Kathleen Loughnane, the face behind the harp of Galway quartet Dordán, finally gets around to delivering a solo album. Affairs of the Harp is a harp album pure and simple, but one with a difference. For a start, it calls on names like Alec Finn, Sharon Shannon, Seán Ryan and her Dordán compatriot Martina Goggin, to lend a subtle hand to the proceedings. The combined efforts of all involved yield a sweetly uplifting result. I'll Mend Your Pots and Kettles, O! has Sharon Shannon’s accordion and Martina Goggin’s djembe and Alec Finn’s bouzouki together in a Sliabh Luachra/Cape Breton outcome. Kathleen’s own deft touches are a sublime pleasure, from the pronounced tune playing of President Garfield to the melancholic slow air The Wild Geese. A song air from Co. Tipperary, Iníon an Fhaoit ón nGleann, blends Seán Ryan’s whistle with Kathleen’s harp in the most outwardly Dordán sounding track on display and Alec Finn’s bouzouki adds an Elizabethan air to Cornelius Lyons’ Miss Hamilton, while O’Carolan’s presence is found in Lady Dillon, Lady Gethin and Morgan Magan. Affairs of the Harp escapes the obvious harp album net with a choice selection of source material and some inspired playing both from the main protagonist and her special guests. John O’Regan – Folk Roots – March ’98