Robert Mathieson - The Big Birl

(1997) 14 tracks (45 mins): Slow Air and Reels: Song For the Smallpipe / The Egg and The Fiddle / The Sting In the Tale * Jigs: The Tap Dancer / D J Archie / Blue Jig * Reel: The Big Birl * Melody: Minuette * Polkas: The First Fifty / The Angel's Share * Slow Air and Jig: Breton Air / Long Island Jig * Reel: The Red Fox * Calypso: The Carnival Reel / Calypso Piper * Jigs: The Mink Sporran / Highland Academy / Compiler's Jig / Celtic Matador / The Spanish Piper * Gaelic Air and March: The Fair Maiden's Prayer / Staffordshire Highland Gathering * Hornpipe: Desert Storm * Air and Reel: Starjump / The Devil's Staircase * Jigs: Bothwell Jig / The Unknown Motive * Slow Air: The Bells of Dunblane.

With Dougie Pincock, Dave Milligan, Dave Pringle, Ronnie Goodman, Jim Kilpatrick, Simon Thoumire, Aaron Jones, Andy Mitchell, Duncan Finlay, Steve Reid, Gordon Wilson and String Quartet.

"Kicks the last remaining conventions of the piping world so far into touch that ball boys would need motorbikes to get them back again... a stunning tour de force of an album which delights, astounds, even amuses and rewards each listen with another sound that hadn't revealed itself before... a riff which makes Wolfstone sound like the Spice Girls... is a class album and will have repercussions on the way pipe music is recorded for many years to come. Few who follow will reach the standards attained here." (The Living Tradition)