Author Archives: Nick Kelly

Happy St Patrick’s Day, a chairde!

To celebrate our national holiday, I’m offering a Shamrock-covered €50 Golden Discs voucher to one lucky reader, so I am.

Simply tell me below what’s your favourite Irish song (either as Gaeilge or in English) sung by any artist from Ireland or abroad.

Here’s mine.

The winner will be chosen by my AI robot leprechaun.

Lines MUST close at 9.45pm.

Please include video if possible.

Nick says: Good luck!

Golden Discs

The votes are in.

Last week, with €20 voucher redeemable at any Currys PC World branch on offer, I asked you to name your favourite album cover.

You answered in your dozens.

But there could be only one winner

Third Place:

The Strokes – Is This It

Col writes:

“I was 16 when “Is This It” by the Stokes came out and I loved it. The cover was a leather gloved hand on a woman’s posterior – a spontaneous picture by the photographer of his girlfriend.”

Runner-up:

The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & The Lash.

Niall writes:

“I love The Pogues take on Gericault’s ‘The Raft of the Medusa‘.

“It’s a striking cover: Shane in sunglasses surrounded corpses and his band mates. Not only that but the album itself really hits you with tracks like Dirty Old Town, The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn and A Pair of Brown Eyes.”

Winner:

Dexys Midnight Runners – Searching for the Young Soul Rebels

Otis Blue writes:

“The photograph chosen for the cover was taken in Cranbrooks Gardens in the Ardoyne, Belfast following the introduction of internment by the British government in 1971. Amid a group of Catholics fleeing, stands 13 year old Andrew O’Shaughnessy, staring fixedly at the photographer, suitcase under his arm.

“And if that’s not reason enough to love it, the album’s best track, Dance Stance, namechecks Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan, Sean O’Casey, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Eugene O’Neill, Edna O’Brien and Laurence Sterne.”

Nick says: thanks all.

Last week: Win Nick’s PC Voucher

Paul Quin – Life On Earth

You ain’t heard nothin’ like the mighty Quin.

Electronica pioneer Paul Quin (top) – who was one half of synth-pop duo Biazarre in the late 1980s – wears his heart on his sleeve on the title track of his comeback album, due in October on the Russian label Scent Air Records.

The songs on the album reflect on his life as a valued member of the LGBT community and the homophobia he has endured.

The video was shot in Laragh House, County Kildare, by Philip Kidd.

Nick says: The Quin-ner takes it all.

Paul Quin

Emma Langford – Free To Fall

An adorable pooch is a man’s best friend.

That’s the message from this beautifully made video for the latest single by Limerick nu-folk songsmith Emma Langford (top) from her excellent second album Sowing Acorns.

The promo was written, produced and directed by Laura O’Shea who also stars in it alongside Tony Doyle and Bryony Flatman. Not forgetting Doug the dog.

Hi-fives all round.

Nick says:Who’s a good boy?

Emma Langford


Wyvern Lingo – Rapture

We’ll always have Berlin…

Wyvern Lingo decamped to the German capital to record their second album Awake You Lie. The video for the song Rapture was shot by Aodhagan O’Flaherty and Sierra Graves and features the band – Caoimhe Barry, Karen Crowley and Saoirse Duane – making their way around Berlin.

The trio from Bray, County Wicklow, toured as Hozier’s backing singers and support act and most recently featured on the Women In Harmony cover of The Cranberries’ Dreams.

The band write:

“A recurring image during this album writing process was light, the lack thereof, and wanting to see things more clearly, for ourselves and others. We called the album “Awake You Lie” because it evokes an image of night-time when someone should be sleeping but can’t, due to restlessness or worry. Things are always clearer in the light of day.”

Nick says: Bray of light.

Wyvern Lingo

For the week that’s in it.

Any excuse.

Any excuse 2.

From Elvis to The Muppets, the story of “Danny Boy” (RTÉ Brainstorm)