After seven albums of top-notch reels, jigs,
ballads
, and
polkas
,
Celtic
supergroup
Patrick Street
have earned themselves a "greatest-hits" collection.
Compendium: The Best of Patrick Street
is a serviceable slice from an awfully big pie. For fans who have followed closely the careers of
Andy Irvine
Kevin Burke
Arty McGlynn
Jackie Daly
, this anthology offers nothing new. For the uninitiated, however, it serves as a cohesive sampler of what these talented gentlemen are capable of. Although it features a fine balance of songs --
"William Taylor"
-- and instrumentals --
"Loftus Jones"
-- the exclusion of
Gerry O'Beirne
's
"Strokestown"
and
"Land of the Patagarang,"
and the inclusion of the dynamically challenged live version of their peerless studio recording of
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
"Music for a Found Harmonium"
- makes this
Best Of
a "rest of". ~ James Christopher Monger