There are many arresting moments across the new Everlasting Yeah record, but there’s none better than the pure flow of ‘Myself When I Am Real’. Sure enough, you have great musicians with a provenance that goes back to The Petrol Emotion and then further, to Damian’s place in The Undertones. And for this track, they roll and coil for over seven minutes, relishing their simpatico groove, clearly aware that a cool thing is in process.

Raymond and Damian throw down expert guitar lines like card sharks, upping the other’s expectations. It’s not frivolous to compare this to the work of Television’s Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. It’s all surprise and invention, and when the vocals arrive after four minutes of this, you find yourself grinning broadly. Continue Reading…

Ursula Burns has written a bunch of memorable lyrics over the years, from ‘Sinister Nips’ and ‘Continental Boys’, to ‘Small Square Parks’ and ‘Heartbreak Was Heartbreak’. But on the new record, words are banished and the harp has full dominion. It’s a chance to indulge and evoke, to let the maverick style contend with bardic traditions, Latino flourish and semaphore bleeps. It sounds rich and unfettered. As the album title suggests, the tunes indicate roots and blossom, endurance and ecology. Continue Reading…

Years ago, Sinéad O’Connor set out her thoughts about the song ‘Jackie’, her great lamentation for a soul lost at sea. She sang it like she was a ghost, wailing and disbelieving that her man was so long gone. Sinéad told me she had based the song on an Irish play – she couldn’t remember the title – that had ended with a drowned fisherman and a woman who cried into the darkness with the sound of the pre-Christian caoin. Continue Reading…

Eric Bell is the guitarist who convinced Phil Lynott and Brian Downey to join him in a band. Then he invented the name of the group: Thin Lizzy. That was December 1969, when he brought his character as a Belfast artist to the emerging Dublin scene, causing great things to happen.

He was eager to explore the limits of the electric guitar, just like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. And while Eric loved his blues and jazz, he was also at home in the Dublin trad clubs. So, Thin Lizzy had a lyrical, Celtic spirit that became a template for generations of artists on the island.

He played on the first three Lizzy albums, peaking with Vagabonds of the Western World in 1973. Earlier that year, the band had scored a UK hit single with ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, their version of the ancient folk ballad. Eric had realised that he needed to pull off something special with the recording. His solution was to make his guitar sound like the uilleann pipes. He was a fan of the early Chieftains records and that was the prime influence. A magnificent fusion.

Eric Bell, 2024. Photo by Stuart Bailie

He also created the bedrock riff that became ‘The Rocker’, an early example of Thin Lizzy swagger. But Eric was also wary of the showbiz world. It reminded him of his tiresome past on the Irish showband circuit. Therefore, he parted with the band after a stressful show in Belfast, New Year’s Eve, 1973.

Afterwards, he guested with the likes of Noel Redding and Bo Diddley, even performing with Metallica. But much of Eric’s later work has evolved at a quieter pace, away from the headlines. A new box set, Remembering – Anthology 1996-2017, collects five of his albums. Sometimes you hear him rocking out, but often Eric is deep and reflective. He has been faithful to the music. He has endured. “It’s such an honour to be recognised in your own home town. Thank you all.”

Stuart Bailie

Eric Bell will receive his Legend Award at the Ulster Hall on November 13, 2024. He will also perform on the night with a special guest. This is part of the Northern Ireland Music Prize event, produced by the Oh Yeah Music Centre. Eric’s award is supported by PRS for Music.

You might know Susie Blue for the voice, the empathy and the disarming visuals. You suppose that Susie is singing us into a new nation that doesn’t submit to limits and hang-ups. But a further part of the Susie method is that you must not presume. There’s a new song called ‘Worst Side of Me’ that takes us on an alternative tour of the artist. If you want to be close, then you might have to consider the less attractive features. Just like a Nan Goldin picture, you get the messy context ahead of the nice stuff. Continue Reading…

Applause for Deci Gallen and his vaporous but lovely presence as LMINL. Once, he composed as the Jane Bradfords and connoisseurs of synth-swoon may remember ‘Golden Ticket’ with affection. Long story, but he has rejoined us with a new project and an album that is flecked with memory and sighs, like stray light in a derelict room.

Actually, that’s not a fancy conceit, since the songs tell of a return to the old house in the rural northwest and the parish dance hall that’s adjacent to it. Decades ago, there was vibrancy, but now the visitor senses decay:

“Copper pennies turned to green, the apple smell of Halloween… souls…”

Deci Gallen, LMINL

The songs are unhurried, resting by the poignant details, allowing the emotions to transfuse. A few of the tunes take their leave with a billowing coda. ‘We Were Something’ is seven minutes of ascending, aching Proust-pop. Likewise, the cathedral tones of ‘Postcard’, just the job if you favour the scale of Sigur Rós and The National.

The backstory of LMINL is about awful misfortune, damaged hearing and a record that might never have been made. Which gives the votive flicker of ‘Halo Light’ a consoling aspect. Prepare another candle for the souls who gave illumination.

Stuart Bailie

LMINL will host a playback event of The Dance Hall during this year’s Sound of Belfast programme, 7 November. Ticket details here.

Afterwar is a film about street kids in Kosovo, selling peanuts, phonecards and cigarettes in late-night bars. These phantom children work the tables and the last of the dawn trade before taking their bus rides out of Pristina. They return to the rural beyond, to damaged homes and bleak landscapes. Parents are dead, injured or missing. Here it is, the dispossession of war. Continue Reading…

BIIRD is where Tank Girl and Stevie Nicks meet Riverdance, downtown. It’s about exceptional playing and trad music chops, delivered with high self-esteem, style and mischief. The 11 musicians have served their time in back bars, sessions and flash concert halls. The experience has been useful, but this seems like a determined break.

BIIRD, Mandela Hall, Belfast. By Stuart Bailie.

They make their Irish debut during Tradfest, at a busy Mandela Hall near the end of a tremendous week. For the duration, Belfast has been animated by so many great festival performances, workshops, talks, céilí dances and international visitors. Tradfest is raising the standards and proving that the city has the capacity to deliver the all-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in 2026. It’s a treat to see it all scale up. Continue Reading…

Moya Brennan has made an impression on ravers and new agers, on keepers of the tradition plus fans of the human voice, being exceptional. The Clannad days are over but Moya is here with familiar songs and new ideas, with daughter Aisling, son Paul and harpist Cormac de Barra. It’s the first night of Tradfest 2024 and a chance to witness a trail that’s been meaningful for over 50 years. Continue Reading…

We once saw Lankum at Stendhal when they were called Lynched. Another time, in 2021, we watched DJ Próvaí moonlighting as Losta Plot, unmasked and insecure.

Every year, you steer for Limavady and Ballmully Cottage Farm, looking for surprise and fresh reveals. Happily, this is also an option for 2024.

Continue Reading…