A Year in Music – 2024 – Brian Brannigan (A Lazarus Soul)
by Killian Laher

Brian Solo Image – Photographer Credit – Anthony Mulcahy
Group Photo – Photographer Credit – Kieran Frost

How are you, what sort of year have you had?

I’m doing great thanks Killian & hope you’re keeping well?  It’s been quite a year for ALS (A Lazarus Soul). The album went to number one in the indie charts which was alternate universe stuff for us. We have a great team behind us, Sean Steven managing, Alan & Ian (Bohemia Records) & Dave & Alison (Gilded ALM) they’ve all done an amazing job this year. We’re so happy with how the album was received & very thankful of all those who supported us. Playing with The The in Collins Barracks was a real highlight for me, The The were amazing & it was a perfect day from start to finish, thanks Fin O’Leary.

What are the albums you enjoyed most this year?

I bought a ton of records as I usually do & below are a few of my loves.

Niamh Regan – Come as You Are

The songwriting is incredible on this album & these tunes slowly crept up on me. I can envision these songs being recorded in Nashville & becoming huge hits. The album explores the complexities of relationships with a fiery honesty that cuts through you. When I’m finished the album, I always put on Nice a second time, it’s that brilliant. An album of the year for me.

Prince Far I – Cry tuff Chants On U

On U Sound released this Prince Far I compilation for Record Store Day & it’s spent a very long time on my turntable since I picked it up in Spindizzy records, it’s dark & deep. The Voice of Thunder is great for your dogs during Halloween fireworks. I blare Far I & they’re zen, try it! Dreadlock Soldier is my dog’s favourite.

Realistic IX – Belong

Joey Wilson from FKOS got me into New Orleans band, Belong. We fell in love with each release, with Common Era becoming an obsession. They are the most minimal band in the world & don’t kill themselves in the promotional stakes. They became the band I wanted to see most but then I realised I had seen them play with Ariel Pink, in the now sadly derelict, Conway’s of Parnell Street. Though I forgot their name, the weirdness of the gig blew my tiny mind.  This is the follow-up to CE, it’s as lowkey as you’d expect but effortlessly brilliant.

The Hedge Schools – End of a Winding Day

I love the story behind the first pressing of this masterpiece. It was due to be pressed by Dublin vinyl but sadly they went into liquidation after loads of people pre-ordered. Musiczone, the legendary record store in Cork, stood in & decided to put their first record out. They put up the money & sold the LPs until it was recouped. They honoured any outstanding pre-orders & gave the rest to Pat (Barrett). Raymo (Ray O’Brien) is a saint in the music scene & this is what community is about.

The album itself, well it’s a woollen overcoat of an album, on a winter’s night, as I say, a masterpiece.

Damien Dempsey – Hold Your Joy

I’ve only been listening to this a week now, but I think this is Damo’s best album since Shots. I’m not mad about double albums but there’s a great 10 song album within these 16 tracks. Landlords in the Government is my favourite Dempsey song in recent years & Sinn Féin should adopt it as their theme tune for the elections.  James McClean will cause riots in Vicar Street. The album’s tender moments, Ray of Sun, Born to Love, Love is the Bomb are very beautiful tracks.  Good Morning should be a huge pop hit, it’s got a Wither’s “Lovely Day” type feel to it.

Fontaines D.C – Romance

This album was a real shot in the arm for me in 2024, Grian’s voice sounds really at home on these songs. In The Modern World is the song of the year. This & Dogrel are their albums for me. Long may their success continue.

Sack – Wake Up People

A stunning return from one of Dublin’s finest. I’ve so much love for these people. This is their first record in two decades & again, possibly album of the year. Extraordinary pop music, incredible vocals & harmonies, brilliant songwriting & a sublime rhythm section. Classic tunes like Wake Up People, Unmade Bed of a Man, Do You Need Love? It’s such a soulful record, pop perfection.

Lost in Translation OST

Another record I nabbed for RSD this year. It’s my fav soundtrack but the original pressing was really noisy, almost unlistenable. This is a great pressing on double vinyl & it includes the missing tracks like Peaches, F**k the Pain & Pretenders, and Brass in My Pocket. The Karaoke versions from the film include Bill Murray’s brilliant version of Costello’s Peace Love & Understanding. It’s a gorgeous artefact.

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Vol 2

4 LPs & another one that stayed on the platter for yonks. It goes a bit too strange in the middle but overall, it contains some of the finest ambient tracks. This version’s got extra tracks including Stone in Focus which I could listen to forever.

Gurriers – Come & See

I’ve yet to see this band play live but if this album is anything to go by, they’ll wreck any shop. I first encountered Dan (Hoff) in The Innocent Bystander & knew he had something special, he’s such a powerful voice & his refrains are addictive. The band are so rhythmic but I think the guitars are their secret weapon. The guitar sounds & riffs are so unusual, unusually placed too, it leaves loads of space & this really sets them. I’d put Des Goblin & Dipping Out with Modern World as tunes of 2024.

Joe Chester – Murder of Crows re-issue

Delighted this got issued on vinyl. Although seen as his debut, he released an incredible album called Sound of Bells previous to this which I’d love to see released on vinyl.

