This week's world releases reviewed

TOMMY HAYES & IAN LESLIE

Almost Home Claddagh Record ***

This is a "look ma, no hands" collection: improvisational in tone and experimental in mood, a heady mix of electronica and acoustic music. Tommy Hayes is a bodhrán player of considerable skill and grace who has enriched many a traditional music performance. His collaboration with sax player Ian Leslie may well forge a future existence in soundtrack form. Some songs are more concrete in execution, including the meditative For Theo, sung by Sarah Roche (with Tommy's original music set to a Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill poem). The Buddhist-inspired Going Nowhereposes deep questions atop a marimba riff, and the emotional charge of the cello on Accidental Musicaptly captures what Hayes and Leslie are pursuing: an exotic and evocative soundscape that pays scant heed to musical boundaries. www.hayesleslie.com

Download tracks: Happy Daze, Goodbye