They also make music in Ireland: three Irish records reviewed

Michael McHale Moonlight (2022)

This release on the Ergodos label sees pianist McHale tackling Beethoven's Appassionata and Moonlight sonatas, interspersed with shorter pieces by Linda Buckley and Áine Mallon. Despite my interest in contemporary music, I mainly bought it so that I could have a copy of the Moonlight Sonata to listen to. McHale's performance of this feels a bit non-standard, with the playing seeming to be a bit more delicate than other versions I have heard. I am not familiar enough with the Appassionata to judge this rendition, but the playing seems a good bit more in your face than on the Moonlight Sonata. The two short contemporary pieces meanwhile function effectively as introductions to the Beethoven sonatas, with Buckley's piece played with the diffidence of the Moonlight Sonata, while Mallon's "Raindrop Prelude" has the more aggressive playing of the Appassionata; it could also be said to have notes invoking falling rain.

Overall an enjoyable listen but I think I would need to listen more closely to a standard performance of the Moonlight Sonata to appreciate the deviation here. You can check it out yourself on Bandcamp: https://ergodos.bandcamp.com/album/moonlight

Cormorant Tree Oh Cormorant Tree Oh [2018]

You will recall how impressed I was by Ms Cormorant Tree Oh, the mysterious balalaika playing lady who played support to local gothgazers A Ritual Sea. It turns out that Cormorant Tree Oh is actually a stage name, and her real name is Mary Keane. On stage she came across as a bit of an outsider artist weirdo, albeit one with clear musical talent and application, but here we have a record that is much more form the world of spooky weirdo folk, with songs about werewolves and stone circles, while the music is a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments. There is not much in the way of credits on her Bandcamp page, but I suspect this is something she knocked up herself, and extremely impressive it is too. Its eerie, ritualistic sounds have been on repeat here in my brane and I suspect they would be in yours too if you give this a listen. I see she is releasing another album in September… which may mean that she will do another live show. Exciting. Check out her stuff on Bandcamp: https://cormorant-tree-oh.bandcamp.com/music

Fears Oíche (2021)

Fears is the recording name of Constance Keane. I bought this after liking a track on a friend's compilation of their favourite tunes of 2021. This album, whose title must surely be unpronounceable to anyone who has not been through the Irish education system, is a collection of downbeat electronic sounds over which we get Keane's delicate vocals. The lyrics touch on Keane's mental health issues, which on occasion saw her in psychiatric institutions, but just letting the beautiful music wash over you stops this being a harrowing trudge. You can listen to it yourself on Bandcamp: https://fearsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/o-che-2 images:

Moonlight (Bandcamp)

Cormorant Tree Oh (Bandcamp)

Oíche (Bandcamp)

Concert: A Ritual Sea (Workman's Club)

A Ritual Sea are Dublin's very own Hiberno-French gothgaze sensations and this February concert saw them launching their debut album. When I arrived a support act was already onstage, a woman who played a mysterious stringed instrument (later revealed to be a balalaika) while she sang and fiddled with electronics. I think at least one song was about her cat. There was a definitely appealing quality to her sound but it was a real struggle to find out who she was, with people I asked not knowing or not remembering the name she was trading under, or else they did know and said it to me but the ambient noise meant I was unable to pick it up. Eventually research revealed that she records and plays as Cormorant Tree Oh and is on Bandcamp ( https://cormorant-tree-oh.bandcamp.com ). I recommend checking her out.

A Ritual Sea themselves I have seen a few times supporting other people and once playing as headliners in a small venue with problematic sound. This was my first time seeing them in all their glory and they have really flowered into an impressive live band. On record they tend towards the ethereal end of shoegaze but live they are a good bit more muscular, with a lot of this down to the powerful rhythm section. However the shimmering guitar action keeps the shoegaze faith, with the delightful interlocking tones of guitarists Florian Chombart and Nina Ruminska counterpointing the vocals of Chombart and Donna McCabe. Ruminska's playing in particular is stunning; she seems to be one of those people who are ridiculously mutli-talented, as investigation reveals her to be a gifted creator of visual art.

So this was a great concert and the crowd responded in kind. However, there was a note of sadness to proceedings. The band had already said that this would be their only concert this year, but now from the stage McCabe intimated that it could be their last concert ever, without going into the reasons for this possible ending. This struck me as most unfortunate. After releasing their likeable album last year and then delivering such a strong live performance it's hard not to see A Ritual Sea as a band really hitting their creative stride, so it would be a shame if they were to disappear just as they are showing such promise.

More concert photos