Between the Mountain and the Moon Luka Bloom

• 1 Monsoon 03:41
• 2 Here and Now 03:50
• 3 Perfect Groove 03:50
• 4 Love Is a Place I Dream Of 03:25
• 5 Gabriel 03:57
• 6 Soshin 04:05
• 7 Moonslide 03:19
• 8 As I Waved Goodbye 03:10
• 9 I'm a Bogman 03:44
• 10 Rainbow Day 04:13
• 11 Hands of a Farmer 03:55
• Total Runtime 41:09

Info for Between the Mountain and the Moon

Luka Bloom's sixth album, Between the Mountain and the Moon, is his first collection of new, original material since Salty Heaven, released in the U.S. in 1999. Not that Luka has left his fans wanting. In between, he managed to put together Keeper of the Flame, a highly personal homage to his favorite classic and contemporary songwriters, and he also found time to tour the world, playing to sold-out crowds in Australia, the U.S., his native Ireland, and continental Europe, while road-testing the tunes that would make up this gorgeous new set.

Luka has truly lived with this material, refining it on tour and gently polishing it to perfection in the studio. Although the process took almost two years, the songs show no signs of wear and tear; Between the Mountain and the Moonsounds like one seamless session, intimate, impassioned, and musically, lyrically, and thematically unified, an album in the classic sense. While Luka was concentrating on the cover songs he radically retooled for Keeper of the Flame, he said he learned "to trust myself more as a singer." And it shows here he fearlessly stretches himself vocally, as well as instrumentally, especially on tracks like the otherworldly "Gabriel" and the hushed "Moonslide," which he delivers in a beguiling bedroom whisper.

I began recording some songs in September 1999, did a week or so in Windmill Lane, maybe 9 songs. No plan, no rush….. Every now and then I’d quietly slip into the studio, and do a day or 2 with some of these songs. Little by little the songs took shape; different musicians coming in to play; all very relaxed, no pressure. Right up to the end I kept my mind open for new songs, and for new ideas…… This is the first time I felt confident in a studio; finally I have found a relationship with a studio and an engineer, where I feel capable of expressing myself, without (too much) fear.

"On Keeper of the Flame, Luka Bloom offered interpretations of a number of other artists' songs. The success of the project hinged on the odd choices, such as the Cure's "In Between Days" and ABBA's "Dancing Queen." On Between the Mountain and the Moon, Bloom presents his first set of original songs in four years. While the earlier album utilized an acoustic sound, this album, while mostly acoustic, broadens its arrangements. The spoken poetry and vocals of the sonically expansive "Monsoon" will remind one of a folk Peter Gabriel, while the excited percussion of "Perfect Groove" evokes a contemporary Irish jig. Bloom seems in an optimistic mood on Between the Mountain and the Moon, singing about love in "Moonslide" and "Love Is a Place I Dream Of" and the power of nature in "Here and Now." A touch of pensive melancholy enters "Gabriel" and "Soshin," but this is only a passing mood. If this album ultimately seems less satisfying than Keeper of the Flame, it's because many of the songs lack strong melodies. Bloom may put more effort into his lyrics than the average contemporary Celtic performer, but the songs lack a distinctive quality to separate them from the songs of his peers. Still, Between the Mountain and the Moon features Bloom's rich voice, and will be welcomed as a good, if not great, album by fans." (Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., AMG)

Luka Bloom, guitars, vocals, mandola
Joe Csibi, bass, string and brass arrangements
Ray Fean, drums, percussion, guitar on Rainbow Day
Mohamed Bouhanna, derbouka, bindir
Sinéad O'Connor, vocals
Mairtin O'Connor, accordion
Conor Byrne, flute, whistle
Eamon Murray, harmonica
Rod McVey, keyboards
Gavin Ralston, guitar on Love Is A Place I Dream Of
Ronan Dooney, trumpet, flugelhorn
Steve McDonald, trumpet, Flugelhorn
Karl Ronan, trombone
Catherine McCarthy, violin, strings on Perfect Groove
Nicola Cleary, violin
Thomás Kane, viola
Annette Cleary, cello, strings on Perfect Groove
Lloyd Byrne, brass & string contractor

Recorded and mixed at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin
Engineered and mastered by Brian Masterson
Produced by Luka Bloom & Brian Masterson

Luka Bloom
In 1972 Barry Moore wrote a song called WAVE UP TO THE SHORE. Not his first song, but it had something. He did some gigs, wrote some songs; and in 1987 he boarded a plane for New York, and Luka Bloom was born. Riverside was released in 1990 on REPRISE Records and it was followed by THE ACOUSTIC MOTORBIKE, AND TURF.

During the early 1990s the life of writing, recording and touring took off. The US, Australia, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and The UK are frequent destinations for Luka’s songs. As well as his own touring, he has performed at some of the great festivals: Pinkpop (Holland); Roskilde (Denmark), Torhout\Werchter (Belgium), Newport Folk Festival (US) Byron Blues Festival(Australia), Glastonbury and Cambridge, (UK). And most of all, he regularly sings all over the island of Ireland, where he lives in County Clare.

This album contains no booklet.