Daimh - Tuneship

Dáimh has been declared on many occasions the Gaelic supergroup and it is very easy to see why such hype is attached to them. This Scottish band brings us the fine traditions of the Highlands using a lovely blend of pipes, fiddle and guitars.

Their latest album Tuneship marks another notch in their 14 years of activity. It kicks off with a pipes lead tune called Raasay that takes no time in showing us what Dáimh can do. This particular tune starts off gentle and probably fairly slow for bagpipes but then gradually opens up the pace to a traditional Scottish tune.

We get a great sample of Gaelic music from this band as they experiment with different instrument leads as well as various tempos, which does an excellent job of keeping the album interesting as none of the tunes sound at all similar.

The very soft and slow Bottle for Brigg shows us how a steady peaceful tune can be maintained whilst other tunes like Barra to Balloch and Coddywatch start slower using the stringed instruments before gradually rising up in energy and exploding into piping. Compare that then with Stormy Hill which simply stays as a bouncy foot tapping tune throughout with little change in pace.

There are three vocal tracks that show us the real beauty of the Gaelic language, particularly in Siud Agaibh an Deoch a Dh’Ólainn.

The banjo also gets a fair amount of lead time both in The Gannet and in Banjo’s Favourite, both of which give us a crash course in how switching instruments around throughout songs helps to keep things fresh and moving along.

This is a great Gaelic band and defiantly worth of the title Gaelic Super Group.