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FRANKIE GAVIN WITH HIBERNIAN RHAPSODY The Full Score Tara ***

Having scaled creative peaks with De Danann, Alec Finn and countless others, Frankie Gavin makes a long overdue return to the fray with his latest co-operative, Hibernian Rhapsody. It's an odd affair.

Gavin's insatiable appetite for exploration lures the band down all manner of unlikely and likely paths. They visit Brazil (Tico Tico), The Beatles (Eleanor Rigby) and Vienna (A Mozart Celebration).

Individual flashes of inspiration lurk amid the melée, including Gavin's own sublimely lonesome fiddle on Goldsmith's Lament, but subtlety is repeatedly sacrificed to synth- laden saccharine against a soft- focus backdrop of Michelle Lally's vocals on such haggard song choices as Down By the Glenside.

Even Tim Edey's forensic exploration of Ar Éireann Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí lapses into camp overkill. A confused confection. www.taramusic.com - SIOBHÁN LONG

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© 2007 The Irish Times