The latest releases reviewed

CORA SMYTH
Are We There Yet? Claddagh Records ***

Here's a collection that reeks of a decent time in gestation. Ebbing and flowing without succumbing to the rabid pace that can lure the best musicians down fateful cul de sacs, Cora Smyth distils her years on the road with Michael Flatley, wisely leaving behind the glitzy overkill of such labyrinthine productions. From the opening jazz-tinged Seansky March to the fiddle and guitar lollop of Gypsy's Skip and the delightful desert wine of Banyuls, Smyth and her co-producer husband, Seán Horsman, display a cool restraint, leaving her fiddle to breathe deep and free. Shades of Sharon Shannon's big band sound permeate To the Tequila Bar, where keyboards add little to the mix, and at times tunes struggle to retain their distinctive voice. But this is one CD whose title poses a crucial question - and whose best answer might just be "probably never". www.corasmyth.com

LUNFARDIA
Picada Pa'Cinco ****

Taking their name from a 19th- century Buenos Aires argot, and their debut CD title from an Argentinian form of tapas, Lunfardia celebrate the otherworldly exoticism of South American music with blinding originality. Ariel Hernandez and Dermot Dunne on guitar, vocals

and accordion define the shape of Lunfardia. Its Piazzola tangos joust with Hernandez' own Argentinian chacarera, Casi Tradicional, like different generations of the same family making their acquaintance for the first time. Iona Petcu-Colan's voilin, Malachy Robinson's bass and Frank Vidal's percussion add to the sophistication of the sound, but ultimately it's Dunne's jagged, provocative accordion lines and Hernandez' pin-prick precision guitar that lure Lunfardia back to centre. A curve ball of a Romanian Peasant Dance cosies up to its southern neighbours with remarkable ease in a mix that's as cosmopolitan as it is innately sociable. www.lunfardia.com

Download tracks: Libertango, Carnaval Betaceño