eoghanBasic Member Posts:331
5/23/2009 3:28 PM |
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To mark the occasion of CLUAS.com's 10th birthday the CLUAS writers were
polled to find the top 50 Irish albums of CLUAS.com's lifetime, i.e. from 1999
to 2009. A total of 35 writers voted in this poll, each of them voting for an
average of 8 albums. Below, listed in alphabetical order, are the 50 albums that secured the most votes, and
every single album below was voted for by at least 2 writers. Which album was
the overall winner? Well you'll just have to check back on 30 May 2009 when the
full ranked list of these albums is published!
- 66e 'Fall Down 7 Times, Stand Up 8'
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Alphastates 'Made from Sand'
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Ash 'Free All Angels'
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Bell X1 'Music in Mouth'
- Cathal Coughlan 'Black River Falls'
- Cathal Coughlan
'The Sky's Awful Blue'
- Cathy Davey Tales of Silversleeve'
- Damien Dempsey Seize the Day'
- Damien Rice
'O'
- David Holmes 'Bow Down to the Exit Sign'
- David Holmes The Holy Pictures'
- David Kitt
'The Big Romance'
- David Kitt 'Small Moments'
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The Divine Comedy
'Regeneration'
- The Divine Comedy 'Victory For The Comic Muse'
- Dry County 'Unexpected Falls'
- Fight Like Apes The Mystery of the Golden Medallion'
- Fionn Regan The End of History'
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The Frames 'Dance The Devil'
- The Frames 'For The Birds'
- Frank and
Walters
'A Renewed Interest in Happiness'
- Gemma Hayes 'Night on my
Side'
- God Is An Astronaut
'All Is Violent, All Is Bright'
- Ham Sandwich 'Carry the Meek'
- Headgear 'Flight Cases'
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The Immediate
'In towers and clouds'
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Jape 'Ritual'
- JJ72 'I To Sky'
- JJ72 'JJ72'
- Joe Chester 'A Murder Of Crows'
- Lisa Hannigan
'Sea Sew'
- Mumblin ' Deaf Ro 'The Herring And The Brine ' (2006)
- Republic of Loose 'Aaagh'
- Roisin Murphy 'Overpowered'
- Simple Kid 'SK1'
- Simple Kid
'SK2'
- Snow Patrol 'When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up'
- Snow Patrol
'Final Straw'
- So Cow
'These Truly Are End Times'
- Ten Speed Racer '10 SR'
- The Thrills
'So Much For The City'
- The Tycho Brahe 'This Is The Tycho Brahe'
- The Tychonaut
'Love Life'
- The Walls 'New Dawn Breaking'
- Turn
'Forward'
- U2 'All that u cant leave behind'
- U2 'How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'
- The Urges
'Psych Ward'
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Waiting Room
'Catering For Headphones'
- Wilt 'Bastinado'
Is the list on the money or well wide of the mark? Any major omissions? Let us know what you think right here.
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5/23/2009 4:25 PM |
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Hooray for Humans' Signature should be in there somewhere ...
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5/23/2009 5:25 PM |
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Two JJ72 albums in there is proof enough there haven't been 50 great Irish albums in the last 10 years.
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National DisgraceNew Member Posts:2
5/24/2009 7:12 AM |
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I'd throw the new Halfset in there.. The U2 records are token gestures, right? Although at a push 'All that you can't leave behind' deserves a mention. It's amazing, a top 50 from 89 to 99 would easily wipe the floor with this list.. You can probably blame Westlife for that.
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carry_grantPosts:99
5/24/2009 5:04 PM |
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Top 50? We could stretch to a Top 10 at a push.
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CLUAS WritersNew Member Posts:1
5/25/2009 5:36 AM |
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SK2 and the Thrills managed to make it in....:shocked:
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eoghanBasic Member Posts:331
5/25/2009 6:05 AM |
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I just double-checked the vote count and majority of the albums in the above list (exactly 26 out of the 50 albums) were voted by at least 3 writers. Making it IMHO a water-tight list for those 26. I'd say you'll find that the albums in the list that some people are less convinced of will be among the 25 voted by 2 voters...
