Admittedly, the title doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but the thing says what it is. Having been confirmed to play the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2020, Tau and the Drones of Praise — who mostly record in Berlin but are very much from Ireland while drawing from various other folk traditions as well — took part in the 2021 Roadburn Redux first-ever virtual edition of the fest, which for obvious and much-recounted reasons couldn’t meet in-person (they ended up playing Roadburn 2022 too).

The name they gave to the set (posted here) was ‘Tau Presents: Dream Awake,” and the concept was a special set focused spiritually and musically on past and present as much as future, new songs, new explorations of older material, and a full interpretation of what Tau and the Drones of Praise, as a project spearheaded by Seán Mulrooney, are as they head toward their impending third studio LP. Thus, Tau Presents: Dream Awake Live at Roadburn Redux is what it says it is, and its release through Burning World/Roadburn Records continues a long tradition of recorded live outings from the Tilburg-based fest, even if the avenue taken to get there is a little different.

Led by Mulrooney on vocals and guitar, the band includes guitarist/synthesist Ruairi Mac Neill Aodha, bassist Iain Faulkner, percussionist/vocalist Bob Glynn, drummer Ken Mooney and the whistle and vocals of Pól Brennan, known for his work in Clannad, who brings a distinct and suitable flair of Irish folk to “Éist le Ceol an Chré” and “Seanóirí Naofa,” the former of which will be on the next Tau record, the latter the title-track of 2019’s EP of the same name (discussed here). Roadburn Redux was the second livestream for Tau and the Drones of Praise behind a live set captured in Dublin (posted here), and though that broadcast was somewhat less ambitious as regards setting and presentation — it was in black and white, where the Roadburn stream was full color, surrounded by a more lush studio set and so on — the real difference in ambition between the two is in the scope of the music itself.

Granted, three songs from the Dublin stream feature on side D of the 2LP here, with “Craw,” “Mongolia” and “Speak Your Truth” rounding out, but here they serve as part of a broad-scope, encompassing and engrossing vision of a psychedelic-bent world-folk. From the invocation of MesoAmerican spirit guides in the leadoff “Kauyumari” amid warm melodies and fuzz guitar, call and response, harmonized ’60s rock and more, Mulrooney serves as a guide through traditions from Mexico, the Mesopotamia, Asia and Ireland, moving deftly from “Huey Tonantzin & Mother” and the Aztec-minded “Tonatiuh” into “Bridge of Khaju” (look it up, it’s gorgeous) in Iran before the nine-minute “Erasitexnis: Four Horsemen Medley” draws it together with Mediterranean flair and a vital percussive jam.

The sense of movement, of travel, isn’t to be understated. It extends to the journey the music is undertaking, but also to the entire group’s ability to move the listener from place to place, idea to idea. And it’s worth emphasizing that Tau and the Drones of Praise are not just mashing influences into songs, or cynically putting a Middle Eastern part beside an Irish folk part and calling it something else. One side or another may come to prominence in a given track, but even in pieces like the hard-science-as-philosophy “It’s Already Written,” which opened the band’s 2019 self-titled LP, or “Espiral,” which closes this set in gloriously freaked-out fashion and comes from 2016’s Tau Tau Tau where it sat directly next to “Kauyumari,” there’s a drawing together of ideas, a genuine sense of mixture as everything comes filtered through the band’s own impulses.

And oh, it’s a good time. Tau Presents: Dream Awake Live at Roadburn Redux is not at all a minor undertaking. With the Dublin tracks, it comes to a whopping 13 songs and 81 Earth minutes, but terrestrial concerns and whatever else you were doing this afternoon need not apply. Be it the incantations of “Huey Tonantzin” or hearing the song of the land in “Éist le Ceol an Chré,” the memorable boogie of “It’s Already Written” and the mountainous trudge uphill in “Mongolia” — less slog than adventure, but still carrying a sense of, well, carrying perhaps a heavy backpack along for the trip — the feeling of motion is no less palpable than the sense of place at any given moment, even if that place is somewhere in a swirling cosmos of spirit and mind. It doesn’t seem like coincidence that “Speak Your Truth” features here as a closer, since ultimately that voyage from start to finish is the truth of the outing as a whole.

