We first heard of Cormac O’Caoimh in April this year when he released his album “Shiny Silvery Things”; it’s a creation of rare beauty and you should really give it a listen. Allan sticks to his opinion that the closest you can get to categorising it is as a cross between Prefab Sprout and The Divine Comedy. which is a really good thing. Cormac agreed to share his five favourite albums of this year with us:

1.   Joe Chester – The Easter Vigil

Joe Chester should be huge. This is his 5th album. He has been nominated for both the Choice Music Prize and the Meteor Irish Music Awards and his first album, A Murder Of Crows, was included in the books 101 Irish Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, by Tony Clayton-Lea and Buried Treasure Vol. 2 by Dan Hegarty and recently in The Sunday Times list of the best Irish albums of all time. But, for me, this new one tops that and it has replaced Nick Drake as my go to evening listening.

2.   Malojian – Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home

This guy is a machine. He has released 4 albums since 2013. The last 3 came out in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The lazy bugger took 2014 off it seems. But they are all top quality indie pop loveliness.

3.   Marlene Enright – Placemats & Second Cuts

A fellow Corky and I have to have one Cork act here. But this would be in the list regardless. Love the songs and the warmth of the vocals. 21st century folk.

 

4.   Frankenstein Bolts – Aglow & Spark

The world needs more bands. Ireland in particular have singer-songwriters coming out of the woodwork (all great by the way…). And more than bands we need more dream pop bands… lovely melodies, mighty soundscapes. Atmosphere and production is all well and good but like all 5 on this list the songs are the key. And they stand out as incredibly strong songs.

 

5.   Laura Mulcahy – ‘Funeral, Home, Lizard…’

It is very hard to be original and unique. Everyone has influences and bands or acts that they love that consciously or unconsciously they can sound a bit like. It is even harder to be original and unique AND good!! But Laura is that. A weird and wonderful collection of 18 songs!!! Songs tackle subjects most songwriters avoid but despite all that it is delivered in a wonderfully catchy and melodic way. I normally put an album into one of two categories. I think all albums need to be either a late evening listening album or a driving album. This one can be both. In the car I can happily sing along and bop along just taking in the music. In the evening I can be more attentive to the stories and the lyrics.

_{I reviewed the latest Bob Bradshaw album “American Echoes” fairly recently and I loved the contrast between the raw rock power and the subtlety and delicacy. It was the album of a musician who had learned his craft the difficult way and then gone on to study the subject from an academic viewpoint. It was a background that led him create a very fine piece of work. When we put the call out for 2017 High Fives, Bob was the first to respond with these great recommendations.} 

_{‘”Shotgun’” by Spoon from “Hot Thoughts”}

_{– as pure a shot of smart pop/rock as I’ve heard in a long time.} 

 

 

 

 

_{“Eastern Light” by Tift Merritt from “Stitch Of The World”}

_{– it’s scary how vulnerable Tift Merritt allows herself to sound on “Eastern Light”, a masterclass in expressive singing.}

 

_{“The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness” by The National from “Sleep Well Beast”}

_{– best song on the new album: great singing and arrangement, and a bone-fide guitar solo to boot.}

 

 

 

 

_{“Holding On” by The War On Drugs from “A Deeper Understanding”}

_{– I’m sometimes on the fence about Adam Granduciel’s singing and lyrics but the orchestral sweep of Holding On keeps me coming back for another listen.}

 

 

 

_{“Sorry Is Gone” by Jessica Lea Mayfield from “Sorry Is Gone”}

_{– best unexpected ear-worm of the year, this one snuck up on me and then wouldn’t let go…. I’m sorry but sorry is gone.}

 

As gigs go, music journalism and photography is about as good as it gets for this ‘wee boy fae East Wemyss’. When you do something for over a decade you’re going to have a few frustrating experiences; what you hope for is that the genuine bangers even up the balance, maybe even tip it into the positive. It’s no exaggeration to say that 2017 has been astonishing year with some moments that would have my eighteen-year-old self wondering how on earth all that happened. But even with the volume anchored at ten, there were some moments when it sneaked up to eleven (‘it’s one higher’). In no particular order, these are some of those moments.

Stone Foundation @Islington Assembly Hall – I’ve been a fan of Stone Foundation since the moment I stuck a promo of their album “To Find the Spirit” in the CD player about four years ago. It hit me with that sucker punch of Hammond and horns from the first bell and followed it up with a hit of pure twenty-first century British soul. I’ve watched as the band’s abilities and sheer bloody hard work have steadily moved them up the rankings. I guess it helps that they’re such a great bunch of people as well.

