Ashley MacIsaac - Ashley Macisaac - Music & Performance - CD

Ori Release '03 Majoe debut album from the controversial fiddler who blends Celtic music Punk rock & other contemporary elements with guest Dallas Smith from the group Default.

Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac is as schizophrenic as ever on his self-titled first release for Decca. With his uniquely punk rock approach to Celtic reels and jigs, MacIsaac has plenty of room to toy with drum loops, reversed passages, and bizarro studio effects, and there are certainly moments where that experimentation pays off. The layered and loping "To America We Will Go" and the brittle "This Is My Father" both benefit from this multi-tiered approach, but it can also seem cluttered and unnecessary ("Grapes" may be the worst of these offenders). MacIsaac's strength has always been in his forceful fiddle playing, and this translates best in his updates of the traditional "Chorus Jig" and "Bog an Login," but the songs he has decided to test his own singing voice on fare less well. While his voice is forceful and in key, it is not necessarily interesting, and although this bluesy bar-belting could do justice to a pub-swaying drinking song or an impassioned battle ballad, on the majority of these tunes it just falls a little flat. Overall, as MacIsaac continues to push the boundaries of Celtic fusion he continues to hit and miss, and on this album the interesting textures and adept playing don't always make up for what the songwriting and singing lack. ~ Zac Johnson, All Music Guide

Performer	Ashley MacIsaac
Music genre	Rock
Music subgenre	Punk Rock
Music release type	Album
Media format	CD
Original release date	2003
Language	English
Is collectible	Y
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Track listing	Cello Song, Lay Me Down, Save Me from Tomorrow, I Don't Need This, Grapes, To America We Go, Chorus Jig/The King's Reel, The Wedding Funeral, Captain America, Mull of Kintyre, Bog An Login, This Is My Father, Fairy Dance
Record label	Decca
Songwriter	Ashley Macisaac
Track name	"Devil in the Kitchen", "Sleepy Maggie", "Miss Lyall's Strathspey/The Old King George Strathspey", "The Boy's Lament for His Dragon and the Glencoe March Medley", "Memories of Willie D Chisholm", "Contstitution Breakdown/The Old Man and the Old Woman (Le Vieux Pre El Ie Vieux Mre)/ST. Anne's Reel/Macnab's Hornpipe", "Lame Malcolm/Calum Brouche/Neil R MacDonalds", "Tulloch Gorm Medley", "B Flat Clogs and Reels (Inspired By Chisholm and Fitzgerald)", "The Spin and Glow & the Squirrel in the Tree Jig Set (For Charlie Muccuspic)", "Listen to the Mocking Bird Medley", "McKinnon's Marching Tunes", "The Christmas Carousing", "The Beauties of the Ballroom", "Big John McNeil", "Tunes in F", "Maxim's Waltz", "Tunes in a", "Jigs 1", "Jigs 2", "Reels"
Digital audio file format	CD
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N