Latest CD releases reviewed

ARCANADH
Turning of a Day Wren Records **

From pyrotechnics to pap; from the promise of chili spice to the reality of watery porridge. It's a journey with which many a musician is painfully familiar. The first gush of blood results in a pulsating magic that dissipates as soon as there's a whisper of a second album. Arcanadh's musicianship showed real promise on their 2004 debut, Soundings, but this second effort strays so far from their initial originality that it's doesn't even bear passing comparison. With far more emphasis on vocals (shared blandly by the entire sextet), Arcanadh opt for unimaginative arrangements and a song cycle that's so emerald green in hue that a listener might be forgiven for suspecting they'd strayed into paddywhackery land off Broadway. Creative tension is nowhere to be found amid this insipid, lacklustre collection. www.wren.ie  Siobhán Long

TURLOUGHMORE CÉILÍ BAND
Seven Streams Tig Na Coille ***

Hup now. Around the house, and mind the dresser. Clare's Turloughmore Céilí Band are the Jack Dempsey of céilí music: ferociously muscular and unapologetically pugnacious. Their inclusion of Pearl O'Shaugh- nessy's Barndances is the licence they need to give full reign to their spacious, roaming ensemble playing. And that's what sets this céilí band apart: the air pockets that circulate between the downright funky piano introduction of the jig set, Lark in the Morning and The Lilting Fisherman, is proof enough that not all céilí music has to be strangulated and over-populated by attention-seeking players. Even their treatment of the stalwart The Rights of Man is refreshingly louche and unhurried. Dance music that'll satisfy the palate of dancer and listener alike. www.turloughmoreceiliband.com  Siobhán Long