Monthly Archives: December 2009

Best Albums of the 00s: Coles Corner

Coles Corner - Richard Hawley (2005)

Number five in the chronological list of my fave albums since 2000 is Richard Hawley’s Coles Corner (2005). It was the fourth of six albums that he released during the decade and it was the album that raised his musical profile and brought him to my attention. Part of the reason for the album’s success was due to its nomination for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize. Even though he lost out to the Arctic Monkeys for their debut album, they claimed in their acceptance speech that the prize should have gone to the man from their own town. Hawley was born in Sheffield in 1967 and began playing in bands in his early teens. He first tasted success as guitarist for the Longpigs and then drifted into session work before spending some time with Pulp. It was through encouragement from Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackay that Hawley recorded his first self-titled mini-album in 2000. Two more albums followed on Setanta before he switched to Mute Records for this album named after a part of Sheffield where lovers meet

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Best Albums of the 00s: Funeral

Funeral - Arcade Fire (2004)

I continue the chronological countdown of my favourite albums of the last decade with the debut effort from Canada’s Arcade Fire. I must admit that I was completely unfamiliar with the band’s music when they played the Electric Picnic in 2005, even though they seemed to be the act that everyone wanted to check out. I never got to see them as I reasoned that people were being taken in by all the hype surrounding the band. When I eventually decided to check out the album the next year I knew I had been wrong. I was immediately drawn into the songs, the words, the use of instruments and the band’s sound. In particular, I liked the fact that they used instruments that the majority of rock and pop acts would never use, such as violins, cellos, mandolins and accordions. Their use of some of these instruments within a rock format and the slow build-up of their songs reminded me a lot of one of my favourite performers, Bruce Springsteen

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Thank You For The Music, Liam

The last member of one of the first internationally successful Irish music acts passed away last week. Liam Clancy finally succumbed to interstital lung disease on December 4th in a hospital in Cork city and was buried in Ring, Co Waterford a few days later. No less a figure than Bob Dylan had this to say about him in the 80s: “I never heard a singer as good as him ever. He was just the best ballad singer I ever heard in my life, still is probably”. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were one of many acts that showed up regularly on Irish television and radio throughout the 70s and 80s. I could take or leave most of these acts, but I always liked the music of Liam and the boys. I think it was the way they sang, their choice of songs and the sense of fun that came across in their music and performances. Over the last few days, I’ve been listening to Liam’s songs and reading a few books about him and the brothers
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Best Albums of the 00s: Skylarkin’

Skylarkin' - Mic Christopher (2002)

My chronological look back at my favourite albums of the past decade continues with the only Irish entry on the list. Mic Christopher’s Skylarkin’ (2002) was the only solo album that he released. In the middle of November 2001, Mic played a gig in Groningen, Holland. He was found later at the bottom of a stairway, where he appeared to have slipped and hit his head as he fell. He lapsed into a coma from swelling to the brain and passed away a few weeks later. He is best known for the album’s opening track, Heyday, which was used in one of Guinness’ TV advertising campaigns. It is a shame that the rest of the album is not better known because it is a wonderful collection of eleven consistently good songs. That it works so well as an album is surprising considering that the collection was put together and released posthumously. Mic had put down all the tracks and had left instructions as to how the album should be completed. His friends and family followed these instructions to produce a consistent and cohesive collection of songs. The album was released in 2002 and won the 2003 Best Album at the Irish Meteor Music Awards

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Happy 60th, Tom!

Tom Waits turns sixty today and I think it’s fair to say that there’s life in the old dog yet. I first came across his music when I heard Bruce Springsteen’s version of Tom’s song, Jersey Girl. I liked the lyrics and the melody and it wasn’t long before I picked up a tape of his Big Time live album in a bargain bin. I must admit that I was quite flummoxed by the sounds that I heard. The instrumentation was unusual and it sounded like pots and pans were being used instead of regular percussive instruments. I was also a bit thrown back by the sound of his voice. The guttural roar that I heard sounded like a combination of someone who had been chain-smoking for years who had come down with a heavy cold after being on the lash for a few weeks. I played it a few times but I couldn’t get into it. Then, I bought a couple of his earlier albums and I was equally surprised by the comparative smoothness of his earlier singing style. The music was more conventional as well and the influence of blues, jazz and country on his earlier albums was apparent. As the years progressed, his voice became more gravelly and the music became less conventional, but it also become far more interesting. I still like some of his early songs but it’s his albums from the last few decades that I now prefer
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Best Albums of the 00s: 69 Love Songs

69 Love Songs - Magnetic Fields (2000)

The second album in my chronological look back at the decade in music is one that I had overlooked at first as the album was originally released in 1999. However, 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields was only released in the British Isles in the middle of 2000. I had never heard of the band or their music until I read a feature-length interview with Stephin Merritt, the main man behind the band, in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement. I was so intrigued by the concept of the album that I shelled out around €20 for it a little bit later. It remains one of the few times that I’ve ever paid more than a tenner for an album as I usually buy them in secondhand shops, charity stores or in the sales. I had a feeling that this album wouldn’t turn up in any of these places, so I picked up the only copy I could find when I paid a visit to Dublin that summer. In fact, the whole package wasn’t bad value as the album contains nearly three hours of music on three discs

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