Dublin's Enigmatic Music Scene

Over the last several months that my wife and I have lived in Dublin, I've been very impressed with Dublin's music scene. The great song writers, bands, and intimate live venues all contribute to some great energy in that realm of Dublin culture. In fact, tonight we're headed off to see The Decemberists at Vicar Street, which I'm really excited about. Paste Magazine listed their latest project, The Crane Wife, as the top album of 2006. Seems that some of the greatest American acts in the categories "Under the Radar" and "Blog-Generated Fan Base" want to stop in to Dublin, including Sufjan Stevens a few months back. The brilliantly talented Josh Ritter has even acheived iconic status in Ireland, whereas he's relatively unknown in his homeland. And then there's the recent Oxfam Ireland compilation, The Cake Sale, which has a good share of soulful genius in both song writing and performance.

Having said that, I'm still trying to decide if Hot Press magazine is brilliant or a complete waste of €3.50. Depends on the issue I guess. And what's with this West Life crap? It's bad enough that they're trying to extend the curse of the "boy band" sub-genre. Now they've titled their latest tour "The Love Tour." . . . *long pause to let that sink in* . . . . I just can't think of anything more lacking in creativity and offensive to the art form.