Info: I'm not sure whether I wasn't as 'ear to the ground' last year as I was this year, or if it just so happened that there were more releases, but either way, 2018 has stood out as a much stronger year in terms of Irish album releases than 2017 in my opinion. Further evidence of this can be found on other Irish music websites and blogs who have already released their Album of the Year lists, thankfully there is a diversity of taste and opinions in most cases, which you don't necessarily come across in the established press. Again, the below albums are ones that were submitted for review, or singles from the albums themselves (I have to keep mentioning this disclaimer to avoid getting dragged into "I can't believe Band X isn't on this list!" discussions!).
I'd be really surprised if I find this list as hard at the end of 2019 as I did this year when it comes to my Number 1 choice. There were numerous occasions over the last 12 months where I had settled on what I thought would be my personal AOTY, it chopped, it changed, it's a grateful conundrum to be faced with. Ultimately, as with every year, the decision for me boiled down quite simply to how much I listened to the album, again, and again, and again.
In a broader sense, how it made me feel, how vividly I remember actually reviewing it, strength of impact that went far beyond mere enjoyment, the places it took me, and how much of a companion it became. My favourite album fit that criteria, as did many others. I remember specific moments when listening to tracks from these 20 albums, inane moments, day to day, non-descript nothingness, which the music somehow turned into little pieces of art in my mind. Crossing a certain road, staring at an ugly building, waiting in an elevator, all lent flourishes of colour by these hugely talented Irish musicians. Huge thanks goes to all of them for creating, putting their pain, joy, frustration, elation and magic into something tangible to share with the rest of us. It almost seems ridiculous to write about something that took 6 months, a year, two years or more to create, and give my thoughts on them in the space of a few hours when reviewing them. It's a bit perverse in many ways, but I'll keep doing it if it means I get to hear more incredible music!
So here we are, excerpts below from the actual reviews written during the year here on REMY. Thanks for sharing the music, and thanks for reading.
20) Father! - Beach Cloud Daze
"The 8 track collection comes in at just under the 25 minute mark, its unabashed DIY feel working well in creating a sleepy mood which matches up to its suggestive title. First track 'Opening' is a fiery start which sounds like a re-working of Joy Division's 'Disorder'. Before I'd even gotten to final track 'To Reme', I couldn't escape the fact that much of Beach Cloud Daze felt like a demo tape made by The Cure, with a hazy Californian flavour."
19) KARMS - Satellites
"The album closes with 'All I Want', and in some ways, it touches on a point I wanted to make from the very beginning, that underneath the bristling buoyancy of Satellites is another layer. Thoughtfulness. On your first few listens you may find yourself surrounded by a cacophony of swirling guitars, euphoric choruses and a relentless beat, but in time you'll discover much more, which is what makes a good album, a grower, become a great album."
18) DOTT - Heart Swell
"Irish bands continue to surprise me with their own unique renderings and takes on styles of music of yore that many of us have forgotten merely due to the passage of time. Galway band Dott hold up a sign that points to U.S. 90's alternative rock á la Throwing Muses or Veruca Salt on sophomore album Heart Swell, and then pull the sign down just as quick. I often mention new albums in the breath of ones that I would absolutely reach for when in certain moods because they encapsulate a genre so well, Heart Swell is one such LP. Dott have done a fine job of staying true to their school as the Beach Boys would say, without becoming repetitive over the 12 tracks."
17) Dr. Mindflip - Roominations: An Unauthorized Parody
"How can the band fittingly close out an album and voyage like this? 'Epilogue: Beardless in Hollywood' ensures you are reminded, in case you became too distracted by the chaos of the preceding tracks, of what they are all about. There's such powerful feeling in the vocal, strings and piano, almost sad, whilst the album takes your mind everywhere, they can also do the same within each individual song, which is some achievement.