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aidanAdvanced Member Posts:638
5/25/2009 8:10 AM |
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I'm disappointed that 'Songs From The Deep Forest' by Duke Special isn't on the list: I have a theory that the drippy radio edit version of 'Freewheel' has turned people off him. (The album version is much more robust.)
'Absent Friends' is a much better DC album than 'Victory For The Common Muse'
And 'SK2' is a cracking album, which just goes to show that CLUAS Writers know nothing :)
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floodzerBasic Member Posts:181
5/26/2009 5:36 AM |
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Phantom are covering the story on todays news
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floodzerBasic Member Posts:181
5/26/2009 5:46 AM |
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Posted By aidan on 25 May 2009 08:10 AM
I'm disappointed that 'Songs From The Deep Forest' by Duke Special isn't on the list: I have a theory that the drippy radio edit version of 'Freewheel' has turned people off him. (The album version is much more robust.)
Its certainly turned me off. I cannot stand the song and I cant really imagine liking any of his work. I've seen him perform other tunes live and I dont know what all the fuss was about. His voice really irritates me and he goes on like hes doing something really unique and artistic but as far as Im concerned his music is average pop.
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
5/28/2009 2:16 AM |
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I can't remember if I voted for The Plague Monkeys "Surface Tension" now, because if I didn't I really should have. It just squeezes in being released in 1999. Just an absolutely gorgeous album that stands above most Irish records of the last decade in terms of artistic ambition and beauty. I would also encourage all Cluas writers who voted for Damien Rice to recant and replace their vote with "Surface Tension" instead, you know it makes sense, don't make me come over there! :D
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Idiot KidBasic Member Posts:217
5/28/2009 6:26 AM |
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Posted By Binokular on 28 May 2009 02:16 AM
I would also encourage all Cluas writers who voted for Damien Rice to recant and replace their vote with "Surface Tension" instead, you know it makes sense, don't make me come over there! :D
I can't think who that might have been! ;-)
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Idiot KidBasic Member Posts:217
5/28/2009 7:20 AM |
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The Frames in at number 1. I wouldn't have predicted that myself.
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eoghanBasic Member Posts:331
5/29/2009 12:03 AM |
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Here's the top 10, as announced yesterday on Phantom FM. Full ranked top 50 will go live on the site tomorrow: Best Irish albums of the last ten years (as voted by 35 CLUAS writers) 1 The Frames ‘For The Birds’ 2 Bell X1 - Music in mouth 3 Damien Rice - O 4 Jape ‘Ritual’ 5 Ash ‘Free All Angels’ 6 U2 – all that u cant leave behind 7 Cathy Davey Tales of Silversleeve 8 Roisin Murphy - Overpowered 9 The Frames ‘Dance The Devil’ 10 Simple Kid ‘SK2’
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carry_grantPosts:99
5/29/2009 1:39 AM |
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Oof. That's about as damning an indictment of Irish music in the past 10 years as it's possible to get. Shocking.
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aidanAdvanced Member Posts:638
5/29/2009 1:55 AM |
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Posted By eoghan on 29 May 2009 12:03 AM Here's the top 10, as announced yesterday on Phantom FM. Full ranked top 50 will go live on the site tomorrow:
Best Irish albums of the last ten years (as voted by 35 CLUAS writers)
1 The Frames ‘For The Birds’ 2 Bell X1 - Music in mouth 3 Damien Rice - O 4 Jape ‘Ritual’ 5 Ash ‘Free All Angels’ 6 U2 – all that u cant leave behind 7 Cathy Davey Tales of Silversleeve 8 Roisin Murphy - Overpowered 9 The Frames ‘Dance The Devil’ 10 Simple Kid ‘SK2’ I think the top three artists were as expected. Perhaps only the U2 album feels out of place for me in that list (although it's a masterpiece compared to their current shocker). I'm happy that there's a good portion of poppiness there too - and 'SK2' by Simple Kid really does deserve to be there.