In Old Irish, “Imbás” — positioned ahead of the half-in-Spanish “Espiral” — translates roughly to “inspiration,” but carries with it a sense of that inspiration being born of a kind of clairvoyance given by the land. It would be hyperbole to say Tau and the Drones of Praise are tapped into these kinds of cosmic energies, but that is what the music is seeking to do, and admirably, there’s nothing tongue-in-cheek about it. There’s no irony here in adapting songcraft to the various wonders of craft from around the world, and more, in uniting them for the purposes of this material, this set. Rather, Mulrooney and his assembled cohort are all-in, all-go, and the energy they bring doesn’t need to be loud to immerse the listener in the space they’re creating.

To put it mildly, this was a special set. Its reach goes outside the common bounds of genre and so is suited to the festival that gave it a home, but in representing the past and what’s to come for Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’ feels comprehensive while existing on a wavelength largely its own, whether you tag that as neo-folk or acid-this-or-that or whatever it is. There is no cheapening the accomplishment of sound and performance here, and rarely are artists willing to be so naked in portraying where they’re coming from. Perhaps it helps that Tau are coming from everywhere. Whatever else one might say about it — and there’s plenty more one could — this was a beautiful moment. The effort to preserve it should be commended.

Tau and the Drones of Praise, Tau Presents: Dream Awake Live at Roadburn Redux (2022)

Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Facebook

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Bandcamp

Burning World Records on Facebook

Burning World Records/Roadburn Records on Bandcamp

Burning World Records/Roadburn Records store

Burning World Records website

About five minutes after I sent in this playlist, a mass email went out from Gimme Metal to reinforce the guidelines for how to make shows in terms of length and allowing room for promos, voice tracks, and so on. If in fact that’s more than coincidence, I won’t say I didn’t earn it, considering. Some of this stuff I’ve played before — Apostle of Solitude, Uncle Woe, Scott Kelly probably — but a lot of it is new too. If you’ve been on the site at all this week, you’ve probably already seen premieres for Soldat Hans, Uncle Woe and Ealdor Bealu (the latter today), and Moura and that new Geezer were recently featured here as well. You see? It’s all about cross-promotional synergy between varying sides of the massive corporate machine that is The Obelisk. We own Coca-Cola now, if you didn’t know. A recent pickup.

Keep an ear out for the shift from MWWB to Tau and the Drones of Praise. There’s some weirdo back and forth in the playlist here that I love, especially in that middle block of music. I tried to talk less and cram in as much music as I could. You know how it is. Next time, I’ll try to keep it to the established timeframe. I try to be good. And no, The Obelisk didn’t really buy Coca-Cola. Not that I would if I could, but I can’t even afford a can thereof, let alone the company itself.

Thanks if you listen, thanks if you’re reading. Thanks in general.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 03.18.22

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is April 1 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

There were a few that were up there, but I think this is the set I’ve gone back to most since Roadburn Redux last year, and when I think about the potentiality of not being at Roadburn 2022, Tau and the Drones of Praise are among the acts I’m saddest to miss. Putting out a live-2LP version of their ‘Dream Awake’ set that aired last April in place of a physical festival makes a lot of sense to me. The performance was great, the songs incredible, and the vitality with which they were presented gives them a character of its own. By the time it aired, I’d already said that their prior stream from Dublin in Dec. 2020 (posted here) should be a live record. Some of those songs, as it turns out, will appear here as bonus tracks.

My only question here is whether I need to also buy the limited yellow vinyl edition as well as the CD and DL. I have not yet decided. We’ll see. Vinyl’s due in June, CD/DL now, so patience might be a factor.

