Traditional

The latets releases reviewed.

CONTEMPO QUARTET, MÁIRTÍN O'CONNOR, GARRY O'BRIAIN, CATHAL HAYDEN Spiccato Junction Open Ear ***

There's an unfinished air about Spiccato Junction, the product of a vibrant collaboration between the Galway-based ConTempo Quartet and a trio of magisterial traditional musicians - on fiddle (Cathal Hayden), accordion (Martin O'Connor), and guitar and mandocello (Garry O'Briain). It bristles with intellectual twists and turns, from the sublime and impish Bachs of Oranmore, to Elusion, an ineffably mournful tango from O'Briain. In between are packed a few too many cultural pitstops and a gestation that's all too brief in the making. The ConTempo's Romanian origins bestow a fistful of dance tunes that sometimes come close to colliding. Máirtín O'Connor's slow air, The Flame, recaptures the essence magnificently, strings and reeds balanced high on a tightrope that lures the listener ever skywards. www.openear.ie SIOBHÁN LONG

FOUR MEN & A DOG Wallop the Spot Claddagh Records ***

The manic brilliance that defined the recently rejuvenated Four Men & a Dog, live and dangerous, is writ large on the latest, dodgily titled collection. Gerry O'Connor and Cathal Hayden's fiddle and banjo duel ferociously on the penultimate set of jigs and reels, Scatter the Mud, but it's O'Connor's divine waltz, Song for PJ, and Dónal Murphy's accordion that ground the hectic enterprise in an even-tempered pace, particularly on the set of polkas, Dan Murphy's. Kevin Doherty's songs, multifaceted gemstones in a live setting, struggle to find comfort alongside the tune sets, their languid air diluted by the band's headlong rush towards infinity. The Dogs' charismatic Gino Lupari languishes, uncharacteristically quiet, in the mix. Wallop the Spot's aim is too disparate to hit the mark, despite numerous close calls. www.claddaghrecords.com SIOBHÁN LONG