Ah, the genre I usually refer to as "Celto-crap". Alas, some people actually LIKE it. (No one in our circle, thanks.)

I'm not particularly fond of pop vocalists who have no grounding in traditional folk at all recording with The Chieftains. (Of whom, as a result, I have a very low opinion and a vocabulary usually reserved for politicians and used car salesmen.)

Also in general recordings of "ye olde English bawdy songs" or "Robert Burns' bawdy songs" usually turn out to be hideous, especially if done in chorus. Arghhhh!!!

Wispy voiced female singers drive me up a wall. As do singers who don't do their research or have no feeling for trad.

By the way, ALL Dutch and German shanty and sea music performance is done in large choruses with all the parts written out -- no place for improvised harmonies or spontanaety.

Linn