Post Description

Relativity - Gathering Pace (1987)
320 Mb | MP3 CBR 320Kbps / 127 Mb | 10 tracks | Front Cover
Celtic / Irish Folk |Time: 53:03 | 

“After the first album, another wonderful recording by Relativity. It is surely not MTV music, jingle music but this is music that will surely reach your heart and your soul and stay with you for your whole life. Who needs more? Not me, put the CD and play it again and again, this CD will be with you for the years to come. Go to track Nr. 10 Ceol Anna/A Ribhinn Og Bheil...., listen to it, close your eyes and dream...if God would ever compose music this will be His. Music with a capital M. ~ dannyboy4
The follow-up to the award-winning debut album by this ground-breaking Celtic quartet of Bothy Band and Silly Wizard members. Relativity delivers five songs and four instrumental sets with immediate and immeasurable impact. ~ MusicScotland”


“Put aside your expectations. Not traditional in timbre, but managing to retain a quaint charm nonetheless, the music of Relativity relies heavily on synthesizers and electric guitar while still featuring customary accoustic leads like accordion, fiddle and voice. Relativity is a quartet of actual relatives--brothers Phil and Johnny Cunningham of Silly Wizard on accordion and fiddle, and siblings Triona Ni Domhnaill and Michael O Domhnaill from Nightnoise on keyboards and guitar. Expectedly, their sound is rather like a marriage of those two other bands. This group covers new ground though, with unusual combinations of instruments and sounds that seem unlikely, especially for the Celtic genre, but actually work very well. Normally I don't care for the tinkly timbre of a synthesizer programmed to sound like an electronic harpsichord, but here it proves surprisingly complimentary to the raw reediness of Cunningham's accordion. Michael O Domhnaill's guitar playing ranges from traditional strumming and finger picking to downright hard rock, but fits Relativity's material very well. Everyone sings, and though the blend is not expert, their harmonies are quite pleasant. The compositions, most of which were written or arranged by Phil and Triona, are engaging and well crafted--no boring music here! It's all full of heart and soul as well as musical interest. The mood of this album is gently rollicking--again an amalgamation of the participants' styles--but I'd have to say it's more like the gentle, laid-back releases of Nightnoise than the edgier albums of Silly Wizard with their fiery dance sets. While all the selections on "Gathering Pace" are nice, my favorites are the distinctively rock-like "Rose Catha Na Mumhan" with its eerie, wailing guitar descants, the sweetly touching instrumental "As She Sleeps", and the plaintive "Ceol Anna", the latter two of which would make great sentimental themes for some soundtrack or another if they've not already been used that way. For more by the members of Relativity, check out also the work of Nightnoise and Silly Wizard. ~ Brianna Neal, Amazon

Scottish or Irish, It's All Relative

Relativity was a quartet formed in the mid 1980s consisting of two Scottish brothers and an Irish brother and sister. Each had flourishing solo careers at the time they got together to record two very popular albums, Relativity (1985) and Gathering Pace (1987).

The Scottish brothers were Johnny and Phil Cunningham. Both former members of the influential Scottish group Silly Wizard, Johnny was known for his brilliant fiddle playing, while Phil was a master of the piano accordion and whistle and also played keyboards and bodhran.

TrÍona NÍ Dhomhnaill and Micheál Ó Domhnaill were the Irish half of the group. (They each spelled their last name slightly different.) TrÍona played keyboards and sang. Micheál played guitar and keyboards and sang. ~ Squidoo