Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 27 - Out on blue 6 - Gone Too Soon (pg 438)

[mancity2012_eamo]

Throws up some very good stuff afterwards.

Always a bonus.

 

[Coatigan]

Always a bonus.

Particularly as it is pretty much 90% from my own library.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Right. Here we go.

The Celts

My offering, surprise, surprise, will take you on a journey to the north, south , east and west of…..
Yeah! Ireland.
You’re probably getting sick of it but believe me there’s a ton of this stuff , I doubt most of you have heard.
I’ve tried to give you a soft balanced sample that’s easily playable whatever the company.

1.
First up is a good starter from a band that had good success here. Their best known single was Mary, it was the most played song on Irish radio and the album kept U2 from winning band of the year over here, back in 1988 I think.

Mary is very good pop but I much prefer their later sound from the album Heaven and Earth. It is much more mature. Circa 2003.

I recently saw the two brothers Brendan and Declan Murphy, do a close up and personal gig in a small pub venue in Dublin. They did an acoustic set and they were brilliant.

The lead singer Brendan, had a fabulous rapport with his audience and he explained each song vividly. Declan is the silent partner but brilliant on guitar.

The band hail from Newry on the NI/Irish border and the songs when explained, brilliantly convey a childhood and life growing up in the north.

Sunlight is a good bright, hopeful start to the year and this playlist.

2.
Two more brothers, The O’Neills from The Undertones fame next. They hail from Derry of course but when setting up That Petrol Emotion, moved to London and got themselves an American singer, Steve Mack.

This is my throwaway upbeat pop offering that is infectious and will probably stick in your head and linger until like bubble gum it eventually loses it’s flavour. There’s room for one of these in every playlist.

3.
When I picked The Stunning album for my album choice last year it was a toss up between three albums. The 4 of Us and Lisa Hannigan were the other two. Lisa to me is what Kate is to Sadds.

The girl can do no wrong. The honesty and purity of her voice. She used play with Damien Rice but he dropped her after the success of ‘O’ . More fool him.

Lisa is from the south east of Meath close to the Dublin border.

Here, I’ve gone with a more playful, quirky song from her where she plays the ukulele. It’s another upbeat number. I love the simple video with it too, if you care to YT it.

4.
Back to The Fatimas. I still can’t keep away . They are not out of my system. This is a later number from the ‘Lost in the Former West’ album, which should put a bit of punch into the mix. Foggy loves a hook. Let the dirt cover all, is as good a hook as you can get.

Cathal and the boys are representing Cork and the south of course.

5.
The Walls are basically the two brothers from The Stunning, Steve and Joe. I saw them last year too, as the first band since lock down was eased. An acoustic set in a small venue and similar to The 4 of Us they just blew the place. Fabulous music. Fabulous rapport. And similar to the Murphy bros. They were approachable afterwards too. They too sing about things in their own life. They moved to the west of Ireland from Dublin when young and had to adapt to life in Clare.

They set up The Stunning operating out of Galway originally.

This is a beautiful song to end any playlist on.

Sunlight - The 4 of Us
Hey Venus - That Petrol Emotion
Knots - Lisa Hannigan
Belong Nowhere - The Fatima Mansions
May The Road Rise - The Walls

There you go. I hope there is enough appeal in there for all musical tastes.

Look forward to listening mate.

 

[RobMCFC]

An enjoyable first listen.

Full comments later in the week when I've had a few more listens, but in the meantime, I listened to the Lisa Hannigan Passenger album as a result. That's a nice album. Interesting that she guested with Ray Lamontagne on one of the tracks - she has that female equivalent of his breathy vocals, so it was a a good match.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

An enjoyable first listen.

Full comments later in the week when I've had a few more listens, but in the meantime, I listened to the Lisa Hannigan Passenger album as a result. That's a nice album. Interesting that she guested with Ray Lamontagne on one of the tracks - she has that female equivalent of his breathy vocals, so it was a a good match.

Try the later album, At Swim.
I was going to pick that for review. Still might.
I know female vocals aren’t the most popular in here.
She has an ethereal quality however and yes she’s breathy on the lower range but reaches the higher ranges effortlessly.

 

[bennyboy]

First listen disappointed in what I thought might have been a right up my street pick.
Couple of listens and my opinion has not changed.
Sunlight okay but nothing special.
Hey Venus..Disappointed in this track.Run of the mill Petrol Emotion track.
Knots...Lovely voice but a nothing special track.
Belong Nowhere..Unsurprisingly my favourite track.Great song with bass,guitars,drums and singing all top notch.
May the road rise...Nice enough but again nothing special.
Sadly not for me might investigate Lisa Hannigan and The Walls further all depends on what the album pick is on Wednesday.
Records after Big Decision,Looking for Lewis and Clark and Faron Young made a bigger impression than 4 of the picks.
Will investigate The Long Riders again.
Liked them in the 80's.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Well, I did purposely keep it quite mellow.

 

[Coatigan]

Fine first listen. Fatima Mansions aside, Lisa is the only one on here I had heard of before. And the only one I kind of struggled with. Bit of a mix of moods.
The Walls and 4 of Us ones that stood out at so far, both surprised me how far back they go, thought they sounded quite current.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Fine first listen. Fatima Mansions aside, Lisa is the only one on here I had heard of before. And the only one I kind of struggled with. Bit of a mix of moods.
The Walls and 4 of Us ones that stood out at so far, both surprised me how far back they go, thought they sounded quite current.

Yeah, I was kind of torn with what to pick for Lisa. I picked what I thought was quirky rather than typical from the second album. I steered clear of the At Swim album as I may yet get brave enough to put it forward for dissection.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Fine first listen. Fatima Mansions aside, Lisa is the only one on here I had heard of before. And the only one I kind of struggled with. Bit of a mix of moods.
The Walls and 4 of Us ones that stood out at so far, both surprised me how far back they go, thought they sounded quite current.

If you are interested in further investigation, apart from The Stunning having three fine albums on Spotify, one of which you’ve already reviewed, The Walls have three completely different albums also. The first in particular is totally different to where they were with The Stunning and I really like it.

The 4 of Us have four albums ranging from 1989-2016.
I’m more partial to their later stuff Heaven & Earth and Sugar Island.