What Irish artist/ band do you think is most underated/ under-recognised?

Bill2673

Yo,

So I have a few albums by Irish artists that I would listen to quite a lot on the one hand, but that I get the impression not many other people listen to on the other hand, and it puzzles me why they are not more listened-to.

At the top of the list I'd put Dr Millar. Probably alongside him, I'd put Adrian Crowley, despite the recent award win. Maybe third, as an album choice I'd include Katell Keinig's O Seasons O Castles (I don't know her other stuff).

I'd be interested to know if there are other Irish artists/ albums around today or in the past that people feel really deserve more attention than they get.

I'd personally only be interested in hearing about artists who have released at least two albums......not that interest in someone's cousins band who play in the attic (sorry for being snooty).

losthorizon

A band called Andwellas Dream. They are from the late 60s/early70s. Now recognised as one of the greatest bands that didnt make it commercially. Yet strangely, still very few people know about them in Ireland. Its just in Britain that people remember them. You can hear their music on youtube.

JerryHandbag

I still think David Kitt doesnt get enough credit. Saw him play in Limerick to a less than enthusiastic crowd and some of them even started to heckle him because he's a dub. **** :rolleyes:

bigwormbundoran

Mama's Boys, duno how they seem to be so under the rader given the quality of their output when they were about

timsnewbridge

miracle bell, there pretty class they have a few ep.s and now an album which can be bought in hmv and such..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQqWrsUZD_c
there not my cousins btw hah.

Bill2673

JerryHandbag wrote: »

I still think David Kitt doesnt get enough credit. Saw him play in Limerick to a less than enthusiastic crowd and some of them even started to heckle him because he's a dub. **** :rolleyes:

I agree with you and was going to include him, mainly for his first album Big Romance (I'd be lying if I said I knew his following albums well, but from what I heard of it, the second and third weren't nearly as good as the first).

The Big Romance is probably the Irish album I've listened to most over the past ten years, maybe alongside For the Birds by the Frames. I think its an absolutely superb album, particularly the third song Step outside in the morning light.

Bill2673

bigwormbundoran wrote: »

Mama's Boys, duno how they seem to be so under the rader given the quality of their output when they were about

I'd be guessing they were very good live......how do the albums sound?

Birneybau

Bill2673 wrote: »

Yo,

I'd include Katell Keinig's O Seasons O Castles (I don't know her other stuff).

Is Katell Keinig not Welsh?

Sorry, based in Dublin, fair enough.

Bill2673

Birneybau wrote: »

Is Katell Keinig not Welsh?

Fair point.....I think she was pitched as Celtic Breton or somesuch.

She was living and performing here at the time and a few of the songs mention Irish places, so it felt like an Irish album as far as I was concerned.

lordgoat

Patrick Kelleher, And So I Watch You From Afar, Rarely Seen Above Ground, Kitt, even Jape should all be more well known.

I much prefer David Kitt's recent stuff to the big romance which got boring very quickly.

JerryHandbag

Bill2673 wrote: »

I agree with you and was going to include him, mainly for his first album Big Romance (I'd be lying if I said I knew his following albums well, but from what I heard of it, the second and third weren't nearly as good as the first).

The Big Romance is probably the Irish album I've listened to most over the past ten years, maybe alongside For the Birds by the Frames. I think its an absolutely superb album, particularly the third song Step outside in the morning light.

Yeah the album after Big Romance wasnt great tbh, but I felt he returned to form with Not Fade Away and The Nightsaver, and his cover versions album is pretty good too.

Cicero

Luka Bloom:Has a very loyal following but just think he deserves more acolades and fame - then again, maybe he doesn't want that either..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6XnqAcSh8

Nolanger

Skid Row - Virgo's daughter

bigbaz

Bill2673 wrote: »

I'd be guessing they were very good live......how do the albums sound?

you should go see pat mcmanus he still plays,epic guitar talent!!

bigwormbundoran

Bill2673 wrote: »

I'd be guessing they were very good live......how do the albums sound?

Very good indeed, they have an excellent greatest hita album too, The Collection i think it is, which would certainly be worth getting your hands on

bigwormbundoran

bigbaz wrote: »

you should go see pat mcmanus he still plays,epic guitar talent!!

