I was in NYC two years ago on Valentines night when we went to hear the romantic sounds of The Gutter Twins in the Bowery Ballroom. Lovely memories. I'd love to be heading over to NYC for the above gig featuring two of our best songwriters and story tellers with support from the wonderful Jenna Nichols. I seem to 'Sigh' alot on this blog. Geography and money [lack of ...] are terrible things!
Here's a beautiful love song from Roesy recorded for The Garden Sessions CD released in 2006. This version of Endless Day is very different to the version on 'Colour Me Beautiful'.
..... finds itself in the more appropriate surroundings of The Olympia Theatre on Friday March 5th. It's a super line-up for Barrettstown.
David Gray, Paddy Casey, Mundy, Duckworth Lewis Method, Lir, Gemma Hayes, Jape, Vengence & The Panther Queen, Ham Sandwich and The Dublin Gospel Choir.
Each act will perform three songs to include at least two cover songs which have 'Inspired' them!
Here's a few videos I took at last year's event in The Academy!
Thursday night was such a special night and it confirmed many things to me.
Henrietta Game are still progressing in their career and get better on each listen. I feel they're close to getting the sound they want and have enough great songs to produce a wonderful debut.
The Last Time
Arriving from Galway for the night, Ultan Conlon is the ultimate professional in the music business. He had to follow The Whiskey Limbs who made many friends in Slane with a fantastic performance and performed songs from his debut 'Bless Your Heart' with great style and emotion.
Vessel
The Whiskey Limbs were formed to play Slane! Boyles initially but maybe the castle too in a few years? We have some fine dancing in this clip!
The night began with a short performance by Navan singer Robert Daly. He has a real honest stlye of performing and his songs were really good. The Boyles crowd were attentive and respectful as that was Roberts first gig.
Next after Robert was Ballymun's Garry O'Brien. The man can sing a fine tune.
Questions
The main thing that was confirmed on Thursday was that Boyles is a magical venue. The next 'Live at Boyles' is an eccentric mix!
February 25th
Simon Fagan, The Garrett Wall Band, The Lonely Schizophenic, The Myth, Andy Delamare
On Monday night I got myself to The Glor Sessions in the International Bar run by Stephen James Smith and on an average night can attract 5-6 fine musicians and another 5-6 fine poets. I've been there three times since Stephen took it over and each time it's been fun, eccentric and for the most part indescribable! Anyway I spent the night sitting behind one of my all time heroes in Fearghal McKee, the lead singer with Whipping Boy. I was in genuine awe of the man back in the day. The man was attending The Glor Sessions as a punter so I didn't want to embarrass myself by the whole 'I'm a Big Fan.....' Here's why I hold Fearghal McKee is such high regard;
Whipping Boy began back in 1988 and were the second Irish band [after Compulsion] I got to love mainly as a result of 'Heartworm' released in 1995. 'Twinkle', 'When We Were Young' and 'We Don't Need Nobody Else' are immense singles which gained the band decent recognition in the UK and Europe. 'Heartworm' would easily be in my top 10 albums of all time. Fearghals lyrics and voice was so powerful. The basslines were in your face and in some songs were at the forefront of their sound. Overall they had a near perfect alternative rock sound.
Like many great Irish bands Whipping Boy had a short career of three albums. It was the recording of the self-titled album in 2000 which brought the demise of the band. Fearghal went on to record some solo material around 2003/2004. He is now back recording and gigging with a band called the SSS [Shitty Shit Shits]!!!!!!!
The first video of Sunday's charity sing-song hit YouTube today and it is special. Here we have Glen Hansard, Natalie Merchant, Paddy Casey, Mundy, Paul Brady and Damien Rice doing their best singing The Auld Triangle!
An excellent review and some wonderful pictures can be found on State.com here:
Tweet of the past week arrived yesterday when Nialler9 noticed that Hot Press and Pitchfork had identical posts about Caribou's new album. There was an assumption Hot Press stole [plagerised] from Pitchfork but it was confirmed when later on last night Hot Press deleted their online article! Here is the original: http://pitchfork.com/news/37670-caribou-reveals-new-album/
I've been a regular reader of Hot Press for the past 12 years. When I lived in the UK I even went out of my way to source the magazine wherever I could. In the last twelve months the quality has gone downhill big time with the release of popular writers like Tony Cascarino and Jason O'Toole. They would regularly get facts wrong such as in the last issue they claimed that Leinster beat Munster in the Heineken Cup Final! They even reviewed the same album two months in a row last year. We deserve a music magazine with better integrity but instead they're just acting like Muppet's!
