Horse With a Heart
The late 1980s and early '90s were a time of confusion for Irish music. Experiments mixing ancient music with a modern sensibility that began in the '70s bore fruit with the international successes ofClannad,Enya, and Mary Black. But the fusion of old and new also led to countless recordings in which harp noodling and synthesizer twiddling was passed off as Celtic music. When Altan releasedHorse with a Heart, it served as a welcome reminder that Irish music that hewed close to tradition still had a place in the world. Although this was Altan's second CD, it was the first where they gelled as a band. The wife-and-husband team ofMairead Ni Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedyare the emotional center of the group. When they play the fiddle and flute together you feel as if you are overhearing an intimate conversation.--Michael Simmons