+1 on this, they dont call him the professor for nothing i'll tell ya

Bill2673

lordgoat wrote: »

Patrick Kelleher, And So I Watch You From Afar, Rarely Seen Above Ground, Kitt, even Jape should all be more well known.

I much prefer David Kitt's recent stuff to the big romance which got boring very quickly.

I'd have thought all of the above have received a decent amount of press in Ireland in recent years, apart from Patrick Kelleher, who I've never heard of.

Having said that, I've never heard a single song by any of those acts (besides David Kitt). Its one of the contradictions of the Irish music industry that its quite easy to have read a dozen newspaper articles about an act without ever having heard one of their songs (ps I'm old school, I but albums and listen to music on the radio).

As a matter of interest, if you were to pick one album from that list of acts, what would it be.

Mackman

Rory Gallagher should be a household name. One of the greatest guitarists and blues musicians ever.

Bill2673

Cicero wrote: »

Luka Bloom:Has a very loyal following but just think he deserves more acolades and fame - then again, maybe he doesn't want that either..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6XnqAcSh8

I agree with you, he has some fantastic songs and I admire how he has carved out such a distinct style.

Mackman

Mackman wrote: »

Rory Gallagher should be a household name. One of the greatest guitarists and blues musicians ever.

He pretty much is..

Bill2673

Deleted User wrote: »

He pretty much is..

I'd agree....there's a street in Temple Bar named after him, there's a statue of him in Ballyshannon, there's a Rory Gallagher blues festival.....maybe he should be 'more famous' than he is....but he's fairly well known already. People know who he is and what type of music he does. They can go out and get if they want. You could make the same argument for Thin Lizzy, or Van Morrison, or for people like John Martyn in the UK. Compared to someone like Mississippi John Hurt, who is my own favourite blues artist, Rory is fairly well known.

PMI

Mama's boys did better outside ireland, I remember watching them alot in UK on UK stations, but they were great..... pity.

Japer

Bill2673 wrote: »

What Irish artist/ band do you think is most underated/ under-recognised?

Singers are singers, bands are bands, and musicians are musicians. The afore-mentioned are not artists. Artists are people like Van Gogh, Jack Yeats, Knuttel, etc
I think the most underated/ under-recognised singer in Ireland at the moment is Juliet Turner.

Pighead

Probably "The Hitchers". ‘It’s All Fun & Games ‘Till Someone Loses An Eye is a bit all over the place and sounds like it was recorded in the bass players garage but that kind of adds to the charm of the whole thing. Big Mug is one of my favourite Irish songs ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYr5-YdjmGs

Mackman

Deleted User wrote: »

He pretty much is..

Bill2673 wrote: »

I'd agree....there's a street in Temple Bar named after him, there's a statue of him in Ballyshannon, there's a Rory Gallagher blues festival.....maybe he should be 'more famous' than he is....but he's fairly well known already. People know who he is and what type of music he does. They can go out and get if they want. You could make the same argument for Thin Lizzy, or Van Morrison, or for people like John Martyn in the UK. Compared to someone like Mississippi John Hurt, who is my own favourite blues artist, Rory is fairly well known.

You would be surprised how many people wouldnt have a clue who he is at all. Ive introduced him to heaps of people, big music and blues fans, both in ireland and abroad.

lordgoat

Bill2673 wrote: »

I'd have thought all of the above have received a decent amount of press in Ireland in recent years, apart from Patrick Kelleher, who I've never heard of.

Having said that, I've never heard a single song by any of those acts (besides David Kitt). Its one of the contradictions of the Irish music industry that its quite easy to have read a dozen newspaper articles about an act without ever having heard one of their songs (ps I'm old school, I but albums and listen to music on the radio).

As a matter of interest, if you were to pick one album from that list of acts, what would it be.

See that's just the problem i think, just because you (i don't mean you!) have seen a bands name is not the same thing as knowing their music. And i think it's something that needs to be changed somehow.

Also the person that says artists only use paint brushes? I think you're a bit off there.

Raggaroo

Mick Flannery !! Definitely under-rated , unassuming and brilliant.

