The Best of Ashley MacIsaac

Genre-bending, left-handed Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac may not be a household name in the United States, but he's a force to be reckoned with in the Great White North, especially in his native Cape Breton. By capably blending elements of rock, electronic, folk, and even hip-hop into traditional Irish, Scottish, and Canadian folk music, he has successfully (for the most part) earned himself a reputation as wily and unpredictable, both musically and socially (he once said in an interview that he wanted "to be weirder than Michael Jackson), which is why the Best of Ashley MacIsaac is so disappointing. While his three most notable songs ("To America We Go," "Little House Around the Corner," and "Sleepy Maggie") are here, only seven others make the trip. MacIsaac may not have a "Shakespearian" canon of work behind him but surely he deserves more than a ten-song retrospective, unless this is the kind of product that gets its own kiosk at the grocery checkout.