From the PR wire:

First release of the Roadburn Redux 2021 festival that was held 100% online to much applause

TAU will be back at Roadburn 2022 to play in front of an actual live audience

This album and cd include the whole set played at Roadburn Redux and 3 bonus tracks from a session they played in Dublin in December 2020.

Could this be one of the first ever live stream LPs?

Get it here:
For US: https://roadburnrecordsusa.bigcartel.com/
For digital + cd/2LP: Bandcamp: https://tauofficial.bandcamp.com/
Store: https://www.burningworldrecords.com/products/tau-presents-dream-awake-live-at-roadburn-redux-cd-2lp-pre-order (comes with direct download)

Tau is the group formed by Seán Mulrooney who started his voyage into psychedelia music as a member of Dead Skeletons in 2012/2013. Tau who have released 2 LPs and 3 Eps to date have now evolved into Tau & the Drones of Praise.

Their music has been called Shamanic Rock, Ancestral Goth and neo Folk to name a few. The most recent explorations into Mulrooney’s ancient Irish spirituality and folk music traditions has made the sound something singular and unique.

Tau & the Drones of Praise was already slated to appear at the cancelled Roadburn Festival 2020, participated in Roadburn Redux back in April, helping to tide us over in yet another year with no physical edition of the festival. Their hypnotic neo-folk performance featured an appearance from Clannad’s Pól Brennan, and dived headfirst into their back catalogue of delights. No-one could accuse them of phoning it in. As Mulrooney says, “As was with the lockdown situation last year, we hadn’t been in the studio together for months. We were adulated to perform again and get creative. Even without an audience, we built our own world. There is something vital about the whole concert. I’m very proud to release this journey through past, present and future material, Dream Awake”.

Roadburn comments: “We’re thrilled to announce that this acid-tinged psych troupe will be packing up and heading to Tilburg in April, led by Dubliner Sean Mulrooney. Bringing along a suitcase full of extrasensory delights and magic potions, no doubt, Tau & the Drones of Praise will be setting up shop and handing out feel good vibes like nobody’s business. Expect to leave this earthly plane and head out on a meditative voyage of sonic discovery – Sean will be our guide through shamanic experimentalism, folk-led flourishes and far out lysergic luminance.

Having already wowed the crowds at highly regarded festivals throughout Europe, such as Transmusicales, Fusion Festival and Le Guess Who? we’re beyond excited to be one of the first stops on their return to the live stage. Expectations are high!”

Tracklisting:
1. Kauyumari 05:09
2. Already Written 04:58
3. Huey Tonanzin & Mother 10:32
4. Tonatiuh 05:58
5. Bridge Of Khaju 04:34
6. Erasitexnis: Four Horsemen Medley 09:43
7. Éist Le Ceol An Chre 07:39
8. Seanóirí Naofa 04:19
9. Mbás 06:27
10. Esprial 07:23
11. Craw (Live In Dublin) 05:18
12. Mongolia 04:24
13. Speak Your Truth 04:36

Tau and the Drones of Praise:
Seán Mulrooney Guitar/Vocals
Bob Glynn Percussion/Vocals
Ruairi Mac Neill Aodha Guitar/Synth
Iain Faulkner Bass/Vocals
Ken Mooney Drums
Pól Brennan – Whistles/Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/tauandthedronesofpraise
https://tauofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/burningworldrecords/
https://roadburn.bandcamp.com/
https://roadburnrecordsusa.bigcartel.com/
burningworldrecords.com

Tau, Presents ‘Dream Awake’ Live at Roadburn Redux (2022)

Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’

Today in Ireland is Brigid’s Day. The pagan festival Imbolc. Halfway between the winter solstice and the Spring equinox. A celebration of the coming renewal of life, and Brigid — a triple deity, which both sounds cool and is a real thing such as it is — being a goddess of creativity, healing, protecting, wisdom, feminine power and accomplishment, and so on, would seem to have earned the song. Premiered today, “I Mo Bholg” brings together vocalists Michelle Sionnánn and Aoise Tutty Jackson (also percussion), Seán Mulrooney (Tau and the Drones of Praise) on guitar and vocals, and George Quirke on yidaki — not a didgeridoo — as a gorgeously harmonized four-piece called Turas Imbolc.

