List: My Top 50 Best Irish Music Acts Right Now

Niall and Peter have followed on from Jim and co. to do their own lists. I thought I'd chime in with mine. Like Niall's it's in alphabetical order. Numerical order would be impossible.

Adebisi Shank
Armoured Bear
Bell X1
Cap Pas Cap
Cathal Coughlan
Adrian Crowley
Dark Room Notes
Cathy Davey
Colin Devlin
The Divine Comedy
Duke Special
Evil Harrisons
Julie Feeney
Fight Like Apes
Martin Finke
Mick Flannery
The Frames/Swell Season/Glen Hansard
The Funeral Suits
The Gorgeous Colours
The Guggenheim Grotto
Ham Sandwich
Lisa Hannigan
Gemma Hayes
Heathers
Herm
The Holy Roman Army
I am Not Lefthanded
Jape
The Jimmy Cake
The Kanyu Tree
The Kinetiks
David Kitt
Kitty and the Can Openers
Lines Drawing Circles
Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Imelda May
Messiah J and the Expert
The Mighty Stef
Mumblin' Deaf Ro
Roisin Murphy
One Day International
Oppenheimer
Pony Club
RSAG
Fionn Regan
Damien Rice
Robotnik
The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock
Tenaka
202s
Villagers
Wallis Bird

Download: Susumu Yokota - Tree Surgeon

Nancy Elizabeth's Battle and Victory was one of my favourite albums of 2008. Therefore I was delighted to hear she was providing vocals on Susumu Yokota's new album Mother. As well as Elizabeth, vocal duties are taken on by Caroline Ross, Brothko, and Anna Bronsted. Plus Caspe Clausen from Efterklang is on the record too.

Download:
Susumu Yokota - 'Tree Surgeon'

More info:
http://www.lorecordings.com/
http://www.myspace.com/yokotasusumu

Download: North Elementary - Ones in Love

To coincide with the announcement of more US tour dates, the excellent North Elementary have given another free song for download.

Download:
North Elementary - 'Ones in Love'

Here's the dates part from the press release -
North Elementary has some shows coming up this month in NYC, ATL, and a few other places on the east coast:
Apr 09: Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY
Apr 10: Pianos, Manhattan, NY
Apr 17: Pinhook, Durham, NC (The Sames reunion show!)
Apr 23: Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
Apr 24: Snug Harbor, Charlotte, NC
Apr 25: The Star Bar, Atlanta, GA

Setlist: Bell x1, Vicar Street, 31 March 2009

Setlist for Bell x1's second night at Vicar Street in Dublin.

Amelia
How Your Heart Is Wired
Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella
Bad Skin Day
Next To You
First Born
Eve, the Apple of My Eye
Light Catches Your Face
Tongue
The Great Defector
A Better Band
Flame
I'll See Your Heart and I'll Raise You Mine
---
Just Like Mr. Benn
West Of Her Spine
One Stringed Harp
Rocky

Setlist: Bell x1, Vicar Street, 30 March 2009

Hopefully will be going to see these guys later this week. I cannot wait. Expect a show review.

How Your Heart is Wired
Ribs of a Broken Umbrella
Bad Skin Day
Amelia
Next To You
Great Defector
My First Born for a Song
A Better Band
Tongue
Eve, the Apple of my Eye
Rocky Took a Lover
---
Pinball Machine
One String Harp
I'll See Your Heart

Other People's Top 50 Irish Music Acts Right Now

Jim Caroll, Lauren Murphy et al. have a lot to answer for. Not content with over 150 comments on On the Record, they've also spurred on some spin off lists. If I had time myself I'd make a list of my own, but since I'm lazy, check out Nay, Peter and Niall's lists. (And Pat's rant...)

http://wordpress.hotpress.com/offherrocker/2009/03/06/the-least-important-post-ever/#comment-5356
http://2uibestow.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-top-50-best-irish-artist-list.html
http://pathfinderpat.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/the-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now-almost/
http://www.nialler9.com/2009/04/03/my-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now/

Live: Ray LaMontagne at the Gaiety

It usually has Twink and the like on the lienup, but Dublin's Gaiety Theatre will host one of Ireland's adopted sons (much like Josh Ritter) in September. He'll play the 3rd, 4th and 5th of that month.

Tickets are €40 and are on sale now.

'Trouble':

Discussion: The Ticket's 50 Best Irish Acts right now.

Jim Carroll and co. over at the Ticket have made a list of their top 50 Irish acts on the scene currently.

There were three qualifying conditions. (1) Solo acts had to have been born on the island of Ireland or to hold an Irish passport. (2) In the case of bands, half or more of the members had to have been born on the island of Ireland or to hold an Irish passport. (3) Bands had to have recorded or released music since January 2008, or to have played a gig since January 2008.

You can read the list in full here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2009/0403/1224243925837.html
and dispute the height of U2 here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/04/03/the-tickets-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now/

There are many ommissions, which have already been pointed out (even by me):
But no Gemma Hayes, Mumblin' Deaf Ro, Tenaka? Ricer higher than Mick Flannery? Republic of Loose? etc. etc.

