Tír Na HiFi

https://www.amazon.com/images/I/31CrP17unVL.jpg Listening tonight to California by American Music Club. I came aboard with AMC with Mercury and I was lucky enough to see them live in Dublin in 1993 on the supporting tour. Too many of my yesterdays were spent listening late at night on headphones to...

That St. Ann’s live CD was a true bargain, especially if it contains the DVD as well. Put simply, Aimee’s a treasure. A wonderful songwriter whose songs will forever endure.

https://www.amazon.com/images/I/41FCNEM8X6L.jpg Aimee Mann’s Whatever remains a personal favourite of mine. I bought it on release in 1993 and still play it incessantly. Songs like Mr. Harris, 4th of July and Jacob Marley’s Chain remain some of her most potent and perfectly formed songs. One of the...

Over the past week I’ve been re-acquainting myself with Adam Fischer’s complete traversal of the Haydn symphonies with the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. Originally recorded for Nimbus, Brilliant Classics swooped in and licensed the set for release on their label when Nimbus went bust. I haven’t ...

Listening tonight to Loyalty, the third album by The Weather Station. One of the finest and most rewarding records of recent years, the quality of Tamara Lindeman’s writing resonates and persists in the mind with an emotional depth that strongly recalls Joni Mitchell at her peak. https://media.parad...

Hope Sandoval wrote a beautiful poem for the loss of her friend. Nothing is left unsaid in these fine words. “What will we do now? Now that you leave me here. Even though the dark blue sky is still radiant And filled with the comforting sadness That holds us together. What we will do now? As you’ve ...

As I listened to the videos posted by Paul (thanks!) I came across this video. Then I got a shock. Dave Roback their founding member and slide guitarist extraordinaire is dead. February 24th this year. Didn't even know. This is what happens when you stop buying magazines.....So sad. https://youtu.b...

Listening again this evening to one of this year’s best albums, Nadia Reid’s quite stunning Out of my Province. Such a beautiful mixture of melancholy and resilience. I don’t believe I have heard a more affecting song all year than Get The Devil Out. A wonderful artist. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v...

The album, Spring, by Itasca is a slow-burning delight, one not to be rushed. It takes time for the subtleties of these delicately formed, gently ruminative songs to coalesce and cohere in the mind, songs which are akin to images observed from afar, obscured by a dusty haze, and which take a while f...

The new Lithics album, Tower of Age, is simply wonderful. The spirit of Wire and Gang of Four inhabits the post-punk miniatures of this criminally-unsung band and I also hear echoes of Doc at the Radar Station-era Beefheart. Aubrey Horner’s coolly deadpan vocals are the perfect complement to the mus...