Sadly, Clare People Interactive will no longer be able to continue providing free podcasts with Irish and international musicians and artists. Over the last five years we have provided more then 150 audio podcast, hundreds of album reviews, and dozens of original video podcasts free to anyone who wanted to watch or listen. It’s been great craic and I hope that people got some enjoyment from the site. I am currently working on a full audio podcast archive, which will include all of the 2010 podcasts which were removed the last time the site crashed. When this is done I will let people know. Thanks to John O’Rourke, Gerry Collison and Noel Barrett for their help and support which has made this site possible.
This is an amazing video shot by surf photographer Mickey Smith under the Cliffs of Moher. Not your usual surf video, this is a real work of art. Cannot recommend this highly enough. Enjoy
Organiser and curator of Lahinch’s White Horse Sessions, Lou McMahon, has taken a small break from bringing the best of Irish musical talents to the Clare masses to push her own musical creativity a little. And about time too.
Delicate Dancer, the new EP from the Sixmilebridge singer songwriter, is a lovely taster of the undoubted talent that McMahon possesses.
From the early moments of opening track A River, the listener is left with no illusion – this is no ordinary, middle-of-the-road singer songwriter. McMahon’s deft yet uncomplicated style of writing is a real highlight of this record.
The EP ebbs and flows, from the slower more ponderous Hourglass (my standout track of the record) to the smoky jazz-trad crossover of Wide Eyed Lady, but never fails to capture the listeners attention.
This is a very decent record from McMahon. Delicate Dancer not only points to a huge potential for the future but also show that she already has the songs at her disposal now to make an impact. Anyone with an interest in music in Clare will wish her well. Andrew Hamilton
Oh come on, everyone likes the Saw Doctors. Sure, they have plenty of obvious gaps in their rock and roll armory – but what they lack in charisma, style and any real rock and roll edginess they make up for with musicianship, heart the ability to write decent songs.
Besides, some would say that the Saw Doctors have a style and charisma which is all of their own. And who are we to argue with that.
Anyway, To Win Just Once is a suitable tribute to two decades of great work. These aren’t just songs, they are Irish songs and more than that they are west of Ireland songs. Like the band themselves. the tracks on this album are inseparable from the part of the world which brought them into existence.
All the classic are there – To Win Just Once, That’s What She Said, Never Mind The Strangers, I Useta Love Her and a nice live version of the N17. And so what if it’s hillbilly music – sure there’s a little hillbilly in all of us. Andrew Hamilton
Maslow’s Songbook is the debut album from Wexford band ODi. To be honest, it’s not entirely clear where the singer-songwriter Claire Odlum stops and the band ODi starts, so for the time being at least lets refer to them as a “band†and a “them†– just for the sake of clarity.
Following on the success of their debut EP’s “Crawl†and “A Superman†– this album arrives after a tireless touring schedule which has seem ODi bring their sound to ever corner of the country.
Front loaded with a decent offering of radio friendly pop-songs, Maslow’s Songbook really comes alive when the songs are allowed to slow down and find their feet naturally.
‘Real to Me’ and ‘Make it Better’ are beautifully crafted tunes – emotive and honest, they are essentially good old fashioned ballads, sang beautifully.
Produced by the virtually ever present Karl Odlum (could be a relation, who knows), the record also hold that catchy tunefulness which is so much a part of everything produced from the Odlum stable of music.
Maslow’s Songbook is by no means the finished product, but it’s a promising and at times exciting step in an interesting direction. Andrew Hamilton
Proof at last that it’s not always a bad idea to annoy your parents. When a five-year Lou McMahon taped over her parents beloved Queen tapes it seemed that only bad things would follow. Andrew Hamilton chats to the Sixmilebridge songstress and discovers the silver lining to her crimes against Freddy Mercury.
An idea, especially a good idea, can emerge almost effortlessly. Call it inspiration or revelation, but more often than not the seed of something great can flash into existence in an instance, driven – it would seem – by it’s own invisible engine. Almost as if it way lying there all along, killing time, just waiting to be uncovered.
But discovery is just the beginning. A good start, they say, is half the battle – but if all you have is a good start then the battle itself is already lost. Sixmilebridge singer songwriter Lou McMahon started working on her Delicate Dancer EP way back in 2006. Now, almost four years later, this collection of six songs is finally ready to be heard by the world.
“I think it takes a very short amount of time to come up with an idea, but it can take forever to develop that idea. It took all of these years to develop the ideas of these songs to what they are now. I come to the point where I just had to finish the recording, because it was taking so long…
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I’m a little surprised that I liked this album. When actors decide to become musicians it triggers a whole series of alarms in my brain. Burned by the efforts of Keano Reeves and Russell Crowe, only the very few – Juliet Lewis and William Shatner (come on, you know it’s true) – produce anything worthwhile.
So I was more surprised than anyone to discover that Jared Leto was more of a Kylie that a Jason.
But before we start fawning all over the My So-Called Life heartthrob, lets get a few things straight. This is by no means a great album and the fact that it will sell millions more than countless other more deserving records is a little obsene.
This is War is an attempt, and a braveish one at that, for 30 Seconds to Mars, to mark themselves out as something different. They are shooting for a big epic sound, the kind of thing Muse might sound like that if they were blue and red Americans who were really into their shoes. Not totally rubbish. Andrew Hamilton
Things are really starting to get tasty. It really isn’t that long that a list of quality Irish electronic artists could have been compiled on the back of a matchbox, using a big-nibbed felt tip pen – and you’d probably still have space for a list of great Irish tap dancers.
No longer however, and such list would require at least 20 matchboxes to complete. But where does Sound to Light, the debut album from Dublin four-piece Channel One, fall into this list? Somewhere near the top I would think.
This is a very decent album – a record of confidence and bravery. The first two track – the anthemic ‘Soubresant’ and ‘A Thousand Cuts’ – last more the 12 minutes between them. Twelve minutes, opening an album of largely instrumental music – wont everyone fall asleep?
Surprising you wont fall asleep, and that, I suppose is a tribute to the record. Not that it keeps you awake per say but that in can be non-compromising and at the same time engage with the listener in a real and immediate way. Andrew Hamilton
Are you tired of the one-dimensional world of ink and paper? Does your heart long to be able to look behind the stories and see, hear and touch what’s really going on? Well, thanks to the Clare People Newspaper, your prayers have been answered. As a classic Libran, the Clare People loves long walks on the beach and getting lost in the rain. Looking for some action but unwilling to make the effort, don’t worry, the Clare People will do all the running for you. So come and join the party.
Lou McMahon
To Win Just Once
ODi
This is War
Sound To Light
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