You can feel the spirit coming through the material. It’s not long. It won’t take up too much of your busy day, but if you got five minutes, the melodies, the incantation, and that part at about 3:45 when all the voices come together — it’s the stuff of chills up the spine. Plus, there are horses — a rather hilarious moment when Quirke is playing the yidaki for them — and frolicking in a green field, and everybody’s hanging out and having fun and communing with the space around them and no one is telling anyone they don’t love them or being mean or mad about nothing. I don’t know. I feel like if that was the world, we’d probably be okay.

A simple view, maybe. Relationships, politics — the great, many “things” of existence — are rarely so compliant to get in line and sing a song, literally or figuratively. More reason to celebrate those moments when they do, then. How many times in your life are you going to get to play yidaki for a horse? Six if you’re lucky and you work hard at it? I’m glad this video was made. The occasion might be the first marking of Brigid’s Day as a full-on national holiday, but it’s clear the resonance of the goddess runs deeper here than just a day off work.

Also, quit your job.

Enjoy the clip:

Turas Imbolc, “I Mo Bholg” official video

NEW SONG CELEBRATING BRIGID’S DAY, NEW PUBLIC HOILIDAY

“Turas Imbolc – I Mo Bholg”

Releasing: Brigid’s Day, 1st February 2022

With the Government’s recent announcement that Brigid’s Day will become a public holiday from 2023 and preparations for St. Brigid’s 1500-year anniversary in 2024 underway, the significance of Brigid to the Irish people is palpable.

To celebrate this historic occasion, four musicians from Ireland are releasing a song dedicated to Brigid, and the season she presides over – Imbolc.

Singer and co-creator Michelle Shannon (Sionnánn) says “As we once again prepare to approach the threshold of Imbolc (‘i mo bholg, meaning in the belly), we present to you a song and video to honour and celebrate not only Brigid as triple Goddess and Matron Saint of Ireland but also to celebrate the rise of the feminine and equality in Irish culture, where a national holiday has been dedicated to a woman for the first time.”

The song features the powerful double vocal female invocation from Aoise Tutty Jackson (poet and singer) and song carrier, Sionnánn. Sean Mulrooney from Tau provides the production, vocals and instrumentation with George Quirke, who has studied with first nation Australian elders on Yidaki.

The song was written during Imbolc 2021 as the group of friends gathered around the fire on Sliabh an Iarann, Co. Leitrim. The video was shot by Cian Brennan at Brigid’s Well near Uisneach which is said to be the mythical 5th province and heart center of Ireland.

Brigid, Brigit, Bríd is a triple Goddess of pre-Christian Ireland who presides over healing and creativity. She was also one of Ireland’s most pre-eminent Saints when she walked these lands over 1,500 years ago. She is associated with the symbols of water, fire and earth, all of which are honoured in this song.

As we are all connected in this collective vision, our friend Laura Murphy expressed what many of us are feeling eloquently in her open letter to an Taoiseach on Brigid’s Day 2021…

“Let this be our commitment to shaping Ireland’s future, a new era guided by Brigid’s principles of light, inspiration, imagination, healing, truth, justice and love.”

Seán Mulrooney says “Our hope is that we can share this song with the world to amplify the message and remembrance of Brigid, Goddess symbol of compassion and love whose qualities are perhaps needed now more than ever.”

