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January 15, 2014

Stereoplay Magazine (Germany) review of POSSESSED by Winifried Dulisch

Heresy / eX /

stereoplay - Das Magazin

The Irish-American record producer Eric Fraad is courageous. On this CD he makes the Dublin-based early-music ensemble, eX, handle the musical tools of exorcists from Europe and South America and from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period. These songs and dances are intended to protect one against various types of possession – but that of course is a lie: For the singer Caitriona O’Leary drives the listener to lose control! Adrenalin pumping rhythms alternate with moments of pure meditation before the sweet song of the Siren once again turns our heads. A CD with a high addiction factor –so no one should say, they have not been warned!

Stereoplay review

POSSESSED

Buy POSSESSED

December 23, 2013

2013 – The year in quotes

Heresy / Heresy /

A roundup of quotes written on Heresy Records and it’s releases throughout 2013:

POSSESSED

“If you fancy a little something both brilliant and mischievious, then this is absolutely for you.” Early Music Today (UK)

“Not for the pure of heart. eX’s Possessed is  a tour de force of  instrumental and vocal brilliance.” Lawrence Vittes, Huffington Post (USA)

“The album is called Possessed and as we listen we become possessed by the fascinating charismatic singer Caitríona O’Leary with her angelic and ethereal voice….Dances, songs and improvisations uniquely performed by O’Leary and her colleagues which evoke the gods and spirits and lull the listener into a trance. Thrillingly different!” Teresa Pieschacón Raphael – Crescendo Magazine (Germany)

“The singing and instrumental playing are very fine and the whole of Possessed has a certain infectiously endearing quality.” Infodad.com (USA)

ON THE NATURE OF ELECTRICITY & ACOUSTICS

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

“On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics is a somewhat disjunct thrill-ride of a listen. But that’s the point. Few listeners outside of Ireland’s academic or underground scenes will have heard this music, but as the compilation proves, it’s a rich and diverse world worth visiting.” WQXR Q2 FM (USA)

“A very fascinating anthology of many of Ireland’s most esteemed contemporary composers and cutting edge electronic artists… excellently curated by Daniel Figgis.” BP Fallon, BreakThru Radio

“It is wildly ambitious… incredible and fantastic.” Stephen McCauley, BBC Radio Ulster

4 STARS

“These are clever cogent dispatches from the fringes, from Sunken Foal’s Gamelan figures on Colloidal Glass and Brian Ó hUiggin’s uillean pipe-driven Left Handed March – 3rd Movement to Richard G. Evans’s elegiac Grindlewald’s Wedding and Linda Buckley’s sparkling Error Messages….See you on the other side?” Tony Clayton Lea, The Irish Times

ALBUM OF THE MONTH – Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland

“From the opening track by the legendary Irish Avant-garde composer Roger Doyle this album is a wake up call for the senses. An exciting instrumental music project that combines experimental coolness with lovely Irish Folk harmonies.” Winifried Dulisch, Audio (Germany)

“As an introduction to the work of a diverse group of artists and composers, On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics is unparalleled… From the delicate works of Dennehy and Wilson through to the post-punk furore of Figgis’ own Princess Tinymeat, there is presumably something for everyone. A wide-ranging and intelligent overview of outsider electronic music in Ireland.” Ian Maleney, The Quietus

“There’s a lot more happening musically in Ireland than fellas in cardigans, beards and check shirts hanging around Whelans on Camden street, daydreaming they are in Williamsburg, Brooklyn……here is Roger Doyle……playing “Baby Grand”, the opening track of curator Daniel Figgis’ wonderful new compliation “On the Nature of Electricity and Acoustics” (Heresy Records) ….which brilliantly documents electronic music in Ireland from the 70’s up until now… there has been for quite some time a soundscape, not at all surveyed by the miopic mainstream press or explored by many here, flourishing, breathing and sculpting to its own beat…..and it is all here….the music is so lyrical, spacious and adventurous. Ireland is known for its flocks of sheep, its herds of heffers, its Hansards of singer-song writers… turn over the rocks of tired confessional songsters… and see a new clay… teeming with ideas, that will startle you… the way you feel when you show your town to a foreigner… familiar yet strange… there is a world of sound here… the beads of a tired musical kaleidoscope, twisted just enough to make you reconsider… and see what you thought you knew as new again.” Billy O Hanluain (Writer/DJ)

“Little early for a year-end list, but they’re starting to appear. Musically this is what did it for me this year:
1., 2., & 3. Various artists – On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics – Yep the top three spots. It’s that good. Compilation of Irish electro-acoustic music 1979 – present curated by Daniel Figgis. Most brilliant album heard this year, and possibly the best, most perfectly cohesive commercial comp I’ve ever heard.”
Karl J. Paloucek

