Search - Aly Bain, Ale Moller :: Fully Rigged

Nordic meets Celtic on the tiny Shetland Islands

johnny2bad | Vienna, VA United States | 03/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw Aly Bain at the 1975 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where he was playing solo fiddle, and sitting in with a Cajun band .... His virtuoso playing has joined with many other players and styles over the years, while he is most known for his playing of Shetland, Scottish and Irish tunes with The Boys of the Lough. On this album he plays with Ale Moller, from the Swedish group Nordan, and they range over the North Atlantic, playing mostly tunes from the Shetlands and Sweden, but also from the U.S., Canada, and Scotland. This is a natural pairing, because, while fiddling from the Shetlands is normally seen as an off-shoot of Scottish and Celtic music, there was sometimes something a little melodically and harmonically different (listen to "Christmas Day I'da Morning" on the Boys' first album). That difference is the influence of Norwegian and Swedish music, which makes sense, as the Shetlands are between Scotland and Norway in the North Sea.
In addition to the traditional tunes there are several good original tunes from Ale, who plays mandola and several traditional wind instruments. Aly provides another arrangement of the American tune "Bonaparte's Retreat" as good as the one on his solo album "Lonely Bird". Good liner notes explain the provenance of each song."

Lovely mix of styles

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 03/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lovely traditional fiddle music featuring Aly Bain (of Boys Of The Lough) along with Swedish mandola whiz, Ale Moller, of the band Frifot. The two are obviously very much in synch with other, and this is a very dreamy, pleasant album. Interesting blend of the Celtic lilt and the Nordic lurch... Like nearly all the records on the Northside label, this is unusual and challenging, and highly recommended."