Some lovely Irish music recorded on Islay I found today. Neil Ó Briain and John Tracey recorded their project Ar Foluain (meaning “afloat” in Irish) during a four day stay on Islay (not entirely sure when) and released it last week. They recorded a beautiful video of their time on Islay mixed with the recordings of the songs, the video and songs are a mixture of English and Irish, so you might need to switch on subtitles:
Ar Foluain | The Islay Project
Very enjoyable I think, I hope you liked it as well. If you follow the link above you’ll also find further links to various music streaming services where you can listen to the album.
It’s a rather wet October Sunday morning where I’m writing this (and rather breezy on Islay), a good time to stay in for some Islay reading. So here are a variety of links to articles and more I’ve found. I hope you’ll find something interesting:
OK, I have to stretch a little bit for the Islay link here, but when deciding whether to share it on my personal blog or here I felt it fits here. After all like quite a few of the artists I listen to I discovered Brìghde Chaimbeul through the Islay Sessions, where she performed a few years back. A beautiful new tune played on Scottish Smallpipes:
Brìghde Chaimbeul – Banish The Giant of Doubt & Despair
I’m not sure where the video was filmed, although I believe on Skye, where Brìghde and Beth (the dancer) are from. I hope to get to hear and see Brìghde performing again, ideally on Islay, but also elsewhere. If you have the opportunity to see her go for it.
The biggest (by far) event on Islay’s annual event calendar, Fèis Ìle, has a bit of a problem: Not enough ferries to get the many visitors expected for it to the island. So far working with Calmac hasn’t brought any additional sailings for the crucial period, so they’ve gone on a publicity blitz to hopefully get things moving.
There have been reports in several of the Scottish papers (most unfortunately behind paywalls, so can’t really link to them). Now even the BBC has picked it up and made it a fairly big report:
As the title says, some nice calming Islay inspired music today, only released a few days ago. The work is by Hania Rani in collaboration with Islay’s Bowmore distillery. The video shows many scenes on Islay, in particular around Saligo Bay (the poor piano carriers must have had their work cut out…). Lean back and enjoy:
Bowmore x Hania Rani — The Boat
I hope you enjoyed the music and the video, you can read more about the collaboration on Two Sensorial Spirits.
Over the last week or so I had a look through a large number of Islay related links which had accumulated in my newsreader. Many of them weren’t of much use, like many dozens of whiskies offers on shop pages or people and businesses named after Islay. But a few were more interesting, so here’s a collection of 12 of them:
This one might need a follow up and listen, but in an article about an upcoming album release show by Tim Monger it says “He said it ties together a list of niche themes — from cranberry bogs and distilleries on the Scottish island of Islay to the flightless woodhens of New Zealand.” Oh, and his dog is named, you guessed it, Islay
Any Leice photographers among my readers (I’m more of a Nikon person)? You might like Isle of Islay – A Wild Goose Chase! on the Leica Nature Blog
It’s quite far away, but I found the combination of the two neighbouring islands in an address in Canada quite interesting. If you’re looking for a house in Saskatchewan then 205 Islay STREET. Colonsay, SK might be of interest?
I pretty confident I’ve mentioned the mobile cinema (aka Screen Machine) on this blog at some point. What I didn’t know was that its first visit to Islay 25 years ago wasn’t a success as an article From the Northern Times 25, 50 and 100 years ago mentions
I would expect it is well out of the price range of almost all if not all of my readers, but as some of you might know Islay is the birth place of the Land Rover and they have just release an Islay inspired special edition: This £230k+ Defender Works V8 is inspired by a Scottish island
Some Islay history from the YouTube channel of the Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle – Islay Gaelic Centre today. Some old Gaelic tunes sung by a variety of people from Islay, combined with pictures and film footage from around the time the recordings were made, during a Ceilidh in Bowmore in 1967. I hope you enjoy them:
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Marion MacArthur
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Lily MacLean
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Robert Forrest
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Cam Shaw
Islay Ceilidh 1967 – Tom and Cath Crawford
The original recordings were loaned to Gaelic Centre by Etta Shaw, the Gaelic Centre then digitised them and added the pictures and film footage from the time. Great work by everyone involved!
Happy New Year 2023! By the time I post this the concert will be over and the food will be all gone, but it’s “same procedure as every year” (my German readers will understand, I think some others might as well now). As I’ve been doing for many years now I’ve been out for a New Year’s morning walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal, followed by Neujahrskonzert from Vienna with my New Year’s Day brunch and a dram or two of Islay single malt whisky:
New Year’s brunch and Islay whisky 2023
The Islay whisky of course is the Laddie Origins I opened yesterday. The food was similar to previous offerings, scrambled eggs with roasted garlic pepper and spring onions, smoked salmon, sausages and homemade poppy seed rolls.
My sister Imke and her horse Brioso kind of joined in (can you spot them?), they and a few human and equine friends “celebrated” the New Year last night.
I’m off for a nap now after all that food and drink, then (hoping it stays dry) out for an afternoon walk. If all goes to plan with a New Year’s Day pint in a pub on the way.
As I eluded to yesterday, today marks the start of a new chapter in my life, even though I don’t know yet where it will lead me. All I know is that over the coming weeks I’ll be looking for new career opportunities, while also aiming to use the opportunity for a few other changes. But at the same time there are some constants, including my love for Islay and some annual rituals/traditions:
West Berkshire New Year’s Day dawn
This morning I got up early and left for my morning walk before dawn, on the return leg I saw a lovely colourful New Year’s day first dawn of the year sky over one of the West Berkshire fields I pass on my route. When I returned home I got the oven going for some fresh “New Year’s Day bread”, one Hemp Hearts bread and one fruit bread. Then it was time for one of my New Year’s Day traditions (mentioned on this blog before eg in 2020 and in 2018), the New Year’s Day concert from Vienna with a dram of Islay single malt whisky and my New Year’s Day brunch.
The whisky is the same as for Christmas, the Kilchoman Single Cask 11 Years Old Bourbon Cask. The brunch is the aforementioned Hemp Hearts bread, scrambled eggs and some smoked salmon. The salmon “slowly smoked for 12 hours over oak & whisky cask chippings”, so I’m imagining they were Islay whisky cask chippings.
New Year’s Day brunch with an Islay dram
The concert has now reached the encores with the famous Blue Danube, so I’m going to finish now and wish you all a happy and healthy New Year 2022!
The Islay Sessions 2020 had to be moved to an online event for the well known reason of the Covid pandemic and related restrictions. For 2021 the Sessions return to their home on Islay, they will take place over the weekend 26-28/Nov/2021 in the usual locations, mainly the Port Charlotte Hotel and Bruichladdich Hall. Here’s a promo video with some more details:
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend in person myself this year due to work commitments (the last 5 and first 2-3 working days of the month I need to be working and with the long journey to Islay from where I live it’s not feasible the way the Sessions fall). I understand there are efforts under way to also stream the Sessions online, so I hope to be able to attend at least virtually.
