Geantraí Gael Linn CEF DVD 189; 2006 There's something rotten in the current state of Irish traditional music or, at least, in the version purveyed by Geantraí. For those unfamiliar with the term, 'geantraí' was one of the three forms of early Irish music and denotes 'laughter music' or, more commonly, 'merriment', and is also the title of a now decade-long series of programmes produced by the Irish-language TV channel TG4. Bulk of article deleted per request from publisher. See complete article at www.irishmusicreview.com/geantraidvd.htm. -Joe Offer- All the above are far from being 'rotten', but much of the rest is sullied by the often damned awful presence of guitar accompanists. Does the band Providence really need a bouzouki player and a guitar plunker? Would Séamus Begley's gorgeous rendition of 'An Ciarríoch Mallaithe' seem even better without finger-picked confabulations? Did Anne Conroy Burke learn her technique from John Pearse's 'Hold Down a Chord'? However anyone answers the above questions, the fact of the matter is that ultimately watching Geantraí is, for the most part, a deadly dull experience and not to be recommended. This review by James O'Donnell was written for fRoots magazine – www.frootsmag.org.

what are other peoples opinions of this kind of review .

I find it deeply disturbing that a magazine such as Froots can publish unpleasant personal attacks[Ann Conroy Burke].
what has happened to balanced constructive criticism.,and standards of journalism.
this is [imo]a nasty hatchet job,from someone[JamesODonnell]who is old enough to know better.
I am of the opinion,that Ann Conroy Burke is one of the best accompanists on the Irish trad scene,she does her job perfectly accompanying Joe Burke,without being flashy,the art of a good accompanist.
this reviewer[who must be middle aged to remember hold down a chord]clearly is not much of a musician,and[imo]not fit to be a reviewer,if he cant refrain from personal attacks.
I am pleased that Geantrai,is on the television once a week,it is open to improvement[This reviewer has no constructive suggestions],but having half an hour of ITM once a week,is better than none.
if you get a chance to watch GEANTRAI,I suggest you do,Ihave enjoyed much good music on this programme.