The many people who visited my blog post about Paddy Kelly might like know to that the former singer, now Brother John Paul Mary, made an appearance at the Youth Festival in Medjugorje yesterday and today to talk of his vocation. He also sang two songs. All footage and audio can be found on http://www.kathtube.com.
An explanation of the term “sean-nós”.
Finola Ó Siochrú: Searc mo Chléibh. Listen to 2 minute excerpts of the songs from her album, including the popular Máirín de Barra and her masterful performance of the beautiful Tipperary song An Clár Bog Déil. The album notes and lyric sheet (both from her website) are worth reading.
Róisín Dubh by Caitlín Maude (Youtube file). The great aspirational song of independence sung by a wonderful poet and singer.
The comic song Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneala is sung here by Dublin singer Róisín Chambers.
Slán le Máigh sung by Máire Uí Dhonnchadha. Not the best interpretation, I think, of Aindreas MacCraith’s song of exile from his native part of Limerick.
Seán Ó Sé sings Iníon an Phailitínigh atop a tourist bus in Cork. 
He also sings a verse of The Bells of Shandon, which takes its tune from Slán Le Máigh. I’m not really sure that Iníon is a sean-nós song, but I liked it. 
Iarla Ó Lionáird sings Táimse im’ Chodladh. Lyrics in Irish are here – note that these lyrics are obviously nationalist, whereas some versions are more general in tone.
Bruach na Carraige Báine on the flute. Lyrics.
Sliabh na mBan on the uileann pipes. A beautiful tune. The song is about the failure of the 1798 rebellion in Tipperary. Lyrics.
Úna Dheas Ní Nia sung by Naisrín Elsafty.
If anyone comes across videos or other streaming files of Nioclás Tóibín, I’d love to be able to include them here.
There are a ton more – I might do a second post or update this. Any suggestions are welcome.
The comedians involved are a group called Après Match. They started off in short sketches during and after Ireland’s matches (hence the name), and often mimicked the presenters and analysts.
“I agree with Bono.”
Searching through Last.fm a couple of weeks ago, I found an artist with what I thought were quite interesting songs. I ordered his album via eBay as stocks seemed to have disappeared from elsewhere, and I’ve been listening to it these past few days.
Some may remember the brief success in Ireland of the German-based, Irish-American group The Kelly Family, which one might say was not exactly critically acclaimed. However, Paddy Kelly, their most popular and, it is often said, most talented member (and the only Irish-born one, naturally ), later released an album which gained appreciative reviews from German critics. (That is, if the Amazon editorial review, the laut.de review and the pooltrax.com review are representative.)
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything special, but the album won me over very quickly, although my sister didn’t find it to her taste. Some tracks are, it must be noted, religious-themed and so unlikely to suit some people. However, it also deals with the struggle of a young person who has experienced the emptiness of fame and a life lived under media scrutiny, and is seeking to strike out a new path in life. This struggle is encapsulated in Thanking Blessed Mary, a powerful song which, for me, is the best track on the album.
The majority of the songs are good, with the exception of two songs that deal rather superficially with social and political issues. At the same time, there is some dodgy grammar, even by pop standards: “choosed” is not a word. The only throwback to the sentimentality of the Kelly Family is When You Sleep, which is, nevertheless, a decent song and reminds me of Jimmy McCarthy’s Wonder Child. The opening bars also provide a melodic echo of that song. Rain of Roses is a touching song dedicated to St Therese of Lisieux. However, I saw no acknowledgement in the sleeve notes that some of the lyrics were taken from an existing prayer to St Therese.
Speaking for myself, as a young person who has gone through my own religious struggles (and who has not), I found In Exile identifiable, uplifting and thought-provoking. As of this edit (2009), I still listen to it regularly on my iPod. I would have very much liked to hear some new music from Mr Kelly, but ochone ochone, it would seem that he has retired from the music business.
You can listen to In Exile in its entirety via Last.fm if you sign up for an account.
If anyone has listened to the album, do you have any views about it?
Update: see this post.
Thanking Blessed Mary, as sung by the former singer in August 2008 (see the Update post) is below.
One of my sister’s favourite artists is Declan O’Rourke, and while I listen to his albums frequently, I’m most interested in a forthcoming album about the Famine. (No word yet on when it’s due out.) I’d like to link to Johnny Hold the Lantern if it were to be found on the internet, but in the meantime, here’s Poor Boy’s Shoes.
