Galway Advertiser 1992/1992_11_24/GA_24111992_E1_021.pdf 

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E T RA M N NE T N E T I

Round about this time of year newspapers and magazines usually present a round-up of "the best of the year" in music, books, theatre and so on. These lists are normally delivered with the kind of objective, impersonal finality that is more commonly associated with Moses handing down the Ten Commandments. Well, the lists on this page are different. These are the (note: with the death of vinyl it's getting more and more difficult to find the right term to refer to music releases - all formats seems to be the preferred term, but I'll stick to...) records that I find I've been listening to consistently this year. It's a "personal best" and I'm sure some readers will howl with outrage at the omissions in my lists, but that's life... Oh yeah, I've complicated things still further by giving two lists, one of what you might call international acts, and the other for Irish arts. There's such a lot of good Irish music that a little "positive discrimination" seems entirely justified. "Canadee-I-O" and "Hard Times". His version of "Arthur McBride" is fascinating. King of Hearts - Roy Orbison - Okay, so it's really just the sweepings and leftovers, but it's been lovingly produced and will be welcomed by all those who still mourn the untimely death of an ar tist who seemed on the verge of a real musical renaissance. K.D. Laing adds haunting beautiful vocals to "Crying" and "I Drove All Night" is as good as anything Roy ever did. Harvest Moon - Neil Young - 1 said above, talking about R.E.M. that it was certainly one of the best records of the year. This is the other con tender. Young just keeps getting better. His last trio of releases - "Freedom", "Ragged Glory" and "Weld" (or the longer "Arc-Weld" for devotees of instrumental thrash) - have been brilliant - loud, challenging, and lyrically punchy. With "Harvest", Young goes back to his folk roots, but there's nothing nostalgic about the trip. From "Unknown Legend" and the beautiful title track to the humorous "Old King" and the ethereal sound of "Dreamin' Man", this record proclaims Young an artist of undiminished power. Magic and Loss - Lou Reed - A serious (it's about death and dying and you can't get much more serious than that), musically brilliant record. Disturbing and definitely not for parties, it's one of those rare records that demonstrates the almost umnlimited possibilities of rock music as an artistic form. writes with passion and directness and com municates sensitivity without ever falling into the trap of sentimentality. A Wind of Change - Brendan O'Regan Superb music in the folk idiom but by no means limited to only traditional music, this record showcases a host of fine musicians backing the enormously talented O'Regan. The Better Match - Parson's Hat - Graceful and delicate, Parson's Hat take folk and traditional music into a quieter territory where the skills of the performers are allowed to emerge without fuss. Swampa Dori - Mamin Cajun Band - Hotstompin' music from the Connemara Bayou, where Irish trad meets and marries the authentic sound of Cajun, this is a record to play over and over. East Wind - Andy Irvine & Davy Spillane - A genuine contribution to the category of World Music from two Irish musicians who demonstrate an impressive ability to blend the haunting sounds of East Europe with Irish traditional forms. Irish Rock A to Z - This has got to be one of the best compilation albums of all time, showing just how amazingly diverse is the category "Irish music". A real feast, containing everybody from "Thin Lizzy", Hothouse Flowers", Something Happens, The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Stunning, Asian, Sharon Shannon, Mary Black, A Woman's Heart - Absolutely stunning, pro Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison and U2, to men bably the best set of tracks released in Ireland this tion only a handful. An essential double-set for Irish year. If you haven't got it yet, you ought to be music fans, and a challenge to any other country ashamed of yourself. to come up with the same brilliant variety. All The Way From Tuam - The Saw Doc and for the season that's tors - Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't ignore in it.... them. Most of the tracks on this follow up to their phenomenally successful debut album will already be familiar to fans, so it's a little bit disappointing from that point of view. But it's a good, solid selec rankie tion of what makes the band so popular and the new tracks give an indication of where they might a v i n be headed on No. 3. It's almost impossible to criticise a band that's such a lot of fun. Once Around The World - The Stunning A very impressive set of tracks from one of the best bands in Ireland. The new version of "Brewin' Up A Storm" is a real cracker, while the new tracks, especially "Rusty Old River", "Turn It On", "Mr Ginger" and "A Delicate Web" show a polished and professional band reaching new levels of musical accomplishment. A must. Another Day, Another Riot - Toasted Heretic - Take Julian Gough. Add a backing band containing Aengus MacMahon, Breffni O'Rourke, Declan Collins, and Neil Farrell, and what do you get? A massively talented bunch of rockers who make great music. The lyrics are stylish and subversive, and the off-the-wall black humour is unbeatable. A quantum leap forward for one of the most original bands in Ireland. Tall Tales...and Short Stories - The Big Geraniums - While the three other bands from Galway have received ample coverage in the music press both at home and further afield. The Big Geraniums have been almost ignored. But this debut album, containing tracks like the infectious "It's Alright" and "Rattlin" Down The Rails" give An Irish Christmas - Frank ie Gavin - Four evidence of an excellent band with an original teen Christmas tracks -from "Away In A Manger" sound. and "Adeste Fideles" to "Silent Night" and "The Just Another Town - Johnny Duhan - A Holly A The Ivy", with stopovers for some trad beautifully arranged musical autobiography from tunes like "Turkey Red", and "Tommy Coca's one of our most gifted songwriters, containing such Christmas Eve" - from Ireland's most brilliant fid outstanding tracks as "Let's Just Have Another dle player, accompanied by Carol Hession and Joe Drink", "Benediction", "Margaret", the pain Bernie on sax. Put this on after you've eaten the fully honest "Everything Will Be Alright" and the Christmas dinner and you'll dance all that weight ringing affirmation of "A Winter's Night". Duhan off in no time!

