Thank Frida it’s Friday.
That can only mean one thing: it’s time for another music competition to get you through the weekend.
This week I want to know: What’s your favourite song by a Scandinavian artist?
Here’s mine.
Reply below to be in with a chance of winning a prized €20 voucher redeemable at Currys PC World.
The winner will be chosen by my laptop repair man.
Please include video links if possible.
Lines MUST close Saturday 11am.
Nick says: Good luck!
Earlier: Last week’s winner
‘When Blitzkrieg Bop
Met Telegram Sam
A can of Harp
Was yer only man’…Marc Bolan and The Ramones bond over numerous cans (aka “a lock”) of Dundalk’s finest brew…#Dundalk #MarcBolan #Ramones #TRex pic.twitter.com/fhu4WqyKq4
— Jake Walsh (@JakeWalshMusic) February 12, 2021
Warm lager of the gods.
Hic.
David Donohue – The Barren Winter
You may remember that we concluded our You May Remember This series on underrated Irish artists last year with Carlow-born songsmith David Donohue.
Now David has released a retrospective of his work with The Floors on bandcamp called Six Long Years (top). It includes cult classics like Jesus Lived Six Years Longer Than Kurt Cobain and Love Song To My Guru and includes collaborations with the likes of Sonic Youth‘s Lee Ranaldo and Katell Keineg.
So it gives us the perfect opportunity to feature his beautifully written and sung The Barren Winter (above) with accompaniment by David Ayers and a nicely shot video by Amelia Caulfield.
Nick says: More please!
The votes are in.
Last week, with a Currys PC World voucher worth 20 big ones on offer, I asked for your favourite song whose title or lyrics contain a reference to Spring?
You answered in your dozens.
But there could be only one winner.
Third Place:
Spring Cleaning by Fats Waller
Liam Deliverance writes:
‘’ll polish the leaves, make them green again
Shake out the trees, change the scene again
Spring cleaning – gettin’ ready for love”‘A wonderfully upbeat little number for these dark days.’
Runner-up:
Les Fleurs by 4hero
axelf writes:
“For all of these simple things and much more a flower was born
It blooms to spread love and joy faith and hope to people forlorn”‘That’s springy enough for me.’
Winner:
The Colour of Spring by Mark Hollis
Fergalito writes:
“Hands down winner or no damned justice in this world.”
Narrator: There was justice in this world.
Nick says: Thanks all.
Last week: Win Nick’s PC Voucher
Breeda Murphy – Second Best
Cork singer/songwriter Breeda Murphy has an important message to anyone doubting themselves in these times: don’t feel like you’re second best.
Her new single wears its Jamaican influence on its sleeve. Producer Kenny Dread “pulls out the stops with old school B3 bubbles, skank guitar, and an African style Rhodes piano line”.
Nick says: Murphy’s lure.
The Mandalorian actress Gina Carano has been fired by Lucasfilm and her talent agency UTA following a series of “abhorrent and unacceptable” social media postings: https://t.co/qUr1REkKGn pic.twitter.com/Bvozphv9lw
— Consequence of Sound (@consequence) February 11, 2021
Learn her that will.
Gina Carano Fired from The Mandalorian Following “Abhorrent” Social Media Posts (COS)
This impressive stretch of ‘metalled’ surfacing – cobbling – has been newly revealed as part of the preparatory works for the redesign of Wolfe Tone Park – formerly the graveyard of St. Mary’s Church. It appears to be sited in the middle of Stafford Street on Rocque’s 1756 map. pic.twitter.com/5Wbjkyq652
— Dublin Civic Trust (@dubcivictrust) February 10, 2021
Jervis Street, Dublin 1.
Lovely cobblework, in fairness.
This day 80 years ago – 10 February 1941 – James Dillon, deputy leader of Fine Gael, voiced his support for the Allies:
”It may be policy of this Government to stand neutral, but I am not neutral… I pray Germany and its rulers may be smashed by the Anglo-American alliance.” pic.twitter.com/gIgOAMU38L
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) February 10, 2021
Thanks Blueshirt.
Via Wikipedia:
Dillon temporarily resigned from Fine Gael in 1942 over its stance on Irish neutrality during World War II. While Fine Gael supported the government’s decision to stay out of the war, Dillon urged the government to side with the Allies.
A passionate anti-Nazi, Dillon described the Nazi creed as “the devil himself with twentieth-century efficiency”. His zeal against Hitler drew him the ire of the German minister to Ireland Eduard Hempel, who denounced him as a “Jew” and “German-hater”.
Even Eamonn De Valera, then Taoiseach, was not spared the fierceness of Dillon’s rhetoric; when the Taoiseach ridiculed Dillon’s stark support for the Allies, noting this meant he had to adopt a Pro-British stance, Dillon defiantly retorted
“My ancestors fought for Ireland down the centuries on the continent of Europe while yours were banging banjos and bartering budgies in the backstreets of Barcelona.”
Olé.
FIGHT!
Jim McHugh – Dave
Dave is a four-letter word.
Monaghan singer/songwriter Jim McHugh‘s New Wave stylings call to mind the likes of XTC and even Richard Thompson.
Dave is the new single from his album Pretending To Wake Up, which is out on May 28 and features Paul McCabe (bass), Paul Sherry (Electric Guitar) and Butch McNeill (Drums).
Jim (top) writes:
“In an original story of misspent youth, Dave unveils my interactions with a friend who was known for being on the wrong side of the law on numerous occasions.”
Nick says: The name of the game.
John Buckley McQuaid – Girls Who Lived In Hell
Come gather round, people, wherever you roam.
For Dublin-born, Denmark-based singer/songwriter John Buckley McQuaid has a few things he’d like to say about Irish ways and Irish laws. You can hear them on his new album This Is Where I Keep My Dreams (featuring a schoolboy John, top), which is out on Monday.
The lead single, Girls Who Lived In Hell, is a coruscating critique of the cruelty and sadism of the Magdalene Laundries and the society which spawned them.
John writes:
“The song is inspired by Steve Humphries’ documentary, “Sex In A Cold Climate“. The very idea of a young girl being consigned to a Magdalene Laundry for stealing an apple from a convent tree is so outrageously unfair and unjust – the tip of a veritable iceberg of abuse and degradation.
“So many tragedies have been concealed by complicity, complacency and corruption on a personal and public level. “Girls Who Lived In Hell” makes visible on a visceral level, what the Catholic Church (no admission or apologies as yet forthcoming) and the Irish State (apologies notwithstanding) and certain people, not only wish to forget but to keep forever hidden.
“The last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996. The Irish Government as a matter of some urgency, passed the “Mother & Baby Homes Bill” in 2020, sealing these archives for 30 years. Nothing ever changes in a land of polished haloes.”
Nick says: The Protest Song is alive and well.
