ur indie labels continued to thrive. Popical Island released its second collection and unleashed the second album from lauded Dublin outfit Land Lovers and the scintillating debut by Tieranniesaur.
The Richter Collective brought us the epic Yeah Nothing from Squarehead, while Osaka Records were behind the brilliant confection from Patrick Kelleher And His Cold Dead Hands.
Delphi’s output during the year included releases from Waterford’s Deaf Joe and the ever mesmeric Sacred Animals. But the jewel in its crown was one of the year’s top albums, Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards by Dublin duo We Cut Corners, from whom we expect great things in 2012 (no pressure guys!).
Rubyworks provided one of the other stellar releases of 2011 in the form of The Minutes’ Marcata. The trio have continued their upward trajectory since the record’s release earlier in the summer, playing to packed-out venues and closing the year with a European tour supporting Flogging Molly in the fine company of The Mighty Stef.
Stef’s manager Frank Murray is the guiding force behind Lost Brothers Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland, who brought us another must-hear opus in the form of So Long John Fante. The band kickstart next year as part of The Certain Three Tour playing at a venue near you in January. DO NOT miss an opportunity to see their beguiling live show.
In May of this year Villager Conor O’Brien (formerly of The Immediate) brought home an Ivor Novello. Villagers’ Marlay Park date this summer was a wonderful live celebration of the feat.
In other ‘formerly of’ happenings, ex-Jubilee Allstar man Barry McCormack furnished us with another instalment of his enchanting musical musings on Dublin in the form of the sublime Small Mercies and two one-time Ten Speed Racer gents were also in album release mode; Joe Chester unleashed the magical She Darks Me and ex-pat Dermot Barrett (now resident in Norway) returned home for a victory lap to celebrate the rave reviews received for The Illusion Of Grandeur, his debut under the moniker Maskedman. Unencumbered by his Thrills bandmates, Ben Carrigan proved himself a solo artist of significance with Greatest Narrators.
In the People’s Republic, Fred came of age with their sparkling collection Leaving My Empire and albums by Zombie Computer and Exit Pursued By A Bear won many plaudits for the Cork creative community.
Further west in Limerick, the Out On A Limb label continued to fly the indie flag with gems from Owensie, Crayonsmith, Windings, Vertigo Smyth and more. Producer/musician Mark O’Connor’s third long-player Espero secured his status as local legend extraordinaire and Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters unveiled the highly anticipated Thread The Needle, which spawned a slew of new devotees. Elsewhere, Nick Carswell And The Elective Orchestra impressed with their resplendent offering The Word.
In the west, Galway’s The Kanyu Tree enjoyed top ten chart success with their debut and Sligo’s Oddsocks Revival signalled their long-form arrival with arresting fusion It’s Time.
The Workman’s Club venue celebrated its first birthday in September and was also the scene for two high-profile surprise visits when Morrissey stopped by to watch Squarehead and Spies, and Chris Wolstenhome from Muse joined Bipolar Empire on stage during their Feel That You Own It launch gig.
The Bipolar troupe were amongst the impressive Irish contingent at Oxegen that also included The Minutes, Little Green Cars, Consumer Love Affair and Royseven, who were riding high on the success of You Say, We Say released earlier in the year. The outfit will be warming up the crowd for Duran Duran in The O2 in December – way to exit 2011 with a bang!
At Electric Picnic, The Lost Brothers opened proceedings on the Main Stage with a transcendent set and the weekend saw James Vincent McMorrow, Funeral Suits and HP faves The Riptide Movement bat home runs for team Ireland.
This year also saw smaller festivals such as Indiependence, SXSW, Castlepalooza, Knockanstockan and Sea Sessions grow in stature and again provide a viable alternative to live music fans whose funds may not stretch to three-figure tickets and who may enjoy a more bespoke festival experience.
2011 saw the über-talented Thomas Walsh and his Pugwash cohorts excel themselves again with immaculate nugget The Olympus Sound, their first release via EMI.
Lisa Hannigan copperfastened her place as one of our fave female artists with her sumptuous album Passenger. She was amongst the Irish contingent at Other Voices in Dingle in December along with James Vincent McMorrow (another whose star is in rapid upward trajectory) and Little Green Cars (one of the hottest prospects for 2012).
In elder statesperson news, Gavin Friday released one of his finest works to date in the form of catholic and Sinéad O’Connor, who closes the year with an Olympia show, put the finishing touches to her February 2012 release.
In addition to those above, honourable mentions to The Hot Sprockets, The Chakras, The Ambience Affair, Saccade, The Dying Seconds, 3epkano and The 1922s and the too many others to name who invest time, effort and their hard-earned cash to channel their creative visions, hopes and dreams into a collection of songs that bring us joy, pleasure and make day-to-day life a little easier.
A big thank you from HP to all you musos out there – you keep us sane!