Love 'em, hate 'em, write 'em. Irish music blogs are sprouting on the internet faster than Britney Spears' new hair. But are they any good? Jim Carrollspends more time than is good for him in a darkened room in search of cyber enlightenment.
THEY are the new rock'n'roll. As more and more people discovered blogging, it's inevitable that many music fans will be among those using Wordpress or TypePad software to get across their points of view on the sounds they hear in their heads.
Like the plethora of music magazines that still sit in the corners of some newsagents, music blogs cover a lot of diverse ground. On the whole, though, you'll find that it's mostly non-mainstream music under the microscope. Like the authors of inky fanzines of yesteryear - that blogs have supplanted in many cases - music bloggers are usually the most enthusiatic champions on the block when it comes to music that doesn't get a lot of coverage elsewhere.
Many music blogs act as invaluable filters for readers keen to get their hands on MP3s and downloads. The vast majority of these MP3s are legal, and the music blogs simply signposting where they can be found on bands' sites and other music blogs or upload them onto their own sites. Of course, there are occasions when liberties are taken and words are exchanged, leading to music bloggers removing the links from their sites.
In addition to the international music blogs who've made a big splash, there's a growing number of Irish music enthusiasts having a go. Here's a guide to some of them.
NIALLER9
www.nialler9.com/blog/
WHAT IS IT?We thought it was the best Irish music blog on the interweb, and now the Irish Blog Awards have endorsed that view. Enthusiastic and on-the-money recommendations and MP3s of new and overlooked music from web designer Niall Byrne.
CONTENT:Nialler9 has a predilection for alt hip-hop so there's lots of Edan, RJD2, Def Jux and Aesop Rock, but he's also a fan of Au Revoir Simone and Modeselektor. He's also linking to the exellent free download-only Decal album and advises readers to have another look at Bloc Party's overlooked Silent Alarm remix album.
A TASTE:"Another day, another excuse to mention Battles, the only math-rock band worth mentioning these days".
NO CLARITY
www.noclarity.co.uk
WHAT IS IT?Fine webmag concentrating on all manner of new music from everywhere, but with a particular focus on Northern Ireland. It's edited by radio journalist Eddie Mullan and features a team of sharp contributing writers.
CONTENT:There's a really good interview with rising stars Oppenheimer, a link to a free downloadable mini-album of early EP tracks from Duke Special and reviews of all-ages shows in Belfast. No Clarity also carries some good coverage of indie films and books.
A TASTE: "Having consumed a bottle of the monk's finest, I donned my fluorescent builder's jacket and strolled across town alongside my raving mad English friend. As you do."
UNA ROCKS
http://unarocks.blogspot.com
WHAT IS IT?Sunday Tribune journalist Una Mullally's ace musings about "music, life and the philosophy of drunken escapades". As well as various gig and music recommendations, she links to a myriad of pop-culture articles worth a browse.
CONTENT:There's the UnaRocks Dirty Dozen compilations of MP3s (it's now on volume 60), her guide to Dublin's top 10 club nights right now and links to new CSS tunes, including a banging version of L7's Pretend That We're Dead.
A TASTE:"The DJ set from the New Testament Party crew was probably one of the worst I ever heard. They played really naff mixes of stuff like I Just Can't Get Enough and Justin Timberlake. Really crappy stuff that was being done years ago. Clearly these kids don't really know much about music."
TEST
http://testindustries.typepad.com/test/
WHAT IS IT?Besides the occasional night behind the decks, Richard Brophy is best known for writing about techno for DJ magazine and Hot Press. Never one to shy away from a contentious statement or two, Brophy's observations on what techno's great and good are up to are always entertaining.
CONTENT:Indepth reviews of new albums by The Blotik Brothers and Joakim, a dig at fellow blogger Philip Sherburne's views on Italo, musings on straight-edge DJs and downloads of such tracks as Bodycode's Exciting Ride and a Sascha Funke remix of Hearthrob's Baby Kate.
