Innovation - Inferno
Doon Records DOONCD014
Innovation are new to me. They are a new fiddle group from Ayrshire, the members being senior and former players of the renowned Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra whose ages range from sixteen to twenty-one. Their director is the well-known fiddler Alistair McCulloch.
Although they are known as a fiddle group, they include cellos, double bass, guitars, percussion, accordion, and flute in their line-up. This might lead you to think they will sound like a formal ceili band but the music they produce is that of a modern massed fiddle orchestra. Their repertoire includes music from North America, Spain, Finland, Ireland and of course Scotland. I am informed they specialise in contemporary arrangements of Celtic music from around the world, most of their arrangements are indeed first class, even if they stretch the Celtic a bit far, just listen to the novel but odd track six.
Give them a listen ff you enjoy the sound of massed fiddles with no rough edges. Their musicianship is, as you would expect given their pedigree, faultless. For me, this is the smooth edge of traditional music, but then traditional music is never anything but varied. I bet they are great live.
Danny Saunders
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 72 of The Living Tradition magazine. |