- Music
- 03 Apr 01
Tin whistles, swirling melodies and soothing rhythms are the order of the day as Dagda prove themselves to be Ireland’s answer to Deep Forest, mixing quasi-Celtic mumbo jumbo with contemporary beats. This is an album that’s great to fall asleep to after a tough day in the office but I’m not so sure about anything else, really.
Tin whistles, swirling melodies and soothing rhythms are the order of the day as Dagda prove themselves to be Ireland’s answer to Deep Forest, mixing quasi-Celtic mumbo jumbo with contemporary beats. This is an album that’s great to fall asleep to after a tough day in the office but I’m not so sure about anything else, really.
‘Oroshay’ is all Clannadesque vocals ghosting in and around some super-smooth percussion, with a tin whistle thrown in for good measure, while ‘Primal Gods’ breathy vocals owes a debt to Enigma, albeit without the latter’s inherent sexuality.
‘Shades Of The Otherworld’ has a similar beat to Enigma’s ‘Sadness’ and is actually a reworking of the traditional ‘Follow Me Up To Carlow’ without all the cursing, swearing and Lord Kildare-ing that make the ballad such good, raucous fun in the first place.
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This isn’t the worst example of the world/ambient genre I’ve ever heard, but it’s a bit too coffee-table-Celtic for my liking, with none of the authenticity of, say, Anuna, or even Clannad. It also, sadly, lacks the vocal finesse of either.