Rach's Musical Brain - August Download

Well, as you will probably guess, this week's musical playlist has been inspired by my amazing 10 day holiday up in the most beautiful country... SCOTLAND. It's been exactly a month since we set off, and I'm still missing it... really badly. And having spent the whole week and a bit hiking every part of the Wester Ross peninsula we could fit in, it felt fitting that this next musical playlist's inspiration came from here...

The pipes, the drums, the bagpipes... I love the music Scotland inspires. Dad and I always make sure something Scottish-themed is playing as we cross over the border (usually Outlander) to get us into the spirit, so hopefully these will get you into the spirit too!

Okay, fine, maybe it's mostly the Outlander soundtrack... but still. The soundtrack by Bear McCreary used quite a lot of old Scottish folk songs as a basis for the tracks, so... those of you who know them, see if you can hear them... and those of you who can't? Well, you can still enjoy the tracks regardless!

As ever, you can find the new playlist here... as well as all the older tracks here. Enjoy!

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NUMBER 10.

Scotland - BBC Symphony Orchestra

I’ve done one other from this album - a BBC series on Scotland that I need to watch - but I had to open the playlist with this one. You have got the ethereal beginning, mystical, as if Scotland is suddenly erupting out of the mist, whilst the fanfare builds. The beautiful build of the trumpets is then accompanied by a soft voice to the end. Driving around the headlands and walking around the lochs and mountains this week, you could almost hear the heartbeat of Scotland, and it’s beauty was showed off marvellously with all the sun we’ve had.

NUMBER 9.

The Games - Patrick Doyle

" I am Merida, firstborn descendant of Clan Dunbroch. And I'LL be shooting FOR MY OWN HAND!" This is one of the best scenes of the film. Not only are the Scottish bagpipe trills, strings and pipes on fire here, but the scene itself is one of the best scenes in terms of the 'Disney Princess' breakthrough. Now those of you who have seen Brave will know that this film isn't one that's about getting a prince, but rather mending the relationship between Mother and Daughter, but in this scene, Merida skilfully chooses for her 'suitors' to shoot it out in archery, knowing she can show everybody up and prove that she doesn't need a man to choose her path in life. I love the bagpipes in this. Literally typing this and the hair on my arms is standing up on end, and I can close my eyes and pretend I'm back there.

Brave is one of my favourite Pixars, not only because it's set in one of the best countries in the world, but it has THE cutest black Shire horse in it. Angus. I love him.

NUMBER 8.

Dance of the Druids - Bear McCreary

Now one of the most recognisable tracks in the Outlander soundtrack, without this scene, Claire would never have gone back to Jacobite times. The beautiful combination of the dance and the music here is truly mesmerising when you watch it, you can see why Frank and Claire got up so early to watch it. And even if you're not watching, you can hear the dance if you just close your eyes and imagine. Even now in season 6 (5?), you catch glimpses of the dance in the trailer because the dance is such an integral part to the story. Man, I could listen to this track all day.

NUMBER 7.

Outlander - The Skye Boat Song (Jacobite Version)

The thing I love about the Outlander theme songs, is that they change depending on whereabouts they are in the story. In season 1, it's similar to this one, but beginning of season 2 the theme song changes to French, as Jamie and Claire escape to France before returning to Scotland in time for the Jacobite rising - cue Jacobite theme! The pipes, the drums, as well as the usual Skye Boat Song voice from Raya Yarbrough really does build that sense of Scottish patriotism ahead of the Culloden episodes. The use of bagpipes in wars has been said to have originated from the Battle of Culloden, whereby Scottish pipers would play war tunes whilst marching their troops into battle, and seeing as the Highland Regiment never went into battle without a piper, the bagpipes would be both an instrument and a weapon of war. I bet you weren't expecting a history lesson as well as a beautiful piece of music.

NUMBER 6.

Tracking Jamie - Bear McCreary

Bear McCreary is a legend. Amongst the songs in the Outlander soundtrack, he uses traditional Scottish folk songs, and given the scene here is where Claire and Jenny are searching the Scottish highlands for Jamie, it seems to fitting to include such a popular Scottish folk tune. It's his own unique arrangement of 'My Bonnie Moorhen', which was a popular tune around the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie (who was sometimes known at the Moorhen!) as he was pursued by the Redcoats. At 3m40s, the song changes tempo, becoming slightly less upbeat as Murtagh (who has taken over from Jenny at this point) and Claire start to feel the exhaustion after their long search for Jamie. Throughout the soundtrack, you hear these folk tunes subtly hinted at, and I think it's a wonderful way in which to allude to the history in which the TV show is based. The track is beautiful, meaningful, historically and geographically significant and lovingly and expertly adapted and arranged... and that is why this soundtrack reigns supreme.

NUMBER 5.

