Fásta: Rewind

Québécois music has regularly found good company among Irish musicians, alive to its Celtic history and traditions. Fásta are a trio who mine this musical seam with equal parts inventiveness and curiosity. Rewind is rooted in the pipes of Fiachra O'Regan and the fiddle, voice and foot percussion of Québécois fiddler Sophie Lavoie, with subtle muscle added in the form of Michael McCague's guitar/bouzouki. The great strengths of this collection lie in Lavoie's forensic research of her own music, along with her fine tune compositions. Unforced and informal, her vocals flit lightly across the delightful Mon Père a Fait Bâtir Maison, paired beautifully with her own Reel du Lac St-Jean. Guest percussionist Jimmy Higgins renders the whole collection all the richer with his subtle contributions. O'Regan's vocals are the only weak link in this otherwise invigorating debut. fastamusic.com Download: Le Petit Soldat de Bois