Various: Our Dear Dark Mountain with the Sky Over It

Labours of love can falter at the last hurdle: the juncture where home ties are sundered and the wider world gets a peep in. Sean McElwain, bouzouki player and guitarist with Téada, has undertaken a gargantuan task of unearthing the music of his native place, Sliabh Beagh (on the Monaghan/Fermanagh border), divesting it of its cobwebs and representing it with the gallant assistance of nine fellow musicians. Surprises lurk in the unlikeliest of places: in the discovery of local musicians Owen Connolly and James Whiteside; in the pitch-perfect arrangement of pipes and fiddle on Lullaby for Irish Pipes; and in the sleeve note references to the region's finest advocate, Eamonn Murray, whose words provide the title to the collection. A revivified local accent and an intensely populated repertoire underpin this finely executed collection: a feast for local and curious eared visitor alike. ourdeardarkmountain.com