My 50 best Irish music acts right now

I took my cue from the list published in The Irish Times today. While that does suffer slightly from “middle-of-the-road-itis” or “lowest common denominator-list” theory (Both made up on the spot obviously), there’s nothing overtly wrong with the list as picked by Jim Carroll, Tony Clayton-Lea, Sinead Gleeson and Lauren Murphy. It’s a good representation of Irish music right now even though everybody will probably agree that there’s something missing from the list and that it favours indie or rock acts over other genres. Someone on Jim’s blog scoffed at the ability to be able to come up with 50 great Irish acts in operation right now but I’d also like to test that theory. Most lists will always favour the already-established, more well-known names who perhaps are riding on the coat-tails of former glories. That’s why all lists are pants. They are fun to make however.

As blogs are seeing as an alternative to mainstream media, I thought it’d be fun to post my own. My list was selected as an accurate representation of the 50 acts I’m most interested in hearing more of right now. These are the 50 acts who are making Irish music good enough to stick around this country in the times of recession and who are not eye-rollingly shit. The fact that it was such a piss-easy exercise and I left off loads proves that Irish music is healthier than its been for years and years. Get purchasing.

So here are the top 50 acts in Ireland, in alphabetical order I’m keenly watching right now.

1. 202s
2. Adebisi Shank
3. Adrian Crowley
4. Alias Empire
5. And So I Watch You From Afar..
6. Baby Beef
7. Bats
8. Cap Pas Cap
9. Cashier no. 9
10. Cathy Davey
11. Chequerboard (aka Boldypants)
12. David Kitt
13. Fight Like Apes
14. Gran Casino
15. Grand Pocket Orchestra
16. Halves
17. Heathers
18. Hunter Gatherer
19. Jape
20. John Shelley and the Creatures
21. Kill Krinkle Club
22. Le Galaxie
23. Legion of Two
24. Lines Drawing Circles
25. Lisa Hannigan
26. Mail Order Messiahs
27. Messiah J and the Expert
28. Mumblin Deaf Ro
29. Nouveaunoise
30. One Day International
31. Patrick Kelleher and Band
32. Prince Kong
33. R.S.A.G
34. Robotnik
35. Sarsparilla
36. So Cow
37. Sunken Foal
38. Super Extra Bonus Party
39. Tenaka
40. The Ambience Affair
41. The Holy Roman Army
42. The Infomatics
43. The Jimmy Cake
44. The Lowly Knights
45. The Mighty Stef
46. The Rubberbandits
47. The Spook of the 13th Lock
48. The Vinny Club
49. Villagers
50. You’re Only Massive

Of course, it doesn’t end there. These lists are all about awareness. So if you feel like it, make your own list or suggest away. It won’t change this list but it might change others.