The Playing of the Green

Posted December 21, 2007 by Jennifer Melick

the chieftains
The Essential Chieftains
(RCA, 2006)

In this compilation from the band that spawned countless imitators, you can have your Chieftains straight up (CD 1) or in a cocktail (CD 2—with all-star guests from Sting to Marianne Faithfull). With classic up-tempo dance numbers like “Boil the Breakfast Early,” Kevin Conneff’s remarkable five-minute a cappella “The Green Fields of America,” “The Foggy Dew” (with Sinéad O’Connor, who sings with quiet intensity), and the southern-inflected “Cotton-Eyed Joe” with Ricky Skaggs, these 35 tracks testify to the Chieftains’ passion and authenticity. Every track is excellent. Buy it.

HEAR them live: State Theatre, New Brunswick , March 15; NJPAC, March 16.

Dropkick Murphys
The Warrior’s Code
(Hellcat Records, 2005)

Explosive energy, high testosterone, and angry, raw vocals make this fifth studio release by the South Boston-based Celtic post-punk band irresistibly fun. If you’ve never heard them before, think Clash plus traditional Irish instruments. Their unbridled joy in performing means they come close to screaming at times, but they always do it in tune. Just try to resist yelling along as they pound through “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” ] (“I’ve lost my leg / I’m shipping up to Boston / to find my wooden leg”). The album includes a stunning rendition of Eric Bogle’s 1976 “The Green Fields of France” (you’ll know the refrain, “Beat the drum slowly”).

HEAR them live: House of Blues, Atlantic City, March 13.

flogging molly
Whiskey on a Sunday
(Side One Dummy, 2006)

Half of the tracks on this CD were recorded live, and there are enough screaming guitars and fans here to fill five recordings. This popular punk band with Irish accents of mandolin, fiddle, and whistle packs a wallop, but even with its mix of styles including country (“Black Friday Rule” evokes Charlie Daniels) and zydeco (“Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon”), the album suffers from a certain harmonic sameness from track to track. The band live is not to be missed, but the album is for die-hard fans only. Includes a 106-minute DVD film chronicling Molly’s bar-band roots and its breakout success as a touring act.

HEAR them live: Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, March 9.

Natalie MacMaster
Yours Truly
(Rounder Records, 2006)

The latest CD by the talented fiddler from Nova Scotia features more of MacMaster’s Cape Breton/Irish/Scottish hybrid music. MacMaster really digs into the strings—not the flinty style you sometimes hear—to great effect in the album’s many jigs (“David’s Jig” is probably the wildest, with MacMaster fiddling and step-dancing the rhythm) and reels, from traditional medleys to “Flea as a Bird,” which has a bluegrass twang. “Farewell to Peter” (in honor of the late Peter Jennings) features the album’s sweetest melody. The only dud: an anemic “Danny Boy,” in which vocalist Michael McDonald sounds totally at sea.

HEAR her live: Morristown Community Theatre, March 3.

For more stories about: Morristown, New Brunswick, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys