I went down to see the video one of the nights and was delighted to see plenty of travelling Welsh rugby fans stopping to enjoy the photos momentarily before being aggressively harassed by the fine people of Dublin until they ran away. I’ve included a couple of photos of the projection below too. The screen is being used for all sorts of good stuff now so if you are around Temple Bar in the next month, be sure to check out the series of video artworks being screened there as part of ‘Astral Projection Abduction Fantasy’ by Standard Features for some stuff that’ll really test your retinas.

Flattering, eh?

A considerable amount of time has passed since I last posted on my blog. A lot has happened since then, including an iffy year in music, tons of great gigs and the long overdue migration of this blog from wordpress.com to kDamo.com. Huzzah! There’s a zillion reasons why I wasn’t blogging in 2011, not least the fact that I was in a full-time job that involved posting through WordPress 95% of the time. But who needs excuses when you can have an omnibus-style video round-up of all the stuff I probably would have posted had I been bothered.

Here’s a short video featuring a selection of my favourite photos from 2011. It’s mostly gig photos as you’d expect and I threw in a few from my travels for good measure. It’s all soundtracked by my song of the year, M83′s ‘Midnight City’.

I’m not gonna go into a big review of the music of 2011, as I’m really more concerned with upcoming stuff for 2012 which I’m optimistic about, but here’s a couple of my other favourite songs from the year just gone and (for what it’s worth) the list of my top 10 albums of the year, as submitted to State back in late Nov/early Dec. Though I’d vehemently argue against those choices now.

Holy Ghost! – ‘Do It Again’

Little Green Cars – ‘My Love Took Me Down To The River (To Silence Me)’

Laura Marling – ‘Sophia’

Tieranniesaur – ‘Here Be Monsters’

Albums of 2011:
1. Wild Beasts ‘Smother’
2. The Joy Formidable ‘The Big Roar’
3. M83 ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’
4. St. Vincent ‘Strange Mercy’
5. Bon Iver ‘Bon Iver’
6. Laura Marling ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’
7. Lisa Hannigan ‘Passenger’
8. PJ Harvey ‘Let England Shake’
9. Feist ‘Metals’
10.  TV On The Radio ‘Nine Types of Light’

I might blog again soon. I might not. What’s it to you?

StoryMap

StoryMap is a new multimedia project that gives people an alternative tour of Dublin through the kind of bizarre stories you’d have to drink in Grogan’s for a few years to gather. In fairness, that’s quite possibly exactly what the people behind the site did, but they’ve gathered some quality tales from a cast of characters that are far more interesting than your average Pat Shortt comedy series. According to the guys themselves, their stories range from “historical stories to personal anecdotes, from romantic meetings to drunken antics”. Here’s a sneak peek at one of the drunken antics ones.

A brilliant, evolving new source of information about our weird and wonderful city, StoryMap will be of equal use to tourists and life-long Dubliners. Combining the video/mapping technology available these days and the rich history of storytelling that Dublin has to offer is one of those ideas that’s so simple it must be genius. The initial range of stories, including the early days of the Olympia Theatre and Ron Black from The Dawson Lounge, will go online after the launch of the website tonight. The launch party takes place in The Grand Social from 7:30pm tonight and as well as a few real live storytellers onstage, there’ll be live sets from Junah and Till Death Do Us Party, burlesque dancers Three-o Troupe and DJ duties will be recklessly handled by myself and the potentially lethal Jane Cassidy. Free in and all that jazz so do come down and join us. If you have a story you’re interested in sharing, get in touch with the guys at storymapdublin@gmail.com

Sharon Van Etten

I saw that The National are playing in Berlin when I’ll be there in a few weeks, but given that I caught them in the Olympia before Christmas, I wasn’t pushed about seeing them again. A good old-fashioned catch-up chat over a bottle of wine in an alleyway should suffice. But the other day I noticed that they have Sharon Van Etten supporting that night and I suddenly got the urge to seek out tickets for the sold out gig. Van Etten has creeped up in the musical shuffle that accompanies my daily commutes a few times recently and reminded me what a great songwriter she is.

The song that popped up a few times recently was “Much More Than That” from her 2009 album Because I Was In Love. It’s a slow, tip-toe of an acoustic guitar line, wrapped up in tentative swooning vocals. The main vocal part is cold and forlorn but there is a contentedness amidst the loneliness that really defines the song. Her more recent release, 2010′s Epic, is a more polished, country-tinged affair but her strengths as a vocalist and songwriter still shine through. [Insert names of female folk singer comparisons here.]

