OK, so I bought the CD on a lark. It’s called An Raicín Álainn, by Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola (Lasareena Connolly, if you WAY anglicized it). She’s from Inishere in the Arann Islands . . . and this is a sean-nós recording.
Maybe everyone else already has this album, but wow, it’s just great. The title track, An Raicín Álainn (The Beautiful Comb), is spectacular, and the rest is good too. A VERY nice version of the ever-popular Casadh an tSúgáin is on track 4.
I like her voice in particular, because her singing, while it has the agility typical of good sean-nós singing, is a little more substantial than a lot of sean-nós I’ve heard. It may also be because she’s singing in more a low-soprano/high-alto range, and a lot of the female sean-nós I’ve heard has been high soprano. And her singing isn’t particularly heavily ornamented either, which can be a little distracting. And for those students of the language . . . her accent is very clear. Either that or I just like the sound of Arann Irish. Who knows.
Not familiar with this album, but I do understand your comments on the too-high, weak n wispy sopranos who often do sean-nos. If you like listening to ladies with deep smoky voices, you might be interested in Susan McKeown or Nan Tom Teaimín - no, I mean their recordings.
Hey Stuart. I do have Lasairfhíona’s CD. It’s okay; I do like it but it doesn’t bring me to new levels of existene. She’s a talented singer, surely, and it’s a nice recording.
My favorite cut is the one where her brother sings with only a bodhran as accompaniment. The CD liner notes say that this was commonly done for dancers where no one could afford store bought instruments. Talk about traditional!
I have the CD and would be happy to sell it, or trade it, as it isn’t my kind of music. If anyone has a swap in mind please contact me. I’m looking for anything with simple arrangement, not overproduced, preferrably with little or no vocals.
