Paddy’s Day Delight –MUZU’s Top 10 Favourite Irish Acts

MUZU are celebrating Paddy’s Day with an all Irish selection of bands to keep within the Irish festiveness of the day. Whether you’re knocking back the pints, chasing some snakes, or just chilling for the day why not check out our 5 favourite Irish acts for the craic and to enhance the Irish that’s in us all.

The Script

The Script on MUZU
The Script are an Irish trio whose music boasts the kind of artful twists sure to turn all preconceptions on their head. This is a whole new brand of Celtic Soul, blending hip hop lyrical flow with pop melodiousness, state-of-the-art R’n'B production with anthemic rock dynamics, classic song construction with gritty contemporary narratives. It’s got all the emotion and passion you would expect from across the Irish Sea, but it is glittering in its modernity, universal in its sing-along addictiveness and global in its syncopation, music for the feet, heart and head.

ASH

Ash on MUZU
From Downpatrick, Co. Down, Ash officially formed in 1992, reportedly having taken their name from the first word they liked in the dictionary. Inspired by Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Pixies and local punk rock gurus Lazergun Nun in their early days they played most weekends at dives in Belfast and Downpatrick, changing their reputation into a super-teen punk pop machine. Ultra-prolific songwriters, they fund countless demos with money saved by starving themselves during lunch break and an infamous tuck shop scam.

Fionn Regan

Fionn Regan on MUZU
Fionn Regan is an Irish singer-songwriter and artist from Bray, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury-nominated debut album, The End of History. In 2010, Regan released his second album, The Shadow of an Empire, on February 8. Regan cites Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond as influences.

Adrian Crowley

Adrian Crowley on MUZU
Adrian Crowley (born in Sliema, Malta in 1979) is a professional Irish singer-songwriter from Galway but based in Dublin. Much of his success has come in Ireland. Crowley was a late developer as a musician, having originally spent time on other pursuits, such as studying architecture, painting and photography. Alongside this he wrote songs but did not perform his first show until reaching the age of 25, some days after finding material he had written in the early 1990s in his attic. He departed from a career in photography around 2004 to enter the music profession on a full-time basis.

The Thrills

The Thrills on MUZU
The Thrills are an Irish indie rock band, formed in 2001 in Dublin, Ireland. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Pádraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their big break came with their debut album, So Much for the City, which became an Irish number one. The band’s sound has been described as “sun-drenched, inspired by classic American pop of the late ’60s and early ’70s”.

Mundy

Inspirations in aid of Barretstown on MUZU
Mundy (born Edmund Enright in Birr, County Offaly) is an Irish singer-songwriter. “Mundy” is a nickname given to Enright, as it not only refers to his name Edmund, but it is how he pronounces the word “Mundy” (Monday??). He released his debut album Jellylegs in 1996 on the Epic Records label. The album included the song “To You I Bestow”, which was featured on the bestselling soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation Romeo + Juliet. Check him out at the Barretstown Inspirations charity gig with a few other acts thrown in.

Villagers

Villagers on MUZU
Villagers are an Irish band from Malahide, Dublin fronted by Conor J. O’Brien. They have performed at several music festivals and toured with Tracy Chapman and Tindersticks. Villagers gave their first live performance as a support act with Halves at a show in Whelan’s in November 2008. At that point the band had previously only rehearsed together on two occasions. They had only seven songs, written by O’Brien and passed on to the rest of the band to learn. Check out O’Brien’s performance at this year’s Inspirations gig charity for Barretstown.

Christy Moore

Christy Moore on MUZU
Christy Moore is from Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. He is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty. In 2007, he was named as Ireland’s greatest living musician in RTÉ’s People of the Year Awards.

Readers Wives

Reader’s Wives on MUZU
Reader’s Wives are the kind of band we’ve all missed. Their avante garde pop music is result of the four people involved, both musically and socially. They are Dubliners Niall James Holohan, Chris Morrin, Doug Farrell & Disko, and Reader’s Wives is where these four guys’ hectic lives meet.

Two Door Cinema Club

Two Door Cinema Club on MUZU
Two Door Cinema Club are an Electropop/Indie Rock band from Bangor and Donaghadee, Northern Ireland formed in 2007. They are signed to French record label Kitsuné Music, through which they released their debut album Tourist History on 1 March 2010.