Recent releases reviewed
JIM MCGRATH
Melodious Accord No label
***
Contradictions are rife in Melodious Accord. Conjuring a time that's long gone in traditional music, when robust accordions ruled the day, it's a collection of contemporary dance tunes and airs, begotten of decades of immersion in the Vegas-like flourishes of Scottish accordionist supremo, Jimmy Shand. Fermanagh-born McGrath favours a distinctly aged style, pumping the chest of the box with an unquestionable pride, and yet his intricate tunes are all his own. The hoarse, throaty musings of The Two Lovers Waltz languish in stark contrast to the Cajun-fuelled openers, Bouncing Bellows and The Boys From Bellanaleck (a tribute to the McConnell brothers, one of whom is of this parish). This is music destined for dancehall, not the stuff of retiring fireside tête à têtes. Unapologetically muscular, mountainy music. www.jimmcgrathmusic.com
Siobhán Long
BROCK MCGUIRE BAND
Brock McGuire Band Ferndale Promotions Ltd.
***
Featherlite flourishes distinguish the Brock McGuire Band's new collection of traditional tunes. It's as eclectic as they come: Breton, Scots, French-Canadian and Irish tunes sidestep one another like coy courting couples, the musicians assuming the role of matchmakers as though born for the job. That's why the pair of barndances, Mrs Kenny's/Belle of the Ball, cosy up alongside one another with such easy familiarity and why the flings and reels bookended by Johnny Will You Marry Me and Batt Henry's sidestep one another with Nureyevian grace. There's a distinctly old- time flavour to the marriage of Paul Brock's accordion with Manus McGuire's fiddle, but it's the added ingredients of Enda Scahill's banjo and Denis Carey's piano that raise the pulse past safe levels. A pristine collection.
Siobhán Long