Their latest album “Street Rituals” was recorded at Paul Weller’s Black Barn studios with Mr Weller guesting on a couple of songs and now they can headline at the bigger London venues. So when they announced a tour gig at Islington Assembly Hall, it looked like a reasonably good punt for a Paul Weller guest appearance, the odds shortening when, collecting my photo pass, I discovered that access to the pit was for the entire set. It wasn’t just limited to one Magic Moment either. Not only did PW join the band to take the lead vocal on the gorgeous “Your Balloon is Rising”, he also appeared later for a cracking version of “What’s Goin’ On” (with a hint of “Something in the Air”). Not only two great performances that might never be repeated, but one of my favourite photos of the year (above). More SF to come…

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes @The Forum, Kentish Town – I first heard Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in 1977 and I was hooked instantly. I’ve never fallen out of love with that voice and the sound of that band (Hammond and horns again, with big rock guitars as well), but I could never have imagined the first time I heard “The Fever” it would mean the start of a long-term relationship rather than a one-night stand. Fast-forward to the second decade of the twenty-first century and things get a bit intense – I was asked to do some green room shots of Gilson Lavis presenting Southside with a pen and ink portrait of himself he’d done a few months before. And then I was asked to interview Gilson about his upcoming New York art exhibition and to take some photos of the gig.

I was in the green room with one of my all-time heroes and his incredible band, shooting the breeze and listening as the band arranged a guest performance with Gilson before being thanked by one of the band for a review I’d written of his side project. HTF did that happen? And then they went on to play a storming set with Gilson guesting on “Key to the Highway”. I still can’t believe it.

Stone Foundation @The Empire – This one’s easy; you can get all the background above. No surprises this time, I knew from the off that Graham Parker was the support for this gig. I’ve always been a huge fan and I was at the gig with my old friend and sometime MusicRiot contributor Steve Jenner and his lovely wife Sue. While I was backstage sorting out my accreditation, I bumped in to Neil Sheasby, bass player and co-songwriter with Stone Foundation, who was also having a ‘pinch myself’ moment because Graham Parker had brought along Dave Robinson, former Stiff Records supremo, who was regaling the band with his seventies music business stories.. One of the things I was sorting out backstage was photo pit access. I mentioned earlier that SF had allowed access for the whole gig in Islington; This time they went one better; they highlighted the songs that would feature guest appearances later in the set and ensured that that the photographers had pit access. That’s proper attention to detail.

The real magic moment came towards the end of the evening with a guest vocal by Graham Parker on his old Ann Peebles cover “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down”. Magical because of a stunning performance by everyone on stage, but also because GP hasn’t played with a horn section in years and he’s said GP and The Rumour will never play live again. And a big shout to Jalen N’Gonda, the first support act (who was superb in a Marvin Gaye-style) and popped up during “What’s Goin’ On”. These guys know what they’re doing.

Hannah Aldridge & Jetbone @Windlestock – The night after the gig above as it happens with the same audience plus Mrs M, who can go out because it’s not a school night. Anyone who knows me will know that I’m a huge fan of Hannah Aldridge. She writes powerful and moving songs, she has an incredible voice and she has those cheekbones. I never get tired of photographing Hannah; it’s a different visual image every time, but that bone structure is always there. Anyway, this time she’d brought along Jetbone from Sweden to play a support of their blues-inflected Southern boogie and as her backing band.

I love a chance to photograph artists in different environments and this was a great opportunity. Towards the end of the set Hannah put her guitar to one side (got my interest already), picked up a tambourine (camera in hand) and went into full Janis Joplin mode (jeez, never thought I’d see that). It was a night packed with stunningly good performances (including the opening set by Rebecca Reidtmann), but the tambourine thing made my night.

Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band (private gig) – I had a significant birthday a few days ago and invited a couple of bands, Deep Blue Sea and Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band to play at the event. They were both superb. I’ve seen Dana a couple of times and the band is great, the original songs are superb and she knows how to deliver a powerful cover. Now these gigs are difficult, because audience chatter (seriously frowned upon I serious music venues, and rightly so) is almost inevitable as people catch and are perhaps introduced for the first time. Dana and the band took it in their stride and won over a crowd that ranged in ages from three (my great-nephew, who was completely smitten) to eighty-one (my mum and mother-in-law).
They took a short break after a storming first set and returned for a second set with an audience that was particularly noisy. With no introduction they launched into an almost a cappella (a little percussion) two-part harmony version of the Janis Joplin classic “Mercedes Benz” which completely silenced the audience and immediately dragged attention back to the stage. Unconventional certainly, but they had the audience eating out of their hands after that. I’ve seen a lot of classic pieces of stagecraft, but that was probably the finest.

If you’ve got any moments like those that you want to share with us, message us on the Facebook page or email musicriotboy@gmail.com. And thanks for following us.