Mairearad Green & Mike Vass: A Day a Month

Buie Records

Multi-instrumentalist Mike Vass and accordionist Mairearad Green agreed to meet once a month to arrange and record tunes from some of the great Highland collections, some of them not frequently heard. By the sound of it, they fairly enjoyed themselves.

Despite Vass multi-tracking on fiddle and tenor guitar and occasional effects, such as the spacey background echoes on Tha’m

Buntàta Mòr or the heavy electronic beat behind a jig set, this easy-going album gives the impression of two sympathetic musicians simply sitting down together (in a croft house in Achnahaird, or on Vass’s boat) to play some of their favourite tunes. The near-live effect is particularly marked in tracks such as the strathspey set,

Megs, and a perky set of reels, while there is sensitive treatment for two slow airs, Dhomhnuil and Failte

do’n Mhisg – a surprisingly dignified melody, considering its title can be translated as “Hail to Drink”. ■