Bill2673

lordgoat wrote: »

See that's just the problem i think, just because you (i don't mean you!) have seen a bands name is not the same thing as knowing their music. And i think it's something that needs to be changed somehow.

Also the person that says artists only use paint brushes? I think you're a bit off there.

What one album would you recommend from the artists you mentioned?

ps Artist is a handy word to encompass solo singers and bands.

Raggaroo

I will try again

Bill2673

Well folks, thanks for the many replies.

Of all of them, I probably find Luka Bloom the most interesting suggestion. I didn't realise he wrote City of Chicago, I'd say one of the top 10 Irish songs from the past twenty years, and one of my favourites from the Christy Moore pantheon. Will defo look to see him live over the next few months.

Of the others, And So I Watch You From Afar look class, I'd say they are a super live act, very interesting what they do.

The Mick Flannery link, Safety Rope, is a super song, no doubting it. The way it changes pace is great. I watched a few of his other songs on YouTube and didn't like them as much, I find his voice is sometimes a bit too mumbling for my liking, I wish he would sing more clearly.

Personally, I'd be interested in any other suggestions from the 1980s/1990s......not so much along the lines of "'A House'/ Something Happens/ The Stunning/ Whipping Boy deserved to get a lot more than they did etc etc..." .....as they did get loads of attention, in Ireland at least. People like Jeanette Byrne, or Fergus O'Farrell, or Mark Dignam, or Nick Kelly, or The Black Velvet Band are people who I'd imagine have great albums out but they're just not in the public domain.

Herb Powell

Japer wrote: »

Singers are singers, bands are bands, and musicians are musicians. The afore-mentioned are not artists. Artists are people like Van Gogh, Jack Yeats, Knuttel, etc
I think the most underated/ under-recognised singer in Ireland at the moment is Juliet Turner.

Ah now, no need for that
Glad And So I Watch You From Afar are being mentioned

magentas

I know rory gallagher did have some recognition but absolutely not the amount a man of his talents deserved...he is a legend

he didn't care for fame but like another poster said, I know tonnes of Irish people who never heard of him and it's not just my age group (20's) my parents and their friends never heard of him either

Anyway most of the time when someone has heard of him they only know tattoo'd lady
Rory had a vast cataloge of music with some cracking albums but his live shows was what really fuelled him

magentas

Future Kings of Spain, Rubyhorse, JJ72, Jerry Fish, Mic Christopher
Mundy - Jellylegs his 1st album
Frames - Dance the Devil and Fitzcarraldo

Under-rated artists/albums

rcaz

I'd suggest Adebisi Shank, but I think maybe the reason they aren't very well-known is because they're a relatively young group. An amazing band with a sound that not many other people seem to touch upon. Give me a new band with new ideas over some old minor-pentatonic throttler any day.

maccored

Music is an art. anyone who practices it is therefore an artist.

Japer wrote: »

Singers are singers, bands are bands, and musicians are musicians. The afore-mentioned are not artists. Artists are people like Van Gogh, Jack Yeats, Knuttel, etc
I think the most underated/ under-recognised singer in Ireland at the moment is Juliet Turner.

millennium band

relish is the most underated band everrrrrrr!! there unreal and i,m a musican myself!!

millennium band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1ff8IjR4mc

Bill2673

I was listening to a radio show on radio nova the other day, it was one of these all-irish shows.

he played lots of interesting stuff that I'd never heard of.

One band that really stood out was the Would-Be's, a cavan band from late-9180s championed by John Peel. The song he played was very good, sounded a bit like the Go-Betweens.

Other bands he played were Stepaside and Stump, also names I'd never heard of, and both good enough, both from 1970s.

He played a lot of the usual suspects too, Van, Rory. it was a good show.

Mindkiller

Japer wrote: »

Singers are singers, bands are bands, and musicians are musicians. The afore-mentioned are not artists. Artists are people like Van Gogh, Jack Yeats, Knuttel, etc
I think the most underated/ under-recognised singer in Ireland at the moment is Juliet Turner.

We're not talking about art in its literal sense. We're talking about any work or thing which provokes an emotional response.

