Gord Taylor featuring Patrick Kaczor-Santos, The Sherbrook Music Company
Release date: July 1st (Canada Day), 2013
Running time: 21:45, 9 + 1 tracks
As you know, Gord Taylor is the guy who played the pipes on the latest Real McKenzies album “Westwinds”. Gord was an old friend of Matt McNasty and he was the RMcK part-time bagpipes technician, composer and part-time member till he became RMcK’s piper in 2009. Gord left the McKenzies at the beginning of 2012 when they were touring Europe. His departure remains a sort of a mistery, one of the best-kept Celtic punk secrets. If you are expecting to read why they parted ways, you’re wrong. This is a write-up about Gord Taylor’s debut album. And it's a hell of an album.
Gord contacted his mate Patrick Kaczor-Santos (drums, vocals) and, together with some friends (Dale Brown on fiddle, Vaughan Poyser on bass, Roland Reid on the snare drum and Kylie Kuehl on background vocals), they recorded this 10 track mini-album. A kick-ass CD that has been defined as Canadian hard-folk with punk attitude.
The Question (With Capital Q): is this another Scottish bagpipes punk album? Nope. Maybe the album is a collection of songs on which the RMcK influence can be heard, but this is more than a bagpipes album. Obviously, the intro ("Barnburner no. 1") and the outro ("Barnburner no. 2)" will be appreciated by the average RMcK fan. Both of them are instrumental numbers featuring awesome pipes together with fantastic electric guitar work and traditional sounding snare drum. But there are also another songs that wouldn’t fit on a bagpipes punk album and are essential on this CD. For instance, the tribute to “Tommy Prince”, a II World War hero from Winnipeg (yes, there are pipes on this), or “Orkney Anthem”. If the former is an original composition, the latter is a cover of and old Ivan Drever song. Ivan is an Scottish musical treasure. He began as a songwriter before joining Scottish bagpipes rockers Wolfstone. And this is the most Scottish material on this essentially Canadian album.
The other cover on Gord Taylor’s debut album is the Canadian standard “Red River Valley”. There is a Patrick’s solo, outstanding fiddle by Dale and great Gord’s vocals on this rendition. “Upon a Motorbike” is a contemporary Canadian folk song. It has the RMcK twist, but no pipes are featured on this fecking song. However “Poster Boy” and “AW Canada”, a couple of RMcK/Farler’s Fury sounding tracks, do have pipes on them and are some of the album hottest moments.
Finally, even if it’s not listed, there is a track no. 10, a guitar led punk number titled “Sick of It All”
Is “Gord Taylor featuring Patrick Kaczor-Santos” a recommendable album? Sure. I would dare to say that it’s an essential album for any Celtic punk/rock that is looking for bands/artists that are not prisoners of the basic Celtic punk. If you are one of these fans that have enjoyed the gems that the scene has delivered in 2012-2013 (SIR REG third album, Hoist the Colors second album, Lexington Field second album …) you should absolutely own this because of the musicianship, passion and fun.
Tracklist:
01 - Barnburner I 1:12
02 - Upon a Motorbike 1:58
03 - Poster Boy 2:02
04 - Red River Valley 3:02
05 - Aw Canada 2:12
06 - The Okney Anthem 2:38
07 - Two Tanks of Fuel 2:28
08 - Tommy Prince 2:54
09 - Barnburner II 1:17
10 - Sick of it All 2:11
http://www.gordtaylor.com
https://www.facebook.com/gord.taylor.16
Click to buy:
http://www.sherbrookmusic.com/shop.php
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/gord-taylor-feat.-patrick/id663047650
http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-feat-Patrick-Kaczor-Santos-Explicit/dp/B00DGN0JJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372175580&sr=8-1&keywords=Gord+Taylor
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gordtaylor (digital copy)
Review by Kinksmarkham
Release date: July 1st (Canada Day), 2013
Running time: 21:45, 9 + 1 tracks
As you know, Gord Taylor is the guy who played the pipes on the latest Real McKenzies album “Westwinds”. Gord was an old friend of Matt McNasty and he was the RMcK part-time bagpipes technician, composer and part-time member till he became RMcK’s piper in 2009. Gord left the McKenzies at the beginning of 2012 when they were touring Europe. His departure remains a sort of a mistery, one of the best-kept Celtic punk secrets. If you are expecting to read why they parted ways, you’re wrong. This is a write-up about Gord Taylor’s debut album. And it's a hell of an album.
Gord contacted his mate Patrick Kaczor-Santos (drums, vocals) and, together with some friends (Dale Brown on fiddle, Vaughan Poyser on bass, Roland Reid on the snare drum and Kylie Kuehl on background vocals), they recorded this 10 track mini-album. A kick-ass CD that has been defined as Canadian hard-folk with punk attitude.
The Question (With Capital Q): is this another Scottish bagpipes punk album? Nope. Maybe the album is a collection of songs on which the RMcK influence can be heard, but this is more than a bagpipes album. Obviously, the intro ("Barnburner no. 1") and the outro ("Barnburner no. 2)" will be appreciated by the average RMcK fan. Both of them are instrumental numbers featuring awesome pipes together with fantastic electric guitar work and traditional sounding snare drum. But there are also another songs that wouldn’t fit on a bagpipes punk album and are essential on this CD. For instance, the tribute to “Tommy Prince”, a II World War hero from Winnipeg (yes, there are pipes on this), or “Orkney Anthem”. If the former is an original composition, the latter is a cover of and old Ivan Drever song. Ivan is an Scottish musical treasure. He began as a songwriter before joining Scottish bagpipes rockers Wolfstone. And this is the most Scottish material on this essentially Canadian album.
The other cover on Gord Taylor’s debut album is the Canadian standard “Red River Valley”. There is a Patrick’s solo, outstanding fiddle by Dale and great Gord’s vocals on this rendition. “Upon a Motorbike” is a contemporary Canadian folk song. It has the RMcK twist, but no pipes are featured on this fecking song. However “Poster Boy” and “AW Canada”, a couple of RMcK/Farler’s Fury sounding tracks, do have pipes on them and are some of the album hottest moments.
Finally, even if it’s not listed, there is a track no. 10, a guitar led punk number titled “Sick of It All”
Is “Gord Taylor featuring Patrick Kaczor-Santos” a recommendable album? Sure. I would dare to say that it’s an essential album for any Celtic punk/rock that is looking for bands/artists that are not prisoners of the basic Celtic punk. If you are one of these fans that have enjoyed the gems that the scene has delivered in 2012-2013 (SIR REG third album, Hoist the Colors second album, Lexington Field second album …) you should absolutely own this because of the musicianship, passion and fun.
Tracklist:
01 - Barnburner I 1:12
02 - Upon a Motorbike 1:58
03 - Poster Boy 2:02
04 - Red River Valley 3:02
05 - Aw Canada 2:12
06 - The Okney Anthem 2:38
07 - Two Tanks of Fuel 2:28
08 - Tommy Prince 2:54
09 - Barnburner II 1:17
10 - Sick of it All 2:11
http://www.gordtaylor.com
https://www.facebook.com/gord.taylor.16
Click to buy:
http://www.sherbrookmusic.com/shop.php
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/gord-taylor-feat.-patrick/id663047650
http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-feat-Patrick-Kaczor-Santos-Explicit/dp/B00DGN0JJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372175580&sr=8-1&keywords=Gord+Taylor
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gordtaylor (digital copy)
Review by Kinksmarkham
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