Reviews There is nothing I enjoy more on a cold Alberta night than a good fire, a comfy chair, a wee cup of tea and a stack of new CDs to listen to. This is what I was doing the other night when I discovered this wee gem of a recording by a young man from The Aran Island of Inishere, Ireland. His name is MacDara O'Conaola and the disc is The Love Token. This is truly one of the loveliest albums that I have heard in years and brings a breath of fresh air to Celtic music. Beautiful songs, simply sung make this a stand out CD, and from toe tappers to lullabies that pull at the old heartstrings, MacDara has it all.Máire Breatnach and Johnny McDonagh (Dé Dannan and Arcady) along with Bill Shanley (Paul Brady) Danny Byrt, Paul Gunning, Mick O'Brien and MacDara's sister, singer Lasairfhiona help make this debut CD, The Love Token, a treasure to have in any Celtic music collection. As Reviewed by Andy Donnelly in the Calgary Herald I like the approach that MacDara has taken with "The Love Token". He splits the songs between English and Gaelic, between traditional and contemporary. This is enhanced by a voice that just wants you to melt into the song. You feel the sense of love and loss, the sparkle of life, the depth of betrayal. For me the stand out track in a strong album is the duet he performs with Lasairfhiona, "The Mighty Dancer". It returns the compliment for MacDara's appearance on her album. It has the words classic written right across it, as long as enough people get to hear it. Be one of them. As Reviewed by Neil Fatea MacDara O Conoala comes from Inish Oirr, the smallest Arran Island. He has spent most of his life living on the island which is steeped in Gaelic tradition. He is now based in Galway where he finds it easier to communicate with the rest of the world. In a recent interview he mentioned that in the time it takes to send an email from Inish Oirr you could compose a symphony. So I can completely understand why he has relocated, having said that he is very in touch with his roots, as this album proves and he still makes regular visits to Inish Oirr.His new album "The Love Token" is one of the most beautifully crafted albums I have heard in long time. Although it is rooted in the Sean Nos tradition it is brimming with originality and is as fresh as the breeze that blows over Arran. You won't tire of listening as MacDara has a great creative talent that he uses in a diverse range of styles to keep the album alive and entertaining. The talent within the MacDara family is by no means lacking. His father, Dara O Conoala is a writer, and his mother is from a family of sculptors. His sister, Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola released her debut album An Raicin Alainn in 2002 which received great reviews from critics. Like MacDara her album was also deeply rooted in the Gaelic traditions of her native Arran. Added to this, her second album, Flame of Wine, a literal translation of her name, has given her a worthy reputation as a great singer. MacDara guested on one of the songs on his sister's first album and played Bodhran on her second album. Having tested the waters he was persuaded to put his ideas into practice.Here is the result, a great new talent has arrived. Folk Radio UK review, 2007. MacDara - The Love Token (MacDara) This release has strong connections with Flame Of Wine by Lasarfhíona (which coincidentally I've reviewed very recently too), in two respects: that Inishere (Aran Islands) native MacDara Ó Conaola is Lasarfhíona's brother, and that The Love Token also uses the same co-producer (Máire Breatnach) together with an almost identical cast of backing musicians (in this case Bill Shanley, Mick O'Brien, Danny Dyrt, Paul Gunning, Johnny McDonagh and Máire herself). Lasarfhíona herself even appears on backing vocals on two of the tracks. MacDara's singing shares with his sister's a predominantly gentle quality and timbre, which proves most attractive on a wide range of material on this, his debut release. Musically at any rate, that range may prove a mite too wide for some listeners, for in encompassing some quite adventurous arrangements alongside the fairly orthodox trad-arr guitar, fiddle, whistle and bodhrán accompaniments I'm not entirely sure that it all quite hangs together - even though MacDara's voice provides the all-important unifying factor and he's evidently totally at ease with his chosen material. But almost every track turns out to have a special virtue - and character - all its own, from very appealing renditions of two contrasting traditional songs Baile Uí Laoi (Ballylee) and Stóirín Geal Mo Chroí, through to the romantic swoon of dance-floor country-cajun (Webb Pierce's I Don't Care) and the carefree, relaxed free-wheeling whimsy of the self-composed It's So Easy. There's an altogether more experimental ambience-enhanced soundscape for the strangely funky lament Án Dún Aengus, whereas in contrast, MacDara adopts an almost cheeky come-on tone for the delicious Buachaillín Deas Óg Mé and Beidh Aonach Amárach. And when singing in English, MacDara is generally every bit as persuasive (although, exceptionally, I do find his setting of By The Roving Of Her Eyes a little bland). For, listening to MacDara, you feel you can almost believe his claim that "someone invented the wheel for me"!... David Kidman March 2007 (NetRhythms) MAcDARA The Love Token MacDara O Conaola 001 How do you like your Irish music: smooth, pure, or with a hop? Fans of a la carte offerings can Choose their pleasure. MacDara's debut album is produced by Maire Breatnach, and it embodies the same sensitivity she brings to bear on her solo fiddle albums. MacDara--the shortened stage name for Aran native MacDara O Conaola--has a buttery smooth voice that would trend towards somnabulance except that he has the presence of mind to let feisty arrangements add oomph now and again. A fine example of that is "The Mighty Dancer," a duet with his sister Lasairifhiona, whose jaunty cadences are the vocal equivalent of a bouncing bow on fiddle strings. This is a well from which he draws several times, for example, transitioning from several dreamy songs to the bodhran and whistle driven "Beidh Aonach Amarach" before turning to a for-real lullaby, "Sothin Seotho." The songs on this release go down as easily as warm porridge. Rob Weir, 2008, Sing Out! Magazine Gratka dla miłośników prawdziwej irlandzkiej muzyki Od niedawna dostępna jest w internetowych sklepach debiutancka płyta MacDary O Conaola, brata bijącej kolejne rekordy popularności na wyspie Lasairfhiony Ni Chonaola. Niestety, nie są to sklepy polskie... Brak w polskich Empikach czy też sklepach internetowych, dużych i małych, poważnej oferty muzyki irlandzkiej. To co dostępne, to najczęściej liche składanki, niby pokazujące przekrój styli, ale tak na prawdę nie reprezentujące nawet średniego poziomu. A coraz więcej w Polsce fanów tej jakże ciekawej i różnorodnej muzyki. MacDara O Conaola - Na szczęście, po wejściu Polski do EU coraz więcej europejskich sklepów, nawet specjalistycznych, nie ma oporów przed wysyłaniem przesyłek do naszego kraju. Dzieje się to zazwyczaj szybko - przesyłka dochodzi nawet w ciągu trzech dni i nie jest obciążona opłatami celnymi. Dlatego też sympatykom muzyki irlandzkiej mogę z całego serca polecić debiutancką płytę MacDary O Conaola, brata uznanej na wyspie Lasairfhiony Ni Chonaola. Wydawnictwo stanowi dobrze skomponowaną mieszankę tradycyjnych irlandzkich piosenek pochodzących z wysp Aran i śpiewanych w gaelicu, jak również nowocześniej zaaranżowanych utworów w języku angielskim. Daniel Wieszczycki, 2007, radio celtica fm