If for some reason music does not elicit an emotional respose from you, then you are either listening to artless crap or you're not actually listening to the music at all.

Bill2673

Mindkiller wrote: »

We're not talking about art in its literal sense. We're talking about any work or thing which provokes an emotional response.

If for some reason music does not elicit an emotional respose from you, then you are either listening to artless crap or you're not actually listening to the music at all.

Maybe we could move this to a seperate thread, its completely off topic.

Bill2673

The show I mentioned earlier was actually on 4fm, I got them mixed up.

Its hosted by Greg Heffernan, Sunday's at 8pm, which segue's nicely into Philip Kings show on 9pm on Radio1 (loved his commentary on the Joan Armatrading number this week).

Here is the set list - some very obscure names there as well as other world famous ones like Van or Thin Lizzy.

Bill Coleman - Welcome To The Breakdown
Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar (Peel Session 14/11/72)
Revelino - Step On High
Jubilee Allstarts - Don't Give Up On Me
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
The Stars Of Heaven - So You Know
Rory Gallagher - Banker's Blues
Stump - Our Fathers
The Would Be's - I'm Hardly Ever Wrong
The Undertones - A Positive Touch (Peel Session 16/11/80)
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
David Holmes - 160 Million Dollar Chinese Man
Autamata - Liberty bell
Granny's Intentions - Never An Everyday Thing
Blue In Heaven - Sometimes
The Reindeer Section - Your Sweet Voice
Bill Coleman - Crossfire (Live In Studio)
Cathy Davey - The Collector
Mushroom - Johnny The Jumper
Stepaside - 10 Out Of 10
Van Morrison - In The Days Of Rock And Roll

teekayd25

Mellow Candle (late '60s / early '70s prog rock) seem to be remembered fondly by a lot of people . . . I think they only released one album but it made a very big impression.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-bx6Q8uLfQ

The Adventures - The Sea of Love I would think is up there with the best pop albums of the '80s. The debut is meant to be excellent as well.



Stump unfortunately managed just one proper album . . . singer and drummer were from Cork, the other two lads from London.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWa3ouFWwJs

KeanSeenan

So Cow is criminally underrated in Ireland, one of my favourite songwriters(probably my favourite Irish one). There's tons of great music coming out of Ireland nowadays, The Richter Collective, Popical Island, Long Lost Records and some other collectives have been putting out some really great stuff and putting on brilliant, yet cheap, shows.

Cole

It's a real travesty that The Blades never got the international recognition they deserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htRJdw-7j4c

smokedeels

Bill2673 wrote: »

I'd agree....there's a street in Temple Bar named after him, there's a statue of him in Ballyshannon, there's a Rory Gallagher blues festival.....maybe he should be 'more famous' than he is....but he's fairly well known already. People know who he is and what type of music he does. They can go out and get if they want. You could make the same argument for Thin Lizzy, or Van Morrison, or for people like John Martyn in the UK. Compared to someone like Mississippi John Hurt, who is my own favourite blues artist, Rory is fairly well known.

Man, came across him for the first time a couple of years back, watching a BBC documentary on some folk festival, Newport I think. I could listen to Nobody's Dirty Business for time immemorial. Him and Robert Wilkins would be my favourite blues artists.

hebotick

what about Bellefire?

magma69

The Redneck Manifesto. Fantastic instrumental rock music, I'm shocked they are not bigger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkgD8SEQHWY

Hystereo. It's crazy to see bands like Justice and Digitalism become global superstars and Hystereo not even known in Ireland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Es1rZ0vBU

HalloweenJack

I think Republic of Loose should get a lot more respect than they do.

They've produced some very good tracks over the years. They lack a thoroughly consistent album of all killer, no filler but they still have a distinctive, refreshing sound.

Roisín Murphy's solo stuff is amazing too, especially er second album.

karaokeman

Jimmy MacCarthy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qr5DxH03EE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-6LY-KbzR8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZIvQKzVOU&feature=related

Best musician of all time.

KeanSeenan

My friend Bobby makes some great music and just released an e.p. yesterday.

http://masses-masses.bandcamp.com/

Give it a listen and buy it if you enjoy.

Nolanger

Virgin Prunes.