Clannad bridged the gap between traditional Celtic music and pop, and the results were an entrancing, enchanting form of pop that managed to fuse the disparate elements together rather seamlessly, creating an invigorating blend of Irish traditional folk with modern influences. Such fusions have earned the band an international cult of fans. Clannad are at their best when unleashing gargantuan choruses against Moya Brennan's hushed leads, and the inclusion of the beautiful "Newgrange," a mystical ode to one of Britain s famous stone circles, and "Caislean Oir," the leadoff track from the band's excellent 1985 release, Macalla, are prime examples. With 30 tracks on 2 CDs, The Essential Clannad touches on fan favorites, collaborations, and songs from films. The material is quite varied in scope, and the arrangements and vocals are vastly pretty and melodic. The full range of the band's styles are presented here, from gorgeous a cappella to slick pop/rock, acoustic guitar ballads, Irish folk strains, and sophisticated power pop crunch.

This Christmas Album has been a dream of mine for many years, and I am so happy that it is finally come to life. I have partnered with some great talent on this album, including the very talented Siobhan Owen who sings on three separate tracks, The hauntingly beautiful voice of Ellie Coronado, The Great Irish Fiddling of Tom White, and the beautiful violin of Rudy Alvarez. My father Rick Metcalf also plays electric guitar and Bass on "The King is Coming," and my daughters Bela and Meghan show up on a couple of tracks, as well as some great Background Vocals by Edrey Oliveira.

Grammy-nominated composer David Arkenstone blends global, cinematic, and rock elements into his version of new age music, which has appeared in film, television, and video game scores as well as dozens of his own albums. A music lover since age ten, when he moved to California from Chicago, Arkenstone immersed himself in all kinds of music and played keyboards and guitar in numerous bands as a youth. It was when he discovered the lush arrangements and exotic approach of Kitaro that Arkenstone ventured into new age music. The increasing synergy between computer technology and musical instruments also inspired him; most of his works were created partly or entirely on his Macintosh along with synthesizers and guitars. This blend of electro-acoustic textures was showcased on albums like 1998's The Celtic Book of Days and works from his band Troika, which released a series of albums from the mid-'90s to the early 2000s.

Featuring their modern take on the traditional Breton genre known as Kan ha Diskan, La Ouache is the debut album from French quartet Matmatah. Influenced by Alan Stivell's Again LP, their 1998 debut, which combines Celtic rock with Middle Eastern folk, was produced by Claude Chamboissier and features the hit singles "Lambe an Dro" and "Les Moutons" alongside the rousing instrumental closer "Ribette's" and the hard-hitting "Troglodyte."

Harmonia Mundi et World Village publient le 24e album d’Alan Stivell qui marque les 50 ans de carrière de ce maitre de la musique celtique. Ce fervent défenseur de la culture bretonne a l’habitude de surprendre à travers sa musique, présentant au fil de ses disques des explorations sonores parfois déstabilisantes mais toujours emplies de charme et de poésie. Pour Amzer, il sort une nouvelle fois des sentiers battus et signe une véritable ode au temps inspirée par le rythme des saisons et portée par des voix, des cordes, des flûtes et des percussions qui créent ensemble cet univers enchanteur dans lequel Alan Stivell vient puiser ses notes envoutantes. Une véritable bouffée d’oxygène.

In 2006 Enya released her most subtle and song-oriented album to date. Amarantine may have paled in comparison to Watermark or Shepherd Moons, but its under-produced (in Enya-world) balladry was a small leap forward for the reclusive Irish superstar. 2008's And Winter Came follows in the same footsteps as Amarantine, but it hints at the grandeur of earlier recordings, specifically 1994's Christmas EP. Enya's ferociously multi-tracked recording style lends itself well to the season, filling in the simplistic lyrical holes with small avalanches of vocal harmonies and the dated but reliable keyboard patches that have come to define the singer/composer's work over the years…

Since the late '80s, Irish singer/composer Enya has become the most unlikely of international stars, delivering lush, Celtic-driven pseudo-classical odes in her signature Wall of Sound vocal style, rarely granting interviews, never touring, and generally taking as much time as she wishes between albums. Bucking odds and industry trends, her popularity has remained steadfast, allowing her to become the best-selling Irish solo artist of all time. Following 2008's snowbound And Winter Came, her silence stretched to eight years – the longest of her career – before the mists once again parted to reveal her eighth album, the evocatively titled Dark Sky Island.

