Roots/Traditional

BR5-49: "Big Backyard Beat Show" (Arista)

Novelty acts have by nature a short life span. BR5-49's trademark country yokel look and sound should really be history by now, but thanks to their unflagging enthusiasm and musical adroitness, a review of their long-term prospects is in order. Big Backyard Beat Show's eclectic ballroom of interesting covers and promising new material attempts to press all the right country buttons. In the process it rocks and rolls, when it is not swinging and waltzing.

Their own songs, written by singers Chuck Mead and Gary Bennett, are steeped in the Ol' Oprey tradition, but frequently they contain a modern sting in their tale. The five-man band also has numerous strings to its bow, allowing it to colour the songs with a variety of instrumentation. The result is an engaging, surprisingly sharp performance, but they should drop the pencil moustaches and Jim Bob clothes if they want to be taken seriously.

Joe Breen

Sean Keane: "No Stranger" (Grapevine)

I'll never forget this man in Druid Theatre's The Midnight Court, acting, dancing, playing tearaway penny whistle, and making the place sit up with his passionate sean nos. He brings that gorgeous, peaty nasal timbre to this recording, but despite a rake of traditional backing musicians, he's stretching more towards a kind of Western-seaboard folk/C'n'W. Closer to home (the Dick Farrelly song, We Dreamed Our Dreams, or St John Gogarty's Galway) things warm up, but on other songs by Mick Hanly, Sting and even Bob Dylan's bit of Irishry, Lay Down Your Weary Tune, Keane, like his sister Dolores (on backing vocals), often seems to force his natural phrasing and ornament into such idioms.

Mic Moroney

Sean Garvey: "Out Of The Ground" (Harry Stottle Records)

This is a warm, unpretentious and accomplished collection that, as the CD's subtitle tells us, features "songs and music from the Irish tradition". But this is not rabid green flag stuff. Sean Garvey's interpretation of the Irish tradition is gentle, reflective and respectful. The songs convey a sense of loss, not just for causes and patriots past, but for a way of life. This is underlined by Garvey's deep, burnished, unhurried voice and by the minimal production: he accompanies himself on guitar plus an assortment of other instruments. The bulk of the 13 tracks are traditional tunes or songs. aide, a moving song about his home town of Cahirsiveen. The tracks are spiced with instrumentals such as the closing The Bonfire Polkas, which was once played every bonfire night in his home town - a tradition that is no more, he notes sadly in his sleeve notes.

Joe Breen