| Artist: | Track: | Rating: | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jerry O'Sullivan | The Wayfaring Stranger | | | | |
| 2. Solas | The Stride Set (Reels) | | | | |
| 3. Karan Casey | The Labouring Man's Daughter | | | | |
| 4. Cathie Ryan | We Dreamed Our Dreams | | | | |
| 5. Jerry O'Sullivan | Wendel's Wedding | | | | |
| 6. Solas | The Gray Selchie | | | | |
| 7. Bill Laswell | Dark Green | | | | |
| 8. Jerry O'Sullivan | Wind Chimes And Nursery Rhymes | | | | |
| 9. Karan Casey | One, I Love | | | | |
| 10.Solas | La Bruxa | | | | |
| 11.Matt Molloy | The Hare In The Heather | | | | |
| 12.Cathie Ryan | Coaineadh Na Dtri Muire | | | | |
| 13.Matt Molloy | Slieve Russell, Jimmy Wards J.G | | | | |
| 14.Solas | The Beauty Spot (Reels) | | | | |
Last year, Bill Laswell completed work on his project of "reconstructing" a number of works in the traditional Celtic vein. It's probably safe to say that most listeners would prefer he'd have kept at the revisions a bit longer. Or released it as a 20-minute EP. Or not released it at all.
Emerald Aether: Shape Shifting is a befuddling album, consisting mostly of irrelevant-to-obtrusive reconstructions of decent-to-good source material. Viewed solely as an audio experience, the album isn't without some merit (and hence the relatively high star ratings). Seen as a Bill Laswell project, it comes off as remarkably hollow. In sum, it's a set of decent music that lacks any good reason for existing - a project as pointless as it is pleasant to hear. Considering the results, one can only wonder why Laswell bothered with the project in the first place.
A number of the songs are left in a basically ambient setting. The album begins and ends with pleasant, evocative works performed on traditional pipe instruments: "The Wayfaring Stranger" is a decent mood piece, and "The Beauty Spot (Reels)" features some skilled playing in a semi-inspired setting. "We Dreamed Our Dreams" is a very brief (and fairly forgettable) guitar piece, while "Wendel's Wedding" has some gorgeous plucked guitar to its credit. "Wind Chimes And Nursery Rhymes" is a nice, reflective number. "La Bruxa" is perhaps the highlight of the release, with a combination of guitar and accordion that's much better than any bare-bones description would imply. "Slieve Russell, Jimmy Wards J.G.", meanwhile, is something of a jig piece.
There's nothing terribly wrong with any of these tracks -- the only problem is that Laswell's own contributions are mostly limited to creating some superfluous keyboard noises in the background. It's nice to hear such tunes in the light of Laswell's high-quality production, I suppose, but one can't escape the conclusion that Bill isn't really adding very much to them.
*
Some other tracks on the album feature electronic dance-beats. Listening to these tracks, one might easily envision two parallel streams, flowing through the same general vicinity without ever coming together. The actual beats often sound like those of the Future Sound of London or (to a lesser extent) The Orb. But whereas those bands would probably have combined the two forms in a fairly interesting way, Laswell simply adds his collection of beats to the source material. It's a bit disconcerting at times, to put it mildly. One might expect this sort of ramshackle planning from other artists, but not from a man who's based his career on his production skills.
That said, the tracks in question aren't total disasters. "The Stride Set" shows some evidence of having heard Ashley MacIsaac's work, and combines violin and banjo passages in a fairly interesting way. With better editing, this could have been something truly special. "The Labouring Man's Daughter" has a very similar beat structure to FSOL's "Far Out Sound Of Lung", but comes off as a clumsy derivative of that band's style -- the beats are just THERE, not really interacting with the (admittedly enjoyable) source track. "The Hare In The Heather" is much the same, and Laswell's own "Dark Green" has a few fade-in tricks and little else to its credit.
Three tracks merit some special attention. "The Gray Selchie" basically succeeds as a Laswellian construction piece, with various electronic devices intermingling with a lead guitar line. Had this been a prototype for the entire album, it probably would've been a more innovative venture. "One, I Love" actually succeeds by virtue of the stark contrast between Laswell's beats and Casey's voice ... at first; by the end of the track, though, it just seems a bit amateurish(!). Finally, "Coaineadh Na Dtri Muire" features some incredible singing over a sparse background. The only problem is that there's no need for a Enya derivative when the real thing is just as easily available.
Perhaps this project was cursed from the fact that it was recorded in a called West Orange(!), New Jersey. Or perhaps it was just a bad idea from the beginning. One way or the other, there's no need to encourage further works of this sort.
If you're a hardcore fan of the source material, you might find this entertaining. Otherwise, don't bother.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on )