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Everyone knows that Pirates are big right now, and I'm into them as much as the next saber-waving fool. When I'm DJing and I play folk-influenced music I often get requests for "pirate music". Most pirate music falls into the "irish drinking song chant", the silly sea chanty if you will. I enjoy these, but the wackiness can wear thin after awhile. So I started a search for another type of pirate music.
I stumbled upon the Toucan Pirates (not surprisingly) on a recent trip to a Pacific sea-side town and I'm loving the CD that I bought, "Sea Changes of the Toucan Pirates".
The Toucan Pirates eschew the typical sing-a-long debauchery for a return to British Isles folk music (reels, ballads, polkas, jigs etc). But this isn't just "traditional" music. True, most of the instruments (concertina, penny-whistle, bouzouki, banjo) are appropriate but the band also includes West Indian steel drum for a nicely synchretic sound. The steel drum never sounds out of place or tacked on. It fits well with the other instruments, especially when it counterpoints the banjo.
It isn't just the instrumentation that's remarkable on this CD. The Toucans have set aside vocals, except on the cover of Disney's "Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me". The only other voices on the album are the ones in the background that help set the scene of life aboard a sailing ship. These voices are joined by other ambient sounds of ships, the ocean and the nautical life. Thankfully the ambient sounds stay behind the music, adding flavor but never detracting from the music or turning into to just a gimmick album.
When all is said and done "Sea Changes of the Toucan Pirates" is an instrumental folk album, but a damn good one.
Interesting note: the CD cover is done by Tony Millionaire of Maakies comic fame.
Toucan Pirates:
http://www.toucans.net/Pirate/pirate.html
Tony Millionaire:
http://maakies.com/ |
