The latest releases reviewed.

VARIOUS ARTISTS Geantrai Gael Linn ***

Geantraí is a bag that's more mixed than matched, with extremes in quality that can bedevil disparate live recordings. The highlights are magnificent: Gerry O'Connor and Tom Kenna igniting banjo and guitar beneath a pair of reels; At First Light in all their disciplined glory, and Charlie Lennon and Johnny Óg Connolly revelling in a pair of barndances that thrive on the magnetic force of their west/north-west compass. In between, though, truly teeth-grinding interludes lurk, the most surprising one being the errant saxophone of At the Racket. Brendan Begley's accordion, never conversant with the finer points of constraint, positively relishes the wild terrain that only The Boys of the Lough would dare inhabit. An idiosyncratic snapshot of moments - some magical, some maniacal - in time. www.gaellinn.comSiobhán Long

This is one glorious album, a magical mix of scintillatingly disciplined playing and rigorous attention to the detail of repertoire. Still, it's a slow burner of a collection, largely due to the prominence of Kildare debutante Hughes's whistle, its high pitch demanding much of the listener, but it's a patience that's repaid by the bucketful with repeated listening. Hughes's strengths as a whistle player are his surgically precise melody lines, his unerring phrasing and his breadth of musical vision. Although he carries a wealth of tunes (from the quotidian to the unapologetically obscure), he embraces a ticklingly original rhythm section in the shape of bodhrán and bass, alongside the contributions of polymath Garry Ó Briain on guitar, mandocello and keyboards. An unexpectedly delicious latecomer to the year's listening. www.cic.ie Siobhán Long