The latest CD releases reviewed

SEOSAMH Ó HÉANAÍ
Ó Mo Dhúchas/From My Tradition Gael Linn ****

Voices don't some much bigger than this, nor traditions much richer. The late Connemara singer Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (known locally in Carna as Joe Éiniú) lived a large and picaresque life; listening to this double CD, a re-release of his eponymous 1971 album and Ó Mo Dhúchas (1976), the sound of his home place, and of life pouring ordinary plenty, is writ large. Ó hÉanaí's reading of Caoineadh Na dTrí Muire is seminal, but cast an ear in the direction of Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneallaigh and Cailleach An Airgead and you'll hear a singer as in thrall to the rhythm and cadence of the music as he was to the lyric. This is a collection both for singers in search of the root of a song and the listener in need of an infusion of the pure drop. www.gaellinn.com   SIOBHÁN LONG

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Oldtime Records, Vol 2: US Recordings Oldtime Records ***

Scratchy and variable in quality these reissued 78rpm recordings may be, but the gemstone quotient makes up for the acoustic shortcomings. Indeed, on Longford fiddler Frank Quinn's The Old Swallow Reel, the background vocal exhortations to dancers add richly to the tapestry of the affair. A pair of versions of The Contradiction Reel add spice to their airing by the Flanagan Brothers and Michael Coleman, the latter capturing the fine balance of finesse and vigour in the Sligo fiddler's much-imitated style. This is a labour of love, the brainchild of Gerry Clarke and Emmet Gill. Richly endowed by sleeve notes documenting the peculiar as well as the historical, this second volume is an able accompaniment to the first, which was released last year. www.oldtimerecords.com SIOBHÁN LONG