Search - Various Artists :: Celtic Woman 2

Although featuring some of the same singers who made Celtic Woman, vol. 1 so memorable (notably, Rita Connolly, Marian Bradfield, and Áine Furey), the overall tone of this second volume is at once more amorphous and less positive. New Age wall-of-sound close harmonies abound, and there are occasional nods to the Celtic electronica scene. But the tracks that make the strongest impressions are still those where the voice reigns supreme. Among the latter is The Fallen Angels' stunning a cappella version of She Moved Through The Fair, a tale of thwarted love that is surely Ireland's most chilling ghost story. Altan, led by Mairéad ni Mhaonaigh's girlish soprano, tells how easily an idealistic lover can become a embittered rake. Áine Uí Cheallaigh, accompanied only by a bodhrán, is uncommonly eloquent despite adhering to an old-style lack of histrionics. On the opposite extreme, Capercaillie's Scottish beats-and-puirt-a-beul (mouth music)-laced Hebridean Hale-Bopp is a jaunty, cutting-edge treat. --Christina Roden