OK, this time around I’ve got another Celtic-influenced instrumental, but a radically different one from the first song I posted. And with this one, you get a story.

My favorite book of all time is, without a doubt, Emma Bull‘s War for the Oaks. It’s a magical, lyrical tale of a war between the Faerie taking place in modern-day Minneapolis and a young musician caught in the crossfire and the handsome, sly, and humorous phouka who serves as her guide (see an excellent review of the book here). One of the reasons I love the book (aside from the fact that I think Phouka is waaaay hot) is the way music is intertwined with the narrative – it was through mentions here that I discovered I liked Peter Gabriel’s solo work. So, what’s the connection here?

Back in 1988, I was living in Springfield, Virginia. As I was taking one of my many tours of the DC area by Metro, I wound up in Tacoma Park, Maryland in a lovely little store that carried all kinds of traditional music called, oddly enough, House of Musical Traditions. While leafing through their bins, I came across a copy (on vinyl!) of “Hotheads” by the band Boiled in Lead. I had only ever heard of them through mentions in War for the Oaks, so I figured that was enough of a recommendation and bought the album. Holy crap. What we had here was a mix of Celtic, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, and good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll. I quickly went back and picked up every album they put out, and continued to collect them until they stopped recording in the mid-90’s. Boiled in Lead still performs every St. Patrick’s Day in Minneapolis. In 1998, Nrasser and I had the pleasure of catching their show at First Avenue, and it pretty much rocked our socks off.

So, the music. Boiled in Lead’s instrumentation includes a drum kit, electric mandolin, bass guitar, and electric guitar. Their percussionist (the talented Robin Anders) also brings in instruments from around the world to augment their sound – it’s pretty darned amazing. For this week’s selection, I’ve chose a song from their 1989 album “From the Ladle to the Grave” that will make you want to move – to dance, to tap your toes, to do anything but just sit there.

Boiled in Lead – Cuz Mapfumo (4.8 Mb)

From the liner notes: “A tribute to two great men of music: Thomas Mapfumo of Zimbabwe and Cuz Teahan [an Irish musician] of Chicago. Mapfumo’s song Shumba (Man Eating Lion in the Bush) is joined with two of Cuz’s tunes, All My Grandchildren and The Teahan Clan.” Dig it.

Ah, what the hell, here’s one more since I like them so much – another of my favorite tunes by BiL:
Boiled in Lead – The Guns of the Magnificent Seven (3.1 Mb)

From the liner notes: “[Flute player and former BiL member] Laura MacKenzie picked these tunes up in sessions and graciously tipped them to the band. The first tune is The Hunter’s Purse. The second, The Guns… was written by Fintan MacManus. Dancing feet beware the difficult third section.”

As always, download ’em, listen to ’em, and let me know what you think. This will give me an idea of what to post next.