Murder Of Crows is such a classic pop album & in my top 3 Joe Chester albums which would include Easter Vigil & his absolute masterpiece, Lucia. I was at the Culture Night in the Mansion House. He sang “A Safe Place to Hide” with Gemma Hayes & the RTE Concert Orchestra. They nailed it & I was so proud of them. All the performances on the night Kittser (David Kitt), Rita (Connolly), Niamh (Regan), and Conor (O’Brien), they were all brilliant.

Is there an artist or album that defined the year for you?

For obvious reasons, I’d have to say, Christy Moore. I saw him play in Vicar Street in January, an amazing show in the Iveagh Gardens in July then recently, again in Vicar Street for his album launch. I woke up at 6 a.m. on the release day & had a listen to A Terrible Beauty right through before work. It was such a lovely first listen. Boy in the Wild was the last song Wally Page sent to him before he died. With his son singing such beautiful harmonies, it is heartbreaking & then segues into the haunting Sunflowers, what an opening. I’m completely biased 😊 but at 79, he’s made another great record. Seeing him sing Black & Amber on the Late Late Show was a strange & emotional moment, year made.

You’ve had quite the year yourselves with the album No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens and the Vicar St show, how do you feel about it now?

Vicar Street is the best venue in the world & I’ve seen some of the best gigs of my life there. To headline it meant the world to us & it will live long in the memory. 1300 people singing their heads off, there was such a powerful energy in the room. Sometimes the occasion gets the better of you, but we were all real calm & present, I think we all really enjoyed & appreciated the occasion.

Did you get to many gigs this year?

Marina Carr – Audrey or Sorrow

Not a gig but a play in the Abbey Theatre by possibly my favourite Irish artist, in any discipline. I saw it with my wife but then went back again for the last Saturday matinee with my daughter. It was her first play & it blew  both of us away. It was vintage Marina, her finest play in years & we floated home.

Lonnie Holley – Whelan’s

This was a spiritual night, a May midweek gig in Whelan’s.  The show totally improvised, the band sublime, his voice a balm in these dark times. He’s a special kind, a true artist & everyone there was in awe.

In The Meadows – Kilmainham

This festival is so great (in my Warhol voice).  It’s in the heart of Dublin, the stages close by, so you get to see a bit of everyone, there was only maybe 5000 people & the loveliest of buzzes. The sunshine helped of course & the stage is impressive, perfectly positioned. Great to finally see Mogwai live (they weren’t loud enough 😊). The night fell & Lankum blew us all away with their genius.

DIIV – Vicar Street

Second time seeing them, but I couldn’t believe how amazing this gig sounded. It was a heavenly experience.

His Name is Alive – TY Eye Club NYC

This is a band I never thought I’d see live, so I aligned the family holiday in NYC with their Brooklyn show. It was like being in a David Lynch movie. They finished the gig with the venue singing I Can’t Live in This World at the top of their lungs & there were tears. I had one or two whiskeys & I think I freaked Warren Defever out after the show, he looked relieved as I was leaving.

Mundy/ August Wells – The Scratcher NYC

The Scratcher sessions is a lovely gig, which for the night that was in it, was full of Irish. Ken Griffin (Rollerskate Skinny) under his August Wells moniker, opened his mouth & my girls jaws hit the floor, yes, his voice is that amazing live. Knowing that me & Christine are huge Kid Silver fans, he broke character & sang a beautiful version of “Don’t Bring Tears to a Table” for us, tears again. Mundy brought me way back with songs from Jelly Legs & the first time I heard him sing the classic Gin & Tonic Sky (what a tune), in the International bar. The crowd sang their heads off & the Scratcher reminded me a little bit of the International. Me & Mundy finished off the night with a drunken rendition (of Galway Girl), only messing, Rainy night in Soho.

Peadar Ó Riada in conversation with Peter Browne – Royal Irish Academy

This was a Dublin Book festival event & Pat Barrett brought me along. The genius that is Peadar Ó Riada enthralled us for an hour of conversation but for what felt like 10 minutes. He was fascinating & we sat up the front like two schoolkids. He was there to promote his incredible book (or so Pat tells me, I bought it but haven’t read it yet), Ceoltóirí Chualann: The Band that Changed the Course of Irish Music. He went completely off script & regaled us with his life stories. We got our books signed & wanted to bring him to the pub for four hours more of it. We ended up going ourselves.

Do you think it will get to the stage where the ‘big concert’ is unaffordable for most of us?

That stage is here for most people, the cost of everything is mental but dynamic pricing is an insult to your crowd & that Gold Circle nonsense. I remember going to see Prince in the RDS & we queued for hours, when we got in the gate, we had to sprint to get up the front dodging security trying to slow us down. You should have to earn your place.

In saying that, I’ve very little interest in big gigs, I’d love to see Rihanna next year with my kid, that’d be it for me. Aiken in Vicar Street, Foggy Notions in NCH, Enthusiastic Eunuch in the Bello Bar or U: Mack in the Button Factory, that’s where all the really great stuff happens.

What’s your reaction if Stairway To Heaven comes on the radio?

First note, point the sawn-off, pull the trigger, I go through a lot of radios!

Anything interesting in the works yourself for 2025?

Bohemia are releasing the 5th-anniversary edition of the D (black & amber vinyl) in December, it’s been long out of print. Vicar Street is the only plan right now, Good Friday, April 18th but let’s see what the year brings, hopefully, some peace to the world.