by Phil Hall

Artist: Silly Wizard
Album: "The Best of Silly Wizard"
Year produced: 1985

"The Best of Silly Wizard" is something of a misnomer, since this 1985 CD is also the best of Scottish-style Celtic folk music. This marvelous compilation captures Silly Wizard at its rambunctious peak, mixing compelling ballads and rollicking reels with such skill that it is difficult to keep pace with its energy and passion.

Andy M. Stewart, the lead vocalist for the group, is responsible for true wizardry in bringing many of the songs to full-throttle life. "The Fishermen's Song," a bitter and rueful meditation on the perilous maritime life and the widows it leaves ashore, is among the most brilliant compositions in the canon of Celtic music. "The Valley of Strathmore" and "Broom o' th Cowedenknowes" swing into a more sentimental realm, with its romantic yet futile dream of turning back time to a more serene past. "The Queen of Argyll" provides a playful celebration of feminine charm, as "the roses in the garden bow and ask their pardon" of the song's eponymous beauty. And the rendition of the traditional folk tune "Donald McGillavry," paired with a roaring rendition of "O'Neill's Calvary March," rivals the speed limit with its frenetic rush of wordplay and tune (Stewart's normally clear diction blurs into a near-indecipherable mash coated in the thickest Scottish brogue put on microphone).

When Stewart is not singing, Silly Wizard still reigns with the combined mastery of accordionist Phil Cunningham, his fiddler brother Johnny Cunnigham, guitarists Bob Thomas and Martin Hadden and bass player Martin Hadden. Two lengthy instrumental numbers combining a series of classic reels offer Scottish folk at its most-spirited. If anything, the "The Best of Silly Wizard" should come with seat belts because Silly Wizard takes the listener on the wildest of Celtic music rides.

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Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Phil Hall is contributing editor for Film Threat, book editor for the New York Resident, author of "The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies" (MWP Books) and a proud child of Wales.

Labels: cd_review_2005

Posted by Marc Gunn, Thursday, January 27, 2005.
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