CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Harp Music of Wales

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Robin Bowen

Release Date October 24, 1995
Have you ever wondered what a polka sounds like when played on the Welsh triple harp?

It sounds sprightly and luminous---not at all like it sounds when played on the accordion, thank God. In fact all of the tunes on this CD are played in a sprightly and luminous fashion by master Welsh harpist, Robin Huw Bowen.

I was actually expecting music more in the lugubrious Celtic tradition---sometimes even referred to as the `sleep-inducing' tradition---not so, on this album.

Two of my favorite somniferous Welsh tunes, "All through the Night," and "The Ash Grove" dance merrily through the three rows of strings. Even the mighty Men of Harlech skip rather than march to Master Bowen's harp.

True Welsh traditionalists ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Colossal Youth

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Young Marble Giants

Release Date September 11, 2002
I've been trying to remember when and how I first heard of Young Marble Giants. My best guess is that it was reading one of the 1980s editions of Ira Robbins Trouser Press Guide. I also can't recall if I first discovered it on LP, cassette, or CD. I do know that I flipped over it on the very first listen. It simply didn't sound like anything else I was listening to. The closest to any other band I could come up with at the time was a few cuts by Wire, but really they don't sound like anyone else either before or since. This makes it difficult music to describe to someone else. I almost want to coin a description and call it Punk Pop Minimalism. That description would do as well as anything.

Musically the songs are structured about bare ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Old Hearth: Welsh Music on Triple Harp to Fire the Soul

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Robin Huw Bowen

Release Date March 14, 2000
This is one of the best albums of Welsh triple harp music out there. Bowen plays with warmth and with passion (in a Welsh sense). The tune selections are great and his playing is superb. Highly recommended for those who like the Welsh triple harp or those exploring this old tradition. (Wales is the only celtic country with an unbroken tradition of harp music). I have another album of his, but this one is definitely much better, being recorded far better and having a great selection of tunes.
If you are interested in the harp, and especially harp music from the various celtic-speaking countries, then this is a must have album. Highly recommended.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Ysbryd Y Werin

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Carreg Lafar

Release Date October 14, 1997
I have just discovered Carreg Lafar, a great Celtic folk group from Wales. I have to admit I've been very much in the dark when it comes to traditional Welsh folk music. The Celtic music world has been very much focused on Irish and Scots music, but the Welsh had been largely ignored in the world. I felt the same way about Breton music, until I bought some Alan Stivell albums (but he also covered Irish, Scots, and Welsh folk music too). But I'm so glad to discover Carreg Lafar, they have to be one of the finest Celtic acts I've heard since Alan Stivell, and that's no kidding either! I now get to know some traditional Welsh songs in the process, and "All Through the Night" this is not. The group featured both male and female vocals (both Nick Dowsett and Linda Owen ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Welsh Traditional Music

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Crasdant

Release Date September 12, 2000
While I am a great fan of Robin Huw Bowen on the Welsh triple harp, this album disappoints. Crasdant appears to eschew any depth of feeling or drive that I associate with good Celtic music. The absence of bass tends to give the music a busy, spritely feel which I have dubbed "faerie music". Reminiscent of sessions, the pieces have a repetitive and unimaginative feel which leads one to wonder why noone bothered to make thoughtful arrangements. Mr. Bowen can do better than this and his associates, excellent musicians all, should rally to produce a more varied and unique sound.

CD-Charts Position 6
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The Very Best of Welsh Choirs

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Various Artists

Release Date November 24, 1998
This CD is the best of the "very best" Welsh choirs series because of the variety of song types IMHO. Several tracks could be technically better. Let's hope that this one gets stocked again

CD-Charts Position 7
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Hyn: Traditional Celtic Music of Wales

CD-Charts > Music > Welsh Folk
by: Carreg Lafar

Release Date May 16, 2000
HYN or `This' is composed of traditional, lively, mostly love songs. Each song is a short tale and many of them are told with a poignant twist. Sometimes a women bewitches a man, sometimes the grass bewitches cattle (like a woman who bewitches men). In one song, the woman is a spinster who won't get a husband until she attends the Bala fair. In another `Dau Rosyn Coch' or `Two Red Roses', a poor lass has no dowry. One lass refuses to see her true love because he is a sailor who constantly breaks her heart by sailing away. Yet another song is sung by a soldier departing his beloved town in Wales.

The `Mari Lwyd' or Grey Mare, a tale of a singing competition involving a horse's skull decorated with a sheet of ribbons and a pub on New Year's Eve, is sung choral ... Read More: