Celtophilia

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Artist: Marc Gunn
CD: Heart’s Ease
Reviewer: Julie

My very first review on Celtophilia and they gave me an instrumental CD? Pretty big challenge! At least the artist is Marc Gunn and I already have a lot of respect for him and his musical abillities. His CD, Heart’s Ease, is a compilation of fourteen songs played entirely on an autoharp. Never heard of an autoharp? Not surprising. Neither had many others before becoming acquainted with Marc’s work, both solo and when he was a member of the band, Brobdingnagian Bards. (For more information on autoharps, click here. If you’ve never listened to an autoharp, you should really give this CD a try. You would never imagine the extensive assortment of melodies achieved using only one instrument.

If you aren’t hooked by the first song, Stardust Serenade, don’t give up. The first song was a little long and monotonous, repeating the same lines over and over; however, Marc makes it work with his use of feeling through changing dynamics.

Heart’s Ease was by far my favorite. To me, it was light-hearted, lively, and cheerful using a wide variety of tones. It was one of the shorter songs and was over long before I tired of listening to it.

She Vanished in the Mist was a very lovely, yet melancholy song that put me in a solemn, thoughtful state of mind.

Desire…do I even have to go there? Out of the whole CD, this was the thorn in my side. I gave it chance after chance by listening many times, and I couldn’t learn to love it. I completely respect it for what it is and I’m sure Marc put his heart into it as all of his other songs, but it just wasn’t for me.

Wildflowers of Party Field literally made me want to run, skip, and jump over a hill covered in wildflowers. What a wonderfully happy tune! The next time I am feeling blue, I’ll be sure to pop in this CD and turn it up so I can flounce about my living room and turn my attitude around!

There were a multitude of very interesting notes and sounds in Return to Lonely Mountain. It was a very entertaining song and not nearly as sad and lonely as you might gather from the title.

I enjoyed this whole CD more than I would have imagined before listening to it. Marc has a brilliant selection of both the merry and the somber to suit whatever your current mood, whether you need some cheering up or had rather drown in your own sorrow. Go ahead and draw a tub of water, (don’t forget the bubbles), light a few candles, and prepare to relax and soak up some autoharp.

Disclaimer: I purposely saved this for the end of my review so I could warn you not to read it until you’ve listed to the CD on your own. I certainly wouldn’t want to ruin your opinion or cause you to hear something you wouldn’t have otherwise by sharing my insight of one of my favorite songs on the CD. Listened already? Okay, read on…Summer’s End had a different feel to it. Call me crazy, and Marc, please forgive me, but this song totally made me think of Lightning Crashes by Live. I’m not saying it sounds just like it or anything to that extreme, just reminiscent. Please don’t think it’s a bad thing because I thoroughly loved this tune! Please, Marc, pretty please…don’t hate me!

Well, now that I’ve completed my very first CD review, feel free to critique me. Disagree with me? Let me know! We at Celtophilia are starved for feedback, so any opinion at all is welcomed. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed a new perspective enough the guys will let me hang around and feel useful a little while longer.

Slainte!
Julie

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 9:56 pm and is filed under All Reviews, Celtic Rock Reviews, Contemporary Celtic Reviews. 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.