Class of 2014
Lofty Sounds Top 5 Songs of the Year
by John Loftus
As the presenter of “Sounds
from a Green World”
I have the great privilege of playing the very best in
new Irish music every week on 8radio.com and 2014 has been a truly outstanding year for Irish music.
My musical friends at Ceol Collective asked me to put forward my Top 5
tracks of 2014 - now that is a real head wreck of a task but here goes in
reverse order -
No. 5
My Favourite Faded Fantasy - Damien Rice
I have to admit to not being a huge fan of
Damien Rice fan in the past so when I heard that he had a new album on the way
I was mostly non-plussed, that was until I heard the title track which simply
blew me away. Of course I then found out that Rick Rubin produced the new
record and his magic dust has certainly has had its effect, the album is very
strong too and I’d be surprised not to see it in many “best
albums of 2014”
lists.
No. 4
Hide & Creep - Ronan Mitchell & Aoife
McLoughlin
One of my live musical highlights of 2014 was
The Pigtown Fling which was one of the many fantastic projects to benefit from
Limerick’s status as Ireland’s City of Culture this year. The brainchild of Noel Hogan, John
Underwood and Eoin Deveraux The Pigtown Fling sought to encourage the city’s musical talent to collaborate with each other in a way that hadn’t been done before and to challenge each other to stretch their
musical limits. Under the careful gaze of Mssrs Hogan & Underwood 17 tracks
came to fruition and the project culminated in a wonderful celebration of the
very best in Limerick music with The Pigtown Fling showcase gig.
I could have picked any of the tracks from The
Pigtown Fling album but I have to admit that “Hide
& Creep”
is the song that I keep going back to time and time
again. Penned, sung and performed by Ronan Mitchell of Fox Jaw with help from
Aoife McLoughlin (former vocalist with Protobaby) this is menacing composition
that deserves get some serious TV soundtrack exposure - producers of “Hannibal”
& “Bates Motel”
are you listening ?
No. 3
Blud (CHVRCHES Remix) - SOAK
Bride Monds-Watson or SOAK as she is known to me
and you has had a pretty good year and 2015 looks like it could be the year
when she get’s the international exposure her immense talent deserves. Earlier
this year she signed with the fledgling label of UK electronic music merchants
CHVRCHES and her first release on Goodbye Records was the “Blud”
EP which featured this very tasty remix of the title
track by the label owners.
No. 2
Hummanise - Le Galaxie
We might still be awaiting the much anticipated
follow up album to “LaserDisc Nights II”
but team Le Galaxie have certainly kept us ticking over
nicely with some stellar live performances and three crackin’ singles from the soon to be released album “Le
Club”
- it was a tough call as to which of the three to pick
but “Hummanise”
with it’s incessant beats and chorus won me over.
No. 1
Hush Hush - Sisters
Technically a 2013 release the debut single from
Limerick band in exile only gained traction in early 2014 and what a way to
make your presence felt. They already have huge following despite having only
released two singles to date (“Febuary”
being the other track). However under the tutelage of
Al O’Connor they are set to make a huge impact in 2015 and I’m looking forward to catching them in Dolan’s
this St. Stephen’s Night when they make their hometown return.
John Loftus presents “Sounds
from a Green World”
on 8radio.com every Saturday morning from 8
to 9 and every Wednesday night from 9 to 10. You can follow him on Twitter
@loftysnds and Facebook
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