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I received an email from a listener a few months back telling me off for saying 'brilliant' too much. As she pointed out the word loses its potency when overused. I find it hard though to bridle my enthusiasm when so much good stuff comes flopping through the letterbox every day. I got back from a week's yesterday to find a heap of stuff waiting to be listened to, and amongst the stack there were some absolutely brilliant gems.

' new CD, Too Long In This Condition, is a brilliant collection of traditional songs sung to a sparse but completely fitting accompaniment. Like all fine singers Roberts lets the song be the star; his voice is always there for the words and not the other way about.

Another CD came from a newcomer (to me at least) from the North East called . Great music and fine songs, mostly self-penned and well worth checking out. She has a strong distinctive voice but again, like Alasdair Roberts, it is always the song that is the thing, not the singer.

The new album Gift by Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson is one of the finest things I have heard in years, two women in great voice singing with complete absorption and commitment and with a rack of learning and wisdom behind them that goes deep into the roots of the music. I love it to bits and I suspect that lots more people will love it too, because it is the real thing.

Talking of which, flute and whistle player 's The Ravishing Genius Of Bones is one of the best instrumental albums I've heard in years. Finnegan himself is a true master of his art and when you couple him with people like Damien O'Kane, Johnjoe Kelly, Crooked Still, Ed Boyd, Leon Hunt and a heap of other great musicians, you know that the end result is going to be a lot more than just good.

So, sorry about ranting on, but it was great to come home to a load of CDs that were - simply - brilliant.