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VARIOUS Celtic Crossroads Putumayo **

This is a collection that tries hard, and is trying in the extreme. With a portion of the proceeds going to Amnesty International, the impetus behind Celtic Crossroads is morally sound, but the collection suffers from a distinct shortage of musical intelligence. Opening with an execrable reading of Parting Glass by Dublin singer Emer Kenny (not so much sorrowful as mournfully maudlin), and ambling Scotland-wards for Keltic Elektrik's horrific train wreck that is Wild Mountain Thyme, Celtic Crossroads occasionally manages to rise above the morass. Cara Dillon's She's Like a Swallow and Alan Stivell's E Kreiz Hag Endro both re-root and re-route the proceedings valiantly, but there are too many confused bedfellows vying for attention. Closer to a spaghetti junction than a crossroads. www.putumayo.com Siobhán Long