Tony Clayton-Lea
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tcl1234.bsky.social
Tony Clayton-Lea
@tcl1234.bsky.social
530 followers 110 following 130 posts
Freelance writer, journalist, consultant editor, author. Irish Times. Irish Post. Copywriter/editor. Arts/pop culture/travel/food. MC/host/public interviewer/panel and event moderator. Podcaster. Always for hire. tonyclaytonlea.com
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tcl1234.bsky.social
Think you're an Oasis fan?

Think you know your Roll With It from your Champagne Supernova?

Take this Oasis-themed Music Quiz and find out...

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: The title of Wonderwall was inspired by a solo album by which Beatle?
Plus: In 2002, Oasis requested the British army to withdraw a recruitment video that used which song?
www.irishtimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:43 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
My weekly mix of arts-related events in this weekend's @IrishTimes.com Ticket magazine.

Go to:

#TheWeir @3olympiatheatre
@PierceTurner @wexfordarts
#WeveOnlyJustBegun @whelanslive
#HowthRootsAndBlues
@MIKPYRO
@KilkennyArts
#ArtandSoul @cullodenestate

www.irishtimes.com/culture/2025...
Event guide: The Weir, Kilkenny Arts Festival and other best things to do in Ireland this week
August 2nd-8th, 2025: The best movies, music, art and more coming your way this week
www.irishtimes.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:01 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
You want a music quiz for your coffee break?

You got it...

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: The Undertones’ Top Twenty features lines from which T Rex hit?
Plus: The Bear includes which former member of hip-hop collective Odd Future?
www.irishtimes.com
July 30, 2025 at 9:26 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
My monthly Irish-only album reviews in The Irish Post - take a bow and a curtsy.

Share widely - support Irish music!

Ciara Lawless
Stiff Little Fingers
Matthew Devereaux
Rob De Boer
Moncrieff

www.irishpost.com/entertainmen...
The best new Irish music releases | The Irish Post
‘GRAB it, take it, it’s yours…’ So goes one of the lines in Alternative Ulster, a song released ...
www.irishpost.com
June 12, 2025 at 5:21 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
30 years gone from tomorrow - here's one example of how brilliant a pinpoint guitarist @rorygallagher.com was.

It's a genuinely incomparable piece of rock music - Blister On the Moon.

open.spotify.com/track/6fGTwr...
Blister On The Moon
Taste · Taste · Song · 1969
open.spotify.com
June 12, 2025 at 11:45 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Music Quiz time - take a break, take a goddam Kit-Kat...

(@Irishtimes.com)

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: Where are the brackets placed in this U2 song title?
Plus: From which song on Lou Reed’s 1973 album, Berlin, did Mike Scott choose the name of his band?
www.irishtimes.com
June 11, 2025 at 9:07 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Test your music knowledge with this week's Music Quiz!

Go on - dare ya.

(@Irishtimes.com)

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: What is Sam Smith’s middle name?
Plus: Special Pride edition including questions on Elton John’s tattoo and kd lang’s tribute band
www.irishtimes.com
June 4, 2025 at 8:00 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
My review of The Swell Season (featuring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová) is now online @IrishTimes.com

From teary ballads to guitar shredding - and many things in-between...

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Swell Season in Dublin review: Not a dry eye on the balcony for Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
Show was a means for Hansard and Irglová to remember old times and reclaim lost ground
www.irishtimes.com
June 1, 2025 at 11:47 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
A genuine treat to chat with world-famous Irish photographer John Minihan...

www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Photographer John Minihan: ‘I’ve seen a lot of heartache in my life but I’ve never been unhappy’
The veteran photographer captured Samuel Beckett in Paris and London as well as the then Lady Diana Spencer in 1980
www.irishtimes.com
May 31, 2025 at 11:00 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Had a chat with Shirley Manson, the lead singer and potent frontwoman of rock band, Garbage - online right now @Irishtimes.com

Three words: Take. No. Prisoners.

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
Shirley Manson of Garbage: ‘I was shuffling about on a Zimmer frame. I was absolutely stripped of any pride’
Three years of intense physical pain shaped the way the singer saw the band’s new album – and then made her carve out a new perspective on life
www.irishtimes.com
May 26, 2025 at 8:23 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
New song by @gerrwalsh.bsky.social

Confident, punchy pop/rock with a rigid melody spine from top to bottom.

open.spotify.com/album/38IygK...
Golden Wings
Gerr Walsh · Single · 2025 · 1 songs
open.spotify.com
May 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
If there's one album (less than 40 minutes!) you really need to listen to this weekend, then it's this one - the new arrival from Vinny Peculiar…

A career highlight, no more, no less...

open.spotify.com/album/3bRGr0...
Things Too Long Left Unsaid
Vinny Peculiar · Album · 2025 · 10 songs
open.spotify.com
May 23, 2025 at 9:18 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Music Quiz @irishtimes.com - take five (at the very least).