The internet tells me things like she is from Brooklyn, which is not surprising. It also tells me she sang on The Antlers’ album Hospice, on the track “Thirteen”, which makes her even more brilliant. Fact. Weirdly, as I was looking her up on Soundcloud the other day, it seemed she had just – in the past couple of minutes – uploaded her two albums to the site for streaming. Lucky me. And you. Get some below or check out her page here.

Sharon Van Etten – Much More Than That

Sharon Van Etten – Epic

Jennifer Evans

The 9th series of Other Voices kicks off on our screens in three weeks, which now feels like an eternity because the line-up just looks so, so good. In a particularly fine year for the long-standing favourite, a delicious bunch of bands were gathered down in Dingle while the rest of us were moaning about snow around the country in early December. The series has plenty to look forward to, with acts like ASIWYFA and Marina & The Diamonds livening up proceedings in St. James’ Church in Episode 2 accompanied by the dark humour of Cavan folkster Lisa O’Neill. Class acts like Richard Hawley, Cathy Davey and Lisa Hannigan along with the always interesting Steve Mason, Everything Everything and rising Irish star The Danger Is make it a series worth watching or Sky Plussing or whatever it is you do. The first episode is likely to be my favourite though, with a top drawer line-up. The National aside, they’re not the biggest names, but Anna Calvi will undoubtedly be one of the stars of 2011 stream a track below) and accompanying this pair with two Irish acts that have been going from strength to strength recently in James Vincent McMorrow and Jennifer Evans promises a show full of exceptional performers that rarely fail to leave audiences blown away.

Anna Calvi – Blackout (Demo)

All shows are scheduled for RTE Two at 11.25pm

PROGRAMME 1 (Wednesday 16th February)
The National
Anna Calvi
James Vincent McMorrow
Jennifer Evans (IMRO Other Room)

PROGRAMME 2 (Wednesday 23rd February)
Marina & The Diamonds
ASIWYFA
O’Emperor
Lisa O’Neill (IMRO Other Room)
Sacred Animals (IMRO Other Room)

PROGRAMME 3 (Wednesday 2nd March)
Ellie Goulding
John Smith
The Minutes
Planet Parade (IMRO Other Room)

PROGRAMME 4 (Wednesday 9th March)
Everything Everything
Cathy Davey
Ryan Sheridan
General Fiasco
Daithi O’Dronai (IMRO Other Room)

PROGRAMME 5 (Wednesday 16th March)
Lissie
Smoke Fairies
Steve Mason
The Man Whom (IMRO Other Room)
Ciara Sidine (IMRO Other Room)

PROGRAMME 6 (Wednesday 23rd March)
Richard Hawley
Lisa Hannigan
Jarvis Cocker
The Danger Is (IMRO Other Room)

Ones Two Watch

January is a bleak, harsh motherflipper of a month and heading into a year with a silly name like 2011 on the back of the constant barrage of bad news that was 2010 is even more miserable. Luckily, the good people at Whelan’s, State.ie, The Ticket and Tickets.ie have put their brains together in a blender and the juices that flowed out were the makings of a bargain-priced showcase festival with some of the very best of new Irish music playing across three stages on four consecutive nights. Whelan’s One Two Watch Two Thousand + Elevan takes place in Whelan’s (Main Room & Upstairs) and next door in The Village between Wed 12th and Sat 15th January 2011, with admission for one night costing €5 (which is fairly deadly) and a pass for all three venues for all four nights costing only €10 (which is mind-bogglingly brilliant and also includes a free pint!). The full line up for all four nights is below and I’ve included streams of a few of my favourite acts as well. Perhaps it’s not the most obscure list of recommendations, but I’ve been bigging up some of these for a long time and they really deserve the recognition.

Jennifer Evans – Uncomfortable Word

Lisa O’Neill – Anonlikely Scale

Cloud Castle Lake – A Wolf Howling

Toby Kaar – Mexico

Strait Laces – Seconds Out (Nakatomi Towers remix)

The Danger Is – EP

Planet Parade – Zulu Sound EP

WEDNESDAY JAN 12TH

MAIN ROOM (DOORS 7.30PM)

Lisa O Neill
Ivan St John
Owensie

UPSTAIRS (DOORS 7.30PM)
Jennifer Evans
Anthony Furey
The Man Whom

THURSDAY JAN 13TH

MAIN ROOM (DOORS 7.30PM)

