Off The Record
by Mike FarragherRecent Posts
- Riverdance, about to go, but never to be forgotten
- Gigs all round for St. Paddy's season!
- Moya Brennan’s a home girl at heart
- Celtic Thunder hits the wrong note with new album
- Black 47 in rocking form with "Bankers and Gangsters"
Archives
-
March 2010
(2 entries)
-
February 2010
(3 entries)
-
January 2010
(2 entries)
-
December 2009
(10 entries)
Most Recent Tags
Riverdance, about to go, but never to be forgotten
As sure as shamrocks are green, you could be sure that Riverdance would pull into Radio City’s Music Hall in March to capitalize on the greenery of our big holiday. Sadly, that tradition comes to an end this year as the current production of the show takes a final bow.
Just as the bible is divided into two parts, Irish culture must be viewed as life before Riverdance and life afterwards. You’d have to go back to the Clancy Brothers playing on the Ed Sullivan Show in the sixties to find a time when Americans of all races were seduced by Irish music on such a broad scale.
Gigs all round for St. Paddy's season!
Ladies and gentlemen, start your livers! Our big green holiday is almost here!
Is it me, or does it seem like holidays start sooner on the calendar nowadays? You can see the retail outlets putting Valentine’s Day merchandise on display right after New Year’s, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception.
Moya Brennan’s a home girl at heart
Public television usually gets green during the month of March, in more ways than one.
It is the month that they raise cash during their telethons and to do that, they appeal to the sizable Irish and Irish American audience with programming from the Emerald Isle. In years past, this exposure has launched such successful shows as Celtic Woman and Celtic Thunder.
Celtic Thunder hits the wrong note with new album
The first thing you notice when you look at the CD cover of the new Celtic Thunder CD, That’s Entertainment, is Damian McGinty, the apple-cheeked teen who stole our hearts with a jolly good read of Donny Osmond’s “Puppy Love.”
The lad is growing up before our eyes! He now has the black tuxedo jacket slung over his shoulder as the dark tie hangs precariously on his chest.
Black 47 in rocking form with "Bankers and Gangsters"
“I always resisted being pigeonholed and limited to this genre. But what the hell, it just won’t go away and I suppose we have a lot to be responsible for in popularizing it. Like every other original idea it inevitably becomes a victim of its own clichés. This is what it looks like from the stage with a couple of shots aboard; now let’s take it to the cleaners.”
Larry Kirwan might be talking about the origins of “Celtic Rocker,” one of the many instant classics on Black 47’s new Bankers and Gangsters album, but it is typical of him to give that nonchalant, self-deprecating wink to his long legacy and cultural impact on Irish Americana.
Irish singer Maura Kennedy makes a stunning solo debut
It is fitting that the debut solo album from singer songwriter Maura Kennedy should be called “Parade of Echoes.” As the album progresses, you get the sense that Kennedy is rummaging through the costume department in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, trying on influences like jackets.
Fortunately for her and her listener, most of what she tries on fits beautifully.
“Parade of Echoes” opens with “The Thing With Feathers,” a spooky track that mixes choral harmonies wafting over a minimalist bed of bass and bells. “I feel this thing with feathers beating in its soul cage/I long to set it free to see how far if flies/the cage is empty when the hope inside you dies,” she sings toward the end as feathers flap underneath her.
The noughties, a decade of great Irish American music
Before the Christmas break I took a look at the best Irish albums of the decade, and there was an abundance of great music to choose from. The same held true for this side of the Atlantic.
Listed below are the best things that landed in our mailbags from Irish American bands.
All of these artists work tirelessly on the road and are our best hope at keeping Irish culture alive in an era of digital downloads and declining pub attendance.
A diverse decade of Irish music
What a decade! While the Celtic Tiger roared immigrants flocked to Ireland, and their influence can be heard in the music made by many Irish artists on my best of the decade list. (When we return in January, we will name the best CDs from Irish American artists so no one on this side of the Atlantic is left out!)
Of course, technology changed the music business as digital downloads killed record shops during this decade, making a lot of these import albums easy to get online. It makes one wonder what format an artist will use to deliver a collection of songs to us 10 years from now!
Speaking of technology, check out the best of the decade music page on IrishCentral. It is there you will find in-depth analysis of each album listed here, along with interviews with their creators.
U2 still awesome after all these years
Published Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 4:13 PM
When we last saw our four favorite Dubliners in a stadium setting, they were trying to extricate themselves from the most expensive car crash in rock and roll history.
The Mighty Stef: A mighty good musician for U.S.
Published Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 11:49 AM
“I would call it streetwise folk music with punk rock, fantasy, and storytelling mixed in,” says the Mighty Stef (a/k/a Stefan Murphy), the charismatic singer and songwriter from Dublin, when asked by this writer to describe his indescribable sound.
Move over Springsteen: Willie Nile is the real Boss!
Published Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 3:51 PM
The state of New Jersey is still buzzing over the shows Bruce Springsteen put on to close Giants Stadium properly last week.
Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne delivers her most beautiful album yet
Published Friday, October 23, 2009, 12:33 PM
Parents are always giving their kids lists of things to do, but when your father is Johnny Cash, the original Man in Black, the list leads you on an unforgettable musical journey.
Cruel Seamus - They’re cruel, but very kind!
Published Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 5:01 PM
You know the saying -- the only difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish funeral is one less drunk.
Rock and Roll Hall concerts bring together the greats
Published Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 3:11 PM
The highlights in the pair of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concerts that took place at Madison Square Garden last week were too numerous to mention, and since this is an Irish newspaper let’s focus on the Irish highlights, shall we?
Things are still 'Swell' for Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard
Published Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 12:11 PM
When I first heard that there was going to be another Swell Season album, I instantly thought of the word once, and not because that was the movie that brought Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the members of Swell Season, to fame and fortune.
Fall in love with Snow Patrol all over again with greatest hits album
Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 2:47 PM
Snow Patrol has beaten most bands to the punch by coming out with a greatest hits collection for the holidays. After all, there are only about six weeks between now and Christmas!
Ronan Tynan, the Jewish joke and the Yankees: 'I feel raped by the press'
Published Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 11:50 AM
“I feel raped by the press. I really do.” So said Irish tenor Ronan Tynan in an interview with the Irish Voice this week. “I know the disrespect of pain and discrimination from being disabled in my life, and to think that this woman made this judgment, accepts my apology and went right to the news with this crazy story that I am against Jews when half my band are Jewish just blows my mind.”
The magic of Andy Cooney at Carnegie Hall
Published Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 4:06 PM
Am I the only one sick and tired of analysts predicting how dismal this Christmas is going to be before any of us have even had the chance to spend a penny on Black Friday?
Most Popular Blog Posts
Most Popular Entertainment Stories