The one shinning light is Patrick Freyne for his unique style of album reviews which make me laugh out loud! However Patrick you got Fools By Your Side!
Recently dropped by his record company Duke Special is not a man to take things easy. He is releasing 3 records soon. Taken from http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/131
"The first contains Studio Versions of the songs I wrote with Brecht’s words for the recent production of Mother Courage & Her Children at the National Theatre
The second is an E.P – ‘Huckleberry Finn’; the first ever recordings of 5 songs which comprise an unfinished musical by Kurt Weil based on the Huckleberry Finn novel by Mark Twain.
The third is a collection of songs inspried by Paul Auster’s Novel ‘The Book of Illusions’, entitled ’The Silent World of Hector Mann. This comprises 12 songs written by myself and 11 of my friends including Neil Hannon, Matt Hales and Ed Harcourt amongst others, and recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, USA."
Here is Peter Performing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Maps!
Sadly during the week the music world lost Kate McGarrigle RIP. I've been a big fan of Rufus and later Martha. When I went back to Loudon Wainwright III and Kate's music it was no surprise that the siblings were destined to make magical music. There's a really great tribute to Kate on one of my favourite blogs here: http://coverlaydown.com/2010/01/rip-kate-mcgarrigle/
Here is A House' More Endless Art which is the female version of their hit 'Endless Art' and featured as a B-side to that single. If Dave Couse were to update 'More Endless Art' Kate would be a worthy inclusion!
Through my journey of being a music fan onto writing a blog and then onto organising a monthly sessions night I simply can't help having an opinion on things! One such thing is Ticket Pricing!
The Good;
According to many a status update new Irish band Little Green Cars got it spot on last night. They filled up Whelans on a night there was some stiff competition up the road in The Lower Deck! The full house was because Little Green Cars had a quality support act in We Cut Corners, tickets were just €6 and it was in Whelans with their regular nightclub crowd!
€10 for this gig is amazing value!
The Bad;
The folks in Whelans must be delighted that they have two sold out gigs in a row. Sunday sees Glen Hansard doing his thing for Haiti with friends. Just two years ago that gig would have been in Vicar Street! Four years ago it would have been The Olympia. I'm convinced that Glen & folks would have filled Whelans three or four times over for tomorrows gig. Why was Whelans the venue of choice? How much of the till money will be going to Haiti? Then on Monday there's the strange decision to house the Natalie Merchant concert in Whelans which was sold out 2/3 weeks ago. This is an example of under-estimating demand regardless of pricing!
We are just 5 weeks away from the http://www.choicemusicprize.com/ gig in Vicar Street on March 3rd. There was a tweet about the €27 ticket price which highlighted the consistent approach towards tickets prices as a good thing. However we don't know the line-up. Is €27 too much money to see 5 or 6 bands doing a couple a tunes in between long gaps and pauses?
The Ugly;
Vyvienne Long is doing a short tour of Ireland and London in support of her debut album. Tickets for all the gigs are either €18 or €20. I know she is a wonderful talent but she's only released an EP and a single or two. These ticket prices are far too high for me!
On Wednesday you can for just €5 go and see Nick Kelly and his exciting 'Gestation' project Upstairs in Whelans. Great value for a seasoned professional with a long history of amazing releases. However the rest of his monthly gigs are a whopping €17! Again this is blatantly over the top!
In summery I'd recommend any band or artist who is thinking about touring to think carefully about their gigs. Unless you can fill the place with a guest list larger than capacity for the venue forget about it. I'd be very surprised if say more than 50% of gigs make money from that event. People and organisers need to think very carefully about gigs of the future. Even HWCHs need to think about making their gigs free to attend with possibility of maybe charging a small fee to the bands for playing!
The rats are often overlooked when people talk about Ireland's best bands. To me they are right up there with Rory Gallagher, U2 and Thin Lizzy in terms of quality singles and albums. I suppose the epic work of Bob Geldolf with Live Aid pushed The Boomtown Rats music in to the background. Their 1980 song 'Banana Republic' with the great line "septic isle screaming in a suffering sea" could easily be written in the present tense!
