Miriam Ingram: Mariana Trench (Mariana Trench Music) ★★★★
Let’s hear it for the Irish musicians who carry on regardless of profile or reward. One of many of these lifer figures is Miriam Ingram, whose new solo album is the culmination of years of capturing musicians in the wild and leading them to recording studios in Dublin, Kerry and Kildare. The cast list is impressive (including Cormac Mac Diarmada, John Dermody, Carol Keogh, Kim V Porcelli and Darragh O’Kelly), but it’s Ingram’s self-styled “aural memoir” songs that leave a lasting mark. The experimental indie temperament is pensive (The Barely Theres, My Lady Wind), playful (Cling) and impressionistic (The Hanging Willow, Ravens), while life events imbue the album with, per the title, genuine depth.
Paahto & the Bull: The 123 (Claddagh Records) ★★★★
As former members of Irish traditional group Skipper’s Alley, Patrick “Paahto” Cummins and John Francis Flynn have long since developed mutual creative empathy. This debut collaboration started more than five years ago, initially online, but as pandemic restrictions lifted, the musicians took their acoustic guitars into pubs and then recording studios. The mood is dexterous and unadorned: no songs, no words, but 10 traditional airs intuitively adapted. From Planxty George Brabazon, The Battle of Aughrim and Britches Full of Stitches to Eibhlín Gheal Chiúin Ní Chearbhaill, The Yellow Wattle and Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, Cummins and Flynn showcase their prowess with humility and intellect.
Really Good Time: Affirmations (Twin Music Inc) ★★★⯪
Anyone out there remember what it was like to listen to an album that caught your attention from start to finish? That fizzed with irritation and popped with humour? The debut album from Dublin trio Really Good Time is that very thing; even though it is split into two sections, it maintains the interest. The first six songs are taut post-punk (Bob Dylan Was on Pawn Stars in 2010 and Best Medicine are particularly snappy highlights). In contrast, the final three songs, Dig Up, Stupid (seven minutes), Toadman (six minutes) and Life, Life (10 minutes), limber up like Stretch Armstrong at the end of a hot yoga session to deliver a succession of rabbit punches. This is richly textured music, full of energy and purpose.
Shakalak: Kulture Bikki (Shakalak/Self Released) ★★★⯪
For well over 10 years, Dublin spoken-word artist John Cummins has modestly presented the kind of lyrical prowess that lesser poets have been awarded for. Not to worry. Latterly, Cummins has teamed up with musicians who know how to go every which way with the flow. The outcome is a heady mix of naturally adept wordplay and instinctive improvisation (take a bow, guitarist Johnny Jude and saxophonist Padraig Dooney) that brings to mind the best bits of psychedelic tea-tipplers Gong, pre-Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd and nomadic, Dublin-centric lyric-poetry that will have you tripping over your tongue for hours.
READ MORE
Macdara Yeates: Mudlark Ballads (SilkOnIt Records) ★★★★
The co-founder of the Dublin folk collective The Night Before Larry Got Stretched, Macdara Yeates has for almost 15 years been a pivotal figure in Ireland’s folk scene. His new album follows 2024’s much-praised debut Traditional Singing from Dublin and features old folk songs performed in tandem with shrewd contemporary production (by Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox). Each of the nine songs is a gem, but kudos to Yeates for unearthing the rare Dublin street ballads De May Bush and De Kilmainham Minit from the archives of the National Library of Ireland and bringing them into the light.
