Search - Various Artists :: Scottish Moods

Bagpipe music, even when framed within reflective contemporary settings, is most agreeably digested in small increments. This explains why the 17 mostly traditional selections on Scottish Moods clock in at no longer than three minutes and 41 seconds. Unlike other installments in Virgin Records' Moods series, this is not a multi-artist compilation but rather the work of a single performer, unheralded piper David Methven, and a little-known backing group, the Munros. Taken in the prescribed small doses, Methven and company create many pleasant sonic miniatures that evoke mist-heavy, grandfatherly images of things virtuous and noble. Methven's approach is dignified and thoughtful, inclined more toward plaintive melodies than interminable drones. The contemplative backdrops (dreamy synths, acoustic guitar, gentle, wordless choral passages) that underpin his piping nicely embellish the album's overall sense of serenity and longing. A good recording overall, it plays best in a multidisc CD player set on "shuffle" when coupled with other Celtic-influenced recordings. --Terry Wood