I read recently that the Irish people's individual contributions to forign aid and charity is on average up to five times higher than the UK! We are a charitable nation and the efforts been made by so many people to organise and plan events to raise money for Haiti is proof that we are a nation of leaders.
Is there a link between our generosity towards charity and the leadership qualities of Bob Geldolf in 1984. I'd like to think there is! For everyone who is doing something to help the Haitian people please keep it going!
Check out pwradio.net for news on musical events around in Ireland and New York:
This Monday night the best songwriters night in the city is doing it's bit for the cause with a fine line-up and a guest speaker to tell us the latest from on the ground. SJS wants ya to get you're asses down to The International Bar from 9pm to support the cause!
Poets: Kate Dempsey Paul Murphy Dave Hurley Sarah O'Connor
Musicians: Derick Devine Lisa Mc Laughlin Ciaran Lenehan Rory Faithfeild Garry O’Brien Charlie Walker
Here's Lisa McLaughlan doing justice to MJs Beat It!
Just before their big NYC gig in the amazing venue that is Radio City, the band with Josh Ritter and Clarence Clemons' nephew on sax played You Ain't Going Nowhere and Into The Mystic! Thankfully YouTube enables us to check it out!
Here's the Setlist!
Swell Season Radio City Music Hall - 1/19/2010 - Setlist: Fallen From the Sky Lies Low Rising Feeling the Pull In These Arms The Rain The Moon If You Want Me Fantasy Man Say It To Me Now Leave Back Broke Astral Weeks (Van Morrison Cover) The Court of Newton (Violin solo by Colm Mac Con Iomaire) I Have Loved You Wrong Drive All Night (Bruce Springsteen cover) Go With Happiness When Your Mind's Made Up Encore Falling Slowly High Hope High Horses Red Chord/The Parting Glass
Also Glen has recruited Mundy for the Haiti gig on Sunday night! One wonders what's the chances of Declan O'Rourke, Gemma Hayes or maybe even Damien Rice turning up!
Norabelle are in the main Ken Clarke and Shane O'Hanrahan with occasional drummer Steve Ludlow. Ken and Shane write the songs, play guitars and piano and sing really pleasent harmonies! I can only describe Norabelle's sound as Simon & Garfunkel harmonies to a Bon Iver soundtrack!
Come The Bluest Dawn contains just four songs and comes in at a healthy 26 minutes. Norabelle write Red House Painter inspired atmospheric songs of great depth. 'Still' opens the EP and is a song which showcases the guitar playing of the band. 'Pins & Needles' shines towards the end when the piano is introduced. 'Underpass' also contains a beautifully written piano score. The standout track for me is 'Lemon' which illustrates the power of the vocal harmonies Norabelle have to offer! This band write songs and music on an epic scale.
Singer with Something Happens and intellectual version of Gerry Ryan, Tom Dunne has finally joined the Twitter bandwagon and can be found/followed here:
Something Happens were a great guitar band and as far as I know have never officially broken up! Here is the song 'Burn Clear' which appears on the band's debut Been There, Seen That, Done That as well as the soundtrack to the 1988 movie 'The Courier'!
At about 6pm today Mark Geary announced though facebook and twitter that Glen Hansard, himself and friends will be going to your house for some tunes! All you have to do is win the Ebay auction which will begin tomorrow night at 21hrs! The money will be donated to help in the rebuilding of Haiti.
Here's Mark performing the poignant 'All I Want Is You' recorded for Today FM and appearing on 'Even Better Than The Real Thing' Vol. 3.
The Brothers Movement debut was in many people's 'best of '09' lists. I love that the band are showing massive ambition with a decent sized UK tour next month!
11 Feb 2010 20:00 Cardiff Barfly Cardiff, Wales 12 Feb 2010 20:00 Tunbridge Wells Forum Royal Tunbridge Wells, South 13 Feb 2010 19:00 The Pad - Bedford Bedford 14 Feb 2010 20:00 Engine Room Brighton 15 Feb 2010 20:00 Southampton Joiners Southampton, Hampshire 17 Feb 2010 20:00 London Barfly London 18 Feb 2010 20:00 The Rainbow Birmingham 19 Feb 2010 20:00 Leeds Cockpit Leeds 21 Feb 2010 20:00 Sugarmill Hanley, Stoke on Trent 22 Feb 2010 20:00 Nottingham Social Nottingham 24 Feb 2010 20:00 Night and Day Manchester
In early 2010, the Phoenix Bar at Dalymount Park will stage its' first ever Battle of the Bands, where up-and-coming bands will compete for €1000 in prize-money.
