The Outside Track
Album: Flash Company
Label: Lorimer
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Outside-Track/20715062302

The Outside Track picked up best group in both the Live Ireland Music Awards and the TIR Irish Music awards and on this outing, "Flash Company", it's not difficult to see why.

A five piece, The Outside Track, draw musicians from right across the Celtic Circle, Ireland, Scotland, Cape Breton and Canada and play songs from that same broad swathe. Needless to say that incorporates a fair amount of drunkenness, criminal activity, broken relationships and illicit sex, amongst other activity.

The tunes, in particular highlight the talent of the individual musicians, Fiona Black(accordion), Cillan O'Dalaigh(guitar), Mairi Rankin(fiddle) who is part of the great Canadian performing dynasty The Rankin Family, Norah Rendell(flute and whistles) and Ailie Robertson(harp) with all of them getting a great opportunity to showcase their instrumental skills and on the instrument front. They also give their guests an opportunity to shine and that includes the Paul McKenna Band's Ewan Baird and Jim Sutherland.

If songs are more your thing than tunes, it's difficult to fault the quality vocals, both solo and in the various tight harmonies that give reign to some real vocal dynamics. Between voice and instrument, "Flash Company" achieves that and more, The Outside Track are very much a band packing a huge punch, pretty much every chord, note and word counting.

This is one of those albums that's so easy to recommend, without a doubt this is traditional and contemporary Celtic folk music straight out of the top draw.

Neil King