Off The Record

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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!

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.”

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?