Tau on Instagram

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Facebook

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Bandcamp

I guess we could go on and on about badass festival lineups — and in a way, it feels very, very good to even think that’s true — but you’ll pardon me if I sort of bow under the spectacle here and just say I’m glad Warhorse are getting another chance to go to Roadburn after 2020 falling apart, and that Tau and the Drones of Praise will play. The latter not the least because it gives me an excuse to revisit their set from earlier this year at Roadburn Redux in putting this post together. I hope they play right before the devastating LLNN, but either way, it’s great that along with the huger acts like Lingua Ignota, Emma Ruth Rundle, Russian Circles, and so on, Roadburn remains committed to forward-thinking artists of such various stripes. See also Oslo Tapes playing the Pelagic showcase with Årabrot headlining.

I don’t know if I’ll get to go to Roadburn next year. The fest would be well within its rights to nix the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch ‘zine after so long and adverse circumstances, and it’s not like they need my review or photos badly enough to warrant having me there, but whatever happens, I love this festival, support its growth and direction, and I always will for as long as it goes. No one knows at this point what April 2022 is going to look like. I’m happy to proceed into the fest’s last announcement of 2021 with some sense of optimism, even if I need to force that a bit.

From the PR wire:

New additions to Roadburn 2022 including second Artist In Residence and label showcase

Roadburn has today announced another 17 artists for the 2022 edition of the festival, which will take place between April 21-24 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers, comments:

“With our last announcement before the end of 2021, we are super proud to have Pelagic involved again in Roadburn after their virtual Redux showcase earlier this year. And we know SLIFT will broaden our psychedelic horizons with three shows as artist-in-residence. Further, we offer this announcement in hope that 2022 will see a full return to international touring for festivals and club shows and we can all be together and celebrate in April. We wish you the happiest of seasons and hope you’re looking forward to Roadburn Festival 2022 as much as we are. Thank you for your continued support, faith and trust.”

French psych trio, SLIFT, have been announced as the second Artist in Residence for the 2022 edition (joining Full of Hell who were announced earlier this year). The band will perform three times over the course of the festival, including a collaborative performance with pioneering French musician, Etienne Jaumet (Zombie Zombie).

Pelagic Records will host a label showcase at the festival highlighting the diverse array of talent found on their roster. The showcase will climax with three interconnected performances courtesy of Lustmord, Lustmord and Karin Park performing cuts from their collaborative album, Alter, and finishing off with Årabrot. The showcase will also feature Year Of No Light, LLNN performing Unmaker, new signings Bruit≤, Oslo Tapes and a solo set from Karin Park.

Psych-heads rejoice – Die Wilde Jagd will perform at Roadburn, following two awe inspiring live performances at Roadburn Redux earlier this year. TAU & the Drones of Praise will also reprise their Redux appearance and make their way to Tilburg for an in-person performance.

Hangman’s Chair will complement their already-announced album set with a collaboration with Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. Originally commissioned by Red Bull and performed only once to date; the two bands have written additional material to extend the performance further into the reaches of their collective imaginations.

Originally scheduled to perform in 2020 Warhorse will finally perform at Roadburn 2022. Huntsmen will kick off their first trip to Europe with a special performance at Roadburn where they’ll play their 2018 album, American Scrap, in full.

London’s Five The Hierophant will make their Roadburn debut, as well as performing a collaborative piece with Wyatt E. and MC Slice titled Atonia.

These artists are added to a line up that already features Ulver, Lingua Ignota, Liturgy, Emma Ruth Rundle, Russian Circles, 40 Watt Sun, Backwash and many more. Click here to view the full line up and below to read more on these newly announced artists.