Watch: Black Lips live at Generiq festival, Dijon France

There's nothing quite like a full live show to watch online. It's almost like being there. Almost. But when it's a festival show, you won;t have any drink spilled on you!

Review: Tom Brosseau - Posthumous Success

There are far too many singer-songwriters in the music business. Luckily for Tom Brosseau, he's not a singer-songwriter, he's a storyteller. His vocal style is more akin to Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan chatting than Pavarotti or Sinatra. Also, luckily for Tom Brosseau, his stories are well worth telling.

The album Posthumous Success is bookended by two versions of the same song, 'Favourite Colour Blue' which immediately lets you know what you're in for. Don't expect the earth to be shaken, but you will be gently rocked by some smooth lullabies.

It's on the third track, 'Big Time', that the album really comes alive. It's one of the best songs Brosseau has ever recorded, and if Jim Carroll is looking for a tune of the week this week, he can't go far wrong selecting this. It'd be the tune of most weeks.

Brosseau's wordplay is evident on tracks such as 'You Don't Know My Friends' and the bouncy 'New Heights'. The former contains the amusing line "I don't like watermelons because of the seeds", and the latter describes a conversation with his mother about his new paramour. Trust me, they're far more interesting than I make them out to be here.

Brosseau's charm possibly lies in his simplicity. Even the sparse 'Drumroll' is made interesting by his intoning, alluring vocal as well as the brilliant backing music. The instrumental tracks on here too, are similarly beautiful (for example the resonant 'Miss Lucy').

The album is a joy from start to finish and doesn't outstay its welcome. And unlike Albert Camus, whom the album is named after, Brosseau looks set to have some prehumous success. (Cheesy, but I couldn't help it)

Download:
Tom Brosseau - 'Favourite Colour Blue'

Download: Superjiminez - Goji Kids

Another week, another great Irish album. Well, another month, another great Irish album. That'd probably be more accurate.

BANG is released on April 10th, and the album launch party takes place the following Sunday (April 12th). It'll feature excellent single 'Helicopters' which made the Irish Top 20 (not that I usually have much creedence for the music charts, but this was amazing for a local group.)

Tracklist:
1. Gojii Kids
2. Faye
3. Helicopters
4. Promises
5. Beau
6. Rescue Remedy
7. Somebody There
8. My World
9. I Feel Designed
10. Hear You Now


You can download the tune by entering your email in here:
http://www.superjimenez.com/htmlsite/sj_gojii.php

Download: King Khan Shrines - Land of the Freak

King Khan and teh Shrines are due to tour the US shortly, and to promote that they've made one of their songs available for download.

'Land of the Freak' was featured on the excellent What Is? album.

Here's the US tour dates (have to do some promotion when I'm giving something away for free):
04-29 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
04-30 First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
05-01 Music Hall of Willamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
05-02 Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ
05-03 Santos Partyhouse - NYC
05-07 Paradise - Boston, Mass
05-08 Babylon - Ottawa, ON
05-09 La Sasa Rossa - Montreal, PQ
05-12 Phoenix Theatre - Toronto, ON
05-13 Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
05-14 Wexner Center - Columbus, OH
05-15 Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
05-16 Triple Rock - Minneapolis, MN
05-19 The Warehouse - Calgary, AB
05-20 The Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB
05-22 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
05-23 Sasquatch Festival - Quincy, WA
05-25 Dante's - Portland, OR
05-28 Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
05-29 Echo - Los Angeles, CA
05-30 Echo - Los Angeles, CA


Download:
King Khan and the Shrines - 'Land of the Freak'

More info:
http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines
http://www.vicerecords.com

Review: 202s - 202s

This year I aim to hear every Irish album worth hearing. Therefore when the Choice Music Award comes around next year, I'll know each album intimately. Also, if they're stuck for a judge, I'd definitely be interested! The debut album from 202s is one that could well feature on the shortlist in 2010.

The album opens with 'Shoot You Down' which is like a Bruce Springsteen-infused Arcade Fire. Yes, I am using those two as a comparison for an Irish band. I haven't heard an opening track this good from an Irish band since 'Heyday'.

All the songs seem instantly familiar, like you've heard them countless times before. 202s have taken elements from many of their influences, and made a stellar record. 'Ease My Mind' sounds like it could turn into 'Song 2', but instead settles for a sound somewhat like early Bell x1 (when I preferred them, they'll never top that second album).

It's not all the same sound throughout. 'Shine On' is a song of ethereal goodness, and leads the latter half of the album to be much more Mercury Rev sounding than the first half. This is particularly true of 'Repeat' and closer 'Goodbye, Good Evening and Good Night'.

'Who Cares About Sunshine?' defies its title and is a lovely summery melody accompanied by great harmony vocals. The whole thing has this uplifting feel and is one of the best Irish debuts in an age. It's up there with the Fight Like Apes record.

I recommend that everyone buys it.

More info:
http://www.myspace.com/the202s