sounds irish

i have had, for many years, a serious love/hate thing going on with music-related best of lists... but this one avoids the very thing i hate. the irish times has created a list of the 50 best irish music acts right now. which allows for both established and new acts to have an equal crack at the whip based on what their currently up to and their impact on the irish music scene. so it naturally means those lower down the list will rise up on the basis of well received work in the future, and equally those in the top 10 might drop if they don't have longevity or influence on other artists.

if nothing else it's a good reminder of just how distinctly established the irish music industry is, and thus how different the perspectives can be in dublin and belfast. only 100 miles between them but undeniably these are two very distinct scenes. on several levels.

regardless, this is possibly the first music list of its kind i've not felt the need to have an argument with... this is why it's good to have some provisionality...

LB

bravo

yesterday was filled with April fools across the web but i think i'm gonna hand my own little imaginary award to the guardian, who announced yesterday they were ending 188 years of print to providing news published exclusively through twitter. they get a very nice dig at the daily mail in there too.

LB

file under "must read"

doing my bit for the cause - david's new book is out today:

the sacredness of questioning everything.

what i'd call extremely worthwhile stuff.

LB

happy birthday Miriam

Introducing a brand new series, A Bird in the Hand
Pilot Episode: Oops!
Synopsis:
in which our heroine admits to being a bad sister-in-law and makes a low budget
animated movie in a flagrant attempt to make up for it by morning.
Starring an approximate rendering of LittleBird, and her entirely fictitious imaginary friend, Bob.