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: Uptown Funk namechecks which popular actor in the first verse?
Plus: Who made Grammy Awards history by actually refusing a gong?
www.irishtimes.com
May 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Is @irishtimes.com the only national newspaper to carry a monthly Irish-only album reviews column?

Yep...

(Subscription required.)

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
New Irish albums reviewed and rated: The Would-Be’s, Varo, Curtisy and Pete Holidai
May 2025 releases include HindZeitgeist, The World That I Knew, Beauty in the Beast and Electric Jukebox Volume One
www.irishtimes.com
May 20, 2025 at 9:37 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
The Irish Albums Review column for May has just arrived via @Irishtimes.com

The Would Be’s
Varo
Curtisy
Pete Holidai

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
New Irish albums reviewed and rated: The Would-Be’s, Varo, Curtisy and Pete Holidai
May 2025 releases include HindZeitgeist, The World That I Knew, Beauty in the Beast and Electric Jukebox Volume One
www.irishtimes.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
How many??!?

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: How many Grammy Awards has Beyoncé won to date?
Plus: What time did The Monkees board the Last Train to Clarkesville?
www.irishtimes.com
May 14, 2025 at 11:22 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Chatted with Jake Burns of Belfast's durable punk band Stiff Little Fingers. He's in good form...

(Via @IrishTimes.com subscriber only.)

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers: ‘I still get angry about stuff, and writing songs is my release valve’
Northern Ireland’s most durable rockers are releasing a singles collection featuring their best-known punk anthems
www.irishtimes.com
May 13, 2025 at 9:13 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
New song from Fia Moon - her casually delivered melody lines never fail to hit the mark.

Why aren't her songs played regularly on Irish radio?

open.spotify.com/album/7jM0bN...
Like I Should Do
Fia Moon · Single · 2025 · 1 songs
open.spotify.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
What to make of the U2 album that comprises a collection of unconventional songs written for (mostly) imaginary films, and that they decided to release under a pseudonym?

In the year of the 30th anniversary of Original Soundtracks 1, let's take a look, shall we?

www.irishpost.com/entertainmen...
From chaos to craft - inside U2’s creative studio alchemy | The Irish Post
TRUST U2’s soothsayer and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. to state the obvious and call out what he view...
www.irishpost.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:05 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
If there's one new album that you need to listen to this weekend, this month, this year, then it's this one...

Take it away, The Would Be's!

open.spotify.com/album/5amoWA...
HindZeitgeist
The Would Be's · Album · 2025 · 10 songs
open.spotify.com
May 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Music quiz time!

And your starter for ten is...

[via @Irishtimes.com]

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
The Music Quiz: Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson star in a movie about a husband-and-wife tribute act to which music institution?
Plus: What did Iggy Pop call his 1980 autobiography?
www.irishtimes.com
April 30, 2025 at 9:33 AM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Can't fathom why @DarkTropics.bsky.social aren't selling out massive venues - they are easily one of the best Irish bands around…

New single, Whispers, highlights a more robust side to the duo.

Your time and attention to this song - and others - are worth it.

open.spotify.com/track/3CVYOG...
Whispers
Dark Tropics · Whispers · Song · 2025
open.spotify.com
April 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
You mean like Brie Larson?
nappydolemite.bsky.social Nappy Dolemite @nappydolemite.bsky.social · Apr 24
When a women tells me her name, I always follow up with, "Oh, like the cheese?" no matter what her name is.
April 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
tcl1234.bsky.social
Good news for Irish musicians - @IrishTimes.com starts a monthly 'Irish Albums Only' review column today (subscription required).

Here's the first, featuring:

Maria Somerville
Danny Groenland
@PaddyHanna.bsky.social
lullahush
Cushla

Support Irish music!

www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...
New Irish albums reviewed and rated: Paddy Hanna, Lullahush, Cushla, Maria Somerville and Danny Groenland
April 2025 releases include Oylegate, Ithaca, Tech Duinn, Luster and Burning Rome
www.irishtimes.com
April 22, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Tony Clayton-Lea
mollzeis.bsky.social
Wont (bside to 25) by David Long & Shane O'Neill
Available from Bandcamp, davidlong4.bandcamp.com/album/25
Film footage taken from Earth (1930) movie
Directed by Aleksandr Dovzhenko
Cinematography by Daniil Demutsky
youtu.be/cdsqG07rQkE?...
Wont
YouTube video by David Long & Shane O Neill
youtu.be
April 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM