MY LAGAN LOVE

Mellow Candle meets Steeleye Span meets Fairport Convention meets Pentangle and they all wave to Tull from across the street.

So here's an interesting little band with an equally interesting history, as former Mellow Candle members Alison O'Donnell and David Williams moved to South Africa where they started Flibbertigibbet with fellow musicians and folk enthusiasts, Jo Dudding and Barrie Glenn. After having managed to re-release their sole studio album, Whistling Jigs to the Moon on CD in the mid 1990s, the group saw the new millennium as a great opportunity to put out this anthology of never before heard studio tracks recorded around 1978, as well as live songs from the same period. The first thing that meets the eye is the significant lack of original tracks. Instead, staying faithful to their British and Irish roots, the group performed a multitude of traditional tunes, not failing however, to add a personal touch, but far from being cutting-edge. It is no secret that compilation albums are often chaotic and lack a minimum cohesion. My Lagan Love, unfortunately, makes no exception, consisting of studio songs alternating with live recordings creating a terribly cluttered track list. Howbeit, they do manage to recreate the countryside atmosphere with sounds of fiddles and mandolins reminiscent of Steeleye Span, like on the old English tune Come Sunday or on the first live medley which includes the animated Irish jig ? The Jolly Beggarman. In the same vein, the title track ? unreleased studio recording with O'Donnell providing beautiful vocals accompanied by mellow strings and fiddle; Drowsky Maggie ? a live version of the typical country song driven by dynamic fiddle; or Gleantain Glais Gaoth Dubhai- sung in Gaelige; are all traditional Irish folk tunes. Other noticeable tracks are an accapella version of The Jolly Jack Tar; Reynardine with leading vocals courtesy of Jo Dudding, who has a very delicate and slightly nasal timbre, Alison O'Donnell producing backup harmonies; or Take Your Fingers Off It is an alert melody with almost silent string work in the background, Williams, O'Donnell and Dudding take turn on the vocals, Alison even making a demonstration of her kazoo playing skills with a surprising solo.

In toto, the structure of the album, as well as most of the songs' lack of innovation where interpretation is concerned, causes My Lagan Love to be worth no more than 2 stars. However, I would advice die-hard folk fans and collectors in general to keep an eye out for this.