THE PRESIDENTS" Pick of the Month!

"THE PRESIDENT'S"
Pick of the Month!

February 1997

This month we will be looking at another two albums. One of Scotland's greats, and world renowned artists Dougie Maclean, and one 'not so well known' duet comprising of Eric Bogle and John Munro with their CD aptly titled "The Emigrant & the Exile" . Both of these CD's are on the Presidents "Buy" list.

CRAIGIE DHU

By Dougie Maclean

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RELEASE DATE : NOW!

LABEL: DUNKELD RECORDS

A wee look at an album which has been available for a few years now, by the well known Scottish folk singer Dougie Maclean. Recorded at the Pan Hart St Studios in Edinburgh, Scotland it has additional fiddle tunes to get your feet tapping which were recorded live at the South Side Folk Club in Edmonton, Canada. Most of the tracks are originals written by Dougie himself and the overall theme of the CD is one of gentle melody, in another words another good collection to listen to whilst sitting having a wee dram and thinking about the "Auld Country".

This especially true of the last track on the CD, 'Caledonia', which has recently become something of an anthem in Scotland, having been used recently in beer advert to illustrate why nobody in their right mind would live anywhere other than Scotland!. Buy this to build your Dougie MacLean collection upon.

PRESIDENT'S CHOICE:
"CALEDONIA", a must for all ex-pat Scots (track 10)

THE EMIGRANT & THE EXILE

By Eric Bogle and John Munro

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RELEASE DATE: NOW

LABEL: GREENTRAX RECORDS

Released in 1996, this CD has various tracks by Eric Bogle, a Scot who left his home country for a new land, Australia, in his twenties, and John Munro who was dragged "kicking and screaming" as a teenager from Maryhill to Oz by his parents. Both are now what you would call fully fledged Aussie's but they both maintain a healthy respect for the music of their homeland. This shines through in this excellent album which is truly in the Scots folk music tradition.

Eric Bogle admits that the songs, all of which were specifically written for this CD, have an emigrant's view of Scotland. This ids no bad thing as it gives a different slant to this type of Scottish folk music. One track which merits a special mention, other than the President's choice below, is 'World Cup Fever' which tells the story of the Scotland football team's visit to play Australia - I'm sure it doesn't take much imagination to imagine how the track develops!.

Again, I have to recommend this as a 'buy' for the collection if nothing else but for the track recommended below.

PRESIDENT'S CHOICE:
"KISSING ENGLISH ARSES TALKING BLUES"

(difficult to describe accurately but I'm sure you get the gist)

Surf by next month for my next "hot tips" for the latest Scottish Music CD's...

Don't forget you can hear me, and the music that I talk about, on Highlander Internet Radio...

See you next month.

"The President"

"The President's" Pick of the Month
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