This week's traditional CDs reviewed

DESI WILKINSON, MAIRTÍN O’CONNOR, FRANK HALL AND LENA ULLMAN

Buffalo in the Castle Claddagh Records ****

The wellspring of energy bursting forth from this collection is infectious. It's an Aladdin's cave of mischievousness that propels it skywards, from the opening trio of tunes melding Antrim and Sliabh Luachra with the fiddle music of Kentucky. Anchored by the flute of Desi Wilkinson, the contagious swing of Frank Hall's fiddle, Máirtín O'Connor's airborne accordion, and Lena Ullman's banjo (with a cocktail of vocals from all, bar Máirtín), this could be Ireland's very own O Brother, Where Art Thou?The album title is an unlikely amalgam of the Irish ( Castle Kelly) and an American Midwest's Hunting the Buffalo. Aside from O'Connor's contribution of a seamless final part to the New England dance tune, The Dancing Bear, this is a pure distillation of Old Time American and Irish traditions: there for the savouring. www.buffalocastle.com