Thread Pulls
Cloud Castle Lake
Great Lakes Mystery
Hunter-Gatherer

UPSTAIRS (DOORS 7.30PM)
Guilty Optics (Cancelled according to “the Twitter”)
Toby Kaar
Catscars
Datadrip

FRIDAY JANUARY 14TH

MAIN ROOM (DOORS 7.30PM)

Squarehead
Shouting At Planes
Grand Pocket Orchestra
Miracle Bell

UPSTAIRS (DOORS 11.30PM)
Strait Laces
Hired Hands
Alarmist
Lost Chord

SATURDAY JANUARY 15TH

MAIN ROOM (DOORS 7.30pm)

Heroes In Hiding
The Danger Is
Casanova Wave

UPSTAIRS (DOORS 7.30PM)
No Monster Club
Bill Coleman
One more tbc

THE VILLAGE (DOORS 7.30PM)
Planet Parade
This Club (Hoarsebox)
Cashier No 9
one more tbc

Bono craves acceptance, idiots give it to him.

Yesterday it was announced that there would be no Meteor Ireland Music Awards this year due to the people what normally do them not wanting to do them. The out-pouring of grief from dedicated music fans that followed this announcement brought a tear to my eye. What are the people of Ireland supposed to do without the highlight of their musical calendar? The prospect of being deprived of such a vital indicator of the current quality of both the Irish and international music scene in what are already such tough and challenging times is too awful to think about. We can hope and pray that the Meteor Ireland Music Awards return next year but, for now, I’m willing to fill the void left in all our lives.

It gives me great pleasure to announce The Meteors, which will take place late on the night of 29th February 2011 at 2am in my front room. Tickets – costing €8 plus Curly Wurly – will be available exclusively from Centra in Stoneybatter. Playing live on the night will be my iTunes, though we’re hoping ABBA might be reformed by then and will come along. In keeping with the grand tradition of every crap awards show, Westlife have confirmed their attendance and, in a needlessly detailed RSVP, told us that while they would arrive together and get their spray-on tans together the previous afternoon, they would each wear a slightly different shade of extremely shiny suit to express their individuality. Like so. The full list of nominees has just been retrieved from thin air and the public are invited to vote in all categories by simply texting “OMG” followed by the name of the act to 51551 between 1:45 and 3pm, Mon -Fri.

Best Radio DJ
Ray Foley’s ego
Neil Prendeville
Joe Duffy
Zig & Zag
AA Roadwatch

Best Irish Band
U2
Westlife
The Saturdays
The Script
Mumford & Sons

Best Irish Male
Paddy Casey
Dustin the Turkey
Matt Cardle
Jedward
Paddy Casey
Michael Collins

Best Irish Female
Enya
MaBySuDoKu
Wallis Bird
My auntie Bridie
Jedward

Best Irish Pop Act
Snow Patrol
Kíla
The Rubberbandits
Boyzone
Samantha Mumba
Westlife

Best Irish Album
The Script
Pope Benedict XV
Westlife
Crystal Swing
U2

Best Irish Live Performance
Tipperary Hurling Team
The Late Late Toy Show
Crystal Swing
Imagine Broadband guy
Jim Corr

Best Folk/Traditional
Christy Moore
Westlife
Crystal Swing
Sharon Shannon
Aslan

Best International Band
The Killers
Kings of Leon
Foo Fighters
Westlife
Kasabian

Best International Male
Aiden Grimshaw
Matt Cardle
Paije Richardson
Nicolo Festa
Wagner Carrilho

Best International Female
Lady Gaga
Lady Gagagaga
Lady Gagagagagagagagagagaga
Béyonce
Katy Perry/Brand/Hudson

Best International Album
Now That’s What I Call Music 77
Now That’s What I Call Xmas
The Very Best of Now Dance 2010
The Greatest Hits of 2010
Facebook Profile Photos

Best International Live Performance
Guns ‘n’ Roses
Axl Rose
People who bottled Axl Rose
Denis Desmond
Whitney Houston

Lifetime Achievement Award
Jedward

Humanitarian Award
Willie O’Dea

Hope for 2011
The Green Party
Laura Izibor
Meteor Ireland Music Awards 2012
Villagers
The Commitments

My 20 Favourite Songs of 2010

Here I give to you my own personal selection of the 25 songs I enjoyed most in the last twelve months in no particular order other than the order I think they sound best in. I tried to keep it down to 20 songs, I tried really hard. Then I realised that I did 25 last year so there’s a legal precadent here. I’ve mostly steered clear of those “that was released last year” debatable tracks, although I included Sleigh Bells “Ring Ring” last year but I loved the new album version, “Rill Rill”, so much this year that I had to put it in.

(Artist names link to sites, track titles link to mp3s or streams.)

LCD Soundsystem – “Dance Yrself Clean”
The supposed last album from LCD Soundsystem isn’t as strong as I’d hoped, although some of the middle section has slowly grown on me. The standout tracks for me, from the very start, have been at either end. This opening track is a huge statement of intent that isn’t really followed up by the other tracks. A pitter-patter beat, rudimentary synth line and distant vocal introduction set a tense scene before the booming release that accompanies that thunderous synth break. From that point on, it’s a bona fide belter.

Yeasayer – “O.N.E.”
It would be near impossible to pick a single song to encapsulate the futuristic pick and mix of ODD BLOOD, but “O.N.E.” perfectly embodies the spirit of wild experimentation. It arrives like an unidentified flying object and immediately begins to wriggle its way into your world. A space-age dancefloor stormer like no other, the song is full of unpredictable twists & turns and a joyous mix of spacious synths and clattering drums.

Janelle Monae – “Tightrope (feat. Big Boi)”
We call that classy brass. The pop star of the year came to us from the future with tales of cyborgs and a cold war while busting serious moves like some sort of tap-dancing contortionist. “Tightrope” became her calling card and rightly so. It’s full of energy and it’s here that she delivers her idealistic future funk with all the pizazz of a generation-defining star. There’s very little you can do to resist this hasty, slick and slinky groove so just ignore all the Cindi Mayweather nonsense and enjoy the musical gifts she’s brought back from the year 2719.

The Tallest Man on Earth – “King of Spain”
When I listen to the bright clarity of this guitar line, I feel like I’m listening from inside the guitar itself. This one from The Tallest Man on Earth hits you quick from the start and takes you on a journey throughout Spanish society in the company of a brash foreigner. Lyrical references to Dylan compound the already inescapable comparisons between the two. On tracks like this, Kristian Mattson brings new meaning to the phrase “Dylan gone electric”.

The National – “Terrible Love (Alternate version)”
I’m not a fan of this idea of re-releasing successful albums with a few extra tracks as it’s generally an attempt to sap some extra money from die-hard fans. The expanded version of The National’s High Violet isn’t particularly outstanding either, but it does offer us this alternative version of “Terrible Love” in which the contrast has been upped considerably, providing new breathing space in the early parts and a far more powerul, frenetic ending.

James Blake – “Limit To Your Love”
Mr Blake’s brand of “post-dubstep” gained considerable plaudits late this year, but it was this cover of Feist’s “Limit To Your Love” that brought his deep, electronic sound together with his fragile but soulful vocals to wondrous effect. Wisely released as a single, with a clever video added into the mix, it launched James Blake from being a name dropped by musos to being a genuine star in the making.

Villagers – “Twenty Seven Strangers”
Conor O’Brien began the first of Villagers’ two nights in Vicar Street with this song, which also featured as a b-side to lead single “Becoming A Jackal”. He clearly has some level of faith in the track and though it’s not the most immediately impressive song on the debut album, it’s a simple, elegant demonstration of what makes O’Brien such a special songwriter. It’s direct, indentifiable, real-world poetry of the finest variety.

Frightened Rabbit – “Living In Colour”
Frightened Rabbit’s transition from a band that made their name in scathingly bitter break-up songs to a band that made soaring, anthemic celebrations of rebirth and freedom. The stomping “Living In Colour” lends their latest album its title and its pounding sense of optimism. This is the sound of a band transformed successfully; valiantly journeying into new musical territory while maintaining the gritty edge of their past.

Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill”
Why a band that specialise in creating as much squalling noise as possible from a guitar and a screaming frontwoman decided to create a song based on a sample of Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That”, I’ll never know. But it works really, really well. A funky respite amidst the chaos, “Rill Rill” sounds boldly distorted in any normal circumstances. Sinister lyrics aside, the slow groove of the sample and the beefy drums made this my soundtrack to the happier moments of the last twelve months or so.

Cults – “Go Outside”
You know the deal: nobody really knows the deal. For the moment, I don’t really care about the personalities or back story to Cults, I’m quite happy with their EP and this spiffing tune. Atmospheric sounds full of distant sunshine and children’s voices set the laid back tone for this summery jam. Lazy, chanting vocals willing you to head outdoors and enjoy the weather? Might not work in this country, but it’s still a damn fine song.

