So to falling in love.

 

This time its with The Lowly Knights. A dozen piece band from Belfast as big and beautiful as all outdoors. Go to MySpace right now (please, youll thank me) and listen to you can tell a man by how he lifts his hands. Listen to the end (oh the glorious end of that song!!) and be glad to be alive. Whatever is wrecking my head or troubling me up some these days I simply go to their MySpace and listen to that song.

 

"A kiss to say good morning and a kiss to say goodnight, its not perfect but it sounds alright". Somehow, both delicately prosaic and endlessly wondrous. I cannot stop listening to this song. It may in fact, no matter what the song claims, be perfect.

 

The other two songs on their MySpace right now are fabulous too but ...hands (if I may be so bold as to abbreviate) is the one that kills me sweet. Cant wait to get hold of the EP.

 

Everywhere I go right now, every interview I do, I find myself talking about whats going on in Northern Ireland. The music scene there at the moment is the fastest emerging and spellbindingly diverse and exciting of any Ive seen or heard tell of in the world. I say that from the heart and with no partisanship. I also say it without including Snow Patrol in it. From Norn Iron we may be but we cut our musical teeth in Scotland and I would not presume to say we had much if anything to do with what is going on in music in the country right now. The folks making music there in these last years (and Ill get to some of the amazing others) have happened on their own steam and carry each other which is a beautiful thing indeed. The Belfast scene of old had a reputation of, how can I put this, eating their young. No longer though. Its as healthy and nourishing as it needs to be. And with labels like Bruised Fruit, No Dancing, Only Goneand We Collect Records flourishing there is an industry begun in Norn Iron that cares deeply for the bands they sign and does it for only the right reasons. Long live it and long live them all!!

 

There is a tonne of bands and songwriters making great music in Northern Ireland right now here are some you should check out if you havent already. They are all very different but all very great. Here are some of my favourites, some have been around for a while some are brand brand new, all are very special indeed.

 

Oppenheimer, Panama Kings, Cashier No. 9, Robyn G Shields, And So I Watch You From Afar, Sixstarhotel, Ed Zealous, General Fiasco, Desert Hearts, Burning Codes, Kowalski, A PlasticRose, Lafaro, Panda Go Panda, Robert Holmes, Eskimos Fall, Pushborders, Boathouse, Nanook, Here Come The Landed Gentry.

 

They are in no particular order and this is just the tip of a large iceberg (sorry if you think i left you off this list but it is only a small taste for folk not from Northern Ireland to check out what's going on if they like...and they should) but checkout the MySpace of any or all of these bands. I will no doubt pick a few to speak of in more detail very soon (Cashier No. 9, Kowalski and Panama Kings for three).

 

Id also like to point out I discovered hardly any of these bands on my own or by accident. People that care deeply about the bands in Norn Iron are always giving me tips on who to check out. Folk like Donna Legge, Rigs, Jenny McCullough, Davey Matchett, Stuart Bailie, Marty Neil and many more are eternally fighting the good fight for the bands of Belfast and beyond. Much love to all of them for their enthusiasm and passion. Every band, especially ourselves and our ten years in the wilderness, needs people like this to both motivate and inspire them.

 

IfI may say a word also about our great friend Iain Archer. His new record ToThe Pine Roots is a masterpiece. His most fragile, interesting and just plain beautiful album to date (in a long line of stunning records).

 

Any new ones I fall in love with along the way Ill be the first to shout it from the rooftops. 

I do indeed love this city both tonight and always.x