by Steven McDonald
Celtic Trance presents a warm, fuzzy mixture of Celtic musical streams with trance and ambient, meaning a lot of swirling synth pads, soft drums, Irish whistles, and sampled instruments with some vocals thrown in for good measure. This particular production is likely to remind some listeners of Enigma, while others may think of Jean-Michel Jarre, though it does carve out its own identity along the way, heavy breathing effects and all. It's also highly functional as a tool for relaxation -- not an album recommended for playing on long road journeys, certainly.