about original Solas sound, I listen first Cd's over last ones.
On the other hand I suposse great musicians want to do a musical evolution, but the price the audience have to pay is perhaps a bit expensive sometimes. I want to see Seamus Egan playing flute (where he is unique),not electric guitar (where he is not unique).
Serafin.

psmithltd · Post by **psmithltd** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:09 am

I'm not sure I would call Egan's flute playing particularly unique. It's more just the standard Matt Molloy imitation, isn't it? Even he admits it.

I do quite like his banjo playing, and there is something sort of neat about some of his flute playing - I quite liked it at one point, especially the "Yellow Tinker" track on the first Solas album - but all in all I find it doesn't really stand up to any of the masters, old or new. Nothing remarkably interesting but not quite grounded enough for my taste.

To move on to a slightly different supergroup rant, what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, and in general their last full band album seemed rather bland and unswinging to me. I admit I haven't heard their last sort of "solo" effort, but in general what would other peoples comments be?

TerryB · Post by **TerryB** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:20 am

I'm in general agreement with what has been said about the early vs. later Solas efforts. I seriously miss John Doyle as part of the group. As great as John Williams is, however, I want to put in a plug for Mick McAuley as his replacement. He's both a fine player and singer, with a sly sense of humor to boot. If you want to hear him playing more traditional music, check out his solo CD, An Ocean's Breadth.

Terry

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:34 am

psmithltd wrote:
To move on to a slightly different supergroup rant, what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, and in general their last full band album seemed rather bland and unswinging to me. I admit I haven't heard their last sort of "solo" effort, but in general what would other peoples comments be?

My comment is that I agree entirely.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:19 am

smoro wrote: <edit>On the other hand I suposse great musicians want to do a musical evolution, but the price the audience have to pay is perhaps a bit expensive sometimes. I want to see Seamus Egan playing flute (where he is unique),not electric guitar (where he is not unique).
Serafin.

I think Serafin's hit on one of the toughest issues for supergroups, and in fact many bands, in general. You play, and practically live, with the same people 300 days a year. You play a lot of the same stuff over and over again. You play it year after year (because hey, to sustain the band commercially you have to do what the audience likes) .... and no matter how much you try to vary things within that framework, I suspect it's easy to get restless, bored, etc. So you try new things; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes new personnel add new life, sometimes they suck what little is left right out. And sometimes it's just about impossible to find that new niche, let alone redefine your old one that all those new bands are rushing to fill. I do give these guys credit for trying ideas -- after all, you certainly don't get better just standing still -- so flexibility is key: but it would seem that, after two or three less-than-wildly-successful CDs, it might be good for a band to take stock, and then a sabbatical or a rethink or whatever.

Heck, our band maybe plays together 30 gigs a year if we're lucky, but even after a few years of that we're struggling with what we want to do next .... I can feel the first traces of boredom wisping in under the door

Finally, here's a phenomenon I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced: I'd say 90% of the time, my favorite CD of a band's series is their very first one. Even though it's usually rougher on the production end, etc. there seems to be a fire and freshness that are different. Often that'll carry through to a second CD, but then .... well.... I don't know. Anyway, it doesn't seem like Solas is going through anything different than any other band. I just wonder if they'll find their right road or whether they'll continue on in what seems to be a sad death-spiral.

Anyway, I think I'll go watch that "Metallica in therapy" movie soon. Could be illuminating. (in a wry, sad sort of way .... )

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:28 am

Cathy Wilde wrote:Finally, here's a phenomenon I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced: I'd say 90% of the time, my favorite CD of a band's series is their very first one.

Yep. Just like when people go into a studio to record and do several takes, 90% of the time the first take is the best one.

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:41 am

psmithltd wrote:what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, and in general their last full band album seemed rather bland and unswinging to me. I admit I haven't heard their last sort of "solo" effort, but in general what would other peoples comments be?

Hmmm.... I have to say that I actually like their newest album more than the previous three. To my ear it's more varied in terms of types of tunes, tempos, arrangements, etc.
Danu is probably my favorite of the supergroups (my favorite live group), and I've really loved all their previous work, but I felt they were starting to become a little formulaic. The Road Less Travelled broke the mold a bit... I felt like it was more mature and more like one would expect to hear them play in a session... I like that.
One way or the other, Danu is a truly kick-@$$ band, especially live. See them if you can.

