The latest release reviewed
ANDY IRVINE AND DÓNAL LUNNY'S MOZAIK Changing Trains ****
Spirit-shocking, genre-bending music is a rarity in an age of rampant homogenisation, and Mozaik peddle in it with blithe nonchalance.
After their triumphant live debut recording in 2004, this delirious collective of Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny, together with American old-time fiddle genius Bruce Molsky, Hungarian multi-instrumentalist Nikola Parov and Dutch guitar/mandolin/fiddle player Rens van der Zalm, wreak magnificent havoc with a repertoire that's polymathematical in conception and sublime in execution - most of the time.
Irvine's hankering for pelvis- shattering rhythms continues to drive Mozaik through the thickest undergrowth, weaving magnificent paths that occasionally reach a clearing, courtesy of Molsky's airy and spacious fiddle. Lunny even ventures a lead vocal, surely a sign of the spark that ignites this ever-inventive quintet. An appetite- whetter for the band in the flesh. www.mozaik.com SIOBHÁN LONG
