Latest CD releases reviewed

DAN POSSUMATO
Land of Sunshine Claddagh Records ***

Philly-born Dan Possumato plays the accordion and melodeon with a cap doffed to the old time, in no rush to go anywhere except where the tune lures him. This is an unforced gathering of tunes, split democratically between Possumato's two instruments, and includes a genteel pair of self-composed waltzes, favouring the stripped-down minimalism of a good tune over the bustling effort of an attention-seeker. Quentin Cooper's banjo errs occasionally on the side of over-enthusiasm, and vocalist Laura Mulcahy metes out of wizened reading of The Lakes of Pontchartrain, but Alan Wallace's guitar lines are beautifully sympathetic to Possumato's relaxed style. The three-dimensional live atmosphere of these Clare and Galway tunes is as close to a bare-knuckle session as you'll encounter on a CD. www.claddaghrecords.com  Siobhán Long

MICK MOLONEY
McNally's Row of Flats Compass Records ***

This is a collection that'll test the patience of some and prove a treasure trove to others. A forensic excavation of the pre-Tin Pan Alley repertoire of the songwriting duo Ed Harrigan and David Braham, it's a lyrically picaresque jaunt through the wry wit and wisdom of these predecessors of those seminal Broadway composing duos. There's no doubting Mick Moloney's passion for the undertaking, but somehow all the billow and bluff adds up to something less than the sum of the parts. Occasional glimpses of pathos (I Never Drink Behind the Bar) seep through the spry veneer, but ultimately this collection is more likely to prove fodder for musicologists and song collectors than for listeners with ears pricked for a cohesive sally backwards in time. www.compassrecords.com Siobhán Long