JOHN McSHERRY & DÓNAL O'CONNOR - Tripswitch
Vertical Records VERTCD076
8 tracks, 40 minutes

Belfast maverick piper and Dundalk fiddle prodigy: you'd expect fireworks, and that's what you get. Tripswitch is much more than that, though. Alongside the storming traditional reels and modern global-folk showpieces, there's a lot of very thoughtful and deeply satisfying music here. There could be more, of course - 40 minutes is rather short - but I'm sure there'll soon be a follow-up from this duo.

John and Dónal start with The Rose in the Gap, a powerful march in the sparse rhythmic style of Lúnasa's Lord Mayo, then the first reels storm in: Old Dudeen and The First Month of Spring. Fiddle and pipes are as tight as a pair of '80s jeans, and that's the way they stay. More reels follow from Tommy Peoples, Sean McGuire and John Doherty, some of Ireland's greatest fiddlers. Charlie Mulvihill's Reel, Drag Her Round the Road and Iniscealtra are three more well-known reels, powerful thundering ones for the most part. Jigs don't get a look-in until the final track, with John's composition Áille's Arabesque and the classic Tell Her I Am whose name is explained here at last. The title track is one of several evocative slower pieces, including the bittersweet air Both Ghé and the sultry Muñeira d'Antón. Spain is also represented in a pair of upbeat tunes, a charrada and a corrido expertly transferred to the pipes, with fiddle and low whistle: very tasty.

Tripswitch belongs in the category of modern, full-on, carefully polished studio albums mixing Irish roots with world music offshoots. It also overflows from that category into the living breathing Irish tradition, and could soon be as much a part of the Celtic establishment as Lúnasa or Skyedance. That's quite an achievement. The live show is something special too. On stage as a four-piece, with double-barrelled pipes from Francis McIlduff, the energy flows fast and strong. Check out www.atfirstlight.net for sample tracks, CD mail-order and details of upcoming gigs. You can also download tracks at www.tradtunes.com, for a price.

Alex Monaghan