Energy and elegance are the bywords of this fluent Irish-Gaelic CD. The whole package is a lesson in Irish-Gaelic singing and is created from the solid background of singer Meaiti (or Mattie, as the English translation calls him) Jo Sheamuis O'Fatharta. Mattie has a degree from University College Galway and spent a few years teaching before becoming musical director with Raidio na Gaeltachta in 1995.

Therefore, as a professional collector and a dispenser of music he has a wide berth of knowledge to help him create a CD of lasting quality and cultural value, which he has done here. The songs are long and most are without accompaniment, which gives the listener the raw material. A thick booklet of liner notes gives Gaelic first, English second for a thorough explanation and thus understanding of each song.

With 17 tracks and many songs with many verses, the CD is more than an hour long. This is way too much to listen to at one sitting even though there's a bit of variety. For instance, a song in English called "Patrick Sheehan" is a popular ballad. Tracks 4 and 12 are instrumental pieces with reels "Lucy Campbell," "The Drunken Landlady," "Imelda Roland's" and "Gleantaun." At times Mattie adds his fine skills on flute, too. There's no doubt this is an Irish album through and through.

Sixteen is a set of jigs "Trip to Athlone" and "Leg of the Duck." On the last two sets mentioned, Mattie is joined by a number of great musicians. The flute, accordion, melodeon, harp, pipes and fiddle create a slight aural rest-stop for the listener who decides to do the whole thing in one trip. My favorite of all the tracks is No. 8, on which "New Moon Meadows" and "The Connacht Heifers" are jigged by the singer. It is an entertaining and tuneful piece.

The CD is a treasure of historic Irish songs, a real cultural piece, probably even a collector's item. If I wanted to learn any of the songs on this CD, I'd think this would be a good choice for instruction. The singer's voice has an attractive roughness but the words are sharp and clear and with liner notes are easily followed.

What did bother me after listening a while was the lack of melody. Individually, each song has great merit and is of interest, but there's almost too much for one album here. I don't think the goal here was for entertainment purposes as much as for conservation and instruction, which of course has its own true and unquestionable value. That's my read on it, anyway. So for those who enjoy a good Irish Gaelic song or two ... or three ... or more, you'll get your money's worth here.

- Rambles
written by Virginia MacIsaac
published 10 April 2004