Top 30 Albums of 2016
I am repeating every music journalist and blogger, including our own Robert Green, by making the observation that the amount of quality Irish music being produced is overwhelming. Even with all the music I have the privilege to listen to, be sent and write about I still feel like I’m behind because of the sheer volume. Discussions about quotas and radio airplay should seem a moot point when you begin to delve into the suggested albums below. In no particular order my favourite 30 albums of 2016, go explore, be inspired and create! Altered Hours – In Heat Not Sorry Magic Pockets – Volcano of the Bleeding Skies Lisa O’Neill – Pothole in the Sky Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead Mmoths – Luneworks Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Is August Wells – Madness Is The Mercy Ian Whitty – Cash Crop windings – Be Honest And Fear Not Jack O’Rourke – Dreamcatcher The Frank & Walters – Songs for the Walking Wounded Overhead, The Albatross – Learning to Growl Ciaran Lavery – Let Bad In Roisin Murphy – Take Her up to Monto We Cut Corners – The Cadence of Others exmagician – Scan The Blue Enemies – Valuables Lisa Hannigan – At Swim James Vincent McMurrow – We Move King Kong Company – King Kong Company Brigid May Power – Brigid Mae Power Mick Flannery – I Own You September Girls – Age of Indignation I Have A Tribe – Beneath a Yellow Moon Ryan Vail – For Every Silence Swords – Tidal Waves Cathy Davey – New Forest All Tvvins – IIVV Solar Bears – Advancement Katie Kim –...
Robert Green rounds off 2016
It was a mighty year for the Irish. I’ve never been a fan of listing things in order of who’s best, but I have to say that 2016 has been one of the best years for Irish bands in decades. The strength and quality of the creative writing and production this year has been a shining light through some very dark times. We lost too many ‘legends’ in the music world in 2016, and that word may get banded around quite frequently when describing people of artistic merit, but 2016 took so many big names away from the creative sphere you’d be hard pressed to find any creative music around today that wasn’t inspired by these greats who fell this year. But as I said at the start, for the creative Irish, 2016 has been a year to be extremely proud. We have seen so many great singles, albums, debuts and growth, Electric Picnic has continued to impress and grow into one of the best festivals in Europe. The live scene has seen the rise in towns and cities away from Dublin develop their own personality and sound to add to the beautiful diversity of a wonderfully colourful developing music scene. My heart has skipped with joy as I discovered new favourite bands, my legs danced as new singles from already loved artists brought me to places of utter joy. And from month to month the quality just didn’t let up. It made my job extremely hard because I was running out of superlatives by June to articulate the joy and pride I felt when hearing such diotic delights. So yes, we did lose some pioneers and truly unique creative forces in 2016, the likes whose influence and candor will never be matched, but we need to look to the future, and the future is now and we have so much to look forward to in 2017. In no way is my list a ranking of who I think has been the best in 2016, but these are the creative works that in 2016 brought me through some dark places and also illuminated my soul on the path through this year. Favourite Single of 2016 – ‘Idle Man’ by Buffalo Sunn. Great harmonies, catchy chorus, what more would you want from such an awesome single. If this is a taste of their new album then they’d better say a few goodbyes to the people at home because that sound should take them on a few journeys. Special mentions – Swords – ‘Betty Machete’, a delight of a single, you’ll be hooked by the 1st vocal. The Grey Merchant –...
Something Happens announced for Bulmers Live at Leopardstown
Bulmers Live at Leopardstown is set to return in 2017 with another Summer full of top class horse racing, superb live music, festival food and fun at Leopardstown Racecourse. Irish music legends Something Happens are the first act announced for the eight night bonanza, taking place during June, July and August in 2017 with a special Christmas advance ticket price of just €15. Something Happens scored international success with the track ‘Parachute’ from their second album Stuck Together With God’s Glue and the band’s unforgettable live performances cemented their place as one of this country’s finest bands of the early nineties. Bulmers Live at Leopardstown has gone from strength to strength in recent years with crowds of over 40,000 attending the last two series of shows. International names such as The Happy Mondays, Johnny Marr, Peter Hook and The Human League have joined stellar Irish performers like Ash, The Stunning, Sharon Shannon and emerging forces The Strypes, Hermitage Green, The Academic and The Riptide Movement in a hugely successful few summers at Leopardstown. The combination of live music with horse racing and a festival vibe on Summer’s evenings at the South Dublin racecourse has proven a winning mix with those looking for a great Thursday night’s entertainment, with 2017 set to have some more excellent announcements on the way in the new year. Tickets are vailable on www.leopardstown.com Follow on Facebook – Leopardstown Racecourse & Twitter @Leopardstownrc for updates and exclusive competitions. Use hashtag...
Niall Connolly returns to Cork
Born at a time that witnessed the birth of Punk, when Leonard Cohen was being played on bedroom stereos and Cork’s emerging music scene was spawning legends, Glanmire-born Niall Connolly entered the world with his ears piqued and no choice but to follow a musician’s path. Now residing in New York, Niall rounds up a month-long European tour with a performance at The White Horse in Ballincollig. He will be accompanied by long-time collaborator Karl Nesbitt, renowned Cork poet Billy Ramsell and Irish tunesmith Ian Whitty. Connolly is a compelling live performer with infectious melodies and engaging lyrics. His songwriting encompasses his observations of the vibrant city of New York, where he has spent the last ten years, the lives and personalities of the strangers he has encountered on the road, and the sights and sounds of tours across Europe. Connolly has accumulated influences in his adopted homeland, juxtaposing sparse, finger-picked moments with the gigantic sonic swells of the band at full flight. All the while his lyrics retain their reverence for the poetic, the literary, and all that is emotionally honest. Connolly writes intelligently and with extraordinary clarity and curiosity. On his latest album, All We Have Become, Connolly traverses the landscape of his travels. Sublime trumpet lines and atmospheric guitar riffs lay alongside surging beats and harmonies. Each lyric creates a cosmos in miniature; memoirs from his youth to the imagined lives of others, nostalgia for young wonder and the struggle for the survival of the human heart. Niall has had the great pleasure of playing festivals, embassies, theaters and dive bars all over the world, including Glastonbury, the Prague Fringe Festival, and CMJ. He has had the privilege of sharing the stage with the luminaries in his band and in the Big City Folk music scene, as well as MisterWives, Lambchop, Evan Dando, Mick Flannery, Glen Hansard, and John Spillane, to name a few. He has also collaborated with such poets as Neil McCarthy, Stephen Murray, and Billy Ramsell in various Voice and Verse projects. At the core of every Niall Connolly song is the story, one that unfolds a layer with each listen as he blends a riveting sound with layered, literate lyrics that generously reward the listener. Niall Connolly plays The White Horse, Ballincollig, December...
Quarter Block Party Early Bird Tickets on sale
Quarter Block Party have revealed the first wave of acts for their 2017 event taking place 3-4 of February. Early Bird Tickets went on sale today and are €35. The Cork City based event will see performers, artists, poets and discussion invade spaces across the city throughout this weekend event. Festival organisers have revealed the first confirmed acts which include Sky Horse & Death, Cissy, Wastefellow, Ian Whitty, Naive Ted, Mira Fuchs and more along with panel discussion ‘How Music Works’ with Nialler9. For full list of acts announced and tickets go to...
