9 Comments 
From The Bogs Of Aughiska | ‘From The Bogs Of Aughiska’
Dark Ambient is not a genre for which Ireland is famed. A shame, given the conceptual and spiritual riches that should in theory be there to work with.
Sometimes though a cd’s moment just comes. A perfect mix of source material, individual agenda and single minded vision coalesce into a great record. Connor Droney, otherwise known as From The Bogs Of Aughiska, has just composed such a release.
This is terrifyingly good.
In sampling the natural environment of Ireland’s rugged west coast and using it as a basis for sonic experimentation, one feels as though he has caught the quiet wrath of the earth.
Waves, both actual and sonic, crash hard and retreat in foams of electronic spray, as brooding, malign synths drone above. It feels like the breath of exposed, unforgiving nature. This music begs to be heard as Connor probably sampled it in the first place: high on the sea cliffs, or walking around weatherbeaten Connemara.
There isn’t an second of cloy Celticism in here. Yet this triumph of bleak atmospheres communicates more about the ‘Irish’ supernaturalism than any riffing and jigging ever could.
It opens with a track that’s as good an example of perfect execution as I can remember. A haunting, low drone is looped. Gradually, the voices of some entirely normal people begin to recount their experiences of the bean sidhe.
It’s almost like reportage, and is all the more striking not for it’s ham spookiness, but for the contemporary and down to earth way in which the stories are told.
From one man:
“I actually thought somebody must have been literally tying a cat up or strangling it or something. But I went out by the window with a lump of turf, and eh, there was nobody there, nothing there. But you could hear this wail, and suddenly my hair began to stand up and I thought, Jesus Christ”
The hair does, indeed, stand on end, and in the right place at the right time it’s chilling.
The rest of the cd is strictly atmosphere, comparable to perhaps Raison D’Etre, or Current 93′s cataclysmic ‘Nature Unveiled’. The sounds of harsh winds, an occasional black squirm of notes, and all the time the subterranean throb of earth deep underneath transports the listener to a dimension that feels close to deaths door.
The banshee serves as a perfect metaphor for the music on this whole cd. A product of a world both human and supernatural, caught in the middle, and tortured by it. What’s so staggering about this music is that it sounds like nature’s response back to that – cold, premanent and unsparing as the tides hit rock over and over and over.
It’s a rare day I call a cd perfect, but this one is. A pure translation of land and soul into darkened, callous and at times magnificent sound. This one’s for the annals of the Irish underground.
5/5 - Earl Grey ::: 09/02/11
February 9th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Jaysus! 5/5
Must be good, so.
February 9th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Spot on CT. Noise usually ain’t my thang at all, but this is of a different class altogether. “Aos Sí” is the second track on the CD though, if memory serves me correctly, and what a spine-tingler it is!
February 9th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
artwork by Mories of GTT…that’s really interesting, and should have been mentioned.
February 9th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
I need to pick this up, cheers for the reminder
February 9th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Yep, great CD. One to listen to with the lights off as it is very visual stuff. I love the last track, Crosswinds, with the chilly stabs of keyboard at the end that make me think of a haunted castle emerging out of the gloom. Great stuffs.
February 10th, 2011 at 12:19 am
listened to ome tracks on facebook last week.noise is not usually my thing either but i enjoyed it.
February 10th, 2011 at 12:24 am
where can i get this?
February 10th, 2011 at 7:58 am
You can get it here Baggy: http://humanjigsaw.bigcartel.com/category/cds
And you can listen here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/fromthebogsofaughiska
Dave
February 10th, 2011 at 9:23 am
As Baggy says, where can I get this?
February 10th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Got to say!
The tracks up on the FTBOA facefuck page didn’t really do a whole lot for me.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s done well. Far better than most droney crap out there. Just not my cup of ‘Barrys Gold Blend’.
February 10th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Thanks very much for the excellent review and the overwhelming response.
The album is available in HMV and can be bought on-line here:
http://humanjigsaw.bigcartel.com
February 10th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Which HMV has it? all of them?
February 10th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I got it in HMV in the Crescent SC in Limerick this morning – went in on the off-chance after reading this review – €14.99. Was surprised they had it as their selection ain’t great. You should be able to get it easily enough.
One listen in interesting stuff – not what I normally listen to but enjoyable. Further listens needed.
February 10th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
in the post. ill take yer word for it
February 11th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Headphones and lights off. It wont disappoint.
February 11th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Truly excellent. Unique and superbly crafted.
February 11th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Yep, it’s a lights-off job indeed.
February 12th, 2011 at 3:57 am
Just listened to “Lebor Gabala Erenn” on Soundcloud with headphones and a nice amount of THC in me. Very nice, atmospheric as fuck. Would be great going to sleep music, or on a rainy day on the Dart.
February 12th, 2011 at 9:30 am
When I saw the cover of this cd and read the review my interest was definitely piqued. However I was so disappointed by this, I have always had a fascination with people and place plus I literally grew up in a Bog (we call it Moss here). The samples I heard I just can’t make the associations with.
Simply, I just don’t get this at all.
February 12th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Anyone have Connors email address?
February 14th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Andy, I have it. I’ll mail you now.
February 14th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
I looked in Hmv, in the metal section, new age ,irish and rock and pop section, wheres it at?
February 14th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
metal section in Limerick anyways
February 15th, 2011 at 1:03 am
keen to hear this based on that review. I find a lot of this stuff hit and miss and more often than utter it doesnt engage at all unless you are in the right mood, right time etc, very tempted to take a punt on this though; an excellent review!
February 15th, 2011 at 2:10 am
purchased!
February 21st, 2011 at 11:43 am
This is really fucking great. The closest to home music I can possibly listen to being from a bog in the west. I love it.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:48 am
Really enjoying the CD. ‘Aos Si’ in particular is great. The sample of your man talking about Frank in New York … is he a broadcaster of some description? I know that voice from somewhere.
Just a shame about the “hertiage” on the inside cover. A somewhat embarrassing typo.
March 8th, 2011 at 8:03 am
ordered this over a month ago, still hasnt arrived!
April 19th, 2012 at 1:46 am
If you get the chance, go and see this band (artist?)in concert. They played here in Cork a few weeks ago and it was stunning, mesmerising.
I put a few clips up on youtube, not great quality but they give you the general idea.