We all enjoy music, but when was the first time it really stopped you in your tracks and became more than just noise?

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One of the worst things about living in Dublin is that you become very lazy when it comes to finding new music. In my defence, it’s possible to go into town almost any night of the week and find a decent gig without very much effort at all. Recently though, as a result of writing this blog, I have decided to spread my musical wings in an attempt to unearth some musical treasures from the rest of the country.

For the first in this "Beyond the Pale" series of blogs, I’m going to start with Westmeath, a county, according to Wikipedia at least, famous for cattle, lakes, pewter and élan. Famous Westmeath people include Michael O’Leary...

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The recent trend of multinational companies using alternative/indie music in their advertisements raises an interesting question, namely, are musicians who use their music to promote products selling out or just being smart?

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As part of the annual People of The Year Awards, the 2007 edition will see a special award being presented to Ireland’s Greatest Living Musician. The 15 most popular nominees, chosen by the general public, will be whittled down to one by a “top class adjudication panel.”



The People of The Year Awards website gives some indication as to what genres they think most people will look to when casting their vote. Amongst the names mentioned are Phil Coulter, Enya, Paul Brady and Ronan Keating,...

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Ham Sandwich are a victory for substance over style. Proving that great music will always inspire people to listen.

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Writing recently about the competition to find Ireland’s Greatest Living Musician gave me the perfect opportunity to delve into my record collection to remind myself of some of the contenders. In the process of completing this task I was taken aback by the sheer volume of music I possessed belonging to musicians now headlining the great gig in the sky. A quick check on my mp3 player showed that of the 100 most frequently played songs, 58 of them were by musicians who have already shuffled off their mortal coil.



Admittedly, that list has a lot to do with an on-going obsession with all things Elliott Smith. More...

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Mat Tanner is a musician. He has already self-financed, self-recorded and self-released one album and is in the process of doing the same with a second. Last week, however, he incurred the wrath of Universal Music Publishing Group.  What could a Manchester based singer-songwriter have done to offend one of the world’s largest publishing groups? 



Well, sometimes, when playing live, he likes to play an acoustic interpretation of 'Power of Love' by Huey Lewis and the News, 'Boy in the Bubble' by Paul Simon,...

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The Immediate, whose debut album In Towers & Clouds was well received by the majority of reviewers (one exception being CLUAS.com's Aidan Curran), announced this week that they were to split, citing “existential differences.”



Anyone attending an Immediate gig over the past year or so will not be surprised. The band; David Hedderman, Conor O'Brien, Peter Toomey and Barra Heavey, always came across as top heavy, all chiefs and no Indians. With each member having the ability to play each instrument, the band took the...

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