End of year playlist from Making Waves:  this is a marathon collection of all Soundcloud tracks featured in playlists this year.  Your holiday listening sorted!

2017 Waves

From Céilí House Archive 2004, which is now defunct. Bobby Casey plays one of his compositions and goes on to talk about its title. Recorded in the 1970s. 

Bobby Casey - The Porthole of the Kelp

Sometimes when that special moment happens...
...one just wishes that, for once, the bloody dog would let me have a solo career!

Red is the Rose Duet: Ronan & Láichín

1.
Well oft-times we grumble and oft-times we groan,
And oft-times we sit and we whinge and we moan,
Of how our sons and daughters are forced to leave home,
And bid farewell to ould Éireann.
In hundreds and thousands, in gangs and in droves,
They gather their bags and they take to the roads,
In some far distant land there’s a life they are owed,
For you know they won’t get it in Éireann.

2.
Well it’s just a short journey, in the space of one day,
You can find yourself somewhere that’s far far away,
Where the sun often shines and it seldom is grey,
In direct opposition to Éireann.
You can then find a gaff not much rent for to give,
Large, big and comfy, not much rent for to give,
Not a dank one-roomed hovel for one thousand quid,
Like the ones that they rent you in Éireann.

3.
You may talk like a peasant, you may talk like a snob,
But when they hear your brogue well they’ll throw you a job,
You are Gaelic, Exotic, and you’ll make their hearts throb,
Because you come from the land of ould Éireann.
Your people are warriors, your people are Gaels,
You withstood the Empire with your old ancient ways,
You survived the famine, you’ve seen some dark days,
Let’s drink to the health of ould Éireann.

4.
Oh life can be easy, life can be a sport,
Set up in the New World with the golden passport,
Free drinks and kudos your eternal reward,
But your heart sinks when you think on Éireann.
For you miss all the slagging, and for Jaysus' sake,
The hot bowls of coddle that your ma used to make,
And the misdirected respect you find hard to take,
For your only ashamed of ould Éireann.

5.
Where the people are weak, and the people are spent,
From running in circles ’til their legs they are bent,
Lamenting the price of the petrol and rent,
We are slow to learn in ould Éireann.
And the green rag all tied round our ears and our eyes,
It stops us from telling the truth from the lies,
For competitional patience we’d win the first prize,
For we’re too easy going in Éireann.

6.
Where politicians and bankers they do as they please,
The pennies in our hands they laugh as they seize,
And the people are happy to remain on their knees,
And beg for the scraps in ould Éireann. 
We uphold the cult of the canny cute hoor,
Who steals from the mouths of the sick and the poor,
These charlatans, knaves, three-card trick men and boors,
Are running the show in ould Éireann

7.
With their cheap talk they fooled us, we were sold, we were had,
They led us up the path and they took us to bed,
They bent us right over, punched us in the head,
And they took us right up the ould Éireann.
We awake in the mornings with heads that are sore,
In the Dáil sit the pimps, we are the whores,
We cannot lie back and take this anymore,
Things must come to a head in ould Éireann!

8.
So if you find yourself in Australia or Amerikay,
And they drink to ould Éireann, well what can you say?
That your people aren’t warriors, nor are they saints,
We’ve an undeserved high reputation.
But its not too late to fight back and these tyrants eject,
Take back what’s ours from these primates erect,
Our purpose, our life, our own self-respect,
Then we’d have something to be proud of in Éireann.


Déanta in Éireann

Recorded live at Celtic Connections in Glasgow
Róisín Elsafty: Vocals
Siobhán Armstrong: Early Irish Harp
Ronan Browne: Whistles

"Síle Bheag Ní Chonnalláin" by ELSAFTY, ARMSTRONG & BROWNE

Not only did we run out of space on the CD but we also recorded a version of The Beauty Spot with Tierna (along with The Concert Reel) so this track just had to go.  But that doesn't stop us letting it off to roam around Soundcloud.
Hope you enjoy and please don't forget to buy CDs of your favourite artists – we're not all independently wealthy and we need money too :)

Ronan Browne & Peter O'Loughlin: The Beauty Spot & Siobhán Ni Dhuibhir

A Dublin song, which we got from the legendary Luke Cheevers, about an aging British army recruitment sergeant who was stationed at Dunphy's Corner (now Doyle's Corner) in Phibsboro, on Dublin's northside.
This track was kindly recorded by Ian O' Donoghue live at The Sugar Club, Dublin on 28th June 2015.

