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Branwen wrote:
tjj wrote:
Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) by Mendelssohn
Love this one as well. Most of my music is for the drive and walk to wild places where stones are found. Like anything haunting. An american tourist once said they'd ceased to be scared by halloween till meeting a black eyed celtic tour guide with a truly haunting stock of stories and songs in an email to my boss once. It was a recommendation, LOL.

Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninov.

Variations on a theme by Pageninni is a great cd for walking through the hills, also by Rachmaninov.

Memory of Trees by The Taliesin Orchestra in any wild and lonely, deforested area of the highlands. It is more classical than celtic. It's nice croming over the pass at Drumnadrochit.

Talking of music that sounds like someone is going to be sacrificed The Rock by Rachmaninov starts out ominously, has a summery interlude, then turns dark again half way through. I do like Rachmaninov but rarely play this one unless I've had a particularly annoying crowd of tourists on my tour, and I want to shut them up for a break from their whining going over Drumnadrochit, usually in sideways snow or rain, or trying to keep the bus straight in high winds. Helps them develop a renewed appreciation of a driver guide before stopping for evening meal at Pitlochry.

Sometimes I unashamedly love that haunting celtic soundtrack music when in the highland hills, sorry. Helps if you are a tour guide and you actually like it though. Eistigh Liomsa by Afrocelts is great walking on Rannoch Moor, and yes, it's been used in every scene of haunting Scottish wilderness going, but I can't stop loving it. Clohinne Winds or The Briar and the Rose by Niamh Parsons. Malinky are also a great band, especially if you like scottish folk music that isn't celtic movie sound track orientated. I Like their old ballads and legends tracks the best, a few truly haunting ones with no instruments are great going through Glencoe, culminating with Peaceful is the Glen which captures the horror of the massacre.

Back in the pub after the winter solstice sunrise walking tour for The Sun's Cousin by Malinky again, somebody gets toasted, but what the heck, good old fashioned folk song. Also in the pub later, Nine Stane Rig by Back to the Moon. Also someone gets the boot in that one, hrmm. Shrug. May as well throw in The Cruel Mother by Emily Smith if I'm scaring the bejesus out of them anyway... another lovely haunting voice there... most of her tracks are more cheerful though.

If it's been a good tour and I don't feel like killing anyone, The Blessing Tree by Jayne Elleson is soothing and peaceful and a few of the tracks have ancient echoes. Nice background music while you wind down with a beer after walking tours, or are letting a bus load sleep when it gets too dark to see anything anymore (about 10 hours into the tour with 2 hours still left before you get them safely back to Edinburgh, and another hour after that ahead for yourself cleaning the bus ready for the tour the next day). Celtic feel to that album too, can't help myself, I love that stuff. Bit like a cross between Loreena McKennitt and Enya, then toned down somewhat to more pleasant levels of celticness and less screetching voice.

Branwen, I almost missed this post, there is a lot in your post and I would like to check out some of the less well known musicians you mention -I have not heard of Malinky.

You reveal quite a bit about being a tour guide and guess you need a lot of patience as well as knowledge; stamina etc.

Musically, I should just mention Universal Hall by The Waterboys (Mike Scott). I don't often play it these days but it has Peace of Iona on it. The simple haunting beauty of that one song was what sent me on the long journey up to Oban and then across to Mull and Iona back in 2007. I confess it was a tour as it seemed the easiest way to do it. Our tour guide was Scottish and came from Fort William; he had a great understated sense of humour - kept looking out for a 'highland budgie' all the while.

Atb and thanks for a great post.
June

Waterboys, another great scottish band.

http://www.malinky.com/music.asp has previews.

They have a new line-up for their fourth/new album, as Karine Polwart has gone on to a successful solo career. She isn't doing as much folk music, which is a shame, but her pop stuff is okay. The following songs on the following albums I never get sick of. The remaining tracks are good too though.

Last Leaves (2000)
1 whaur dae ye lie - sad and haunting
4 the light dragoon - bawdy and light
5 the dreadful end of marianna for sorcery - dark folk ballad
8 dimna juda - rythmnic beat number
9 alison cross - another ballad about a witch
10 the bonnie lass o fyvie / the silver spear - haunting voice

3 Ravens (2002)
3 thaney - folk ballad with modern folk sound
6 the sound of a tear not cried - haunting
7 three ravens - traditional ballad again with modern sound
9 i dreamed last night of my true love
10 the false lover won back - ballad of love and loss
12 the trawlin trade - modern folk ballad, jaunty
13 follow the heron - lovely version of a traditional song of spring
The others are all good too though.

The Unseen Hours (2005)
1 Edom o Gordon - dark and haunting folk ballad
2 Clerk Saunders - folk ballad
3 Hughie the Graham - folk ballad
6 King Orfeo - Ancient ballad given new life
9 The Bonnie Banks o Fordie - wells o' wearie type folk ballad
11 The Sun's Cousin - Solstice maiden ballad
12 My Ain Countrie - pleasant burns song

I've got about 3000 scottish tracks on CD's, which I also saved on my computer with a complex database cross referencing them all. It's the thing I'd save if the house was burning down LOL. I like to tour through Scotland's music, as well as through the history and the landscape. Saves losing your voice talking the whole 12 hours. The tourist's heads explode if you do that, as well.

You can email if you want any more on this topic, if it's going off topic and annoying anyone.