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The Sounding Board by R J Lannan |
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RJ Lannan is the reviewer for The Sounding Board. |
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| The Twilight Realm |
| By Áine Minogue |
| Label: Little Miller Records |
| Released 4/6/2004 |
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| The Twilight Realm tracks |
1. King of the Faeries
2. Spirits of the World
3. The Mermaid
4. Carolan¹s Welcome
5. Deandai, Deandai
6. Gloine An Beoir
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7. The Selkie
8. An Fainne Or
9. Aisling
10. Sisceal
11. Rince na Sidhoga
12. King of the Faeries
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Tarrying with the Fairies |
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After hearing the first few jingling notes of The Twilight Realm you will know that you are in a special place. There is no greater source of wonder and enchantment than the Celtic otherworld and there is no better guide to that magical place than Aine Minogue.
Aine Minogue, was born and raised in Borrisokane, County Tipperary where she played several musical instruments as a child, but at the age of twelve found herself under the spell of the Irish harp. Becoming one with Irish history she did a stint at Bunratty Castle, County Clare where the past and the present often inter-flow. She eventually crossed the waters and settled in New England where she much in demand. Listen to the album and you will know why.
King of the Fairies and its reprise opens and ends the recording making it come full circle. It features Minogue’s exquisite harp playing with fiddle and flute as companions that begin and end your visit to the magic dimension. Listening to this sweet, dreamy song is like living in a world of black and white and opening your eyes to see color for the first time. Embedded in the tune are whispering quotes from the poetry of W. B. Yeats and that Shakespeare fellow.
On Midsummer’s Eve changelings slough their seal skins to reveal their human shape and dance on the shores in the moonlight. These are the selkies. The Selkie is an outstanding track on The Twilight Realm. Aine’s baby-soft voice tells the tales of these shape shifters and their tribulations when they take on the weighty cloak of human form. A selkie has a child by man yet she perpetually yearns for a return to the sea. Things change when she has a wee bairn.
“It shall come to pass on a summer’s day,
As the sun shines hot on every stone,
That I shall take my little young son
And teach him for to swim the foam”
The sweetly sad lament, The Mermaid features the melodious clarinet of Tom Hill and Aine’s harp in a story about a wondrous creature trapped between two worlds. Translated from the Gaelic, the story is about a mermaid who has returned to the sea and longs for her children on the land.
“You seem to be pining and forsaking the fun,
The snowdrifts are heavy by the fords in the burn,
Your bright golden tresses, your smile gentle and mild.
I give you Mary Kinney, who has swum the ocean wide”
An Fainne Or is a special song given to the world by the fairies. ‘Tis true. It has a light, transparent feel that makes you smile in your heart as your toe keeps the rhythm. Aine’s fingers are electric as she plucks out the famous jig.
You find yourself in a kind of North Atlantic Eden in the song Enchanted Valley. The harp is your guide in this magic world as the accompanying instruments lend an atmospheric myst of sound. Time stands still as nature enfolds you and friendly spirits protect you.
Deandai, Deandai is a dandling or bouncing song that invokes the magic of the otherworld to the ones who know and appreciate it the most, the children. How many times have you bounced your child on your knee to some background rhythm and watch as they giggle with glee? Surely, a child’s laughter is some of the sweetest music ever heard and there is magic in that.
When the Irish wanted to give an explanation to themselves and to their children about their hapless plight or their good fortune or their bewilderment with life they gave substance to The Twilight Realm. There is a place where musicians, artists and writers go to find their influences. It is a place between light and dusk, conscience and subliminal and faith over hopelessness. It is also the Twilight Realm and Aine Minogue has led us there.
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Rating: Excellent  |
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- reviewed by RJ Lannan on 10/23/2004 |
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