Celtophilia

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It’s about time for a throwdown! Or, welcome to the second Celtic Music Deathmatch. For this feature we choose a song from the CDs that we have reviewed, that has been performed by at least two different bands. Then we get together via IM and rate the performances in three categories. This go round we revisited The Star Of The County Down, as performed by Franco Bordoni, and Gretchen Priest and Plaidgrass. We’ve rated the two renditions by musicality, interpretation, and overall wonderfulness.

Whose musicianship will reign supreme? Read on to discover who came out on top, and vote for your own favorite and share your comments below!

Because Franco Bordoni has fairly limited distribution, for this Celtic Music Deathmatch we’ve been forced to do things a little differently. So, here’s the Amazon widget with the sample of Gretchen Priest’s version of Star of the County Down:

and here’s the link over to Franco Bordoni’s Myspace Page, where you can hear his version:
Franco’s Myspace Page

Category 1: Musicality
Bonnie:
Franco Bordoni -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -
Mike:
Franco Bordoni -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -

Bonnie: How did I never notice how spooky sounding this tune is?

Mike: I think it’s pretty undeniable that Gretchen and company’s musical prowess is unparalleled.

Bonnie: It’s kind of eerie, and Gretchen rocks it

Mike: You’re right, it IS kinda spooky, but totally in a good way.

Bonnie: Exactly.
Hrmm, less agreeing, more fighting!

Mike: I do really like the flute / whistle break on Franco’s version, though.

Bonnie: Franco is a great musician as well, but the Gretchen arrangement is just, whoa

Mike: I think the place where Franco hurts on this part is that his voice is very overpowering, because of its unique sound.

Bonnie: I think you’re right.
Don’t get used to me saying that.

Mike: Okay, let’s move on before we cause a space-time continuum rift.

Category 2: Interpretation
Bonnie:
Franco Bordoni -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -
Mike:
Franco Bordoni -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -

Bonnie: I think to really have great interpretation on this song, you need the lyrics. It’s a song that tells a story, and I want to hear it.

Mike: No way, there is so much going on in Gretchen’s version that it far outweights the lack of lyrics, and there’s not a single celtic music fan in the world who hasn’t heard them ad nauseum.

Bonnie: Listen you unreasonable $%&*! - lyrics are essential! And Franco’s voice! Just listening to him sing plasters a huge smile on my face.

Mike: Sorry, you’re just wrong this time. It happens to everyone now and again.

Bonnie: If he sang them in a tired old way it would be a different story, but he doesn’t. He’s awesome and I hope he hits you with a guitar.

Mike: I won’t disagree that Franco’s voice is a delight to listen to, but there’s no reason to think it’s essential to the song.

Category 3: Overall
Bonnie:
Franco Bordoni: -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -
Mike:
Franco Bordoni -
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS -

Bonnie: I think you’ll AGREE with me - that Franco’s vocals carry this one for him

Mike: Absolutely. There’s no denying that, while I think Gretchen blows him away on instrumentals, and they’re pretty even as far as interpretation goes, when you factor Franco’s voice into the mix, there’s something about it that just pushes him over the top.

Bonnie: Gretchen’s version is lovely and haunting but Franco can’t be beat for his delivery here.

Mike: Hearing that Italian accent sing Celtic trad just makes me smile every single time.

Bonnie: I like the harmony, too.

Mike: Ah, indeed. The way that it’s only used on the chorus makes it really stand out.

Bonnie: I’m glad we did these two though, I had forgotten just how great both of these songs are.

Mike: Y’know, me too, kind of. We’ve listened to so much music since we did the Franco Bordoni review, that it was really refreshing to go back and give it another listen…. even if it does mean I had to agree with you on something.

Bonnie: And I think it goes to show how much variety there is within the genre, when you can take the exact same song and perform it so completely differently, but still amazing.

Mike: So, there we have it. There’s peace and harmony around the Celtophilia HQ, and Franco Bordoni has taken down Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS with total scores of 26 to 24.

Bonnie: /Sticks out tongue at Mike behind his back.

Mike: I saw that.

Totals:
Bonnie:
Franco Bordoni: 14 Shamrocks
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS: 12 Shamrocks
Mike:
Franco Bordoni: 12 Shamrocks
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS: 12 Shamrocks

GRAND TOTALS:
Franco Bordoni: 26 Shamrocks
Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS: 24 Shamrocks

The numbers say it all.  Another Celtic Music Deathmatch over, with Franco Bordoni taking a slight win over Gretchen Priest & PLAIDGRASS.   Now, it’s your turn.  Vote in the poll, and tell us what you think of both versions below!

Poll:

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Lastly, be sure to be on the lookout for the next Celtic Music Deathmatch, when we’ll do a 3 part series pitting four different versions of the wonderful classic The Parting Glass against one another.  Until then, Slainte!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 12:10 am and is filed under Celtic Music Deathmatch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.