Tag Archive: Lisa Hannigan


LISA HANNIGAN Live at Giardino di Via Filippo Re, Bologna 17th July

Lisa Hannigan at BOtanique

Lisa Hannigan is, for me, a female equivalent of David Gray. There’s no great similarity between these two artists in terms of background or singing style but both are the kind of commercially successful singer-songwriters that normally leave me cold.

What they share is a directness, charm and honesty that forces me to forget any elitist judgements about mainstream pop.

Both artists add enough of their own personality to a well-worn genre to convince me that they are not simply going through the motions or writing formulaic tunes.

Lisa Hannigan’s first ever concert in Bologna was well attended but by no means packed. The show was part of a month-long series of mainly acoustic shows under the heading BOtanique – Il Rock Respira (letting rock breathe). Continue reading

2011 IN REVIEW : MUSIC

Cover images of my top 15 favourite albums of 2011.

2011 was without a doubt P.J.Harvey‘s year. Let England Shake was the best album  by a mile and her interviews and concerts confirmed her as an artist at the top of her game.

Otherwise, this was a year for renewing old acquaintances rather than making fresh discoveries.

The welcome return of Gillian Welch (and Dave Rawlings) was an event and the album proved well worth the eight year wait.

It was also a nice surprise  that Charalambides released another Kranky studio work, a belated follow-up to 2007’s Likeness and as consistently excellent as ever. Continue reading

DANCING TO THE BLACK DOG

I’ve just reviewed Lisa Hannigan‘s ecellent new labum, Passenger for Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ which you can read here.

Her cover of Nick Drake‘s Black-Eyed Dog isn’t on it but it shows what a great interpreter of songs she is. Her version, from a performance at the Barbican in London,  manages to capture the bleak brilliance of the original whilst adding a spirited defiance to the depression that inspired it.