Errol Walsh: "Waltzin' In The Water" (Round Tower)

This is a quiet little gem of an album. Walsh, as the more grey-haired among you may remember, was the kingpin of a leading Dublin band of the late 1970s called Stagalee. Twenty years on he looks much the same - bandana and beard - but now he has settled into a sweet country-roots rock groove. For this collection he picked good company in producer and keyboard whizz Jay Vern plus a host of great players from Alternative Nashville such as Tammy Rodgers (fiddle), Harry Stin son (drums and backing vocals) and Fats Kaplin (dobro, pedal steel and mandolin). Walsh's seasoned drawl is a perfect vehicle for these gentle, infectious songs that swing with easy grace and rock with foot-tapping insistence. Check out Disconcerted, Dazzled And Dazed or The Loving Tree or - well, all 11 tracks, as each reflects a strong love and understanding of American roots music.

By Joe Breen

Eilis Ni Shuilleabhain: "Cois Abhann Na Sead" (CICD 132)

This third O Suilleabhain album of Amhrain O Mhuscrai describes local Munster character well in Hide And Go Seek's easy interweaving of tongues. A spiralling Pluirin Na mBan Donn Og links to lyric beauty in the singer's Bardic homeground; Na Gleannta is a mesmerising ballad. One might question the appropriateness of the addition of clashing harmonium on Cois Abhann Na Sead, yet it adds character of place, as do the locally-flavoured Bride Ni Scannlain and the rakish Trucail Pheige Bhreatha.

But it is in songs such as Maidean Luan Casca that the singer describes herself best: A Bhean Ud Thios, Bruach na Carraige Baine too, the sleeve-note words adding greatly to the pleasure of a mostly as Gaeilge collection.

By Fintan Vallely

Calico: "Celanova Square" (OSS CD 1000)

"New" tunes in traditional music often wander, lacking the sense of completion and closure of the finely-tuned, listener-conditioned, old, mongrel, time-moulded survivors. Diarmuid Moynihan (uilleann pipes, whistles), with brother Donncha (guitar) and Tola Custy (fiddle) mix such experiment by the piper here with Breton pieces and a sprinkle of familiar titles. Superb piping, a (rarely-heard) clean, definite guitar, and a matched fiddle develop this album at times like a mature, acoustic Riverdance, at others like the pedagogic deliberation of O Riada's Ceoltoiri Cualann. Individual instruments are set off by a delicate wash of percussion and electronics from Declan Sinnott, directed by Mick Daly.

By Fintan Vallely