After the success of For ever Fortune, early music from Scotland, François Lazarevitch continues his exploration of the ‘Celtic’ repertories with a new programme devoted to early Irish music. This repertory of old airs from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries consists of dances, songs in Gaelic and varied instrumental pieces: they tell tales of wars, of love, of strong drink and tobacco, of children and bards. A leading specialist in the flute and bagpipe families, François Lazarevitch opens out new horizons of colours and sounds. He has gathered around him here a number of distinguished performers of early music (including the fabulous Baroque violinist and fiddler David Greenberg) and invited the American tenor Robert Getchell, who cuts a very credible figure as a singer going back to his roots.

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt is one of Canada's most beloved national artists, a folk chanteuse, and a new age troubadour who made her breakthrough in the mid-'80s with her literate and oft-experimental focus on Celtic-tinged traditional and original material, coupled with her haunting harp playing. As her career progressed, McKennitt began incorporating Spanish, Galician, and Arabic themes into her repertoire, culminating in a trio of career-defining albums – The Visit, The Mask and Mirror, and The Book of Secrets – that made her an international star.

Exactly four years ago, The Muses released their very first album Pop on Strings. Little did they know that it would become a tradition year on year.So before we bid farewell to 2016, the girls have launched their fourth studio album, aptly titled FOUR.

This is an album of songs from Guernsey, an island off Cornwall but much closer to Normandy, and the music is as odd and captivating as the particular brand of French in which it is sung. The music, even to a not-particularly-sophisticated ear, seems a combination of Celtic twang and French charm, with unexpected springs of rhythm amidst melodies that are as graceful as swans.

Canadian singer/composer/harpist Loreena McKennitt's lush Celtic-infused balladry and worldbeat sensibilities lend themselves well to holiday music, a genre she toyed with in 1995 on her Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season EP. Released in 2008, A Midwinter Night's Dream takes those five songs (newly remastered) "Coventry Carol," "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," "Good King Wenceslas," "Snow," and "Seeds of Love," and adds eight new songs (all of which were recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World recording studio) including "The Holly and the Ivy," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "Breton Carol," and "Emmanuel." The songs are immaculately produced as always, and McKennitt's predilection for Eastern mysticism and unique instrumentation keeps them from falling into the usual seasonal clichés.

Reuniting with all their original members plus original producer Stephen Street just over a decade after their swan song Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, the Cranberries recapture the sound of their earliest records on 2012's Roses. Nearly 20 years have passed since their breakthrough Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We?, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that there are some signs of age on Roses, notably in an increased sense of professionalism in the band's craft and also in a slight stripping of the ethereal echo that gave their debut an appealing floating quality. Without this dreaminess, the Cranberries are merely pretty, but unlike the turgidly ambitious Bury the Hatchet and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee – or on Dolores O'Riordan's pair of perfectly fine solo albums – Roses has definition and momentum, momentum that doesn't derive from artificially enhanced electric guitars, either. However subtle it may be, the Cranberries do have a chemistry, one that helps shape the melodies, one that gives O'Riordan a gentle, supportive bed for her commanding vocals.

Large contemporary group who augment their musical roots in British folk with a large variety of classic instruments. Collection includes: Burlesque (2006); Matachin (2008); Umbrellowhead (2010); Hedonism (2010); Broadside (2012).

Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these eight pieces included early music instruments, such as viols, recorders, sackbuts and crumhorns. In 1976, six new songs were recorded with a different assortment of accompanists, to replace the original seven individual songs. This 1976 album consisting of the 28-minute set plus the six new songs was released by Harvest Records under the title Amaranth. Subsequent releases have combined all fourteen pieces under the original title, Anthems in Eden.