18) DOTT - Heart Swell
"Irish bands continue to surprise me with their own unique renderings and takes on styles of music of yore that many of us have forgotten merely due to the passage of time. Galway band Dott hold up a sign that points to U.S. 90's alternative rock á la Throwing Muses or Veruca Salt on sophomore album Heart Swell, and then pull the sign down just as quick. I often mention new albums in the breath of ones that I would absolutely reach for when in certain moods because they encapsulate a genre so well, Heart Swell is one such LP. Dott have done a fine job of staying true to their school as the Beach Boys would say, without becoming repetitive over the 12 tracks."
17) Dr. Mindflip - Roominations: An Unauthorized Parody
"How can the band fittingly close out an album and voyage like this? 'Epilogue: Beardless in Hollywood' ensures you are reminded, in case you became too distracted by the chaos of the preceding tracks, of what they are all about. There's such powerful feeling in the vocal, strings and piano, almost sad, whilst the album takes your mind everywhere, they can also do the same within each individual song, which is some achievement.
Roominations: An Unauthorized Parody is without a doubt one of the most bizarre and overwhelming albums I've heard in a while, and it's magical, to be able to get the listeners imagination to run even wilder than the artists who composed it takes something special. In addition, a feature-length screenplay could be gleaned from Roominations, they should put in some calls; "Hey Elton, you still got that Mozart wig brah?"."
16) Johnny Fox - Águas
"Fox signs-off with the wandering 'Navegadora', a travel-weary troubadour contemplating the journey from the past to the future whilst being oblivious of the present. It comes back to what I mentioned earlier about each track being it's own story, making Águas more a collection of short stories that Fox has inter-twined expertly, than a singularly themed novella. Whilst Cais was a timeless piece of wonder that I will always come back to, Águas somehow sees Johnny Fox surpass it, and in a noticeable way, not just mere 'progression' as a song-writer. In a Utopian version of the music world, both albums would be dissected and analysed by critics as extremely important pieces of work which deserve a certain reverence, I won't be giving hope that day may actually come to pass."
15) Proper Micro NV - Dormant Boy
"Kitsch is a word I've never used once in a review of music because of its connotations, but there is no word in the English language that is close enough to suitable when it comes to certain aspects of Proper Micro NV's music, the best parts, and this is such a positive. Dormant Boy for me strikes the best balance between indulgence and admiration, regardless of whether you are a horrendous music snob, a happy go merry casual music listener, or that elusive Goldilocks in between, if you can't connect somewhere with this album, you may be dead inside."
14) Robert John Ardiff - Between the Bed and Room
"Between the Bed and Room concludes with a sunshine moment via the delightfully endearing 'Yoga Pants', we don't feel like we're being shown a vision of a rural Irish getaway, the music makes it feel far more exotic and balmy than that. Hats off to Ardiff for this debut album, there isn't a bad song in there, there is no 'making up the numbers' just for the sake of pushing out an album, every song stands on its own and is highly enjoyable, and it was a journey I really felt a part of from start to finish."
13) Zombie Picnic - Rise of a New Ideology
"I know I always say I hate being parochial because good music should traverse simplistic ideas of borders and geography, but I'm very proud that an Irish band has made an album like this. A proper concept album which achieves its entire message without any of the members of the band uttering a single word. I think of Public Service Broadcasting a bit here, who have made great albums which I adore on historical themes such as the race to the moon, working class annihilation in the Welsh coal-mining community etc., but the difference is that Zombie Picnic don't spell it out for the listener, they guide you, and you have to get out of your comfort zone and figure it out for yourself. One of the best Irish albums of the year all across the board."
12) SPIES - Constancy
"It'd be hard not to let the fish-hook that is 'Ho Chi Minh' draw your attention with immediacy and tickle your inquisitiveness. A semi-sluggish and cool intro plods along with great efficacy, making the listener board the SPIES train willingly. When you zip back to this single after listening to the album in its entirety you notice lots of little clues about their sound that unfold across the remaining 9 tracks.... Constancy has had such a quick impact on me in a short space of time, SPIES cross the bridge between themselves and the listener with absolute ease, and that bridge is a short one."