Best,
Chris

bang · Post by **bang** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:41 am

psmithltd wrote:To move on to a slightly different supergroup rant, what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, . . .

i will have to respectfully disagree here. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is a bit like June Tabor and Maddy Prior somehow fused together into a completely unique and powerful voice. give's me shivers! imo... /dan

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:42 am

bang wrote:
psmithltd wrote:To move on to a slightly different supergroup rant, what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, . . .
i will have to respectfully disagree here. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh is a bit like June Tabor and Maddy Prior somehow fused together into a completely unique and powerful voice. give's me shivers! imo... /dan

And man, she can play! Flute and whistle!

gcollins · Post by **gcollins** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 5:13 am

Great thread, and David's rant is always appreciated.

but, for Solas (unless this is a dead thread), it should be no surprise that Egan moves away from Trad. Just listen to his solo albums, of which I like When Juniper Sleeps, but one can clearly see his yearning for slower, more fusion or ambient music. He's been playin' trad since he was a kid and perhaps he's a bit sick of it, and wants to evolve into other things--perhaps close to truth whether we like it or not. And he just keeps moving further and further away from the flute. Maybe he's bored with that too?

I have also wondered whether his flute playing on the albums does not do justice to his skills. He has shown some interesting innovation, but his love of dazzling with speed and crans only works within the genre of the first two Solas albums. How often has he showed up at a session with Doyle or another musician just for kicks and love of the music?

I think he's bored...and a Trad musician may or may not get much respect in the music industry in general--the place where the money comes from--so if he 'aint playing for the love, then what else is there besides ego and money? and those things are found big time in pubs, now that Trad is not quite the fad with the mainstream it was in the mid/late 90s.

Quite a pity. I'd love to see an Egan solo flute and whistle album (even your man flashy Flatley has come out with a flute effort). The latest Solas stuff cannot be selling all that well, though I'm not in a place where I'd know or hear it on radio.

when's the funeral?

G

seisflutes · Post by **seisflutes** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 10:38 am

psmithltd wrote:

[quote]To move on to a slightly different supergroup rant, what do you guys think of Danu at the moment? I really don't care for the singer as much as their old guy, and in general their last full band album seemed rather bland and unswinging to me. I admit I haven't heard their last sort of "solo" effort, but in general what would other peoples comments be? [/quote]

At first I thought The Road Less Traveled was a little bland compared with the other CDs,but then I saw them live,and they are just amazing live! I was absolutly blown away! And now the CD seems better after having seen them play the tunes on it. Oh,and I like Murieann.She's a great singer (IMHO),and I love that now there can be two flutes playing at the same time!
-Kelly

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:01 pm

I'd never listened to Solas before. I listened to part of their recent Edinburgh show on Travelling Folk. One of them (Seamus I guess) said "We'll be playing tunes from our latest album, Another Day, if that's alright with you" and somebody in the audience said it wasn't alright. I agree with the audience member. I wasn't too impressed.

At least with Lúnasa the focus is on the tunes whereas with Solas it sounded more like it was about how fast and "innovative" they could play the tunes. It took a couple repetitions of Sporting Paddy before I realized what tune they were playing. And Egan's flute solo... I didn't buy into the "shock and awe" approach to ornamentation. He had nice tone I guess.

Cheers,
Aaron

Hornpiper · Post by **Hornpiper** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:34 pm

Lunasa? Danu? Flook? Mise? Millish? Capercaillie? At First Light?

Take your pick - all are more-than-superlative cures for your Solas blues

Crysania · Post by **Crysania** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:59 am

AaronMalcomb wrote:I'd never listened to Solas before. I listened to part of their recent Edinburgh show on Travelling Folk. One of them (Seamus I guess) said "We'll be playing tunes from our latest album, Another Day, if that's alright with you" and somebody in the audience said it wasn't alright. I agree with the audience member. I wasn't too impressed.

That seens rather incredibly rude to say...why go to a gig if you don't like the band and/or their recent work? I just saw Solas...I drove 3 hours just to see them. Sat in the front row center. And they were wonderful...I had no trouble hearing the tunes and loved the energy, the band's interaction with each other and the audience. Seamus Egan's flute playing was amazing...and I think he has more than a nice tone...his tone is beautiful and I thought his ornamentation well done. I only wish I could play like he does! He plays the heck out of that thing and I enjoyed watching him play even more than hearing the whole band.

They were also all incredibly nice and gracious people. I talked with each band member for a little bit after the gig and they were all so amazingly nice and easy to talk to. Winifred Horan was wonderful to my friend when she said she wanted to pick up her fiddle after watching her play. Mick McAuley, Deidre Scanlon, and Seamus Egan all spent a little time talking to me as well, even though there were a lot of people flocking around.

I was a fan before seeing them, I'm an even bigger fan now.

~Crysania

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:53 am

I listened to the concert on a radio show via the internet. It was the first time I had heard Solas. But If I had personally attended the show and didn't like it I think my criticism would have even more gravitas.

As far as the rest of it, let's chalk that down to personal taste and style.

Cheers,
Aaron