I literally stumbled into the Wicked Tinkers last night when an Amazon search gone horribly wrong brought me to them. They bill themselves as “pioneers of the growing Tribal Celtic movement, the Tinkers have been playing haunting, heart-pounding bagpipes and irresistible tribal drums as a professional touring band since 1995.”. How had I not heard about them in the last 15 years I have no idea, but I’ve spent the past few hours listening and I’m hooked.

Their music is steeped in instruments such as the Celtic bagpipes, the Austrailian didgeridoo, traditional Celtic drums, pipes, and bronze age horns. They’re not crusty old drinking tunes you’d hear in an Irish tap room though. These songs are a mix between tribal beat music, Celtic war songs and traditional music with just a touch of Black Sabbath thrown in. It is quite literally toe tapping music.

This is perfect music to play as you’re party gears up for another night of adventuring. Even if your game is only mildly Celtic in nature (i.e. features swords, raids and the possibility of someone painted blue with woad) you’re going to enjoy this playing in the background as you game. I’m actually quite surprised that the Wicked Tinkers themselves have not tapped in to the potential of the gaming audience.

I’ve picked up two of their albums (in MP3 format) so far, Loud and Hammered. Both are great, featuring more traditional Scottish Highlands music. Next on my list is Rant, which sees them mixing up their arrangements a bit. If you haven’ t heard them yet, check them out, you’ll enjoy them!

[tags]celtic, rpg, role playing games, music, bagpipes, highlands, bloody great sword[/tags]