The latest CD release reviewed

MAY MONDAY
Midnight May Monday Adventures ****

Wilfully obtuse, impishly transparent and at times utterly jaw-dropping, Karen Tweed and Timo Alakotila finally return to the studio following their superb debut in 2001. Midnight is another renaissance gathering, a centrifugal force that attracts spacious compositions of Finnish pianist Alakotila (Hope), emotionally charged set pieces (So Now Joe) from accordionist Tweed, and a panoply of gorgeous borrowings from Máire Breathnach, Mary Bergin, Seamus Begley and Alan Kelly. Conservatory and snug

huddle together here, igniting the boundaries that might separate their classically inclined accents from their intensely intimate folk lines. Augmented by Emma Reid on fiddle and guitarist Roger Tallroth, Midnight soars high and wide on a horizon that promises the sublime - should we be lucky enough to hear this music in three dimensions. www.myspace.com/maymonday

Download tracks: Lumen Valossa, The Carillion