Various Artists
Album: The Ultimate Guide To Irish Folk
Label: Arc
Tracks: 34
Website: http://www.arcmusic.co.uk

Some folk compilations are shabby, incomplete things, cobbled together to mine a continuing fascination with things Irish. Others are the more genuine article, carefully chosen artefacts which represent different eras and moods of the fascinating lifestory which is the native tradition. This double album, clocking in at just over two and a half hours in duration, falls most definitely into the latter category, drawing together the various wefts of song, tune and story in a very satisfying totality.

It is fitting that Luke Kelly's version of Raglan Road gets things off to a start, his impassioned vocal wringing every ounce of meaning and clarity from Kavanagh's lyric. Equally so that a recent live version of King of The Fairies from Horslips bookends the second CD. In between there is much that fascinates-The Willis Clan's Boys From Boston, a welcome return of Jane Cassidy to the frontal lobes of memory-an oddity or two-it's a bit of a stretch to dub what the Screaming Orphans do as folk, but overall, this is a very comprehensive, well documented look at a tradition that is as capacious as it is rich.

The Young Folk's Way Down South follows Clannad's Rhapsody na gCrann as the sophomore track on album two, and the various strands of the diaspora are well represented by such acts as Chjerish the Ladies, The Mighty Doonans, The Makem and Spain Brothers, and The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. There is strength, breadth and depth here aplenty, along with material for the odd argument" where's Liam Clancy, or The Dubliners"?That, I suspect, has more to do with issues of space or licensing problems than anything else, so let's be satisfied with what we've got . For now, that translates as two fine albums for a few quid of your hard earned. Don't be giving out;just enjoy it for what it is, music and song that will make the listener reach for the repeat button time and again.

Oliver P.Sweeney