Ah, End of Year lists. Where would we be without you? Although the whole process can often skim close to the torturous, few things in this life rival the sheer satisfaction of sifting through a full year of music in order to attempt to carve out some semblance of quality. And whilst descending, close-ended lists such as these are almost exclusively arbitrary exercises nullified by good ol’ subjectivity, there’s something intrinsically important about trying to take a broad snapshot of music released in the twelve months just gone. And make no mistake, it’s been a pretty remarkable year for Irish music. Here’s our take on what stood out best, strongest, and most emphatically of all, from 100-51. Part two to follow tomorrow.
100. Comfy Coffin – Content as a Cog
99. Le Galaxie – Pleasure
98. Matua Trap – Cleave
97. Invaderband – Attack of the Pod People
96. Montauk Hotel – Black Dress
95. The Tragedy of Dr Hannigan – Hey Little Worried One
94. Strength NIA – La Floresta
93. R51 – Heavy Friends
92. John Blek – Salt In The Water
91. Elephant – Time Will Tell
90. Pleasure Beach – Burning Up
89. Frankenstein Bolts – Land & Water
88. No Oil Paintings – God Only Knows
87. RMCK – Mercer
86. Fontaines – Hurricane Laughter
85. Ryan Vail – Shadows
84. windings – Boring
83. Elder Druid – Blue Dream Black Death
82. Shookrah – Gerascophobia
81. RUTH – Off My Mind
80. Beach – Bram Toker
79. Sea Pinks – Minimum Wage
78. Naoise Roo – Almost Perfect
77. Tomorrows – Ricochet
76. Bad Bones – You
75. CATALAN! – Alive
74. Hvmmingbyrd – Gozo
73. A.S. Fanning – Never Been Gone
72. Naive Ted – Only The Oppressor Knows Peace feat. MuRli
71. Eoin Dolan – I Can Make You Hurt At Will
70. Sleep Thieves – Is This Ready?
69. Count Vaseline – Russia
68. Oh Joy – So Swell
67. Slouch – It’s Not a Man Abandons Post
66. r.Kitt – Jigsaw
65. Brand New Friend – Hate When You Have To Go
64. Bui – People Don’t Think
63. Æ MAK – I Walk
62. Conor Mason – Follow
61. Hand Models – Sun Rooms
60. Nome King – Castle Road
59. Joshua Burnside – Tunnels Pt. 2
58. Bosco Ramos – Rolling Sea
57. Sissy (feat. Radie Peat) – Sail and Rail
56. Arborist – Rules of the Burial
55. Silverbacks – Dirty Money
54. Wild Rocket – The Future Echoes
53. Brame & Hamo – Clarence (Smooth Mix)
52. Kojaque – WiFi Code
51. Daithí (feat. Sinead White) – Aeroplane
