Laebrack The Net

Traditional music from the Shetland Islands played by Chris Stout on violin and Catriona McKay on harp. The title of the disk is Laebrack, which is apparently a Shetland word for surf. The disk is entirely instrumental and beautifully played. The Shetland music showcased here is more lyrical and less in your face than the diddley eye die die Irish school of jigs and reels. The emphasis is on tunes and melody rather than speed freak virtuosity. There are just a couple of occasions when McKays harp strays into an almost oriental mode to hint at maybe more adventuroous work to come. For now however, they seem content to pay dues to and to promote their own heritage. A good disk to enable world music freaks to investigate traditional sounds from communities a little closer to home but with just as much to offer ans the more overtly exotic.