Label: Putumayo World Music
Genre: Folk, World, Celtic
Putumayo's world music collections are often an uneven affair of tasteful folk-inspired cuts with a unique regional flair and misguided marriages of factory drum loops and traditional instruments. Their 2015 compilation, Celtic Cafe, is no different, offering up ten tracks from the British Isles with a relaxed coffeehouse vibe that split the difference between inviting and slightly aggravating. Opening track "Waterbound," by Ireland's Michael McGoldrick, sets a warm, easy tone, as does Scottish folk stalwart Dougie MacLean's rendition of "Are Ye Sleepin' Maggie," but Capercaillie's folk-funk fusion dud "Him Bo" is the album's low point. Fortunately, the rest of Celtic Cafe is filled with some very nice trad-flavored folk songwriting (Finbar Furey's "School Days Over") and familiar-sounding, if somewhat unremarkable instrumental fare.
Tracklist:
01 - Waterbound (Michael McGoldrick)
02 - Are Ye Sleepin' Maggie? (Dougie MacLean)
03 - Him Bò (Capercaillie)
04 - Star of the County Down (The Baileys)
05 - The Parting Glass (Cara Dillon)
06 - An Eala Bhàn (Mànran)
07 - School Days Over (Finbar Furey)
08 - Braw Sailin' (Old Blind Dogs)
09 - Looking at a Rainbow Through a Dirty Window (Calum Stewart)
10 - Tramps & Hawkers (Battlefield Band)
