Rathkeltair

View Date: 5/15/10

Rathkeltair is a Celtic rock band from Florida who frequently tour Scottish, Irish, and Celtic festivals. My first time seeing them was at the Fair Hill Scottish Games. They blend Celtic music including traditional bagpiping and the tin whistle with rock and unique piping.

I have known of of the piper Neil Anderson for years as he was originally associated with the great Celtic rock band Seven Nations. I also own several of his solo albums as The Antipyper. He has one of the most incredible and unique voices in music today, so when he sings it sends chills down my spine. But not nearly as much as when he pipes.

He was announced around the fairgrounds as the Jimi Hendricks of bagpiping. He is one of the few people coming up with truly new music for the bagpipes today. I also never knew until today that electric bagpipes even existed. I originally thought he was using them so he could both pipe and sing at the same time. But no, it was something even more amazing...he played both the pipes and the tin whistle at the same time, one in each hand!

The music overall was wonderful. The band had a great chemistry on stage. The songs were really catchy and often quite funny. I was definitely singing along by the end.

You should definitely try to catch these guys if you ever get the chance. They have a website, so go out and support these guys. They are just that good.

10 words or less: Neil Anderson is a piping GOD!

Check them out at www.rathkeltair.com

The Airborne Toxic Event

Artist: The Airborne Toxic Event

Prior to picking up this album, I had heard this band's "Some Time Around Midnight" on the radio and was very impressed. While I wouldn't call this an upbeat song, it does have a memorable tune and absorbing lyrics. However, this is really the only song on the album that sounds like this. Most of the other songs were pretty indistinguisable for me: they sounded the same and lasted for about the same amount of time.

If I had it to do over again, I would probably just pick up that one song and leave the rest of the album alone.

10 albums or less: If you like the radio releases, skip the album.

Tinted Windows

Artist: Tinted Windows

Tinted Windows is a new supergroup made up of artists from several bands I have listened to in the past. It is comprised of:

James Iha, formerly of Smashing Pumpkins
Taylor Hanson, formerly of Hanson
Adam Schlesinger, formerly of Fountains of Wayne, and
Bun E. Carlos, formerly of Cheap Trick.

This album was a lot more pop-y than I thought it was going to be, considering who is in the band. Honestly, based on what has been released, this band harkens back to pop music of the late 80's and early 90's. Maybe because it wasn't what I expected, I wasn't all that impressed with the album in general. It was also very short, with 11 two to three minute songs. Overall, I think was expecting more than was actually delivered.

10 words or less: Disappointing at best.

Chinese Democracy

Artist: Guns & Roses

This is the album that has been over 15 years in the making. Honestly, I was incredibly skeptical, even after I heard the first released song. But I was amazed! This is a really good album, reminiscent of old G&R. Even Axl's voice held up pretty well, especially compared to the surprise appearance he made several years ago on an MTV awards show. It is a shame that the album is only 14 songs, because I definitely wanted more. Axl's delay in releasing this album really paid off, no matter how many fans he lost since the most recent G&R release.

10 words or less: The album surprised and amazed me.

The Moats

Venue: Peabody's Irish Pub in Havertown, PA

This is a local band in the Philadelphia area that have been together off and on since the early 1990’s. What is even better is that I know these guys personally, because I went to high school with them. It was great catching up with the guys, and even better seeing them play for the first time in over a decade. They played both original pieces and cover songs, and both were done very well. These guys definitely have talent, especially for having day jobs.

10 words or less: Catch a show if you get the chance.