Twin Sister – “All Around And Away We Go”
Twin Sister’s Color Your Life EP captures their sparse, melodic pop in all its forms. “All Around And Away We Go” is like a new breed of underwater funk. The whole thing sounds effortless but utterly infectious, with the breathy vocals and busy bass line combining to bring deep, dark funk out into the big, bright world where it breathes in a new lease of life.

The Besnard Lakes – “Albatross”
I suppose you’ve got to be either stupid or brave to name a song “Albatross”, but The Besnard Lakes do so correctly here with a song that is so grand and graceful that it requests such a title. The Canadian’s output can be patchy but when they get it right, they really do reach great heights. This song is the glorious peak of their most recent album Are The Roaring Night and it is most definitely worthy of your undivided attention.

Rubberbandits – “Song For Willie O’Dea”
Though the Limerick lads finally breached the national consciousness towards the end of 2010 with their attempted Christmas number one, “Horse Outside”, they’ve been dishing out comedy gold for a few years now. Mostly dealing with stereotypes of socially disadvantaged young males in modern Ireland, their clever hip hop reached new levels with a timely and remarkably witty tale of the woes of local TD and former Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea. It’s a quality hip-hop tune and the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.

Dan Mangan – “Robots”
This catchy number sounds like something written after a few beers and sung after a few packs of cigarettes. Self-confessed coffee junkie, Dan Mangan, writes clever acoustic songs delivered with a raspy, boisterous but likeable attitude. This is one of his most light-hearted efforts but the sing-along chorus makes it one of his most effective songs. Wherever we went at the Calgary Folk Music Festival in July, this song seemed to be sung on an endless loop by Mangan himself or dedicated fans.

The Morning Benders – “Excuses”
Though much of The Morning Bender’s album, Big Echo, lost its sparkle as thoughts of warm, sunny days by the beach receeded back into that dark corner we keep them in during the harsh Irish winter, some of its stronger tracks maintain part of the initial glow of pleasing wooziness. “Excuses” brings the sunshine in military fashion with marching beats and precisely sweeping strings. The vocal harmonies, tinged with fond reminiscence of playful days, carry the weight of memory and the success of this band with them.

Best Coast – “Boyfriend”
Normally, I don’t go in for the ’90s alt-rock nostalgia buzz and I have very little time for “surf”-anything but with Best Coast’s combination of sturdy, slightly grungey guitars and Bethany’s reverbed howl they’ve hit upon something that works on plenty of other levels. The simplicity of the lyrics are key to the effectiveness of the song as her direct delivery pierces the wall of retro-sound.

Gorillaz – “Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)”
A slow builder that doesn’t actually build to much at all, this track tipifies the kind of confidently laid back music that Gorillaz have delivered on their latest album. “Empire Ants” moves slowly through its phases with layers of keys and synths falling into place from above to create a solid base for Little Dragon’s contribution. It’s careful, considered electro-funk. It’s never going to knock you out of your chair, but Gorillaz have realised that they don’t have to try to do that anymore.

Kanye West – “Monster”
What the hell do you say about this one? “Monster” discards much of the claustrophobic, layered production that makes the rest of the album sound so all-encompassing, but this is no easy, breezey ride with Yeezy. A steady and sinister beat bounces around like a rubber bullet looking for a victim while Kanye tells the world what they already knew. He’s a monster, he says, but he figures he’d be best bringing some of his monster mates along, with Jay-Z rapping about blood-sucking and Nicki Minaj proving to be scarier than both guys combined with a terrifying display in verbal dexterity that steals the show.

Broken Social Scene – “Sweetest Kill”
Ask anyone, myself included, what Broken Social Scene do best and they’ll most likely answer with words like huge, anthemic, bombastic and rock. While their new album contained plenty of this usual BSS stuff, it also had a good helping of all that other stuff the massive collective are good at. “Sweetest Kill” demonstrates their ability to craft a more gentle approach which allows their many members to contribute little subtleties that combine to create something truly special.

Beach House – “Walk In The Park”
The warm, comforting sound of Beach House may well come to be the defining sound of 2010 for many people and the cosy wonder of this track will surely bring back fond memories in the future. The thin-as-crepe-paper drum machine beat and punctuated organ allow the rest of the song to build around it, with the arrival of the screeching guitar line heralding the chorus which reaches for the clouds. Even by her own high standards, this is possibly the best vocal performance by Victoria Legrand on an impeccable album.

Zola Jesus – “Sea Talk”
Creeping in from a similar vocal territory as Beach House’s Legrand, the girl with a name like an over-zealous Chelsea fan arrived with her own take on the kind of haunting music that is likely to remind you of Fever Ray and this year’s most ubiquitous marketing campaign, iamamiwhoami. Her deep vocals sound like they were recorded inside a dream (or a nightmare) but there is an earthy feel to the instrumentation. Though there is a cold atmosphere to the whole thing, it feels like the determined last stand of a desperate person lost in a storm.

Penny Hill – “Salem”
Of all the stuff that arrives into my inbox, very little of it makes it to my ears at all, never mind repeated listens. Penny Hill has quietly earned her place among my favourite songs of the year with a song that has pestered me for much of the past 12 months. This folky tune has demanded that I listen to it throughout the seasons. Her sweet and sour voice delivers a lyrical call to arms over a bare, nylon string riff before it all comes apart amidst crumbling piano lines.

Cathy Davey – “Bad Weather”
While “Little Red” is the undoubted pop success from Davey’s wonderful third album, there is a clutch of other phenomenal songs there that are good enough to win over the most stubborn of doubters. “Bad Weather”, aside from being a lush, elegant ballad of the highest order, is a song that has been on my mind continuously since I first heard it and not just because of its topical nature. This is Cathy Davey at her very best, carving beautiful new songs that are utterly unique from the casts of tried and tested moulds.

Kendal Johansson – “Blue Moon”
I won’t pretend I know much at all about Big Star or Alex Chilton but when this cover of Big Star’s “Blue Moon” surfaced around the time of Chilton’s death in March, I was quite reasonably blown away. Kendal Johansson is someone I know even less about than Chilton, but this recording and that vocal is something that has stuck with me all year. This is the sound of every tear of every actor in every weepy movie suddenly pouring off the screen and flooding the cinema. And somehow it’s all over in less than 3 minutes, which is the biggest shame.

Joanna Newsom – “Good Intentions Paving Company”
Joanna Newsom returned from the wilderness this year with more music than you could shake a harp at and amongst her triple disc release, Have One On Me, one could sense that she was once again ready to deliver simple songs as well as material of similar scope to her previous album, Ys. One of the most pleasing changes was hearing Newsom develop a soulful new style that came across in tracks like this. Here Newsom delivers a relaxed, comfortable take on a 1970s style folk-soul ballad with aplomb.

I’ve also included a handy Spotify playlist of the above. For those of you on Spotify, it’s handy for listening to. For those of you that aren’t, it’s a handy reminder why you should be.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I love Kanye. I love his arrogance and unpredictability. I love his cartoon fun-fair hip-hop on his early albums. I love the sparse honesty of 808s & Heartbreaks. His habit of pissing people off is a testament to his insistence on telling it how he sees it. Whether he’s right or wrong, he’s a breath of crazy, fresh air in an industry of shallow, meaningless posturing by ‘stars’ who are too afraid of blowing their fifteen minutes to step out of line. Hyper-confidence and bragging are part and parcel of the hip-hop game, but Kanye has always been more ambitious than most. With My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy he raised the bar even higher, to a point where only he can realistically improve on it. The album is huge in its scope and delivery, not to mention cast. From Nicki Minaj’s mind-blowing verse on ‘Monster’ to Chris Rock’s inexplicable cringefest on ‘Blame Game’, the other contributors add to the theatrics of the whole album. But for all the special guests, Kanye towers over it all as the most ambitious of ringmasters. What really gets me about the album is that virtually everything on it sounds important. These aren’t just songs, these are statements. The brass on ‘All Of The Lights’, the chants on ‘Power’; these songs know how great they are and – like Kanye himself – are utterly unapologetic about this fact.

Yeasayer - ODD BLOOD

2. Yeasayer – ODD BLOOD
These days an album that captivates me in January and still demands regular listens as we near Christmas is a rare and wonderful thing. This time last year when the first trickles (‘Ambling Alp’ followed by ‘O.N.E.’) of Yeasayer’s second album emerged, I was totally taken by surprise. I had very little interest in their meandering debut album so was somewhat startled by the rambunctious confidence they added to their experimentation this time around. ODD BLOOD is an album stuffed to the gills with ideas and tracks that unfold to reveal more and more layers of brilliance. It’s wildly creative and thoroughly danceable and I don’t intend to give it a rest for quite some time.

