The latest CD releases reviewed

LÍADAN
Traditional Irish Music and Song No label ***

This all-female sextet have wisely taken their own sweet time before releasing their debut, and the honing and grooming is evident in every set. The CD title whispers of a collective ear cocked to an international audience, and Líadan's arrangements too often veer towards the twee, at the expense of creating a more singular identity that might set them apart from the throng. Musically agile and technically faultless, Líadan's choice of tune sets are unquestionably eclectic, drawn from the furthest rushy glens of Sliabh Luachra to the glorious optimism of Máirtín O'Connor's Rockin' the Boat and the rawboned beauty of Tommy Peoples. Líadan's trump cards are fiddle, piano accordion and flute, but this collection steers a course too safe to truly stretch the eardrums. www.liadan.ie  Siobhán Long

TIM EDEY
Irish Music from the Dingle Peninsula and Beyond No label ***

Traditional music doesn't bag renaissance men of the calibre of Tim Edey too often: Steve Cooney and Seamus Begley rolled into one, with shades of Brendan Begley, Máirtín O'Connor and Garry Ó Briain lurking in the mix to boot. Ever since he fell in love with Begley & Cooney's infamous Meitheal, Edey's been honing his skills on box and guitar, and his debut hints at a genius in the making - even if too many musical ideas jostle for attention amid his hocus-pocus tune sets, from the bare-boned fragility of Beauty Deas An Oileáin to Edey's delicious take on the Muiríoch Polcas. At times the overabundant production smothers rather than cossets the tunes, but the sheer inventiveness of the arrangements whisper of much more to come. www.timedey.co.uk  Siobhán Long