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QuintBasic Member Posts:209
5/30/2009 2:59 AM |
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None of the albums I picked made it in to the top 10 although, to be honest, I wasn't expecting them to be. Some of the albums I did pick made the top 50 however: God Is An Astronaut's astonishing 'All Is Violent, All Is Bright', David Holmes 'Bow Down...', Ten Speed Racer, Tycho Brahe, Cathal Coughlan.One of my most listened-to Irish albums of recent years - Ann Scott's 'We're Smiling' - didn't even make the top 50! The top ten is a little conservative and predictable and, as Carry Grant pointed out, apart from Jape and Simple Kid, not a great advertisement for Irish music for the last ten years. U2's 'All that you...' is a very weak album (nowhere near as bad as their latest turkey 'No Tune On The Horizon' however), I don't know how the Frames got in twice and Damien Rice's 'O' is still the dreariest collection of songs I've ever heard. Still, move outside of the top 10 and there are some very interesting choices there.
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
6/3/2009 3:14 AM |
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Is the full ranked listing with writeups uploaded yet or am I being daft and not seeing it?
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eoghanBasic Member Posts:331
6/3/2009 5:33 AM |
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Posted By Binokular on 03 Jun 2009 03:14 AM
Is the full ranked listing with writeups uploaded yet or am I being daft and not seeing it?
It's not uploaded yet. It's taking way longer to put into HTML than I expected. It will however be live tomorrow morning!
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
6/3/2009 5:54 AM |
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Cool, no rush, it'll be done when it's done! :)
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stephenBasic Member Posts:201
6/6/2009 11:37 PM |
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Interesting list... though I am disappointed that Mic Christopher's poignant Skylarkin' didn't make the cut. Apparently I was the only to have voted for it!
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
6/8/2009 6:26 AM |
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Posted By stephen on 06 Jun 2009 11:37 PM
Interesting list... though I am disappointed that Mic Christopher's poignant Skylarkin' didn't make the cut. Apparently I was the only to have voted for it!
I hate that record. I don't hate many records, but I hate that one.
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stephenBasic Member Posts:201
6/9/2009 10:39 PM |
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Hate Skylarkin'?!
Why! What's to hate?
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6/11/2009 6:37 AM |
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Can't believe the Boa Morte 'Soon it will come time..' album didn't make the list. I read about it first on CLUS and you guys were raving about it at the time...(and rightly so)
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aidanAdvanced Member Posts:638
6/11/2009 8:28 AM |
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It might be interesting to see a list of the albums that didn't make the 50, i.e. only got 1 vote...
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6/12/2009 6:47 AM |
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also throw these into the mix: The Last Post - 'dry land' and Redneck Manifesto - 'Cut your heart off from your head'
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PeterQuaifeBasic Member Posts:436
6/12/2009 9:43 AM |
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Posted By aidan on 11 Jun 2009 08:28 AM It might be interesting to see a list of the albums that didn't make the 50, i.e. only got 1 vote...
good call
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floodzerBasic Member Posts:181
6/18/2009 3:46 AM |
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Actually yeah there should definately be atleast one rednecks album in there if not more!
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Shapey FiendNew Member Posts:5
6/19/2009 2:29 AM |
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The list is a bit indie rock bedwetter. Would have been nice to see a proper representation of electronic, metal, hip hop and the like.
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PeterQuaifeBasic Member Posts:436
6/19/2009 3:23 AM |
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Posted By Shapey Fiend on 19 Jun 2009 02:29 AM The list is a bit indie rock bedwetter. Would have been nice to see a proper representation of electronic, metal, hip hop and the like.
any albums in particular Shapey? cheers
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Shapey FiendNew Member Posts:5
6/19/2009 7:22 AM |
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Hip hop wise I'd say Scary Eire - The Scary Era. Recorded in '93 but only was shelved for 14 years until it came out in 2007 so I'd say it still counts. RiRa's new solo album (some 20 years after he started rapping) Horses Work For Donkeys Wages is magnificent but it's only out for a few weeks so it missed the deadline.
Other artists that could have made the cut would be Messiah J and The Expert and The Infomatics. Rob Kellys first two mixtapes were great but I suppose they mightn't be strictly classed as albums.