Villagers - Becoming A Jackal

3. Villagers – Becoming A Jackal
Has anybody pointed out what a strong year it’s been for Irish music yet? Oh. Right. Never mind then. For all the great music that came out of this godforsaken island in the past twelve months, it was the diminutive figure of Conor O’Brien who stood tallest amongst the international competition. The backing of a label like Domino helped no end, but with captivating performances like that Jools Holland appearance, you can see how the simple, heartfelt songs won over legions of fans. Relentless touring, snazzy videos, perfect diction, they did everything right and got their reward. The album is addictively good and one that will surely stand the test of time. Long after Ireland’s manufactured pop shame has been forgotten, this could be the album people point to as a representation of what was really going on in this generation.

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks

4. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Scott Hutchinson has apparently promised to stop writing songs about girls for the next album. The subjects of love and loss have served Frightened Rabbit as well as it did most other songwriters over the years though. Their most recent effort is the soundtrack to the resurrection after the anger and misery of the previous album The Midnight Organ Fight. On The Winter of Mixed Drinks, the mood is more hopeful and at times even rejoiceful. The scope of the album’s sound though is what makes it such a rewarding listen. It’s not just that there isn’t a dud track on this album, it’s that virtually every song provides a riveting, soaring narrative that remains gripping from start to finish. This astounding album shows there’s life after heartbreak for Hutchinson and his band, we’ll just have to wait and see if the band can produce this kind of quality again without drawing on tales of love won and lost.

Beach House - Teen Dream

5. Beach House – Teen Dream
This album swooped in at the start of the year and carried us all away on spiralling guitar while Victoria LeGrand’s deep, haunting vocals provided the strangest comfort. The melodies on this album are as delicate as tissue paper and, from track to track, they weave together in a luscious dreamscape. From the slip-sliding opening of “Zebra” the whole album treads similar territory but it never feels repetitive or dull. Rather, the listener is more than content to set up camp within the cozy confines of their sound for as long as the band are willing to have them. Their grand, enveloping sound is so rich that one could be immersed in it indefinitely and really, I can think of worse ways to spend eternity.

Cathy Davey - The Nameless

6. Cathy Davey – The Nameless
Cathy Davey’s 3rd album proved what many had already believed: that she is one of Ireland’s great singular artists. Her sound owes much to vaudevillian spook but it is now entirely her own. This is the album in which Davey finally reached for the heights she knew she was capable of and succeeded. It’s a brave album that, for the most part, shuns the pop hits that catapulted her last album into the national consciousness. Here she strikes out in a new direction that satisfies her own creative thirst while keeping the dedicated listener enthralled. The album sounds like something that could have been recorded solely for the enjoyment of those that created it then left to gather dust in a closet in a haunted house. There is a timelessness in the sound they’ve created though that makes it consistently interesting and each listen brings you deeper into their world, where stories creep out of dark corners and songs seep in through the windows.

Sleigh Bells - Treats

7. Sleigh Bells – Treats
POW! POW! These guys hit you hard and fast and don’t stop till you’ve come round to their way of thinking. Their way of thinking is that a guitar is a weapon and vocals are for drilling your point right into the listener’s temple. Treats, despite its title, is no easy listen. From the get go, it thrashes out vicious riffs and lunatic lyrics at high speed and higher volume. Theirs is an efficient working method, with most tracks clocking in at impressively brief lengths. There’s not a spare second left to waste on this record with clattering noise inhabiting every space imaginable. But for all the chaos, there’s plenty of melody here to grasp, with every track delivered with riotous glee and nonchalant venom.

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

8. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Without making reference to her age, the quality of Laura Marling’s output speaks for itself. Her debut album was a thing of immense promise and she more than followed through on that promise with this second album. I Speak Because I Can takes her carefully constructed lyrical charm and marries it with hugely improved instrumentation. The album sounds lived in and world weary, which is something I think most people can identify with. Across the album, there is a huge breadth of influences spanning decades – from old folk and blues to classic rock sensibilities and contemporary indie – that surround her powerful vocals. A commanding performer in a live setting, Marling has managed to bring her captivating personality into this record and give us something that will still sound impressive in years to come.

The National - High Violet

9. The National – High Violet
They’re crafty ones, The National. Everything they release seems to be slightly unimpressive on first listen but it always creeps up in your estimation as time goes by. Little snippets of songs wind up on repeat in your brain on any given day until eventually, you give in and accept that they’ve done it again and recorded a quite brilliant album. The problem with High Violet is not a lack of quality songs; there are many here. The problem is a lack of diversity in the sound throughout the album. The songs just sound too similar, to the point where, after countless listens, I still can’t identify all of them. This uniformity stops the album from being the standout record it should have been as it simply sounds like one long, if admittedly very good, track.

