Multicultural Mix by Martyn Bennett

There’s nothing new about setting the traditional tunes of the British Isles to rocking rhythm. As far back as the late ‘60s, the English folk-rock band Fairport Convention was adding rock-drum drive to its infectious fiddling, illustrating the natural rhythmic bond between the two styles.

Martyn Bennett, a Newfoundland native who grew up there and in Scotland steeped in his Scottish heritage, has a fuller, ‘90s variation in mind--a blend of ancient airs and instruments with contemporary dance music. At LunaPark on Thursday, the young musician had his feet in a lot of fields--folk, world music, hip-hop, techno, ethno-ambient--and if he had a little trouble finding his balance, it all seemed somehow in a worthy cause.

Alternating among fiddle, two sets of bagpipes, a large tin whistle and a small horn, Bennett mixed his melodic leads into recorded tracks constructed of dance and hip-hop percussion and thick instrumental textures. The sources ranged from the dominant Celtic strains to Middle Eastern colorings to a gruff Scandinavian chanting.

Sometimes those shuffling beats worked at cross-purposes with the flowing melodies, and the format was confining--Bennett often seemed preoccupied with keeping up with the dictatorial recorded music. But as on his new album, “Bothy Culture� (on Rykodisc), the best moments were an invigorating and captivating form of multiculturalism.