“With this album we are treated to the inimitable Irish sound under the influence of experimentation and boundary pushing. The final track by the curator Daniel Figgis really sums up the spirit of the whole album. If I were to lift a pint of beer to my mouth and close my eyes, I could easily imagine I was sitting in a traditional Irish pub, tapping my toes in time with the music. Yet my ears would be overjoyed to hear the unusual and mind-bending twists and turns that unfolded before me. There would be no denying that I was in the presence of an ancient musical tradition whose indelible spirit penetrates through time, technologies and trends.” The Whole Note (Canada)

“There is also a rocking 1986 instrumental by Figgis’ post-Prunes combo Princess Tinymeat, and a smattering from the 90s. Mostly though this is 21st century music, varied in resources but unified in feel and still spinning a good, if occasionally sentimental yarn.” Julian Crowley, The Wire (UK)

“A pleasingly varied showcase of electro-acoustic music from Ireland. The 23 works are almost miniatures, an approach which combines the virtues of discipline and diversity. The music is for the most part (surprisingly?) euphonious and the Benjamin Franklin cover is a joy.” International Record Review (UK)

SHIPWRECKED

CD OF THE WEEK – ABC Classic FM (Austalia)

“Caitríona O’Leary’s clear and enchanting soprano playfully leads us through a myriad of the most diverse sounds, modes and moods. The performances exhibit a great deal of commitment from the ensemble and eX finds a way – through the grandeur of the Spanish music and the playfulness of the Irish jigs to carry the listener away. A Great CD!” Robert Strobl, Toccata – Alte Musik Aktuell (Germany)

December 9, 2013

Early Music Today reviews POSSESSED

Heresy / eX /

Early Music magazine Early Music Today have given POSSESSED a 4 Star review.

“If you fancy a little something both brilliant and mischievious, then this is absolutely for you.”

Review

Early Music Today Magazine

POSSESSED by eX

Buy POSSESSED

December 1, 2013

Irish Independent highlight The Wexford Carols

Heresy / Caitríona O’Leary, DÚLRA /

Irish Independent

Yesterday’s Irish Independent chose the upcoming The Wexford Carols concerts featuring Caitríona O’Leary and her band DÚLRA as one of their Favourite Things.

Read the article

The Wexford Carols

Friday 6th December at 7:30pm
Drogheda International Classical Music Series
Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda
Tickets: €16/€12 and €5 students/children, Box Office 041 9833946
Buy tickets online

Saturday 7th December at 8:30pm
The National Concert Hall
Kevin Barry Room, The National Concert Hall, Dublin
Tickets: €20/€16 National Concert Hall Box Office 01 417 0000
Buy tickets online

November 29, 2013

The Wexford Carols – Concerts in Drogheda & NCH Dublin

Heresy / Caitríona O’Leary, DÚLRA /

Traditional Irish singer/early music specialist Caitríona O’Leary and her band DÚLRA along with special guest artists Lillis Ó Laoire, Nóirín Ní Riain and Matthias Loibner will perform a special holiday season concert featuring Ireland’s greatest Christmas music, The Wexford Carols.

These remarkable folk carols from the 17th and 18th centuries are rarely performed and largely unknown to the public. Over the years the music for many of the carols has been lost. For these concerts Ms. O’Leary has unearthed and reconstructed several of the carols giving listeners the opportunity to hear – perhaps for the first time in centuries – a large selection of these beautiful and historically important works. The Wexford Carols is being supported by a Deis Award for Traditional Arts from the Arts Council.

The Wexford Carols

Friday 6th December at 7:30pm
Drogheda International Classical Music Series
Droichead Arts Centre, Droheda
Tickets: €16/€12 and €5 students/children, Box Office 041 9833946
Buy tickets online

Saturday 7th December at 8:30pm
The National Concert Hall
Kevin Barry Room, The National Concert Hall, Dublin
Tickets: €20/€16 National Concert Hall Box Office 01 417 0000
Buy tickets online

November 29, 2013

The Whole Note reviews On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

Heresy / On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics /

This review from last May of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics from Canadian music magazine slipped through the net.

“With this album we are treated to the inimitable Irish sound under the influence of experimentation and boundary pushing.”

Read the full review

On The Nature of Electricity & Acoustics

Buy the iTunes release of On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics (features 12 additional tracks)
Buy the On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics CD

 

November 1, 2013

Crescendo magazine review POSSESSED

Heresy / eX /

Crescendo Magazin

German magazine Crescendo have review POSSESSED by eX (translated)

“The album is called Possessed and as we listen we in fact become possessed by the fascinating charismatic singer Caitríona O’Leary with her angelic and ethereal voice. In 2006 this passionate Irishwoman founded the ensemble eX which is devoted to interpreting repertoire from the 11th – 18th centuries. eX uses elements of staging and scenery in order to create a synthesis of the arts for all the senses.

For this album they focus on possession in all of its bizarre delusional forms…a woman accused and hung for witchcraft in 1688 in Boston, the initiation rites of the Afro-Brazilian Candomble and Southern Italian Tarantism in which a furious dance is triggered – according to popular belief – by the bite of the Tarantulla.

