Michael McGoldrick - Aurora

You probably know that Michael McGoldrick is an astonishingly talented flute and uilleann pipes player who has created a modern style of music based upon the techniques and repertoire of the Irish traditions. This album gathers together a number of similarly talented young-ish musicians who together plough their way professionally through some extremely uninspiring reels and jigs, most being credited as McGoldrick compositions, though they sound more like they have been computer generated from a huge database of standard phrases extracted from traditional tunes. McGoldrick's technique is surgically precise and energetic and the band are most adept at 'reeling' out a clinical formula of soft rock/jazz funk or bouzouki strumming to back these unrelenting tunes. I am not usually in agreement with those who claim that Irish music all sounds the same, but in this case I wholeheartedly concur. After the first couple of tracks it's all been done – with the exception of a couple of traditional sets that have a little more character. The token song Waterbound is also a bit more interesting in its laid back style and at least provides some relief from the rest of the album. In a way one can feel some sympathy in that having found such a comfortable niche for himself, it could be difficult to get out of this monochrome 'groove' - and there is no doubt quite a global market for this type of thing, as the rave reviews in the mainstream press probably suggest.
Neil Brookes
Vertical Records VERTCD090 www.verticalrecords.co.uk