PERSONAL

INTERNATIONAL SOUNDS
Automatic For the People - R.E.M.If not the best, then certainly one of the best of the year. A dark and brooding set of tracks, with some terrific guitar work from Peter Buck, this record confirms the band's central place among today's music makers. The Southern Harmony and Musical Com panion - The Black Crows - Another bunch of boys from the deep South follow up their excellent debut album with more of the same - tough, ragg ed rock that sounds like The Rolling Stones used to sound. 99.9F - Suzanne Vega - The normally quite downbeat Ms. Vega produces a record that this time actually rocks. Her lyrics are always intrigu ing but here she decides to drop the moody pose and let rip, as on tracks like "Fat Man & The Dan cing Girl", "In Liverpool" and the title track. Joshua, Judges, Ruth - Lyle Lovett - A brilliant album from one of the few really original artists making music today. Sharp and clever lyrics, a folk-blues-gospel-country sound, and Lovett's ex pressive voice make this a classic from a shameful ly undervalued artist. Goin' Back to New Orleans - Dr. John Here's the first record from the old Night Tripper in quite a few years and it's as good as anything he's ever done. From the sublime "Litanie des Saints" and the great cover of "Goodnight Irene" to the raunchy humour of "How Come My Dog Don't Bark (When You Come Around) and the rootsy declaration of faith in the Doctor's closing number, "Goin' Back To New Orleans", this is sassy music. It also revives memories of this Sum mer's Arts Festival "New Orleans Revue". Unplugged - Erie Clapton - The expanding range of artists who are better known for their elec tric music going back to acoustic sound comes up with a winner in Old Slowhand. Familiar tracks like "Before You Accuse Me" and "Running On Faith" and, of course, "Layla" sound fresher than ever, while Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues" gives Eric a chance to pay tribute to a seminal in fluence on his own blues. And "Tears in Heaven" is heartbreaking in its acoustic version. Good As I've Been To You - Bob Dylan Bob comes full circle on this acoustic album of folk & blues covers, with standout tracks like

THE HOME FRONT

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-~ Harvest

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Arkansas Traveller - Michelle Shocked - A revelation! A witty, wise-cracking bunch of songs that sound like they've been around for donkey's years. The lady's got a great voice, and she's sur rounded herself with a host of fine musicians who turn out the kind of music Bill Clinton snaps his fingers to. If you're feeling down, just skip to the title track "Arkansas Traveller" and if you don't feel a smile creeping round your face, well, you jest ain't human! Human Touch/Lucky Town - Bruce Springs teen - Two flawed records that really should have been pruned by someone to eliminate the dross, but there's still enough here (e.g "Human Touch", "57 Channels", "Roll of the Dice", " I Wish I Were Blind", "Better Days", "If I Should Fall Behind", "The Big Muddy", "Book of Dreams" and "My Beautiful Reward") to be very grateful that Bruce is still out there making music.