Track taken from Lau's latest record Race The Loser.

"Modern folk music's most innovative band Lau return with their third album 'Race The Loser'. The trio's captivating live and studio performances have seen Lau pick up three consecutive BBC Folk Awards for Best Group (2008-2010).Produced by Tucker Martine (Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, Laura Viers, R.E.M.) Brilliant musicians, thrilling performers, free-thinking visionaries and all-round good chaps as well…small wonder Lau are regarded as the epicentre of the new folk boom . And they've got shelves groaning with awards, a forest's worth of ecstatic reviews and breathless plaudits from excited audiences in various outposts of the world ringing in their ears to prove it..."


Lau - Far From Portland

Biologist, composer, producer, occasional musician. Music and soundscapes inspired by stories from science, science fiction, the cosmos, space exploration, nature, history, the Earth, water, cities and travel (bikes!). The idea's the thing and the game's afoot! Also on HearThis - please follow there https://hearthis.at/scottishnatureboy-iz/

AIDAN O'ROURKE

Aidan O’Rourke is a fiddler, composer, producer and curator. With his trio Lau, in multiple solo projects and in collaborations, he has pioneered a new sound in folk music and redefined traditional forms.

His roots are in Scottish and Irish folk music. He grew up in an Irish family in Argyll and studied fiddle in the West Highland tradition. By 14 he was touring with The Caledonia Ramblers; in 1998 he joined Blazin’ Fiddles; in 2010 he formed the quartet Kan with whistle player Brian Finnegan; in 2016 he formed a duo with the jazz pianist Kit Downes; in 2017 he joined the legendary Donal Lunny's new collective The Atlantic Arc Orchestra.

Lau came together in 2006 and their debut album set a precedent for new politically-charged folk music that expands the form and experiments with sound while staying rooted in tradition. Four further studio albums followed, plus a couple of live albums and a 2017 retrospective charting the band’s first decade. Lau collaborators include Karine Polwart, Fred Frith, Anais Mitchell, Joan as Police Woman, John Parish, Adem, Jack Bruce, Trilok Gurtu, Brian Irvine and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. The band have made multiple tours of the US and Japan and won Best Group at the BBC 2 Folk Awards an unprecedented four times.

As a solo artist, Aidan is always looking for new ways to articulate the tradition. He has released four solo albums – Sirius (2006), An Tobar (2008), Hotline (2013) and 365: Vol 1 (2018) – as well as the experimental EPs Music For Exhibition and Film (2015) and Imprint (2016). He was named Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2014.

As a composer, Aidan threads his heritage into diverse settings. He is a three-time winner of the PRSF New Music Biennial commission at the Southbank Centre; other commissioners include the Scottish Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sage Gateshead, Celtic Connections, the Tolbooth in Stirling, An Tobar, Cottier Chamber Project and Capella Nova. In 2017 he wrote the official music for the opening of the Queensferry Crossing.

As a curator, Aidan has co-directed multiple editions of the Lau-Land festival featuring eclectic lineups, one-off collaborations and workshops. Other curations include Lucky Middlemass’s Tavern, recreating a hub of Edinburgh enlightenment music and debate.

As a teacher, Aidan is a regular tutor at Newcastle University and University of Limerick, and holds fiddle classes as part of Lau-Land.

As a producer, Aidan's interests are in stripping back to bare elements and appreciating the real qualities of instruments and voices – letting the nuances of the tune be at the forefront. In 2018 he produced Brighde Chaimbeul's debut album The Reeling.

His latest project is the immense tune-cycle 365. Aidan wrote a tune every day for a year in response to a short story collection by James Robertson. The result is a major new body of 365 tunes – a significant addition to the Scottish traditional music canon. Aidan’s fiddle tunes are sparse and emotive; his playing is renowned for its lyricism, here paired with bold harmonies from Kit Downes on harmonium and piano, guitarist Sorren Maclean and harpist Esther Swift. 365: Vol 1 was released in May 2018. 365: Volume 2 will be released in August 2019.

“Few contemporary musicians in any category can match either his artistic ambitions or his achievements in bringing them to fruition” (The Scotsman)

“O’Rourke’s music – both his writing and playing – is unfailingly strong and imaginative” (The List)

“Lau are a remarkable band - exquisite and hypnotic, musicianship at its best” (The Guardian)

Lau - Far From Portland

AidanO'Rourke