The Far East may have held a fascination for western travellers for centuries, but strangely enough, the region's music has remained largely unnoticed. For the first time, the Very Best of the Far East links some of the world's most ancient and beautiful cultures and sounds with the bustling vitality and creativity of a largely urban generation. Thus Japanese producers mix Vietnamese, Indonesian or their own traditions with modern dancefloor and laid back rhythms, Okinawan music meets Brazilian beats, or indigenous Japanese music is updated into a living, breathing exciting roots sound. Elsewhere, Vietnamese musicians add jazz inflections to traditional tunes, centuries old Chinese instruments are brought storming into the 21st century with ambient, electronic sounds, while western musicians too add their input to the melting pot. This is a CD to blow away your preconceptions of Far Eastern music, that instead celebrates the diversity, yet unites the music of a region that finally comes of age, the equal of anything, anywhere on the planet. Nascente. 2005.

'Ireland in Song' includes the tracks: 'A Drop In Your Hand', 'Hello Patsy Fagan', 'Mountain Dew', 'Harvest Home', 'Murshin Durkin', 'Sally Gardens', 'High Reel', 'Isle of Innisfree', 'Galway Shawl', 'Any Tipperary Town', 'Home of Donegal', 'The Boys From the Country Armagh', 'Fields of Athenry', 'Shake Hands With Your Uncle Mike' and 'If You're Irish Come Into the Parlour'.