These days we see the inexorable progress of early spring.  As dirty snow gives way to mud puddles, as slipping on the ice changes to the dripping of the ice, as parkas and boots give way to raincoats and galoshes.  To help with this transition, this week on Routes & Branches & Beyond I have the second show in the Celtic Spring series.  I have Donegal craic, google frenzy put to music, impossible time signatures for sword dancers, Breton crop circles, bright but flickering sailors, cajun bagpipes, jigs 'n talkin' drums, waves of crunchy folk rock, a banjo for Spiderman, downhome gypsy jazz and bodhrans on the brain.  

All from musicians such as Altan, Breabach, Alboka, Bleizi Ruz, Arcady, Afrocelt Soundsystem, Bourne & MacLeod, Blackbeard’s Tea Party, Boys of the Lough, Battlefield Band, Alison Brown Quartet, Black 47, and 422 (the band, not just the number).  Take off those muddy boots and join us.

Routes & Branches & Beyond show # 268 2023 03 16

Composition en live et en plein air dans la baie de Douarnenez. Yakoba orchestre solo.

Kan africa

Minimalism isn't always what you think it is ( like classic Chain Reaction) - sparse, longform, gradual development, long crossfades, around a core looping phrase or rhythm. One subspecies of minimalism is this: Minimalese - lush, ecstatic, deeply textured, wending its way around a swung core loop or riddim (closer to #SteveReich, say, or even #OrenAmbarchi). This mix, in particular, will leave you feeling buoyant. The whole EP is upbeat (for a change). Maybe we need these small doses of feelgood as an antidote to all the grim fuckery that's going on around us and in us? (<written in early May, 2025. Will probably be deleted some time later).

Minimalese.sonophyla

Minimalese II _Air Cnoc nan Sìthichean [ext. mix]

Producer of mainly instrumental tracks, both electronic and analog, in a range of styles.

New tracks tagged #afrocelt