The Swell Season @ Vicar St. Dec 15

Super gig from Glen, Marketa et al. Really loving their second album, Strict Joy, think it's one of the best things they've done including the Frames albums.

Lisa Hannigan @ Vicar Street, December 3

A fine gig from Lisa Hannigan with excellent covers of Dylan, John Martyn and most incongrously Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. And the new songs she played bode well for the second album.

Matured 2009 Albums of the Year List

The final, final albums of the year list with late entries from Bradford Cox's very trippy Atlas Sound album, Dave Rawlings' heartwarming 'Friend of a Friend', to tide us Gillian Welch nuts over till she comes out of her extended hibernation. Also added Fanfarlo, recommended on Nialler 9's blog - very Arcade Fire meets Beirut meets Ra Ra Riot. Another late entry coming from the Swell Season's 'Strict Joy', plenty of sturdy songwriting on there. And i've also added Devendra Banhart's enjoyable if not essential new album.

Plus there's been a bit of rejigging in the order mainly to reflect how deeply Local Natives and Alela Diane have burrowed under my skin.

As for the top ten, it's been a great year for America again, hasn't it?


1.Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest



2.Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca



3.Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
4. Local Natives, Gorilla Manor

5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
6.Anthony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light
7. The Swell Season, Strict Joy
8.Passion Pitt, Manners
9.Alela Diane, To Be Still
10.Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11.Florence and the Machine, Lungs
12.Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream
13.Doves, Kingdom of Rust
14.Wilco, Wilco the Album

15.Atlas Sound, Logos
16.Julie Feeney, Pages

17.Bat for Lashes, Two Suns
18.Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
19.Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms
20. Fanfarlo, Reservoir
21.Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend of a Friend
22.David Kitt, the Nightsaver
23. Dangermouse and Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul
24.Devendra Banhart, What Will We Be
25. Vetiver, Tight Knit
26. Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires
27. K'Naan, Troubador
28. The Dodos, Time to Die
29. Mos Def, The Ecstatic
30. Arctic Monkeys, Humbug
31. St Vincent, Actor

Rodrigo y Gabriela @ the Olympia

Grizzly Bear @ Vicar Street

Another premature Albums of 2009 list

Following Q magazine's ridiculously early albums of the year list (in October) and the bizarre spectacle of Kasabian winning their Album of the Year, here's my premature albums of the year - haven't heard Devendra Banhart, Flaming Lips or Edan's new albums yet though.

1. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest



2. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca




3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
4. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
5. Florence and the Machine, Lungs
6. Passion Pitt, Manners
7. Anthony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light

8. Local Natives, Gorilla Manor



9. Julie Feeney, Pages




10. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11. Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream
12. Doves, Kingdom of Rust

13. Wilco, Wilco the Album



14. Bat for Lashes, Two Suns
15. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
16. Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms
17. Alela Diane, To Be Still
18. David Kitt, the Nightsaver
19. Dangermouse and Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul
20. Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires

Photos from Uganda

Local Natives, Gorilla Manor

This is a really fine, euphoric debut album, an amalgam of Ra Ra Riot, Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire with great harmonies, melodies and percussion. Late arrival for those albums of the year lists.

Kelcey Ayers of Local Natives playing at the Academy, Dublin in September 09

Dirty Projectors

Excellent set last night in Whelans from the Dirty Projectors, makers of Bitte Orca, one of the most original, fascinating and downright brilliant albums of this year. Great drummer! Didn't manage to get a decent photo of him or indeed most of the band so you'll have to make do with these two of Angel and Dave. The Dave one's got a touch of the Ian Curtis' about it and the Angel one is well, just look at her, and she sounds good too. Here she is singing the very fab Two Doves from Bitte Orca which is something of a tribute to Nico's classic 'These Days' - Two Doves has amazing treated strings on the album, sadly not present in the live version. You tube audio clip below of the song.

Angel Deradoorian, Dirty Projectors

Protecting the Taxpayer from NAMA

Labour party's new doc on disastrous NAMA plans, quote below, full doc here.

'The bill to establish the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is one of the most significant pieces of legislation that the Dáil will ever debate. It involves setting up an agency that will acquire some €80 to €90 billion in property-based loans from Irish banks.

The risks to the Irish exchequer are enormous and irreversible. Overpayment by NAMA for these loans will impose a huge financial burden on the State, yet it is clear that this is the inevitable consequence of the current Government’s approach'