He wrote this rather good article on Popical Island (another sort of promotional collective) and has a few other reviews to his byline, but this is really the first to combine his role in the Irish music scene with opinions of a critical sort about the product of that scene.
As a declaration of interest, I don't know Leagues O'Toole in any shape or form, but general impression from his work is somebody who's not afraid to be ruthlessly critical when it comes to local acts. He's a concert promoter, after all - it's basically the job description.
Gabba goes on:
By contrast, a negative - and essentially not very serious - review of the same album in a free Dublin morning paper got its own Twitter hashtag yesterday. The insularity, self-congratulatory nature and consensus bent of Irish independent music does a disservice to the many great bands, Adebisi Shank included, that are part of it, as it sharpens the distinctions between praise and backlash, and between optimism and cynicism.
This is something I have noticed - the #eamongate scenario did strike me as a tad bit overprotective, as if our poor Adebisi boys were too precious to take a little bit of criticism. Mick's tweets on the subject show he was well able to laugh it off.
I might as well point out that my own review of the album was overwhelmingly positive and that I think it was a progression musically, but not quite quality-wise.
But if you check the ratings on Sputnik, predominantly from non-Irish people, you'll find the reception is again resoundingly popular, hovering around the 4/5 mark.
1 comments:
you're right that a promoter is a critic - of sorts - and I'm sure he's quite capable of writing an objective review, it's just how it appears: first an Irish band, and the review begins with sweeping statements about Irish indie music.
that said, they're popular outside Ireland (perhaps, though, a distinction to be made between metal/punk fans who would be naturally receptive and your average Irish music fan of which automatic appreciation is expecting a bit much) so we should stop worrying about them and let them get on with conquering the world!
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