Sergeant William Bailey (live)

We first heard this song on Andy the Doorbum's (https://soundcloud.com/andythedoorbum) album, 'The Man Killed The Bird, And With The Bird He Killed The Song, And With The Song, Himself', and after contacting Andy to ask him about it, realised that it was a traditional song with a rich and deep history, even being included in F.J. Child's famous collection of ballads. It is related to 'The Lowlands Low' and other traditional nautical songs, and versions have been recorded all over America, as well as Scotland and Ireland.
This is our first ever public performance of the song and it was kindly recorded by Ian O' Donoghue live at The Sugar Club, Dublin on 28th June 2015.

The Turkish Reveille (live)

Another extra track which didn't fit on the Legacy CD.  We've included it in the digital version but here it is on Soundcloud too as a taster.

Hope you enjoy and, as always, please don't forget to buy CDs of your favourite artists – we're not all independently wealthy and we need to pay our bills too :)

Ronan Browne & Peter O'Loughlin: Bean Tinceara & Jenny Tie The Bonnet

Cellist: Gemma Tomlinson.
Composer: Lisa Cheney.
This is the live, world premiere recording of 'When We Speak' for solo cello and electroacoustic track. The work was premiered at the This Will Be Our Reply concert, International Women's Day concert at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Melba Hall on 7/03/2016.

PROGRAM NOTES:
When We Speak for solo cello and electroacoustic track seeks to comment on broader issues surrounding gender inequality and these considerations on my compositional practice. Throughout the work the interweaving of many ‘voices’ is present in: my own musical language, the music and speech of respected Finnish composer, Kaija Saariaho, the expression of the live cellist and her own literal voice.  The, at times semi-improvised cello part, weaves its way through an atmospheric soundscape derived from a recent public interview with Saariaho. The accompanying recorded musical sounds are extracted from Saariaho’s own compositions, with special weight placed upon manipulated excerpts from Gemma Tomlinson’s own performance of Sept Papillons. 

When We Speak (solo cello + electroacoustic track)

Responsibility

A response to the lives lost in Paris, November 2015. The piece attempts to portray the confused but overwhelmingly energised inner workings of a young, fanaticised mind and give form to their misshapen and distorted reality.

Works by playwright Wole Soyinka influenced my choice of perspective when approaching this topic. 

… the shadowy one, the waiter-stalker, a youth
 Fed on dreams of sarabands of houris
 Doe-eyed virgins, wine and sweetmeats in the afterlife 
But to his paradise, a key - the plunging knife. 

an excerpt from Samarkand
by Wole Soyinka

The Fanatic or I Am Right You Are Dead

Commissioned by Samantha Wolf for International Women's Day 2016 concert: This Will Be Our Reply. First performed on 7th March 2016 by Tamara Kohler, Gemma Tomlinson, Aaron Klein, & Adam McMillan.

There is usually more complexity on the inside than what is initially seen.

"On the Inside" explores the many aspects of identity throughout a woman’s life, from growth to complexity, (as opposed to innocence to uselessness). It rejects the idea that women are to be seen as objects only, that a woman’s value lies in her physical attributes and functionality to another. 

Musically, this piece started with a single small motif that is heard about a third of the way in, which I then grew and developed continuously. Despite rejecting external ideals, aspects that might be perceived as "beauty" have been retained because, like all characteristics, beauty is not something to be ashamed of or feared.

