Having moaned at my general disinterest at the state of music in 2009 it’s now time to talk about what I did like. Choosing my favourite songs is always a lot of fun – in a way it’s more satisfying than albums and not only because there are more to choose from. It’s also because the sheer number of listens brings a certain familiarity with individual songs that can be so great they really become an integral part of your life. This year even as I was left cold by the vast amount of new music and new hypes I…

As with all music festivals you have to make your call and pick who you want to see and forget that anyone else is playing. The three choices we made were Nina Kinert, A Camp and 2 Many DJS. With The cardigan’s Nina Persson fronting A Camp I was telling everyone I was going to see 2 Many Ninas followed by 2 Many DJs.

And sadly the night turned out to have one too many Ninas and 2 too many Djs for my liking.

Nina Kinert and her band were magnificent. Playing songs mainly from last year’s wonder album Pets…

Tori Amos’ new single is Welcome to England It is taken from her forthcoming album Abnormally Attracted to Sin and to say I am underwhelmed is an understatement. I am a very very big Tori fan but this track is as dull as they come which has me very very worried. In fact, the other two songs that have leaked 500 miles and Fire to your Plain are no better. It’s horribly middle of the road and the drums and instrumentation are as offensively generic as the melodies. Hard to understand how she is happy to release this substandard material.…

(in full colour glory with links here http://frmckenzie.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/favourites-albums-2008/)

What a satisfying feeling to be able to say in mid-December, It’s been a great year for music. The only problem with so much great music is trying to pick your favourites. It’s been a very, very tough task but I’ve finally finished. From 15 to 1 I’ve compiled my favourites. It is utterly thrilling to be so confident that most of these are albums I will love forever. So raise your glass to 2008, it’s been mighty fine.

15. Neon Neon - Stainless Style

The eighties never sounded so great. Honestly,…

Put on your best suit, dust down that tiara, fill up your champagne flute and sit back for this year’s best of list. The votes are in and counted. I’ve simply discarded those that I didn’t agree with and came up with my own bunch anyway. Hey, I have never claimed that Conorland is a democracy!

Well, all in all, I have felt that 2007 was certainly not a great year for music. There - I’ve said it! Very little to get excited about and lots of disappointments (my beloved Patty Griffin winning my prize for that). There were a…

A friend of mine recently confessed that she didn’t like Josh Ritter’s music because she found it bland. Now being a huge fan of the great man I was instantly disappointed but at the same time understanding for I too had been there. I had been a ‘non-believer’.

For years I just didn’t get the hype. Okay, there really isn’t any hype outside of Ireland – but in Ireland it’s there in spades – the man is gigantically popular and I couldn’t fathom why. I had heard the radio hits and could even sing along if pushed but I couldn’t…

They were 40 minutes late. An extra 40 minutes in an unventilated small venue on a hot August evening feels like an eternity. People were beginning to act restlessly. There was a slight wave of tension building up and sweat beads began to form on every forehead when they finally came on stage.

It was incredibly hot. Sizzling. The music and the temperature. What an incredible show. The energy and atmosphere were as close to perfect as possible. The heat and the desperate desire for them to come on stage added to the experience. This is music that deserves a…

In 1992 I was fifteen. I can barely remember what that was like but I am pretty sure I had the world figured out and knew everything that needed to be known. Of course I had to wait another fifteen years for that really to be true :-)

From a really early age I had always been ridiculously into music starting off with songs from The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, then graduating to Chris de Burgh (We’re talking about pre Lady in Red days here folks) and then the ultimate… The Beatles. I would also dabble in and out…

Good music certainly abounded this year. 2006 was definitely packed with hits in Conorland with big releases by big artists such as Paul Simon, Damien Rice and Tom Waits ……. and big releases by the lesser knowns like Camille, M Ward and Guillemots…. The Beatles released yet another repackaged/rehashed CD but this time it was worthy. A very special collection of slightly juggled Beatles tracks that make them shine as if brand new - you can almost pretend that it’s your first time hearing these foundations of modern music!

I’ve had a year to enjoy and digest it all and…

Having bought the tickets way back in July it was certainly worth the wait. Sufjan set the Paradiso in Amsterdam alight on Saturday night - well him and the nine other musicans. Five brass instruments, electric guitar, drums, banjo, grand piano, another upright one, clarinet and lots and lots of blow up santas and supermans (supermen?). It was a frenzy of music almost two hours long and every last drop was delicious.
All the musicians and Sufjan himself was dressed up for the ocassion with special winged costumes and a big screen showing super 8 pictures - it just all…