Dances, songs and improvisations uniquely performed by O’Leary and her colleagues which evoke the gods and spirits and lull the listener into a trance. Thrillingly different!”

Teresa Pieschacón Raphael

“Aufregend anders!”

crescendo.de website review

POSSESSED by eX

Buy POSSESSED

 

November 1, 2013

Caitríona O’Leary interviewed at Beethovenfest Bonn

Heresy / Caitríona O’Leary, DÚLRA /

DÚLRA‘s Caitríona O’Leary interviewed at the recent Beethovenfest Bonn

September 23, 2013

Shipwrecked by eX is CD of the Week on ABC Classic FM

Heresy / eX /

ABC Classic FM

One of Australia’s biggest radio stations ABC Classic FM has chosen Shipwrecked by eX as its CD of the Week

Read more

Buy SHIPWRECKED by eX

Shipwrecked SHIPWRECKED (German edition)

September 19, 2013

The Huffington Post review POSSESSED

Heresy / eX /

The Huffington Post have reviewed POSSESSED by eX in its Haiku Reviews section.

Not for the pure of heart. eX’s Possessed is a tour de force of instrumental and vocal brilliance…

Huffington Post review POSSESSED

See review on The Huffington Post website

Buy POSSESSED

September 16, 2013

Shipwrecked reviewed by German magazine Toccata – “Eine Super CD”

Heresy / eX /

SHIPWRECKED by eX has been reviewed in the September edition of Toccata magazine:

“On the surface this is a collection of Renaissance vocal and instrumental music. However set against the background of a Spaniard who is shipwrecked and forced to experience and contend with the culture and ways of ancient Ireland this becomes an incredibly fascinating story.”

“Caitríona O’Leary’s clear and enchanting soprano playfully leads us through a myriad of the most diverse sounds, modes and moods. The performances exhibit a great deal of commitment from the ensemble and eX finds a way – through the grandeur of the Spanish music and the playfulness of the Irish jigs to carry the listener away. A Great CD!”

Robert Strobl, Toccata – Alte Musik Aktuell
Read the German review

More SHIPWRECKED press quotes

Buy SHIPWRECKED by eX

Shipwrecked SHIPWRECKED (German edition)

August 30, 2013

New Release – POSSESSED by eX

Heresy / eX /

POSSESSED by eX

Heresy announces the release of POSSESSED by the innovative early music ensemble, eX. POSSESSED is eX’s second album for Heresy.

POSSESSED will be released in the UK and internationally on 2nd September. The North American and world wide digital release was 27th August.

POSSESSED explores the bizarre and compelling universal phenomenon of possession through the prism of medieval, renaissance, baroque, traditional and popular music. The album features music from eX’s production of the same name that toured Ireland to critical acclaim in 2010 and 2012.

The album focuses on four cultural manifestations of possession.

  • Mystic Christian ecstasy as experienced by the visionaries, Hildegard von Bingen, Joan of Arc and Teresa of Avila
  • Demonic possession and the trial of Goody Glover who was executed for witchcraft in 1688 the account of which by Cotton Mather directly led to the Salem witch trials four year later
  • Candomblé, the ceremonial African/Brazilian animistic religion where adepts are possessed by dieties (orixás) while in a music-induced trance
  •  Tarantism, the Southern Italian phenomenon where victims of the bite of a spider fall into a comatose trance that can only be lifted by a musical exorcism to the rhythm of a folk dance called the tarantella

Critical Acclaim for eX’s Production of POSSESSED

“eX’s Possessed is a tour de force – instrumental and vocal brilliance combined to extraordinary effect.” The Works, RTÉ TV

“The music was of the highest international standard with beautiful singing and most infectious instrumental playing…early music of this sort has such a strong immediate appeal and eX is the only Irish-based group to present it – and to such a very high standard.” Tim Thurston, Lyric FM

Buy POSSESSED from the Heresy Shop

August 21, 2013

eX to perform HIBERIA at Barocco Festival in Italy

Heresy / eX /

eX will perform HIBERIA, a concert Of Spanish & Irish Early Music At Barocco Festival Leonardo Leo in Brindisi, Italy on Saturday, August 24th.

eX’s HIBERIA celebrates the historic ties and cultural fusion between Spain and Ireland through the prism of early music. An enchanted evening of song and rousing instrumental virtuosity that recreates the meeting of these two remarkable artistic traditions.

HIBERIA

Performers: Caitríona O’Leary (Voice), Clara Sanabras (Voice, Guitar), Paulina van Laarhoven (Viola da Gamba), Simone Colavecchi (Guitar, Lute) Andrea Piccioni (Frame Drums, Percussion)

More information

Barocco Festival

July 26, 2013

The Wire reviews On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

Heresy / On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics /

 

The Wire August 2013

The Wire review

Buy On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

Hear selected tracks from On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics

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