Category: Psych & Songs
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An Unexpected Duet
Wendy Smith and Niall Crumlish talk through how a song, story, and sunlight collaboration begins.
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Gold Soundz 5: ‘Starfish And Coffee’ by Prince
In March 1987, when Sign O’ The Times by Prince came out and The Joshua Tree was just out, I was in first year in secondary school. I was coming to the end of first year in a boys’ school, St Benildus’ College in Kilmacud, where I started in September 1986. That means I was…
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Gold Soundz 2: ‘Apology Accepted’ by The Go-Betweens
‘Apology Accepted’, the final song on The Go-Betweens’ fourth album, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, has one of my favourite opening couplets. The late Grant McLennan opens ‘Apology Accepted’ with “I used to say dumb things / I guess I still do”. This couplet is one I recall every time I say something dumb,…
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Sacred Voice: Mimi Parker of Low, RIP.
In September, I was in hospital for the treatment of a condition that made itself evident to me only in late August. I am long out of hospital. I am having the best care and treatment anyone could have. I am recovering. Low’s ‘2-Step’, in particular the part sung by Mimi Parker, who I just…
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I Am Not Afraid: Circuit Des Yeux’s ‘Walking Toward Winter’
The words of Circuit Des Yeux’s song ‘Walking Toward Winter’ that are printed on the sleeve of their 2021 album, -io, are not quite the words that the band’s leader Haley Fohr sings. This is what moves me most about this song, and the bar is high. Other affecting elements of ‘Walking Toward Winter’ are…
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Two Hearts Have Torn Away: Julia Jacklin’s ‘End of a Friendship’
Julia Jacklin plays Vicar Street on November 3rd. This is her first show in Dublin since 2019 and the first on the European tour to accompany her August 2022 album, PRE PLEASURE. I’ve hardly been to any gigs since that pre-COVID year. Even in 2019, I only made it out to nine shows, two of…