Green Linnet 20th Anniversary Collection is a double-disc collection featuring 38 tracks from the Celtic music insitution. Every one of the label's biggest artists – including Silly Wizard, Altan, Wolfstone, the Bothy Band, John Williams, Tannahill Weavers – is on the collection, giving a good representation of not only the label, but the state of Celtic music of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. It's an excellent retrospective.

Eliza Carthy officially inherits the British folk crown from her parents with the willfully traditional Rough Music. Described in the liner notes as "a form of community punishment practiced all over England" (basically a public beating for a heinous social crime), Rough Music sounds like a lost pre-percussion Steeleye Span record filtered through A.L. Lloyd's whaling collection Leviathan! Carthy's strong fiddling and powerful vocals – she really is beginning to surpass Norma – are ably enhanced by the chiseled performance of her backing band, the Ratcatchers. Together they celebrate longstanding English traditions like public execution ("Turpin Hero"), syphilis ("The Unfortunate Lass"), and alcohol ("Tom Brown") with equal parts reverence, earnestness, and mischief. Primarily arranged for violin, viola, double bass, and melodeon, Rough Music also features lovely a cappella cuts like "Maid on the Shore" and enough fiery instrumentals to keep your feet on the cobblestones during the long walk home from the pub. In fact, there's not a moment on Rough Music that isn't essential listening. Highly recommended.

Patrick Molard has played a large part during recent years in the revival of Breton culture and has performed on concert platforms throughout the world. In these recordings he demonstrates the scope of his pìobaireachd repertoire. The Waking Of The Bridegroom (Dusgadh Fir Na Bainnse) is a collection of ceol mor. Having learnt under the renowned Bobs of Balmoral, this highly respected piper plays seven superb pieces.

Tarras is a quintet consisting of Rob Armstrong (cittern), Joss Clapp (guitar, bass, mandolin), Emma Hancock (violin, whistle), Ben Murray (accordion), and Jon Redfern (percussion, guitar); all five sing. Coming from the border of England and Scotland, the group signed to Topic Records and released their debut album, Rising (picked up for distribution in the U.S. by Rounder) in 1999, when the average age of the members was only 21. The field of young, iconoclastic Celtic bands is getting a bit crowded, but Tarras should be able to step up and take its place without much trouble. Like many of its peers, Tarras is a folk group that doesn't feel terribly bound by tradition.