ÅRABROT
ATONIA: A COLLABORATION BETWEEN WYATT E., FIVE THE HIEROPHANT & MC SLICE
BRUIT ≤,
DIE WILDE JAGD
FIVE THE HIEROPHANT
HANGMAN’S CHAIR X REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER
HUNTSMEN
KARIN PARK
LLNN
LUSTMORD
OSLO TAPES
SLIFT (ARTIST IN RESIDENCE)
TAU & THE DRONES OF PRAISE
URAL UMBO
WARHORSE
YEAR OF NO LIGHT
ZETRA

Weekend tickets, and Friday and Saturday day tickets are sold out. Thursday and Sunday day tickets remain in limited numbers. Tickets and accommodation options are available to view via ticketmaster.nl

https://www.facebook.com/events/964112394348925
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival/
http://www.instagram.com/roadburnfest
http://www.roadburn.com

Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’ live stream for Roadburn Redux

Slift, “Lions, Tigers & Bears” live video

Life takes you to unexpected places, and if you’re alive, that’s probably something you already know. I’ve been to Sligo, Ireland, where singer-songwriter Rainbow Starlight is situated, and it vibes like a place where magic might actually happen. I don’t just mean that it’s beautiful, though it is, but with its worn hills and long-stretched landscape, it’s easy to get lost in the thought of it being a place of old knowledge. If you were going to tie a Gaelic version of the Hail Mary into the pagan roots of Christianity as an exploration of reformed organic folk, as Starlight does here in the company of Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney, it might be the kind of spot where that would happen.

So it goes that the title “Ón Mháthair” translates to English as “from the mother,” and the eight-minute unfurling of the track takes place indoors and out in the accompanying video. Mulrooney, also of Tau and the Drones of Praise, recently took part in the Roadburn Redux virtual fest, and had Brennan sit in with the band as a part of that. I don’t know when that was filmed in relation to this, but there’s plenty of Springtime mist and clouds as Starlight takes a deep breath, sees the world go from black and white to full color, and seems to try to bring the essence of the place — Knocknarea, as you can read below — into herself. If you want a magic vibe, there it is.

Patient natural drone, guitar, percussion, some flute for good measure, and everyone’s voices coming together around Rainbow Starlight‘s own, “Ón Mháthair” is a subtly varied but all the more lush for that stretch of melody and ambience. I’ll readily admit my connection here is Tau — who I hear have finished recording their next album, by the by — but the piece as a whole is beautiful and engrossing and if you’re up for giving it a chance, I think you’ll find much the same.

More info on the release follows, courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Rainbow Starlight, Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney, “Ón Mháthair” video premiere

Clannad’s Pól Brennan and Seán Mulrooney from Tau collaborate with singer-songwriter Rainbow Starlight to release a haunting new version of the ‘Hail Mary’ as Gaeilge.

Release Date: Summer Solstice, 21st June 2021

Inspired by the multi-faceted and complex spiritual traditions of Ireland, Sligo-based singer-songwriter, Rainbow Starlight has composed a powerful and ethereal melody for one of Ireland’s best loved ancient prayers, ‘Sé Do Bheatha a Mhuire’.

Starlight says “We have experienced many waves of imperial and religious conquest in Ireland and despite concerted efforts to remove the essence of the Feminine from the collective psyche, the spiritual connection of the Irish people to the nurturing energy of the Feminine has always endured. During pre-Christian times this was expressed as a deep appreciation for the cycles of nature and Irish Goddesses such as Brigit and Maebh. In our more recent history, it has manifested as a continued reverence for Mother Mary and St. Brigid.”

It is the enduring connection of the Irish people to the Feminine that Starlight wanted to represent with this song. Clannad’s Pól Brennan says “One of the reasons we have lost our way in the world today is because we have lost our connection to the Feminine.” Seán from Tau adds “Unless we restore our connection to nature and begin to truly honour the Feminine, our trail of destruction will continue to blaze.”

The trio were united by a shared wish for healing and harmony in the world, each bringing their unique musicality and essence to craft this stunning piece. Starlight says “This song calls to everyone on this island of Ireland and across the world to reclaim our essence as balanced humans, to stand strong and to walk together on this beautiful Earth with sovereignty of heart.”

