You’re in the best of company with Lonesome George. The house is full, the people are fit to dance and there’s a little translucent tortoise at the front of the stage, reminding us that the original George was a legendary creature on a Galapagos island, the last of a beautiful line.
These Belfast players are giving George his dues. They play rhythmic trad music with the hurtling flute energy and eco-political sentiments. They are deep into the Irish language and amenable to magic. You might recognise some of the players from stage appearances with Réalta, Huartan, Joshua Burnside, the Mary Wallopers and any number of bar corner seisiúns and pro-Palestine rallies. Their gig diaries are full, their skills are in demand and the chance to see the full band on a big stage is rare. Hence these upbeat scenes. Continue Reading…
Eleanor McEvoy wrote ‘A Woman’s Heart’ when she was a student, living in Rathmines, County Dublin. In 1992 she was playing it live when singer Mary Black and her husband Joe O’Reilly listened intently. He had a record label called Dara, and he thought it would be a perfect title track for his upcoming sampler album. Soon enough, the record sold a million copies and Eleanor’s song was registered deep in the nation.
The Benefactors is about grift, abuse and minor acts of kindness in Belfast. Wendy Erskine’s tremendous first novel is stacked with many voices and disparate sounds as it slices through the strata of a city in motion. There is new money in tech and hospitality. Execs in the voluntary sector are pitching for the post-conflict dollar and can play the Troubles card on demand. There is a rotten character to much of the effort, plus a teen culture in the ’burbs that sneers about smicks, free school dinners and DLA sportswear. 
Liam Gallagher is playing drums on my head. I hear a few rhythmic taps, like he’s keeping time on the snare. There’s an occasional swish across the top of the bald napper, casual and cool, Ringo-style. This is happening by the doors of the Astoria on London’s Charing Cross Road and a few music fans are watching, bemused. As they might be. They’ve just been to a feverish gig by the band Ash, but here’s Liam, the most significant face in popular music just now, on the beat with a music journalist.
Shellshock Rock – the John T.Davis short documentary film that gives this epic triple CD and DVD compilation its name – has assumed mythical status since it was first briefly released in 1979. Not surprising perhaps, given that it was initially banned from the Cork Film Festival, went on to win awards around the world, and yet has never really had a proper commercial release until now, a mere 41 years later.
Grá mór to RÓIS and her album Mo Léan. This hidden story of the Irish keening tradition has become a shared fascination. She has liberated voices, long silenced by Church, State and Empire. A wonderful coup.
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