It kind of fucks with me that somebody killed ötzi the iceman because ötzi himself is like whatever but the silent presence of human hands that drew back the string of the bow that shot the arrow that killed him is crazy. the idea that there were various people involved in that situation and while one of them has had his last hours painstakingly reconstructed and studied to no end, the others now only exist insofar that an arrowhead had to get into his shoulder somehow. imagine killing someone and then suddenly your entire existence is only a vague shadow implied by the fact that you killed them. much to consider
Testing the mummified bone marrow of ötzi to figure out his ancestry whole time there’s definitely another person, maybe more than one, standing in the room with us but I can never see or speak to them because I only know them through the assurance that they were there too in the form of one single arrowhead. I hate prehistory so much it’s unreal
Obviously blonde4blonde ships are fucked up and scary, but it's important to remember that fiction isn't reality. Many people enjoy things in fiction that would be fucked up irl, and writing blonde4blonde ships doesn't inherently mean that someone is actually okay with two blonde people dating in real life.
holding ur hand gently as i say this. kneecap isnt the only focain irish language band out there <3. expand ur horizons a chairde there is so much good music as gaeilge around rn
some recommendations:
Súil Amháin is a poet and rapper from Listowel (hon the kingdom!) and I fucking love his music for how it effortlessly positions gaelainn not as a relic of a slowly suffocating culture, but as a language belonging totally to the modern world and to modern Ireland in particular, and at the same time staying true to aspects of traditional Gaelic songs, such as a propensity towards place names lol. the áit dhúchais is as important in Súil Amháin's 'Lá Breá', as it is in any sean-nós song and the leanúnachas between tradition and a bold plunge to the future is inspiring
Róis is an artist from Fermanagh whos album Mo Léan is a beautiful exploration of the tradition of death songs and keening in ireland. its like a mix of sean-nós and electronic music and a bunch else mixed in. personlly i prefer her 2023 album Uisce agus Bean but Mo Léan is the better album without a doubt lol. the attempt to reconcile death in the modern world with irish grieving traditions that span centuries is very affecting and also the songs themselves are absolute tunes 🎶
their website says it best. "Through bold reinterpretations of at-risk Irish language songs, Huartan’s mission is to connect contemporary audiences with the oral singing tradition and native language of Ulster." they call their genre 'tradtronica' and I desperately want to see them live ive heard they're incredible. their music is so fun and energizing and the blend of electronica and trad instrumentation is sublime. also they're very firmly and demonstrably pro-Palestine (éist le Fiáin nó Dorn San Aer / listen to Fiáin or Dorn San Aer!)
IMLÉ is a pretty prominent collective in the Irish language music scene, their stuff is like pop / hip hop / indie and for the most part their singers have Connemara Irish i think. some of their songs annoy the shit out of me lol and im not a huge fan of what James Shannon brings to the table but i LOVE Róisín Seoighe and overall theyre fun!
Róisín Seoighe's individual stuff is brilliant as well, i really love this song of hers.
Amano is a Japanese-Irish singer songwriter from Kerry who released an EP last year, Thread, comprised of 4 incredible songs in Irish. her voice is beautiful and her music energizing and the EP weaves together so many disparate threads 😉 its such a joy to listen to!
Síomha's stuff isn't on spotify anymore but her tunes are so effortlessly stunning and graceful. her website describes her genre as 'cosmic, folk-informed, jazz-tinged, post-pop' lol and her debut album Infinite space is so dreamy. And ofc you only have to listen to Spéir Rua to fall in love with it.
i just love Kíla. theyve been around for a few decades, theyve a wealth of albums and their newest one, Raise the Road, is a collaboration with an 8-piece brass brand ‼️ They're described as 'Contemporary Irish World Music' and their sound is sublime, theyve such palpable energy. ngl tho Rónán Ó Snodaigh is a phenomenal bodhrán player but i find it very hard to understand his irish, idk if its just the dublinness or what lol
and ofc the ogs of using irish to make (not so) contemporary music, Na Fíréin! founded in 1984, they were an attempt at a rock band whose songs were entirely through Irish. Their song Tír na nÓg is genuinely one of my favourite songs ever, i love it so much. Sin Mar a Bhíonn is also great. give them a go! they are very 80s but its nice to know that something like them existed and that the Irish language was a part of the rock scene in Ireland back then.
That's all I have room for lol but please it ye have recommendations for music in Irish feel free to give them! <3
Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin is my all-time fave young sean nós singer and a housing/Palestine solidarity organiser in Dublin whose music is closely tied to his politics, his album Solas An Lae with Ultan O’Brien is stunning and all as Gaeilge. his voice gives me chills every time.
similar vibes to Huartan, mix of heavy electronica + hard rock + trad influence. they’ve been around about a decade and recently moved more into Irish language tracks.
Zambian-Irish rapper from Limerick, self described ‘too seán nós too griot’, smooth playful sharp R&B vibes. she raps mostly in English but uses Irish throughout in a way that feels v how a lot of younger ppl use the language.
kinda goofy, kinda bops – white boy from Clare doing what he calls ‘Reggaeltón’, dancehall/Afrobeats influenced hip hop mostly as Gaeilge.
While not all his music is as Gaeilge, Padraig Jack is from the Aran Islands so he does have quite a few that are. I saw him live when he opened for The Saw Doctors a few years ago and he was amazing.
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