Latest releases reviewed

PATTY GRIFFIN
Impossible Dream
Proper
****

Released in Europe presumably to coincide with her forthcoming tour, Patty Griffin's fifth album illustrates what a fine and challenging artist she has become. Ostensibly a contemporary folk album (the category in which Impossible Dream was nominated for a Grammy on its US release last year), this recording covers a range of genres yet remains a profound and compelling personal statement on the nature of relationships, personal and political. Her songs don't follow any particular pattern, ranging from the introspective white folk of Top of the World to the clapping black gospel rhythms of Love Throws a Line, but producer Craig Rossi's imaginative settings and her beautiful, soulful singing hold together the 11 tracks plus three bonus live tracks. Certainly an album to whet the appetite for her June 28th gig at Whelans in Dublin. www.pattygriffin.com  - Joe Breen

VARIOUS ARTISTS
A Fistful of Hollers - the Best of The Worst of The Outlaws
Universal
****

It often has been said that compilations are the shortest route to great country music, such is the amount of chaff that surrounds the wheat on even the best country album. Whatever, Universal in Ireland has shown great initiative in plucking from the vaults 23 tracks that represent a wide sweep of the contenders that could be included under the album's subtitle. The funny, the profane, the profound and the preposterous are gathered into a strange mix that could only be conceived by the mind of a deranged DJ or a contorted committee. I think it is the latter which delivered a sequence of tracks as diverse as The Notorious Cherry Bombs' epic It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night that Chew Your Ass Out all Day Long, Johnny Cash's A Boy Named Sue and Deana Carter's Did I Shave My Legs for This?. I might have some reservations, but it would be churlish to question this spirited and humorous collection. -  Joe Breen

KARAN CASEY
Chasing The Sun
Shanachie
***

Having trawled the catalogues of everyone from Billy Bragg to Ewan McColl, Karan Casey has finally found enough confidence to air a selection of her own songs on her fourth solo album, Chasing The Sun. Recorded and co-produced in Cork with her partner Niall Vallely, Chasing The Sun is a solid, occasionally soaring snapshot of a singer for whom the song was and ever will be political with a small "p". Touching on matters environmental, (Mother Earth's Revenge) and on the politics of disempowerment, (When Will We all be Free?), Casey's own writing at times falters for the want of a more biting edge, but her handling of the unapologetically traditional Lady Mary Anne, burnished beautifully by Vallely's sinuous concertina, is a refreshing reminder of her superb interpretative abilities. www.karancasey.com