'Second recording of guitar music by Keith Hinchliffe, who as all good English musicians must, spent time playing with the Albion Band. On 'Islands' he plays 21 different selections, most of which are relatively unknown, taken from the Irish, Scottish and Welsh traditions.

'Hinchliffe lovingly recreates the sense of the old tunes with his fluid guitar style and allows the melodic themes to be the main focus. He's also recorded the guitar with a very "true" sound, and not buried it in a lot of echo and reverb. An enjoyable collection.'

'Sheffield- based Keith will need little introduction to many of us from his performances at folk clubs and sessions, where his intricate, flawless guitar style has caused many a jaw to drop.The CD opens up with Humours of Castle Comer, a stately Irish tune that gives us our introduction to Keith's lovely, rich guitar sound, which is consistent throughout all 21 tracks. Mabel Kelly ,a tune from the pen of the 18th century blind harpist Turlough O'Carolan follows, demonstrating nicely Keith's sense of timing and pace.

'The CD also contains another Carolan tune, Morgan Magan, which could make you wonder how many fingers Keith has, what with his blend of intricate melody and contrapuntal bass. Indeed, the sound he gets from his guitar does have a harp-like quality to it, particularly on some tracks like The Sheep under the Snow, a haunting Manx tune, my favourite along with Lord Mayo,which is a curious little melody.The Isle of Man is also represented by When Christ was Born, and Wales by A Honeyed Lip, a quite beautiful, melancholy air.

'There are two tunes from Niel Gow, an 18th century Scots writer, and one from his contemporary William Marshall. The first two are the lengthily titled Niel Gow's lament for the Death of his Second Wife and Farewell to Whisky and the third is Chapel Keithack.

'On a slightly more upbeat note are Off to California and the wonderfully jaunty Rosewood Jig, which has an introduction to tie knots in your fingers.Other tunes include The Monaghan Jig, The Marquis of Huntly's Strathspey, The Lark in the Clear Air and Madame Bonaparte.

'The recording is good and clear, allowing the sound of Keith's guitar to come through with all its richness of tone.On the whole a very accomplished CD with marvellous musicianship and an interesting selection of tunes.'