On The Inside

[text by Rhys Nixon, composed && performed by Dan Thorpe].

going wild here on the footpath

a dog looked at me, walked away

going to buy a dog off amazon after getting something to eat

send pictures of dogs to strangers

no one sends any back

windows fogged up 

cant see inside

 

what am i doing between tabs i’m not looking at

another day, another empty mail box

no we don’t want to subscribe to your newsletter

no we are happy with our bandwidth 

no we don’t care about your coupons

no this letter isn’t meant for us


been waiting outside way too long

yes, it’s exactly what it looks like, more than one train approaching

walk down the street in pajamas, will people even look 

they glance and mutter

they really do need to subscribe

looks like their bandwidth is low

probably uses coupons

 

walking on footpaths, broken rubbish bag

empty milk bottles rolling into gutters

think of picking them up

we don’t, look at the bus drive past

everyone waiting

 

i can use this, open a store, sell my ideas

watches don’t tell the time, coffee tastes like water

inbuilt spelling mistake maker

automatic Facebook liker

app that answers the door

service that compares all the dogs in your area

white noise dream catcher

 

if i tackled a police officer would people stop me

or will the police officer step aside

consider this while waiting for a coffee

consider this while you exit the train station

consider that the police officer 

didn’t look at you

 

i walked into traffic and all the cars stopped politely, 

the drivers weren't watching me

if you were waiting for me

i’m sorry about that

it must be the water

can i get a drink

 

i’ll look at a sad picture and not feel the need to cry

until someone says ‘wow that made me cry a lot’

we’ll walk to the bank

take all our money

throw it on the road

watch cars drive over it

pick it up and deposit it again

 

don’t worry about it, honestly, 

i’ll make sure to stand up straighter

and meet up with friends

we’ll be the friendliest people

on the end of our street

in our complex

in our combined bank account

linked to our insurance company

 

bury my face in funny videos

don’t want to know anymore

turn the volume down here so i wont be noticed

give up sleeping

stay up every day

everything feels blue

we won’t be photographed

Considerate

What can we do, there's nothing to do,
about sickness and hunger and dying.
What can we do, there's nothing to do,
nothing but cursing and crying.

Find something to burn.
Let it go up in smoke.
burn your troubles away.

Sometimes it's witches or what will you choose?
Sometimes it's lunatics, shut them away.
It's blacks and it's women and often it's Jews.
We's all be quite happy if they'd go away.

Find something to burn.
Let it go up in smoke.
burn your troubles away.

The lyrics of Caryl Churchill from her play 'Vinegar Tom'. Performed and composed by ALPHAMALE (https://soundcloud.com/dad-dreams) and Marlene Claudine Radice. This piece premiered in COUP Canberra's 2016 production of Vinegar Tom.
http://www.agac.com.au/2016/12/the-musicians-of-vinegar-tom/

Cut Common interview with Hannah and Marlene: http://www.cutcommonmag.com/how-can-we-use-music-to-achieve-social-change/

Something To Burn

A piece composed for 5x5x5 at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Thea Rossen, percussion
Kaylie Melville, percussion
Jennifer Timmins, flute
Emmanuel Cassimatis, cor anglais
Kenny Keppel, bass clarinet
Matthew Horsley, conductor

Matthew Horsley - Spaces Without

Making Waves is a monthly series of curated playlists streaming one hour of quality, new composed music.  Founded in 2015, Making Waves shines a spotlight on the music of Australian composers. Fresh playlists are released on the first day of each month and older playlists are made available all year round via our archives; perfect for those with just a few minutes to explore one track or for hours perusing a myriad of diverse sound-worlds.


The project offers wider exposure to emerging composers, their music and the talented performers who champion it. We also provide an easy-to-access platform for listeners to sit back and enjoy a curated hour of exciting new music or explore our living composers more actively.  The playlist themes (and media through which they’re shared eg. Soundcloud, YouTube) evolve each month depending on the content received directly from our talented composers.

At its core Making Waves is a curated listening space. In 2016 we branched into producing our own content through a special project, Making Conversation, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign. Making Conversation: Australian Composers Project is a series of podcasts and vodcasts presenting the human side of living Australian composers, released on popular audiovisual and social platforms mid-2017.
Composers Lisa Cheney (Melbourne) and Peggy Polias (Sydney) are curating this project.

 Listeners, we encourage you to explore current and past playlists and discover more about our featured composers. 

Composers, we encourage you to send us links to your streamable audio via our website. Visit: www.makingwavesnewmusic.com for more information.

Uilleann piper, composer and recovering percussionist. Based in Melbourne.

Matthew Horsley - Spaces Without

Matt Horsley

Related tracks