Time & Tide
In the 25 years since the release of its first album, theBattlefield Bandhas become something of a Scottish Celtic music institution. It's also undergone as many personnel changes asSpinal Tap.Time & Tideshowcases yet another new lineup, with the sole remaining original member, keyboardist-accordionist Alan Reid, joined by guitarist Pat Kilbride, bagpiper Mike Katz, and fiddler player Alasdair White. However, it's  such a seamless, enchanting disc of traditional Scottish music that you'd never know this was the quartet's first album together. The disc starts--as most Battlefield Band albums do--with a rollicking instrumental medley that neatly joins the traditional "Chuir I Gluin Air a Bhodach (She Put a Knee in the Old Man)" with three original compositions. From there, the band's  mix of freshly arranged versions of traditional Celtic melodies with original compositions succeeds once again in showing respect for the Celtic tradition without turning the music into a museum piece. Indeed, the greatest joy ofTime & Tideis how fresh the band sounds. Even a centuries-old classic like "Nancy's Whiskey" is given a lively new spin in Reid's arrangement. The other highlights here--like White's gorgeous fiddle work on the title track, the odd-metered and musically impressive "Banais Choinnich" (Kenneth's Wedding), and Katz's phenomenal bagpiping on "MacFarlane's Rant"--emphasize that, while the  lineup may shift over time, the Battlefield Band hasn't lost its touch.--Ezra Gale