LAND OF THE VAST HORIZON

"The Land Of the Vast Horizons" is an evocative and compelling cd. There are some quite beautiful pieces of music on it but it also works as a musical narrative conjuring up images of migration, adventure, hardship, love and loss. It is a richly layered musical tapestry that bears repeated listening. What I particularly like is the way Gavin has woven the celtic and Aboriginal symbols and musical motifs together that shows how in dealing with the past fairly we can perhaps move forward together. The musicianship is fabulous, and I would strongly recommend this cd to others.

This musical project from Down Under is led by actor, author, composer, director and multi-instrumentalist David O'Loghlen. He has a degree in drama and many years experience in music, music theatre and drama productions. At the age of 11 he started to play bagpipes and soon joined Highland competitions and even extended his musical skills by learning to play guitar, keyboards and flute. He returned to his musical roots with the creation of Cotter's Bequest, a progressive Celtic ensemble that uses Highland, Uilleann, Northumbrian and Scottish small bagpipes amid layers of keyboards, guitars and vocals. The band, that contains six members playing no less than 23 instruments, has released three albums and is working on their fourth.

On this third album entitled Land Of The Vast Horizon we can enjoy 13 very pleasant and melodic progressive folk compositions that are loaded with the sound of a wide range of bagpipes, the high pitched tin-whistles, excellent female vocals (a bit similar to Sally Oldfield) and a tasteful variety: dreamy with sensitive piano and violin and mellow Hammond organ waves in The Peramangk - Time there was..., a delicate blend of bagpipes and accordion with in the end a subtle electric guitar solo in Port Augusta 1869 - The Teamsters, beautiful interplay between the sound of harpsichord, soaring keyboards, bagpipes, violin and wonderful female vocals in Gulnare 1872 - Death Of The Last Born, several languages (German, Latin and English) and omnipresent tin-whistles in Sevenhill 1873 - Johann Pallhüber SJ and the sound of the native Australian instruments the didgeridoo in Nantabra Hut 1895 - The Scottish Shepherds and Udenyaka (Death Rock), blended with bagpipes, accordion, acoustic rhythm guitar and tin-whistles, simply wonderful! If you are up to the very distinctive sound of the bagpipe in a beautiful blend of folk and progressive rock (with hints from Mostly Autumn, Mike Oldfield and Peter Gabriel), this is a CD to discover. Also recommended: Gavin O'Loghlen with his solo album entitled The Poet And The Priest (see website) featuring very warm and melodic symphonic prog with lots of vintage keyboards! My rating: 3,5 stars.

A private message appeared in my progarchives mailbox about a week ago from Gavin O'Loghlen himself, announcing the availability of two official band videos. This group was touted as prog folk and I was skeptical, but sure enough they have been known to this website for many years, and I thank Mr O'Loghlen for bringing them to my long overdue attention. I immediately sought out their recordings and came up with this, their latest. It's a huge concept both historically and sound wise, and more than a little reminiscent of "project" albums or rock operas that used to be so much more commonplace. Only, and most importantly, while we often loved these disks as much for their overreach and fallibility as for their intrinsic worth, "Land of the Vast Horizon" is a whole lot tighter, more energetic, and less kitschy than the historic norm.

The album begins so traditionally one might wonder if it's worth the full listen, even if the frequently used pipes are crisp and complement the splendid acoustic guitars. I have heard this record before and it wears thin, and not from overplay I assure you! But then at about the 2:20 mark the atmosphere thickens and the sweeping vocals enter. Yes the melody is jaunty but also majestic, to say nothing of the layered harmonies and keyboards. Similar juxtapositions are played out throughout this uniformly dynamic disc, which at turns evokes SEVEN REIZH, BATTLEFIELD BAND, CLANNAD, ALAN SIMON, SIROCCO, ENIGMA, and the OLDFIELDS, but mostly it's as fresh as a salt sprayed boat upon a New World shore. True, you have to be open to hearing a lot of pipes, but, I confess I am not a big fan myself and these blow me away in their airy settings, over and over.

A couple of tracks stand out for me, like a 7 foot basketballer does when surrounded by players two inches shorter. Your own choices may differ, but "The Burra's" haunting pace, monkish wails, and synths yield to an equally gripping vocal, fairly choral melody, ancient yet rocked about like an inflatable raft, adapting to all the glorious technology that would sink lesser vessels without a trace. "Natabra Hut" is the one that reminds me of other proggy Aussies "Sirocco" in their use of dramatic string synths and pipes. The whispered accompaniment on vocals add to the solemnity, but at no point is this disk a downer. Its vibrancy is felt through the hope in every immigrant, even faced with unanticipated adversity as they so often must have been.

GAVIN O'LOGHLEN and the Cotters Bequest have produced that rare immense and lavish work that clicks first time every time, crafted with a love of history and fortune, and an underlying optimism that everyone's story is worth telling, and hearing.