I'm not as well versed in Irish metal and electronica as I should be. Again, most dance music isn't really about the album format either so maybe I was being a bit harsh. My scorn was mostly derived from an overpowering distaste for Damien Rice and U2's latter day output more than anything.
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eoghanBasic Member Posts:331
6/20/2009 2:06 AM |
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Posted By Shapey Fiend on 19 Jun 2009 07:22 AM
Hip hop wise I'd say Scary Eire - The Scary Era. Recorded in '93 but only was shelved for 14 years until it came out in 2007 so I'd say it still counts. RiRa's new solo album (some 20 years after he started rapping) Horses Work For Donkeys Wages is magnificent but it's only out for a few weeks so it missed the deadline.
Other artists that could have made the cut would be Messiah J and The Expert and The Infomatics. Rob Kellys first two mixtapes were great but I suppose they mightn't be strictly classed as albums.
Shapey, why don't you write an article on the Irish Hip Hop scene? It would help raise awareness among CLUAS regualrs (writers and readers) of what's going on. I am also confident I could make such an article the no.1 result on Google for searches for "Irish Hip hop" (as I've done for the CLUAS site for "Irish jazz Music", "Irish Heavy metal", "Cork Music Scene" and so on).
My scorn was mostly derived from an overpowering distaste for Damien Rice and U2's latter day output more than anything.
But those artists only account for 3 of the albums that made the top 50?!
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Shapey FiendNew Member Posts:5
6/21/2009 6:01 AM |
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The Frames albums and Music in Mouth are both half good albums for me as well, but too patchy to be top 10. But anyway, enough with the nit picking. I'll do something positive and write an article for you.
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
6/22/2009 5:22 AM |
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Posted By Shapey Fiend on 19 Jun 2009 07:22 AM
Hip hop wise I'd say Scary Eire - The Scary Era. Recorded in '93 but only was shelved for 14 years until it came out in 2007 so I'd say it still counts. RiRa's new solo album (some 20 years after he started rapping) Horses Work For Donkeys Wages is magnificent but it's only out for a few weeks so it missed the deadline.
Other artists that could have made the cut would be Messiah J and The Expert and The Infomatics. Rob Kellys first two mixtapes were great but I suppose they mightn't be strictly classed as albums.
I'm not as well versed in Irish metal and electronica as I should be. Again, most dance music isn't really about the album format either so maybe I was being a bit harsh. My scorn was mostly derived from an overpowering distaste for Damien Rice and U2's latter day output more than anything.
If it's any consolation, my top 10 included "Feedback" by Dirty Beatniks. Granted, it's not the best dance music album ever and its an outdated genre (Chemical Brothers Era big beat), but as Irish dance/electronic goes, it was pretty good. Only everyone else in the world disagrees with me. :o))
Bit controversial to say this perhaps, but Electronic/dance/hip hop is not something we do well here. For every valiant attempt at it that originates here, there's an avalanche of stuff from Berlin or elsewhere that is lightyears ahead to put it into perspective. I mean can you imagine something like the new Moderat album coming out of Ireland? I can't. I'm sure someone will doubtless attempt to bring some great record I've not heard to my attention (please do), but even still always going to be outnumbered.
That's not putting anyone attempting to make that sort of music here down, remember, a lot of these artists are not actually from these hubs of techno, they've just gone there because everyone else making those sort of records has too, it builds a momentum. Even in the internet era, geography still affects music. Our licensing laws probably don't help either.
Music always goes in cycles though, Ireland may eventually create its own electronic music subculture with its own identity, owing nothing to Berlin, Detroit or any other city
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NickWrayNew Member Posts:11
6/23/2009 4:36 AM |
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Great to see the Urges getting some recognition! Psych Ward is an exciting album, really looking forward to the follow up.
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aidanAdvanced Member Posts:638
6/23/2009 4:45 AM |
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Posted By Shapey Fiend on 21 Jun 2009 06:01 AM The Frames albums and Music in Mouth are both half good albums for me as well, but too patchy to be top 10. But anyway, enough with the nit picking. I'll do something positive and write an article for you. That's the spirit! Definitely something on the rap/hip hop scene in Ireland - being fairly ignorant of rap/hip hop myself, I know I'll read it!
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