Majerovy brzdové tabulky (MBT) is one of the Czech bands that is difficult to determine according to its style. Its inspirations are native and Celtic folklore and Middle Ages melodies. Music of MBT has clear structure. Its endeavour to describe an atmospheres more important than some dots at the music paper. Unconcreteness and games with common but beautiful words and their unusual combinations give an unique atmosphere. That is the atmosphere of heathen rites, goblin's celebrations or early evening meditations at a court of an old castle ruin. Music of MBT is not only unusual but very magic as well.

 I have a passion for the unconventional and the obscure, so when a group claiming Celtic inspiration, whose name means „Majer's Brake Disks," releases an album, I'm intrigued. Majerovy brzdové tabulky is a four-piece band who translate their ethnic consciousness into sound, and do it  in a most unexpected way. This is not an album of reels, jigs and songs that one associates with the music of Scotland and Ireland. It is more in the vein of that modern ambient sound that has come to be called „Celtic music".
 Some may consider me a heretic, bud I don't believe that there is such a thing as Celtic music any more than there is such a thing as Celtic music any more than there is such a thing as African music. The terms are vague to the point of meaninglessness. So maybe it's best to leave terminology and preconceptions aside and just listen.
 This acoustic album is a mix of wind instruments, strings and percussion, over which Andrea Landovská lays her throaty vocals. The saxophone, which dominates the recording, adds a touch of jazz to the Gothic sound of the fiddle. The use of the sax is probably an attempt to mimic the bombard, a Breton wooden reed trumpet whose earsplitting tones would in any case be too strong. There is plenty of good string playing with mandola, mandolin, cello and guitar. It is a pity more wasn't made of the combination of strings and voice. Underlying it all is a gentle stream of percussion that pulsates hypnotically.
 "Gabréta", the title track, is one of my favorites. In images of times past, of flying fish, of green fields and golden sickle, Gabréta calls to faraway summers. Here, Landovská's voice adds a spicy taste to the otherwise obscure lyrics, and weaves them into a spell that may bewitch or bewilder.
 The group's way with words defies all reason; even their name is deliberately vague. The stream of consciousness leads the mind astray, and the quality of sound is left to carry the meaning. The same is true of the other songs, among which I particularly liked "Zvířátka" (Little Animals), "Pastýřský měsíc " (Peasant Moon) and "Slavnosti medvědů" (The Feasts of Bears). Those who enjoy seeking enlightenment in the lyrics of songwriters, though, should be warned by the title of my least favorite track - "Zabloudíme" - which means „we are going to lose our way."
Majerovy brzdové tabulky has not lost its way yet, though. To those of you who like the music of the modern Celts: enjoy the journey.