Caise Ceoil

Clo lar-Chonnachta has put together 22 tracks of traditional Irish folk music on their 2001 release, Caise Ceoil. Although the album has a rich variety of Irish folk musicians performing the songs, to the casual listener there is not much to tell them apart. In fact, much of the music suffers from feeling the same. The songs are all pleasant and certainly well-performed, yet after a few songs it is easy to lose track of when one song begins or ends. To be fair, this collection seems geared toward collectors more than the general public. That being said, there is some excellent music to be found on the disc, particularly Marcas O Murchu's touching "The Coalminers" and Gearoidin Breathnach's minimalist rendition of "A Droighnean Donn." Fans of the genre will probably enjoy this collection very much, but it is unlikely that it has the crossover appeal to rope in anyone unfamiliar with Irish folk music.