Main Title - James Horner

Fun and probably UNBELIEVABLE FACT about me. I've never seen Braveheart all the way through. I just can't do it. And in my 'old age' it's only been made harder by the fact I'm becoming less and less tolerant of gore. BUT... that said. It is my life's ambition (okay maybe not life's ambition, but definitely my ambition before I'm 30!) is to watch this and concentrate, because it is considered one of the masterpieces of film-making. Directed and starred in by Mel Gibson, Braveheart remains one of the few depictions of William Wallace in film that people can remember. But the music of this film, I've been listening to for years. It's James Horner, the talented composer who brought us the likes of Titanic, as well as Avatar, Troy, Apocalypto and The New World, and I still find it hard to believe he is no longer around to bring us his genius. Horner often uses the bagpipe as his starring instrument in quite a few of his soundtracks - notable in Titanic - but here, amongst the lush green hills of Scotland and the backdrop of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, his bagpipes really do bring the story of Braveheart to life.

NUMBER 4.

A Fraser Officer Survived - Bear McCreary

A Fraser Officer Survived is quite self-explanatory really, in terms of its scene and setting. After sending Claire back to the future, sure that he would die, with Claire knowing that she would never see him again, Claire then finds out that he didn't die on the battlefield... and that at that time in history she would go back to, he was living in Edinburgh as a printer. On the records she finds, it tells her that Jamie survived, and that she may yet get to see him again if she travels back. And of course (spoiler alert) she travels back! Back to her Fraser officer. I love that you can hear the sadness at the beginning of the track, but then as the music builds at the end, you can hear the happiness in Claire, her sense of determination as she knows she now has to go back and find him, to be with him. I love it. A beautiful end to the second season.

NUMBER 3.

Touch the Sky - Julie Fowlis

"But every once in a while, there's a day when I don't have to be a princess. No lessons, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day I can change my fate." I love this track for the scenery, as well as the beautiful voice of Julie Fowlis. This snapshot is just a taste of what beauty Pixar gives us in Brave, and they really do get it right in terms of the highland mountains and lochs. Plus look at Angus. Cute little puppy dog Shire horse <3. Patrick Doyle's backing tracks underneath Julie Fowlis' voice are exactly what makes this film so beautiful, and even the lyrics are beautiful... "Where darks woods hold secrets and mountains are fierce and bold, deep waters hold reflections of times lost long ago... I will hear every story, take hold of my own dream, be as strong as the seas are stormy, and proud as an eagle's scream." I really envy people who can write poetry like this and turn it into song... it really is beautiful.

NUMBER 2.

The Marriage Contract - Bear McCreary

This track is my favourite in the series by far. It's the ending of episode 6, the track where Claire has just been told she has to marry for her own protection after just having been freed by Dougal from Black Jack Randall. After realising Dougal is doing it to protect her, Claire reluctantly agrees... and the conversation goes as follows, after Dougal says, 'It's not myself I'll be nominating for the position' we wonder who is going to step up... of course only briefly. We all knew it would be Jamie! :p

C: Well surely a young man like yourself... surely there's someone else you're interested in.

J: You mean, am I promised? No... I'm not much of a prospect for a wife. I mean I've nothing more than a soldier's pay to live on, and there's the minor difficulty of the price on my head. No father wants his daughter married to a man who might be arrested and then hanged any time... did you not think of that?

C: So that's it then? As far as you're concerned... we just start the honeymoon tomorrow?

J: Aye. Whatever suits you.

C: Doesn't it bother you that... that... that I'm not a virgin?

J: Well, er... no. As long as it doesn't bother you... that I am... I reckon one of us should ken what they're doing...

*cue the music* Pure shock on both Claire's and all our faces that the delectable Highland Scot is seemingly unattached... You could probably hear millions of people falling in love right then and there. Little did Claire know that their love was real... and that their story was only just beginning! <3 Can you tell I'm a soppy romantic...?

NUMBER 1.

Clean Pease Strae - Bear McCreary

Clean Pease Strae (according to Google research) is a traditional Scottish reel that does back at least as far as the 1700s. It's used in ep 4 of Outlander, and as the music starts to build, Dougal aggressively jumps into a game of shinty (basically hockey) taking out a few clansmen on his way... only to clash with Jamie. It's where you get a first proper look at the rivalry between the two, but in this playful manner. Jamie gets hit a few times, but it ends with Dougal on his back, having been thrown over Jamie's shoulder as the student becomes the master. This scene isn't actually in the book, but it shows you that interesting relationship that Dougal and Jamie have, with you wondering whether it's all good fun or whether there's something else at play... But again, McCreary uses a folk song to illustrate the lively scene, as well as a true Scottish game, and it's, again, one of the best tracks of the series. Series 1 really did have the best music...

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To find some views to go with the music, you can find 21 Scottish beauties in my latest 'Best Year Yet!' blog post, but if you can't be bothered... just close your eyes, picture mountains and lochs... and you'll be amongst them. All it takes is your imagination.

Scotland really is my favourite country in the world, absolutely hands down, and I quite enjoyed heading back there with these tracks. With 6 seasons worth of songs to use, this won't be the last of Outlander that's for sure, and I could quite happily listen to all of these again and again.

And just FYI, because I keep failing on my promise to make these a weekly thing, I've decided to just bite the bullet and make them monthly... mid-monthly. My music taste changes almost daily, so you'll be bound to find some truly random ones, some throwbacks and all-time favourites.

I now have over 300 songs in my 'previous weeks' playlist, which you can find here, and I hope you're enjoying them as much as I am.