i just can't get into Van even at 40 'nicker'. The only thing he did that excited me was the album with the groundbreaking Chieftains. That and I heard Coney Island once whilst very 'caned' and got lost in thoughts of home. All I can think of is lots of brass and soul based chord progressions and that whine he has. And that miserable look he has. Then again I don't like solo Christy Moore either. Then again my taste has become incredibly narrow as I focus on one field. My father-in-law was driven mental last summer as we had a rotation of non-stop trad on the car cd player. He erupted once saying it all sounded the bloody same. I sat there waiting for a ferry explaining the difference between a slip jig and hornpipe...couldn't he hear the beauty of different combinations...flute and fiddle?...concertina and mandolin...? I realised he couldn't and that potentially I was disappearing up my own arse. I now force myself to listen to a bland band weekly. I'll turn the radio up instead of down if Fleetwood Mac are on or Springsteen or the list goes on U2 etc...as a certain amount of sadism is healthy. not-healthy.