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Shamrocks And Shenanigans
Warner Brothers WSMCD129
If you were looking to compile the various folk and roots sounds, directions and rhythms that have emerged from Ireland in the last forty years then this would not be a bad effort. Billed as "the ultimate hooley album", it is obviously designed to create a "Paddy's Night on the Pub Juke Box" feel. Indeed rather like people at a party, this is an eclectic mix. There are the ones without whom no party would be complete, like Christy Moore and other essential invitees such as Van Morrison (Brown Eyed Girl), Thin Lizzy (Whiskey In the Jar), The Boomtown Rats (Rat Trap), the brash Undertones (My Perfect Cousin), the quiet and reflective Sharon Shannon (Blackbird), bad boys The Pogues (Irish Rover) and The Dubliners (Seven Drunken Nights). On the other hand, some seem to have been left off the guest list and let down the whole affair. From the contemporary list, Elvis Costello fails to show and whilst The Corrs rip up the duvet with a five-star Toss The Feathers, it would have been good to hear The Bothy Band or Altan playing for dance without the aid of electronic wizardy.
Stand-out tracks are the opening Christy Moore live number Welcome To The Cabaret, Moving Hearts' (also live) Downtown with piper Davy Spillane at his blistering best, Energy Orchard's 3 Days On The Tear, The Waterboys' On My Way To Heaven and Whirl-Y-Reel 1 from the Afro-Celt Sound System. If you like your Irish straight and pure, this is not an album for you. On the other hand, you could marvel at the broad variety that has emerged from the Irish music scene. Rather like any hooley, the CD has peaks and troughs, with some guests that will stay for a lifetime and new friends just waiting to be discovered.
Paul Saunders - April 2003
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Folk & Acoustic
