Celtic Fusion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Celtic Fusion is a broad umbrella term for modern music which incorporates traditional Celtic influences, or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is thus essentially a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the musical traditions of all the Celtic Nations as well as all styles of popular music, and is thus sometimes associated with Pan-Celtic movement. The tendency towards fusion has been most common in communities of the Celtic Diaspora, and the United States in particular as immigrant Celtic populations were assimilated into larger societies, but it has recently gained acceptance - and large audiences - in the Celtic Nations as well.
The oldest musical tradition which fits under the label of Celtic Fusion originated in the rural American south in the early colonial period and incorporated Scottish, Scotch-Irish, Irish, and African American influences. Variously referred to as Roots Music or Old time music, this tradition has exerted a strong influence on all forms of American music, including Country, Blues, and Rock and Roll.
Another manifestation of this syncretic tendency emerged in New York in the 1890's as bands performing traditional Irish music for the large Irish immigrant community there began incorporating Big Band influences, adding Brass and Reed instruments and performing quicksteps, foxtrots, and other popular contemporary dance tunes.
More recently, there has been a flowering of several distinct genres of Celtic Fusion. These can be roughly broken down as follows:
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[edit] Celtic Rock
The fusion of rock and Celtic music is perhaps the least surprising of the modern hybrids since rock is rooted in "roots" music, which was originally based on a fusion of African and Celtic traditions. In any case, modern Celtic rock acts like Alan Stivell (since 1970), Gaelic Storm, Sinéad O'Connor, Lenahan, Croft No Five, Enter the Haggis and many others have proven the genres vitality and marketability around the world.
Several noted Canadian acts, including Spirit of the West, Ashley MacIsaac, Mudmen and Great Big Sea, also fuse Celtic music with rock influences.
[edit] Celtic Punk
Main article here
Celtic Punk was essentially invented by The Pogues in the early 1980's and immediately gained popularity following the release of their first album in 1985. It is probably the best established of the modern Celtic fusion genres, and generally includes drums, bass, guitar, fiddle, and sometimes tin whistle, bodhran, and accordion. The sound is typically fast with aggressive lyrics, rock beats, and Celtic melodies. Bands in this Genre include Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Neck, The Molly Maguires, Mutiny, and Black 47 (who also incorporate hip hop influences). The genre is most popular in Ireland, Scotland, England, the United States, Australia and Canada.
[edit] Celtic Hip Hop
The first Celtic-identified hip hop group to gain mainstream notoriety was House of Pain, a Los Angeles based hip hop group that incorporated rhymes about the Irish-American experience into their music. With a few exceptions, however, their actual instrumentation did not incorporate traditional "Celtic" influences so their inclusion in the genre is somewhat controversial. Marxman, an Irish-Jamaican hip hop group, whose explicitly nationalist and marxist politics gained them notoriety and infamy in the United Kingdom in the 1980's, incorporated traditional instruments into several songs on their first album, but largely abandoned them for a more electronica and blues oriented sound that would later form the basic for the emergence of Trip Hop. Manau, a French hip hop group of Breton origin, created the first truly consistent fusion of Celtic music and hip hop in two critically acclaimed albums incorporating a wide range of traditional instruments and melodies and combining them with hip hop beats (they did a hit from a remix of Alan Stivell's famous song "Tri Martolod") .Alan Stivell had already made a mix of Hip hop and Celtic music in his albums "Brian Boru" and "1 Douar". More recently, Emcee Lynx, a Scotch-Irish hip hop artist from San Francisco known for his Anarchist politics and anti-war activism, has incorporated samples of traditional instruments into his music alongside lyrics about growing up as a Celt in America.
Most Celtic hip hop music clearly approaches the equation from the hip hop side of the fence, preferring to reference Celtic identity in its lyrics. This is at least partly due to the origins of hip hop music in African American culture and the ongoing controversy in American hip hop around white hip hop artists, something that is much less of an issue in France and the United Kingdom.
[edit] Celtic New Age
Celtic New Age artists such as Enya and Alan Stivell incorporate traditional melodies and lyrics with synths and pads to create a mellow relaxed fusion that has proven highly marketable, and has made Enya one of the best-selling female musicians in the world.
[edit] CeltTech
Sometimes referred to as Celtic Electronica this genre blends traditional Celtic influences with modern electronic music. Artists (such as Martyn Bennett) whose background is in traditional Celtic music tend to favor traditional instruments, melodies, and rhythms, but augment them with drum machines and electronic sounds. Others, like Dagda (band), approach the fusion from a background in electronic music that eschews traditional instruments and incorporates traditional melodies played on synths into a new-age influenced Trance sound. Shooglenifty, another Scottish band, produces all their sounds live but uses a wide range of instruments ranging from traditional to electronic to their own specially designed hybrids.
[edit] Celtic Metal
Celtic Metal is a fusion of black metal, death metal, and Celtic folk music. It is a small but influential genre and includes a few well known bands like Cruachan, as well as many lesser-known bands like Eluveitie. See also folk metal.
[edit] Celtic/World
Many Celtic Fusion artists integrate musical traditions from all over the world into their basically Celtic sound. The clearest example of this is Afro Celt Sound System, the members of which bring to the band strong backgrounds in either African or Irish musical tradition. Another group, Enigma, incorporates Celtic themes into their music alongside African and Native American influences. Other artists such as Loreena McKennitt take inspiration from numerous diverse traditions around the world, although their focus may be on Celtic music, without forgetting the work of Alan Stivell who has fused Celtic music with different cultural influences since his first album (1970), and more obviously since his "Celtic Symphony" (1979).
[edit] Others
Other, less well established hybrids include Celtic reggae, as played by bands like PaddyRasta, Pubside Down, and (again) Sinéad O'Connor (who has been called "the Madonna of Celtic music" because every time a new trend or movement appears she seems to be right out in front [citation needed]).
As might be expected from musicians playing a style of music defined by its fusion of disparate elements, many bands combine multiple styles. Shooglenifty, for instance, incorporates Reggae, Rock, and Electronica into their basically 'celtic' musical style, Croft no Five does the same with Rock, Funk, and Jazz, while Beltaine's Fire (Emcee Lynx's band) combines a rock-hip hop fusion reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine with Celtic melodies.
All said, the most consistent element of Celtic Fusion is the fusion.
