Sound Library

In the autumn of 1996 ‘Reconciliation’ was invited to tour again in North and East Germany. It was decided to put together a live compilation album from recordings of gigs over the previous two years. In 1994 and 1995 the band had travelled widely achieving great success as a live act. At the Sound Symposium, Newfoundland in July 1994 the concert was performed in a 3000 seat venue to a full house. Another notable success was an appearance in the acoustic tent at the Glastonbury Festival, England that same summer. Later in the year tunes were recorded at a concert in the famous music venue Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland. The album also features tracks from a short German tour in 1995. ‘Live One’ presents the versatility and driving strength that was being achieved by ‘Reconciliation’ at this time. Sometimes the sounds are so complex that it is easy to forget that the live music of ‘Reconciliation’ is played on acoustic instruments by only three members.

01 Symposium Sound 3:35 min

July 1994 was the first of two occasions that ‘Reconciliation’ was invited to attend the Sound Symposium, New Foundland. The two week event had been founded and was run by Don and Kathy Wherry. It promoted wilder more edgy visual and audio performance. On one occasion microphones were placed strategically down along a cliff face. An upright piano was then pushed over the edge and the sounds it made as it smashed its way down were recorded. ‘Reconciliation’ however, was considered wild enough just as they were. The band was scheduled to play in the main venue of the Symposium, a three thousand seat hall late in the Festival programme. Having seen and heard many fascinating acts the opening track for the concert was composed specifically for the event.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo, clap sticks
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán, tubby drum
Simon O’Dwyer – dord íseal, dord ard, crotal, prayer bells, stones
Simon O’Dwyer – recording
Volker Staudt – post mastering

02 Striking Viking 4:35 min

Late in 1994 ‘Reconciliation’ were briefly in Ireland having recorded the album ‘Interaction’. While in Dublin the band played a ‘one off’ sell out gig in Whelan’s Music Venue on Wexford Street. Two tunes were chosen from the concert for ‘Live 1’. ‘Striking Viking’ tells of the first raids by Viking sailors from Norway into Dublin Bay in the 9th Century AD. The tune expresses the excitement of a long ship or boat of invaders landing on a hostile shore and the trepidation the locals must have felt knowing the fearsome reputation of these warriors from the North.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán
Simon O’Dwyer – dord íseal, large conch shell
Ivan O’Shea – recording, October 1994
Volker Staut – post mastering

03 Sydney Harbour Reel 5.21 min

Originally composed in Australia in 1992, Sydney Harbour Reel is a musical story of the area of Circular Quay in Sydney Australia where the ferries arrive and leave for destinations all around the harbour. On one side is ‘The Rocks’ where the famous Irish drinking establishment ‘The Mercantile Hotel’ is while the Sydney Harbour Bridge soars overhead spanning the harbour and on the other stands the World famous Sydney Opera House. All along the harbour front buskers play for locals and tourists catching ferries or just sightseeing. The result is a continuous inner city bustle interrupted by the distinctive three note blast from the ferry hooters as they depart.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo.
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán.
Simon O’Dwyer – dord iseal, large conch shell, vocals.
Ivan O’Shea – recording, October 1994 at Whelans, Dublin, Ireland.
Volker Staut – post mastering.

04 Detmold Dreaming 4:30 min

Just before Christmas 1994, ‘Reconciliation’ played in a 14th Century venue in the small town of Detmold in North Germany. Sometimes in a gig if the band were called back for a third or fourth encore a pre-arranged informal tune would be dedicated to the location. In this example the tune begins with an edgy off beat set up between the didgeridoo and the bodhrán. A large sea shell played in an attacking lead style launches the tune into an evocative expression of modern Germany.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán
Simon O’Dwyer – large conch shell.
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at the Alte Pauline, Detmold, Germany, December 1994
Volker Staut – post mastering

05 Sticks 3:15 min 

Sticks is a simple yet vibrant combination of clap sticks, boomerang sticks and didgeridoo. This live version evolved from a studio recording made for the album ‘Two Stories in One’ in 1992. The steady beat of the clap sticks offset by boomerangs is filled with a didgeridoo tune originally influenced by playing from Cape York, Australia and Arnhem Land.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo, clap sticks
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – clap sticks
Simon O’Dwyer – boomerang sticks
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at the Exlibris, Magdeburg, Germany, April 1995
Volker Staut – post mastering

06 Harmony Reel 2:22 min

Touring in what was the former East Germany in the first years after the collapse of the Iron Curtain was very different than in the West. Though there wasn’t much money around yet ‘Reconciliation’ were received enthusiastically at every concert. Usually at some stage in the show members of the band would play a solo tune. Harmony Reel was composed by Simon O’Dwyer to bring out the extraordinary rich layered sounds of a Scandinavian harmonic flute. He made the instrument having taken dimensions from one he had seen in Bremen, Germany in 1994. When listening to the tune it is hard to believe that such musical complexity is created from a simple tube with a fipple at one end and a hole at the other.

Simon O’Dwyer –seyell flute (harmonic flute)
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at Exlibris, Magdeburg, Germany, April 1995
Volker Staut – post mastering

07 Interaction 8:06 min

This long laid back study evolved from an earlier version which was composed and recorded in studio for the concept album ‘Interaction’. See ‘Interaction’ album track 01. A greater variety of instrumentation was used for the live performance which evolves and gradually builds until it comes to a satisfying conclusion. ‘Interaction’ always attracted great appreciation when performed at live concerts. It was considered the highlight of the gig at the Sound Symposium, Newfoundland in July 1994.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán (played with stick and brush).
Simon O’Dwyer – dord íseal, dord ard, adharc, click stones, trumpet stone, large sea shell, vocal.
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at The Sound Symposium, Newfoundland, July 1994
Volker Staut – post mastering

08 Psycho Slugged 5:43 min

For many years before joining the band ‘Reconciliation’, Phil Conyngham had been developing a new vibrant style on the didgeridoo. Taking influences from old aboriginal tunes and adding a new repeating over layered complexity, he created a pulsing rhythm dance sound. The arrangement was inspired by the new techno and other dance music which was becoming popular at the time. To quote musicologist, Dr. John Purser, ‘I have no idea what Phil is actually doing when he plays these tunes. It just does not seem possible.’ The name Psycho Slugged stems from Phil’s particular love of the humble slug, superimposed into a South London wild techno scene. Who knew?

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at Exlibris, Magdeburg, Germany, April 1995
Volker Staut – post mastering

09 The Heater (live) 4:51 min

One aspect of the early years of ‘Reconciliation’ was the incredible speed and versatility that Alan Dargin brought to the band. For volume, dexterity and pace on a didgeridoo he was quite simply the best. Sometimes the band would start a reel and then gradually increase the tempo more and more until the tune seemed to take off and fly. While the rest of the musicians were bursting a gut to keep it going, Alan was streaking effortlessly ahead. When performed in the acoustic tent at Glastonbury the last tune of the gig was ‘The Heater’. An evolvement from the earlier idea. Though Alan by this stage had gone to pursue a film career yet the band were right there driving faster and faster and then flying.

Phil Conyngham – didgeridoo
Maria Cullen O’Dwyer – bodhrán
Simon O’Dwyer – dord iseal, clap sticks
Simon O’Dwyer – recording at Glastonbury, England, 1994
Volke Staut – post mastering