The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt

10. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
Being hailed as the new Bob Dylan might be the kind of ill-advised praise that has been thrown about for years, but in the case of The Tallest Man On Earth, he seems not only to have the same style of wordplay but the wealth of lyrical riches to at least attempt to live up to such acclaim. On this, his second album, Kristian Mattson brings the razor sharp, crystal clear, breakneck speed guitar playing from his debut and adds a new broader range of vocal delivery and lyrical depth. Perhaps wary of the ‘one trick pony’ accusations, he even lays down his trusty six string for the final track, the piano-led “Kids On The Run”. Mattson brings greater emotion to his voice on this record and it’s much better for it. Listening to The Wild Hunt, it feels grand, bright and sprightly but there’s a tension in everything he does (if you’ve seen him live, you’ll know) that keeps the album teetering on the brink throughout.

11. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

12. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

13. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

14. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

15. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

16. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

17. Sounds of System Breakdown - Sounds of System Breakdown

18. Sam Amidon - I See The Sign

19. The Cast of Cheers - Chariot

20. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Janelle Monáe - Tripod

I’ll by-pass all the unnecessary details about the snow-related chaos that potentially threatened the arrival of Janelle Monáe and her fans to Tripod on a Wednesday evening when Dublin once again fell to pieces. Despite all these issues, the venue was well-filled when I arrived in during support act Brian Deady. I found his style of music to be like a watered-down, sex-less Justin Timberlake but given that only the bass player from his band could make the journey from Cork, he did his best with tinny laptop beats. My main problem is that I would never listen to an album that uses that font on its cover.

It’s nearly half past nine. Dublin Bus stopped running an hour and a half ago, but the venue is pretty packed and some troopers up the front have hung a Happy Birthday banner over the front barrier. After the usual back-and-forth introduction from the well-dressed MC, the birthday girl herself finally arrives onstage huddled under a cloak amidst a cloud of smoke. The band have started into “Dance or Die” but it’s a few minutes before Monáe casts off her dark cover and starts calculatedly catapulting herself across the stage. Her every movement – and those of her band – are precisely executed as they belt through the trio of tracks that open her first full-length release The ArchAndroid: Suites II & III.

Throughout her performance, Monáe never breaks character. Whether it’s her stunning version of “Smile” accompanied only by her guitarist or the delirious reaction to hits like “Cold War”, she keeps her game face on like a funky cyborg in a poker tournament. The show is carefully choreographed with dancers dressed as angels or with laser pointer-fitted gloves and an exceptionally odd part in which she begins a spontaneous life drawing session, painting on a canvas dropped onstage while her band jam out “Mushrooms and Roses”.

When she finally unleashes “Tightrope” to close the main set, bags full of balloons (black & white, to match the outfits of course) are dropped onto the crowd from above and the party atmosphere seems to be spreading a little. When her dancers and MC dash out to retrieve the balloons that have fallen in grumpy security guard territory in front of the stage, the line between performer and audience seems to blur (moreso than during Monáe’s brief visit to the front of the crowd earlier). Things have been slowly heating up all night and this is the perfectly timed, pristinely presented apex that one would expect from this show.

Monáe returns to the stage after a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday To You, which her band attempt to continue in perpetuity, to blow out the candles on her cake. This, strangely, takes several accurately aimed attempts from a now 25-year-old lady who has spent the last hour blowing a room full of people away with her vocal abilities. The crowd’s appetite for her show does not wane in the slightest during or after her encore (“Come Alive”) and the majority stick around the venue while Jimi Hendrix plays over the PA. Many were probably debating how, or if, they’d get home but plenty of avid fans kept their eye on the untouched stage and eventually, their patience was rewarded as the master of proceedings once again took to the stage to orchestrate more pantomime call-and-response before what seemed to be a genuine, unplanned second encore. A sweeping, swooning version of “Oh, Maker” didn’t set the pulse racing like the last few songs did but it was another reminder of the breath-taking and diverse talent at Monáe’s disposal. Tonight she was impossible to pin down; in turns pop diva, performance artist, soul powerhouse and punk screamer. Like Beyonce and Karen O combined in an all-singing, all-dancing entertainment robot in a slick outfit. If there’s any justice in this world, or whatever world Janelle Monáe comes from, she’ll have nothing but success ahead of her.

Photos of Janelle (and her somewhat impressive hair) are below, with Aoife Barry’s great review on State and for those who want a second encore from me, there’s more on Flickr.

Janelle Monáe - Tripod

Janelle Monáe - Tripod

Janelle Monáe - Tripod