Neil McFadyen

Songs My Ruiner Gave To Me sees Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds draw on the influences and inspirations of their first two remarkable albums to create something entirely new, and simply superb.

Pretty Peggy firmly adds Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys to the list of artists who are proving that great party bands are no longer the exclusive domain of the Scottish & Irish music scenes. Pretty Peggy is easily one of the best albums to come from the ever-growing world of youthful folk music.

The Glasgow welcome that Skipinnish received on Friday night was beyond exuberant. The audience was in a euphoric mood throughout, and it’s heart-warming to see a band whose core audience is in the north-west of Scotland enjoy such an enthusiastic welcome in the heart of Glasgow.

The unsurpassed sense of delight and commonality in Mac Ìle is nothing short of exhilarating. It’s as if there’s freedom among Fraser Shaw’s melodies and memories for this jubilant collective to express themselves like never before.

What Jiggy do most successfully is prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that music is the heart and soul of the thriving, all-embracing multi-cultural arts scene in the Irish Republic. Translate is an exceptional and intoxicating album that will find its way into the heart and soul of an ever-increasing audience.

Unfinished Business isn’t a title that hints at unfulfilled musical ambitions. Rather, it confirms that, on turning 70, Paul Brady still has plenty more to offer. Everything about Unfinished Business tells us that he is likely to remain, for some time yet, at the very peak of his powers.

Rather than collaborate on self-written material, Moorer and Lynne have come together to share the music that’s been the backdrop to their lives. In sharing with their audience the songs that each has held dear, they bring their music to new levels that an even wider audience can enjoy. Not Dark Yet was well worth the wait.

It’s tempting to say that we can expect great things from Ryan Young in the future. His quiet success to date and open, exploratory style is evidence of an impressive, budding talent. That future has already begun to open up, though. Ryan Young’s debut is a remarkable and fascinating album that no fan of traditional fiddle should miss.

Mary Ann Kennedy’s An Dàn is one of those heart-lifting albums where it soon becomes impossible to choose a favourite moment or passage. There’s a wealth of beautiful music and song to explore. It’s a gem of an album.

Christine Primrose helped introduce Gaelic song to a far wider audience than it had ever enjoyed before. She returns with her new album this month. “The pleasure of losing oneself in the whole collection, from beginning to end, can hardly be expressed in words.”

After a successful album debut in 2015, Threaded return with ‘Fair Winds and Following Seas’… Enjoying the album is “like an evening spent at the best of dances among the best of company – you leave feeling fresh, elated, and eager for more.”

Breda Mayock has the same ability to wrap her vocal around her own poetry that makes listening to Joni Mitchell such a compelling experience. A collection of intimate, absorbing vocal performances perfectly framed in compelling arrangements.