The Very 1st Review on the album "Awen"

The Very 1st Review on the album "Awen" Featured in the "Mellotron" Magazine Oct.'98, with CD sampler including the track 'Awen' The celtic musical background in Argentina is very odd. The large number of inhabitants descendant from celtic communities make us to believe in a certain musical interest as an essential part of their artistry in our country. The main trouble is the lack of several celtic recordings, considering the great local success of this music and in the whole world. Only the tape of Poitín, band that issued on l989 the first release of celtic music ever done in Argentina ; the live album of the festival Keltoi ; the three albums of the galician band Xeito Novo (only two of them are issued on Cd); and the forthcoming album of The Shepherds (irish pub songs), are examples of local productions related to this wonderful music. Due to a proposal of recording a Celtic Harp solo album done to the composer Eliseo Mauas Pinto, he decides to line-up a band with Maurico Ceballos, Sergio Gonzalez, Xandru Reguera, and Iñaki Antolin. Under the name of Bran this band renders on their first album Awen, eleven fine tracks being five of them original compositions. Since the existance of a large extent of celtic tunes and songs, renowned bands very often record the same usual titles; this is not the case for Awen, which it's outsanding for the creativity developed. Performing a great variety of instruments, such as fiddle, guitars, flutes, keyboards, whistles, mandolin, mandola, organic and digital percussions, mountain dulcimer, bagpipes, gaelic harps, and vocals among others, the band offers on this album large suites, structure alike with progressive rock which joins short passages within a same track ( in the Genesis style of Supper's Ready ). But we may find more links of this style in musicians such as Anthony Philips on his Private Parts works, or like Mike Olfield on his album Voyager or Ommadawn, since there are some arrangementes on electric guitars that render a contemporary climax to the album´s proposal. Magic, beauty, dreamy passages, all these are envolved on Awen, with the collaboration of some members of Xeito Novo, and the traditional galician singers of Xoldra, among others. For those lovers of the subtle and timeless beauty of celtic music, this album shall securily become a historical reference of the contemporary releases in Argentina.FURTHER INFORMATION : ANDRESVALLE @ INTERLINK.COM.AR