Damien Rice

ah Tom mcrae. Another one of my idols, although i didnt think you were such a big fan frenchie?

Damien's from down the road from where I live, the girl who sings on the album, lisa hannigan, is the daughter of my girlfriend's boss and yes it's a bloody good album.

He started out in a band called Juniper, split from them, they became Bell X1, who themselves aren't bad, (check their album 'Music in Mouth').

Rice recorded O on a limited budget all over the place, in Kildare, where I live, and in a small studio Black Box, in the Loire Valley in France that has become something of a home from home for a lot of Irish artists in the loose 'collective' that Rice comes from - David Kitt, the Frames, Nina Hyne as well as Beth Orton, Josh Ritter and which is a favourite of producer Steve Albini.

It was picked up in the US by the Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show in LA, the show that broke the like of Coldplay and Travis in the States and he became something of an 'alternative' darling in LA.

It's a very good record and Damien is excellent live. Obviosuly he owes a lot of Jeff and Tim Buckley but he's got enough of his own style to stand clear of a whole slew of Irish 'singer/songwriters' here such as Kitt, Mark Geary, etc etc etc, In fact we're getting a bit ired of them! we need some rock 'n' roll.

If you like him also check out the Frames - their 'Dance the Devil' album from a few years ago is superb and their new 'Burn the Maps' is good too. Indeed, it's rumoured that their lead singer, Glan Hansard, wrote a recent single 'Fake' about Mr Rice after the two had been involved in a tug of love over a particular girl (Hansard lost!). Glen's a really good songwriter and the Frames are great live. 

Also worth a look are ann scott (excellent voice in a beth orton way), albert niland (fabulous acoustic cover version of 'wuthering heights'), Simple Kid (beck-ish) and autamata (who are just wonderful)

For more info on a load of Irish bands have a look at www.irishmusiccentral.com and www.theframes.ie