The latest releases reviewed
CHULRUA The Singing Kettle Shanachie ***
Three albums in and with French fiddler Patrick Ourceau now in their midst, Chulrua have absorbed a share of Gallic influences, particularly on The Ballad of Capel Street, replete with box player Paddy O'Brien's plaintive minor chords that'd sit right at home in the café society of the left bank. With tunes drawn largely from east and west Clare and from neighbouring north Tipperary, there's little to fault in Chulrua's tight-fisted delivery, and much to be admired in their choice of a robust version of the long-labouring jig, The Gander At The Pratie Hole, borrowed from charismatic fiddler Tommy Potts. At times, Egan commits the guitarist's cardinal sin of overzealous decoration, but Ourceau's belly-deep tone on The Singing Kettle bespeaks of a musician with a gloriously original voice. www.chulrua.com
SIOBHÁN LONG
Download track: Hughie Travers
SHARON SHANNON Renegade Daisy Discs ***
Sheer untrammelled genius underpins Sharon Shannon's first studio outing in four years. Collaboration has long been Shannon's modus vivendi, and Renegade casts a drawstring around her latest collective, with long-time guitar accompanist Jim Murray, flute player Mike McGoldrick and fiddle player Dezi Donnelly. Shannon's own tunes have an effervescence that's all their own, particularly the freewheeling Neckbelly, propelled by McGoldrick's elegant flute lines. An embarrassment of riches (from Capercaillie's Donald Shaw to Richie Buckley and 2Play) ultimately undermine the beauty of the tunes, though. Laden down with all the seductive tricks of a live performance, and leaden percussion, Renegade's magpie sensibilities ultimately stretch the canvas too thin, and vocals from McGoldrick and Murray simply distracting from the inventiveness of the tunes. Eclectic? Unquestionably. Diluted and dispersed? Regrettably so. www.sharonshannon.com
SIOBHÁN LONG
