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KÍLA

Rogha

Kíla Records ***

There’s a tsunami of choice in this Best Of album, a double CD of 25 tracks - eclectic outtakes from Kíla’s extensive back catalogue, which spans three live and 10 studio albums (including their recent soundtrack for the animated film,

The Secret of Kells

, with Bruno Coulais). As a series of snapshots of an adventuresome band in full flight, Rogha does the business with panache. There’s the funked-up, blissed-out otherworldliness of

Electric Landlady

, the pinprick precision and cinevision of flute, bodhrán, pipes and mandolin on

Lemonade & Buns

, and the sheer primal force of Rónán Ó Snodaigh’s zapping vocals threaded throughout. For diehard Kíla fans, there’s a sizzling new recording of

Cathain

, with Liam Ó Maonlaí sharing vocals with Rónán. For more casual listeners, the inherent shape that unified Kíla’s individual albums is inevitably sacrificed.

SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks:

Cathain Nua, Lemonade & Buns