‘Ón Mháithair’ (‘From the Mother’) was recorded live in the Chapel of Ease, Dublin in December 2020 and shot on the sacred mountain of Knocknarea, Co. Sligo, where Queen Maebh’s Tomb lies on the summit. The video and song work beautifully together to bring forth the golden thread of the Feminine that runs through Ireland’s ancient past and present alike.

Rainbow Starlight on YouTube

Tau on Instagram

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Facebook

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Bandcamp

Don’t tell anyone — or better yet, do! — but this show turned out pretty solid. I kind of put it together following a couple whims, things I’ve wanted to put in my own head, plus some of the recent Bandcamp Friday stuff — hello Spaceslug and Geezer — and things I’ve covered here recently in Tuna de Tierra and Worshipper and Carlton Melton, etc. Then I just wanted to hear the Shogun and LáGoon tracks for myself, and I’ve been meaning to cover that White Powder record more for weeks, and then I started thinking about songs that have “mountain” in the title and decided to do a whole block of those just for the hell of it, so that’s where we wound up. Mountain climbing.

But in addition to starting off with the maddeningly catchy “It’s Already Written” by Tau and the Drones of Praise — whose Roadburn Redux stream was posted here first thing this week — this one makes a few cool turns and flows and kind of breaks up nicely from one thing to the next, even as “Mountain” gets into “Mountain” into “Longing to Be the Mountain” and “Holy Mountain” and “I’m the Mountain.” This is the sort of thing I think is fun. That’s me. That’s who I am.

Anyway, thanks for listening and/or reading. As always, I hope you enjoy.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 05.14.21

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 28 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

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Originally aired last month as part of Roadburn Redux and ‘premiered’ via YouTube this past weekend, ‘Dream Awake’ brings an hour-plus live set from Tau and the Drones of Praise celebrating the band’s past, present and future. I was fortunate enough to interview guitarist/vocalist Seán Mulrooney for the Roadburn ‘zine, the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch, and the way he described it was, “It’s like the hero’s quest, the return home, and infinite possibilities. It’s a set of three parts. It’s the hero’s quest, the return home, the cosmos: infinite possibilities.”

Not wanting for scope, then, and fair enough given the sonic breadth — and breath, since this music is very much alive; the changes can be seen signaled between bandmates with sometimes urgent glances — that comes across in the 68-minute offering. And yet it is very much tied to the land and the spirit of the land that comes through in Irish folklore, from the inclusion of Pól Brennan of Clannad — who marked their 50th year in 2020 — to the paeans to ancestors and culture that are born in melodies and arrangement as well as lyrics and themes that perpetuate in the songs. It is a beautiful music, and by no means restricted to Irish influences, but every outward journey begins somewhere.

I was enthralled earlier this year when Tau and the Drones of Praise posted a live set from Dublin in support of their 2020 EP, Seanóirí Naofa (discussed here), and I knew going into Roadburn Redux that this was my gotta-see set of the entire affair. I am glad that as other exclusives have begun to trickle out to the greater public, this one has not been left to languish, because it deserves no less than to catch as many eyes and ears as possible with its transportive atmosphere and resonant emotional foundation, human and otherworldly at once.

Enjoy:

Tau and the Drones of Praise, ‘Dream Awake’

Full concert recorded exclusively for Roadburn Redux.

So glad you can be here now. Thanks so much Global community.
Donate here to help us record 3rd album.
paypal.me/taufornow

Thanks so much Global community.

Subscribe to the Tau YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TAUMUSICA?

Listen to and purchase all music on BandCamp:
https://tauofficial.bandcamp.com/
Tau and the Drones of Praise:
Seán Mulrooney – guitar/vocals
Ruarí Mac Néill Aodha – guitar
Bob “Wildman” Glynn – percussion/vocals
Iain Faulkner – bass/vocals
Ken “Moon” Mooney – drums/percussion

Tau and the Drones of Praise, Seanóirí Naofa (2020)

Tau on Instagram

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Thee Facebooks

Tau and the Drones of Praise on Bandcamp