The traditional music of the week reviewed by SIOBHÁN LONG

FIDDLERS' BID 

All Dressed in YellowHairst Blinks Music ***

It's quite possible that there's more talent in the four fiddle bows and harp strings of this Shetland Island septe than in a crater full of orchestras. But blinding talent alone does not a classic album make. Drawing on their Islander heritage and mixing it up with sounds encountered on the Norwegian island of Søtra, the Bidders scuttle across the octaves and flex their musical muscle with abandon, but the sheer exuberance at times leaves the listener pining for a pause to take a breath. There are moments of pure magic, particularly in the languid closing set, All Dressed in Yellow, and in Chris Stout's Skerryholm, where their collective spirit is in the gentle ascendant. Fiddlers' Bid's musical curiosity and compositional talents are undeniable, but a little more attention to pacing might have yielded a more balanced collection. www.atlanticedgemusic.com

WILLIE CLANCY

The Gold Ring

RTÉ ****

There’s something of a lottery win about this encyclopaedic collection of tunes from the renowned Miltown Malbay piper. More than two hours of recordings populate this double CD, celebrating Clancy’s emotionally complex and musically inspired style. The Gold Ring has a touch of the CSI of the traditional music world about it. Released after five years of careful trawling of the archives by RTÉ producer and piper Peter Browne, it ambles the length of Clancy’s history: digging and delving with the attention of an archaeologist. Listen to Clancy’s version of The Rolling Wave, where, as Pat Mitchell’s insightful sleeve note explains, Clancy “humoured” the double jig to dupe the listener into thinking that the rhythm was changing. Individual tunes shimmer, but hearing the full sweep of the piper’s legacy in all its complex glory is what really shines. Magical. www.rté.ie