A top prize of €800 awaits the winner, plus a free day's recording at Littlewood Recording Studios (visit: www.littlewoodrecording.com for more information).The two runners-up will each receive prizes of €100.
To register, send your band's details to gigs@bohemians.ie This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or pick up a registration form from the Main Office at Dalymount.
This is my new feature where I post something a bit on the rare side or hard to find! To kick off the feature I bring to you Sean Needhams hidden track off his debut called B-Side Blues. Sean has just made the song available from his website as a free download.
Sean has been living in Denmark these last few years and I was delighted to read his recent single 'I'm Not Afraid' is getting played by Danish national radio!
The Swell Season perform in New York venue 'City Winery' on Wednesday 20th January with the legendary Patti Smith and the not so legendary but amicable Josh Ritter!
Here are the details;
Wednesday, Jan 20th Patti Smith, Swell Season, Josh Ritter, John Wesley Harding.
Thursday, Jan 21st Lewis Black, Vernon Reid & Corey Glover of Living Colour, Rich Pagano & The Sugarcane Cups, Marshall Crenshaw, David Johansen.
Sunday, Jan 24th Rosanne Cash, Madeleine Peyroux.
The venue aims to raise $100K for the relief effort! It'd be lovely to be there! Sigh!
Your Face recorded at The Olympia in the good days of December 2008!
So next Friday in The Lower Deck you will have the pleasure seeing four of Ireland's best acts.
The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock Mumblin' Deaf Ro Groom Owensie
Alternatively I might pop up to Drogheda for the first Purple Session of the year including Hugh Patrick, Stephen J Smith, Heirs to Nothing, Bobby Noonan and Mister Ebby. Difficult choice!
The Mary Janes were probably the most under-rated band in Ireland during the 90s. I discovered them when they were a 3 piece and they performed a short acoustic set on some RTE music and culture show around '93 or '94 and pretty soon 'Friends' became one of my favourite songs. Mic had quite a unique singing style which accompanied his amazing songwriting talents. I even got to see The Mary Janes live on a grey Summer afternoon on a bandstand in Merrion Square! Here's their biography I plagiarised from here!
In 1990 Mic Christopher formed the band, the Mary Janes with former Kila bass player and fellow busker, Karl Odlum, guitarist, Simon Goode and Steven Hogan on drums.
Over the next nine years The Mary Janes played together in three different guises. Firstly with Steven on drums and then after he left the band stayed together and recorded their first album (Bored Of Their Laughing) as a three piece without drums.
In 1994 the Mary Janes signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and in ’96 the band acquired the drumming talents of Mark Stanley from Australia and went on to record their second album Sham in ’98. Over the years The Mary Janes played everywhere from Feile and the Fleadh in Ireland, to Glastonbury festival in England, to the CMJ in New York. Ultimately finishing with a six week stint in Bosnia with the WarChild charity organization.
The Mary Janes finally split in 1999 and Mic embarked on a three month solo tour of Victoria, Australia. Sadly Mic's short life ended in the final weeks of 2001! Here's some live music to make sure we don't forget Mic or The Mary Janes.
The Mary Janes - Friends [Live from The Baggot Inn - Feb 5th 1993]
The Mary Janes - Nearly Dead [Live from The Baggot Inn - Feb 5th 1993]
... where you will have the pleasure to read about Irish singer James Vincent McMorrow, posts about Eddie Vedder and Jeff Buckey as well as book and live reviews. Well worth the trip!
The one real benefit of my work is that I don't to see anything on the web until about 4pm. By the time I check the emails, tweets and facebook updates I'm usually so late to all the juicy debates it's hardly worth making a comment!
I do think the Choice Music Awards is a worthwhile addition to our music world. Not only is it worthwhile to the bands, record labels and album sales but also for the debates, discussions and degrading remarks which result! See On The Record!
I love the fact that I have heard all of these albums and reviewed a few throughout the year. However none of these made my own personal best of list here! There are also many other really quality albums released this year which made neither the Choice 10 or my own best of 10. Isn't this an indication that in Ireland we really have an excellent music scene!