11) Trick Mist - Both Ends
"Both Ends was coming, from his early single releases, to the 2015 EP Jars in Rows, Trick Mist was assertively travelling towards the creativity that is lavishly spread across his debut album. For all of its calm exterior, few experimental pieces of music can simultaneously maintain a vice-like grip on your heart, and a soul you didn't believe you had anymore. There's a greatness at work here, the album is littered with examples, a perfectly formed expression in music of all that Trick Mist has absorbed in memory, environment, human experience. It begins."
10) BODIES - Drench
"Often when I think of Irish albums, I try to view them in the context of how they will be viewed in the future, in retrospect, which records will be seen as an integral part of the fabric of the current era of Irish independent music through the prism of history. Drench is one of those albums, no analysis of this period will be complete without, it is highly unique, the song-writing style just does not exist anywhere else here or abroad to the best of my knowledge. It deals with real, but difficult themes, thus making it highly relatable, McGeown's pain is his own, but it also allows us to reflect on our tragedies too. Giving a voice to our own subconscious thoughts through music is one of the highest achievements you can attain as an artist, and this is exactly what BODIES have afforded us with Drench."
9) Pursued by Dogs - Pursued by Dogs
"More and more acts appear to be taking stock of what music fans want rather than what they think they should be doing to attain success. Pursued by Dogs definitely fit into this bracket, and it's probably not all that surprising if you look at the band members respective backgrounds in music, these guys aren't wet between the ears....there are so many examples on this album of how the band do what feels right for them, the word risk may be a little bit over the top, but Pursued by Dogs' debut would not have worked in the manner it has unless they discarded the outside and went with their gut, which they clearly have, and that's the only creative marker of success when it comes to making albums that are great, and not just good, everything else is just noise."
8) Hostess - A Simple Life
"There are a lot of Irish bands who would loosely share the same sonic neighbourhood as Hostess that have brought out releases recently which are being heralded, but for me taste bland, are poor unoriginal imitations, and ultimately lack any depth. A Simple Life is the exact opposite of all of those things, this is the type of music that resonates, appeals, and sparks self-reflection in the listener, avoids clichés and provides a swathe of variety across its 8 tracks. For that, I have nothing but respect for it as an album."
7) We Cut Corners - Impostors
"I love Impostors, it's as simple as that, it is coherent as a body of songs, but also allows you to pull down the window, pause, and have a look around at the little spaces We Cut Corners create across the album. The singles, and indeed other tracks, are incredibly well written, as I mentioned earlier, yes there is a simplicity in parts, but the simpler something is, the more bland it may become, here it is the opposite by a country mile. It feels like Impostors is the moment us much-maligned fans of indie-rock have been waiting a long time for, thanks to We Cut Corners, our patience has been rewarded in spades."
6) Gareth Quinn Redmond - Gluaiseacht
*(GQR also released the album Laistigh den Ghleo in February which was our Album of the Month, the only time one act has ever done so twice in a year - added as a bonus track on the above playlist)
"I can't overstate how important this contribution and his previous outing are to the genre, Gluaiseacht should absolutely be considered a landmark album, it's important that music makes you feel something, small or big, but it's a gift when it takes you far, far away from your conscious state, the every day hum-drum, and transports you light years from your physical position. One final thought is that I also think of the 1982 masterpiece documentary Koyaanisqatsi, musically but moreso thematically. The film has no dialogue, charting the ever-changing interaction between the natural environment and the encroaching human one as we 'develop' technologically, something Gareth Quinn Redmond alludes to in his notes somewhat. So yeah, wow and thank you!"
5) Elephant - 88
"In his notes for sophomore album 88, Shane Clarke, aka Elephant, invites us to enjoy his expression of nostalgia and hopes that "it plays like a movie in your head". For him it's a cathartic reflection of hurt and loss, a soundtrack to his childhood and young adult life, but he's at pains to encourage you, the listener, to let 88 become whatever it is that your imagination desires....88 is like a novel, and the words on the pages will change with every listen, where you're taken with your first listen, you may never return to again, because every time you put on this record, Elephant will change the course of the story. It is also an album that will serve its purpose for many moods, you can be happy, sad, indifferent, and it will resonate with whatever colour you are feeling at a given moment. An Irish masterpiece on so many levels."