A TASTE:"The suggestion of at-oneness with their audience in terms of partying makes people like Villalobos, Hawtin and Vath much more human, more on the same level than a faceless, sober performer ensconced in a gilded booth."
SINEAD GLEESON
www.sineadgleeson.com
WHAT IS IT?Ticket contributer Sinead Gleeson used to edit a fine online mag called Sigla which has now given way to this blog on music, books, films, blogging and the odd football post too. What makes it so readable is Gleeson's ability to be both fan and critic and the span of topics she covers.
CONTENT:The view from the jury room at the recent Choice Music Prize at which Gleeson was a judge, YouTube footage of turntablist Kid Koala, a piece on the new Gavin Bryars project, the 2000AD comic 30 years on and the mysterious absence of Irish women writers from a classroom poster.
A TASTE:"Further proof that you should never act like a smug journo interviewer can be seen in Zane Lowe's interview with Grinderman on last Saturday's BBC2 Culture Show. Lowe, one of the most irritating and self-congratulatory people in broadcasting, pontificates about what he thinks the album is about - including a totally misguided analogy to Ziggy Stardust."
CHEEBAH
http://cheebah.typepad.com/
WHAT IS IT?Limerick club collective Cheebah's guide to that city's cultural scene with lots and lots about their Roots club nights. This smartly designed and written blog also covers local theatre groups and various issues with a Shannonside bent.
CONTENT:Photos from recent Roots events, a piece on London sound system man Robert Tribulation, an interview with Limerick actress Helena Enright and articles on Limerick's Unfringed festival and poet Maighread Medbh.
A TASTE:"After the closure of the Boat Club there was an outpouring of grief as people lamented another lost place in which they could dance. We decided to invite stories of other such spaces and are now going to publish them on a fortnightly basis."
HOUSE IS A FEELING
http://ronanfitzgerald.net/houseisafeeling/
WHAT IS IT?Ronan "Romo" Fitzgerald DJs at Dublin's Backlash club night and on Lonrach on Raidio na Life. House Is A Feeling is the blog where he lets fly with his views on electronic music.
CONTENT:Downloads of his show on Raidio na Life, opinion piece on the news that Arctic Monkeys and Dizzee Rascal are to record together, a piece on how dance music seems to be in a timewarp and a MP3 of Carl Craig's superb remix of Faze Action's In The Tree.
A TASTE:"In a perfect world these acts would all have lurid beefs with each other. But then I guess you can't expect musicians to actually care about music (at least not in the partisan way that their listeners do)!"
THE TORTURE GARDEN
http://thetorturegarden.blogspot.com/
WHAT IS IT?Irish indie kid in Berlin writing enthusiastically about alternative music. More MP3s than you shake a big stick at, plus reviews, previews and news.
CONTENT:Track-listing for a forthcoming remix album by Stars (and a link to a remix of Ageless Beauty), reviews and MP3s from new albums by My Brightest Diamond and Lucky Soul, and links to MP3s by a dozen acts playing the South By Southwest music festival.
A TASTE: "It takes a few listens for the mess of ideas and half-thought, half-felt tumbling declarations to get you, to stop your head nodding and make you think".
OTHER IRISH MUSIC BLOGS OF NOTE WEAREIE
www.weareie.com
DJ Droid's comprehensive guide to all things irie, from dub and ragga to two-step and drum'n'bass.
KILKENNY MUSIC
www.kilkennymusic.com
An online community centre for Kilkenny music fans covering local gigs, radio sessions, releases and much more. Interestingly, this blog has received funding from the Arts Council.
MAGOOO
http://magooo.org/
Letterkenny student Conor McGoohan's selection of bass-heavy MP3s.
RECOMMENDED INTERNATIONAL BLOGS
COOLFER
www.coolfer.com/blog/
MP3 HUGGER
http://mp3hugger.com/
SAID THE GRAMOPHONE
http://saidthegramophone.com/
LARGEHEARTED BOY
http://blog.largeheartedboy.com/
LITTLE WHITE EAR BUDS
http://littlewhiteearbuds.wordpress.com/
PALMS OUT
http://palmsout.blogspot.com/
