Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The closer you look at Celtic Rock, the less clear its shape becomes. Built on Sean O’Riada’s revival of traditional Irish music in the 1960s, it originated somewhere between Dublin and London but was given a name by the Scottish artist Donovan in a track from 1970. Its first hit single was probably East of Eden’s now forgotten but still enjoyable “Jig-A-Jig” from that same year, whose fiddled melody was attacked by electric buzzing and jazz-rock syncopations. The genre grew to become a distinct European strain in rock, and has enjoyed an enduring afterlife through bands such as The Waterboys, Big Country and their descendants.Although it features strong showings from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany, this new compilation includes much that is not Celtic. Skibbereen, despite the dancing rush of the “Kerry Slide Jig”, were Swiss; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Pentangle were all stolidly English. And some of the songs struggle to fit any definition of rock at all: take Clannad’s “Siúbhán Ní Dhuibhir”, which hails from long before their New-Age-adjacent 1980s heyday.At the rockier end of the spectrum are acts such as Taste, an Anglo-Irish trio fronted by Rory Gallagher, who later went solo. Their contribution, “Born On The Wrong Side Of Time”, rides in on fuzzed-up guitars and crashing drums but has an acoustic middle section that’s pure 1960s folk. Meanwhile, Thin Lizzy’s “Whiskey In The Jar”, recorded as a bagatelle during a stalled 1972 session, neatly epitomises Celtic Rock, with its muscular rhythm section and squalling guitars in the service of traditional balladry.Big names notwithstanding, the delights of this compilation come from one- or no-hit wonders. The Welsh group Shwn’s “Bachgen” is a slow-burning baritone anthem; the Breton family band Kyaldan unleash formidable harmonies on “La Charrette Des Morts” before progressive guitar-and-mandolin riffing takes over. (The imperfection of the recording quality somehow adds to the charm.) Keltic Wine’s sole single, “Hurricane Sailor”, is an ebullient shanty. And for a distillation of Celtic Rock, Cromwell’s “Guinness Rock” — brave choice for a band name, when you consider Oliver Cromwell’s reputation in Ireland — does what it says on the barrel.★★★★☆‘As I Roved Out’ is released by Strawberry
