May 15, 2025
Streaming Memory Forward Listening Post 388. Cuimhne means “memory” in both Scottish Gaelic and Irish, and as the title track of Allt, Vol. II, it evokes calm mornings, warm afternoons and tranquil evenings (see videos). And like the human forces that shape our world,...
August 28, 2019
Streaming Tradition Listening Post 216. Ireland and Scotland may be separated by the North Channel but they are also linked by a stream of inter-Celtic partnerships, leagues, festivals and initiatives. Allt, a collaborative album by two Celtic music power couples, is...
November 27, 2017
All the Right Notes for Building Listening Post 126. Just as construction cranes on a city landscape signal renewal, so do new songs indicate the vitality of a language. Mary Ann Kennedy, an architect of the Scottish Gaelic Renaissance, builds toward the heavens not...
November 6, 2016
Feel the Burns Listening Post 72. No single album can capture the entire arc of Scotland’s musical culture, but there is a breathtaking sweep to what Claire Hastings accomplishes in the 10 tracks of her debut effort. She gambols across time and space (from...
July 27, 2015
Fresh Gael Listening Post 5. If you’ve heard that Scottish Gaelic is an endangered language, then listening to Julie Fowlis might cause some cognitive dissonance. Her voice is so angelic it seems more likely that people would be studying just to be able to understand...