4) Villagers - The Art Of Pretending To Swim
"There's a distinct soulfulness to many of the songs on The Art of Pretending To Swim which is captured in the gorgeous, heart-breaking music and vocals of 'Sweet Saviour'. A hopeful yearning is painfully recanted on what may be one of the finest tracks O'Brien has written to date, it's an expertly executed balance between a duality of joy and scathing torment. On 'Long Time Waiting' the message is clear, a protagonist sits on our shoulder, chiding us as we stare into a bleak void of despair, wagging his finger in a condemnatory fashion, you and you only can lift yourself out of your malaise. Doing nothing and expecting an improvement in circumstances to occur spontaneously is naive at best. Like all of the songs here however, the brightness of the music surrounds these sometimes heavy themes with a peripheral optimism."
3) Paddy Hanna - Frankly, I Mutate
"Listening to his sophomore album you would outwardly get the impression of a highly creative musical maverick who injects humour and comedic brevity into his song-writing (which he does). When you listen to the lyrics on tracks such as the brimming orchestral piece that is 'All I Can Say Is I Love You', you start to ponder a bit more and take stock beyond the music itself...In a way the undercurrent of the whole album and its messenger lead directly to this point, outward / inward, joy / turmoil, together / alone.
I often project myself into the future, with one of my nieces or nephews starting to express an interest in music, and in this scenario they ask me what albums they should listen to in order to develop their song-writing or expand their palate. Frankly, I Mutate is one that would slip off the shelf, and I'd tell them to work their way backwards from there."
2) Just Mustard - Wednesday
"'Pictures' draws the wine velvet curtain down on Wednesday, bass-line and drums wound up tight together just before grating electric guitars enter the milieux. I want the track to descend into absolute chaos, to shock me in some way, and it does, again I could listen to that segment of the track endlessly just on its own. The machine grinds to a halt, it's tired, its work done, we're speechless. With Wednesday I feel like I've heard an album and collection of music that had me in awe when I was a teenager and first started out on a voyage of musical discovery.
Music obviously excites me now more than ever, but you never quite recapture that overwhelming feeling of absolute raw wonder that say, for example, hearing Nevermind for the first time, or Doolittle, albums like these made you believe in magic, and I'm very grateful to have that feeling again with Just Mustard's outstanding debut. I don't do ratings on the blog here, but if I did this would be one of the easiest 10/10's ever."
REMY's Irish Album of the Year for 2018 - II by Arvo Party
When Herb Magee aka Arvo Party released I last year I was smitten, an easy choice at #6 for my Best Irish Albums of 2017. Just over a year later II comes out, I was excited before I'd even heard the full shebang, with a few seriously good singles to go by, could it be one of those really rare cases where a stomper gets topped in such a short space of time? Yes. I burnt the arse out of this album for the last 4 months, I'm still burning the arse out of it, and not 48 hours goes by where I don't listen to the sheer majesty of single 'Liberté'.
II gives me that feeling that only mostly or wholly instrumental albums ever can, escape, opening up a pandora box from the furthest recesses of my brain, mind, imagination, whatever you want to call it. Feelings like the ones I got when I heard Agaetis Byrjun by Sigur Rós, Lost Souls by Doves, or All Is Violent, All Is Bright by God Is An Astronaut. Note none of these are electronic albums. It's the feeling. Music. Sometimes I don't want to feel anything when I listen to music, but when I do, or when some piece of music wills itself into me, that for me is musical nirvana, or for 2018, it's II by Arvo Party.
Read the full review from August here. Listen to II in it's entirety below.
Read the full review from August here. Listen to II in it's entirety below.