The judges who came up with this shortlist and will have the final decision on March 3. Here are the nominations;
And So I Watch You From Afar “And So I Watch You From Afar” (Smalltown America)
I have no major thoughts on ASIWYFA. The album is excellent but it doesn't appeal to me much. Outsider for the win!
Bell X1 “Blue Lights On The Runway” (BellyUp)
Looking at 2009 I can't find any logical reason not to agree with Jim Carroll when he stated last year was a great one for BellXWan! Radio friendly singles, three Olympia gigs and Dave Geraghty even managed to release an great album! The album on a whole is a bit hit and miss. There are some good tunes on there but some are never-ending!
Codes “Trees Dream in Algebra” (EMI)
Meh! It's an ok album.
Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Chemikal Underground)
I only got the Adrian Crowley album recently and it's been a revalation to me. I'm slowly beginning the hype about the man. My hope for the win!
Dark Room Notes “We Love You Dark Matter” (Gonzo)
I seen DRNs at the HWCHs and another Meh! Not for me at all. The album has some good moments and I can understand that it's rated very highly.
The Duckworth Lewis Method “The Duckworth Lewis Method” (1969/Divine Comedy Records)
The DLM deserve praise for writing good pop songs about cricket but was it album of the year? Delighted people are discovering Pugwash as a result. Thomas Walsh is an amazing songwriter!
Julie Feeney “Pages” (Mittens)
'Pages' is another worthy album on the list. It does suffer from a lack of variety while there are some truely excellent songs like the singles 'Love is a Tricky Thing' and 'Impossibly Beautiful'.
Valerie Francis “Slow Dynamo” (VF)
I don't know. I seen Valerie at HWCHs and while the venue and time slot were unsuitable the songs were really good. I have to revisit the album to develop more of an opinion!
Laura Izibor “Let The Truth Be Told” (Atlantic)
This time last year I wrote that Laura Izibor would be a massive star. I was wrong and I don't know why I'm wrong. I blame Aviva!
The Swell Season “Strict Joy” (Plateau)
On many different levels I hope that The Swell Season don't win. However their nomination is amazing for the band.
I was taking a stroll around http://www.whelanslive.com/listings/ when I notice this: Isotope presents ALPHASTATES + DC Experiment ALPHASTATES VERY LAST GIG!!
Thursday 18 February
Major disappointment this is! Human Nature was one of my favourite albums from last year and their debut was one of the best albums of the decade. Sad News!
Kiss Me is one of my favourite songs ever! I love this video!
Twitter Tuesday is the new feature where I honour a tweet from the past week that impressed me or tickled my funny bone. I then find a link to a band or song to blog about! To kick the feature off in style here's a Tweet from the impressive Mannix Flynn [http://twitter.com/mannixflynn] ;
"Ulster says no no no, but Iris says yes yes yes"
Hailing from Northern Ireland John Shelly and the Creatures just narrowly missed out on my list of acts for 2010. Their song 'Long May You Reign' [listen to the EP below] might be very familiar to you in these parts from 'The Telly'! I'm not convinced that having your song on heavy advertisement rotation does any good for an artist's profile. [see Laura Izibor, The Laundrey Shop etc etc]. However from my knowledge of the songs of John Shelly and the Creatures there are many other great tunes in their catalogue such as 'Good Town Blue'. Their debut 'Dinosaur' is out this March!
The Dinosaur Tour
8th February 10 - King Kong Club, Dublin 10th February 10 - The Old Oak, Cork 11th February 10 - Spirit Store, Dundalk 12th February 10 - Backroom Navan, Meath 13th February 10 – Whelan’s, Dublin 14th February 10 - Cuba, Galway 19th February 10 - The Stables, Mullingar 20th February 10 – Sandinos, Derry 25th February 10 - Dolans, Limerick 26th February 10 - The Sky & the Ground, Wexford 27th February 10 - Dew Drop Inn, Kill 4th March 10 - Auntie Annies, Belfast (Album Launch) 19th March 10 - An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny
I like artists who give away great music! Colin Devlin has a new years gift for his subscribers to celebrate the successes of '09 which recently saw Colin being nominated for a Meteor award. Find the EP here:
For a second year in a row Ronan over at Swear I'm Not Paul and myself have been working on creating a list of 10 Irish acts in alphabetical order who we believe will make considerable progress towards world domination in the coming 12 months. Ronan picked five acts and I picked five acts ready to invade your music world in 2010.
Belfast based A Plastic Rose consists of equal parts Sligo and Belfast and make the type of Indie Rock music Tim Wheeler dreams about. The vocals are shared by the contrasting styles of Ian and Gerry which results in harmonies not normally associated with the alternative rock genre. So far in their career they have released Eps and Singles with the full LP hopefully out this side of Christmas 2010. Seeing A Plastic Rose live is a must for the new year.
Born in South Africa, but resident here since the age of seven, the Dubliner has an amazing voice as well as a wild backstory including a stint in the circus. But it's the music that really does the talking - it's a deep down dirty whiskey swagger that pulls no punches.
Candice Gordon - 'Smoking Like the Barrel of a Gun'
Hailing from Limerick The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra make some wonderful indie folk music which is receiving radio play across the country. They've released two EPs, played Electric Picnic and HWCHs as well as picking up celebrity fans like Paul McCloon and Cormac Battle along the way! 2010 could be the year of The BPLO with the likely release of their debut on the horizon.
Is it better to release a number of mediocre albums or wait until the time is right to make and release an amazing debut album? Fiach has been around forever but in February he will finally release that debut album that he has spent years preparing. Fiach is a veteran of many a sessions night clocking up an impressive apprenticeship of live performances. The recent Whelans gigs proved he is equally impressive fronting a band and owning his audience. I think 2010 will find us falling for the singer-songwriter again with Fiach's uplifting songwriting being at the forefront of the movement. February 25th finds Fiach in The Button Factory for the album launch!
Henrietta Game only formed last January and already they've released a single, selected as Tony Fenton's daily download, performed with the legendary Peter Green and got a high profile slot at The Electric Picnic. Henrietta Game are guitar, cello, violin, glockenspiel and four part harmonies which send shivers down the spine. Henrietta Game is one of the most original bands out there which will appeal to indie kids and folk lovers alike.
Many of you may remember Ollie Cole as the frontman in the sadly-missed Turn. Well, he's back under the guise Oliver Cole and has signed to EMI. He released the excellent What Will You Do EP last year, and looks set to release full-length debut album We Albatri sometime in 2010.
Padraig was the lead singer with Wallmark and later with Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. In 2005 Wallmark released a great album but Wallmark didn't last much longer after the release. Since then Padraig has been writing a whole bunch of great tunes that will become his debut album this year with Karl Odlum's input. Padraig writes honest emotional songs full of life and character. With luck 2010 will be Padraig's year!
Clane produces a lot of good music. Planet Parade are the latest act to join Bell x1 and Damien Rice as exports of Kildare's Detroit Rock City. They're a fantastic indie-pop band who have been honing their craft in a live setting - particularly at autumn's Hard Working Class Heroes Festival in Dublin. Check out their EP Ghosts to People, and if you're around, head over to Whelan's on Friday, January 15th to catch them live.
With a debut album imminent, Bangor, Co. Down's Two Door Cinema Club could be the biggest Irish act of 2010. They've been hyped by the BBC and Spinner, and will be releasing their first album, Tourist History, on March 1st. They played the Introducing Tent at Glastonbury last year, but expect them to feature higher up the bill at Festivals in 2010, as well as joining the NME Shockwaves Tour throughout the UK and Ireland.
Ireland's other singing drummer duo Oppenheimer split up over Christmas, but instead of the Nordies' electronic feel, We Cut Corners are a beautiful folk-pop group with songs that sound so much bigger than the sum of their parts. They also joined the lineup at Hard Working Class Heroes in 2009 and featured on RTÉ 2's When Under Ether. Expect to hear much more from them in 2010.
Here's Dave Murphy with assisstance from Damien Dempsey, Paddy Casey, Mundy and Declan O'Rourke on The Late Late Show Friday 8th January 2010. That gig scheduled for Vicar Street on Monday has been CANCELLED! Seems rather pointless having them perform on the late late! Ah well!
It's the season of awards and back slapping for the massive effort our finest and best musicians have made during 2009. This post is about celebrating those hidden gems I found throughout the year which for many reasons won't get the recognition they deserve in the coming weeks!
2009 was a busy year for Michael Brunnock. Firstly there was the return of Little Palace and their excellent album 'Invitation Time'. This was followed by the release of Michael's Live in New York Album which should be purchased for the song 'Sensation' sung with Moe Holmes.
I caught Land Lovers at this years HWCHs festival and was really impressed by their style of indie pop. Their EP 'Immovable Feet' is full of great tunes!
Junah spent most of 2009 preparing and recording their debut album due for release in 2010. They did release 'Low La Day' as a single with a hilarious video to go with it. 2010 might well be the year of the Indie-folk genre!
Odi's debut album was released last year and included some wonderful tunes like 'Leaving My Love in New York'. Odi is now based in Leeds and will be touring all over the UK and Ireland in the coming year.
This song has been used in an advert right? Coca Cola maybe? I can't get any info. Joe Echo will be massive next year. He has written a hit single for Madonna and released a super version of the song 'If I were A Boy' which this song appears as a b-side and was co-written by members of Statue Quo!
Heritage Centre had a great 2009. They headlined their own Whelans gigs, bagged many a support slot as well as a headline gig at the HWCHs. They also released a number of excellent Eps and singles where you will find some of the best indie songs of 2009.
Bobby Noonan released his debut EP, toured the country and formed a band called 'Fat Baby Panda'. Not the worst name for a band! Close but not the worst! Bobby is a massively talented songwriter and I predict great things for Bobby in 2010.
Doctor Leaves are Ben Shorten and Dara Munnis who also released their debut EP in 2009. Get it for free by hitting the link below. Doctor Leaves write melodic pop tunes and are an act to watch out for in 2010.
Another artist who had a great year was Elder Roche. Elder has a particular artistic glow about him and when he sings there's no holding back. His live performances are sensational and come highly recommended.
I popped along to Melophobias Summer album launch in Whelans and was blown away by the quality of the music, the performance of each musician and the ambition of the band. Since then I've barely heard anything of Melophobia but the album is highly recommended. http://www.myspace.com/melophobiaireland
Stephen James Smith is the man behind The Glor Sessions every Monday night downstairs in The International Bar. Glor is the Irish word for sound and the Sessions night is an open mic Music and Poetry night. It's a great night which is like food for the soul! Janruary 11th sees the night return after the Christmas Break.
Here is Stephen's performance at The Holy Joe's Infernal Cabaret for: www.mixtape.ie live in The Think Tank.
Colin Devlin Jerry Fish Jack L Christy Moore Mundy
Tip to Win: Jerry Fish
Best Irish Female
Wallis Bird Julie Feeney Valerie Francis Laura Izibor Dolores O'Riordan
Tip to Win; Wallis Bird
Best Irish Pop Act
The Blizzards Delorentos Laura Izibor The Script Westlife
Tip to Win; The Script
Best Irish Album
Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runaway The Coronas - Tony was an Ex-Con The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method Snow Patrol - Up to Now U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Tip to Win; The Coronas
Best Irish Live Performance
Bell X1 Christy Moore The Script Snow Patrol U2
Tip to Win; U2
Non-voting Categories
Best Folk/Traditional
Kathleen Loughnane Kila with Bruno Coulais Christy Moore Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh Sharon Shannon
Best International Band
Black Eyed Peas Florence & The Machine Green Day Kasabian Muse
Best International Male
Michael Bublé Jay-Z Morrissey Paolo Nutini Bruce Springsteen
Best International Female
Lily Allen Lady Ga Ga Little Boots Pixie Lott Taylor Swift
Best International Album
Kasabian – Lunatic Asylum Florence & The Machine – Lungs Lady Ga Ga – The Fame Monster Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More Paolo Nutini – Sunny Side Up
Best International Live Performance
Leonard Cohen Coldplay Florence & The Machine Bruce Springsteen Take That
The event will be held at the RDS Dublin Friday 19th Feb and will be presented by Ireland’s Amanda Byram [Wipeout]. Performing on the night to celebrate the ten year anniversary will be the best in music, both home grown and international including; Westlife, Snow Patrol, The Script, Florence and the Machine, Paulo Nutini, The Coronas, Pixie Lott and many more to be announced.
2 U I Bestow named after the Mundy track on the 'Romeo & Juliet' soundtrack is the music website of an experienced Maths Teacher moonlighting as a Freelance Music Journalist.
I write about Irish artists only on this site. I also have a new website promoting all the free albums I find on bandcamp: http://freeirishalbums.wordpress.com/
This is a hobby not a living! If your music is included here feel free to email me to get it removed. However be aware that your music will be featured on the popular site elbo.ws!
