Éamon Sweeney

Contributor

Éamon Sweeney, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about music and culture.

Liam Gallagher and John Squire – A generous one star for this musical marriage forged in hell

Album review: The debut album from the Mancunian ‘super duo’ is an excruciating exercise in bluster and swagger

Terri Hooley: Seventy-Five Revolutions: Absorbing overview of Good Vibrations mastermind

Stuart Bailie’s elegant book explores the cultural clout and influence of Belfast music entrepreneur who rose to prominence with punk

The Smile: Wall of Eyes – Another classic from Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner

The alt.supergroup’s second album is a looser-sounding affair, with sombre echoes of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool

Thurston Moore: ‘I didn’t want to get into a Morrissey thing of settling scores’

The singer and musician helped define alternative culture through his band Sonic Youth. This year he wrote a memoir about his life in music

Max Greenwood: In the Quiet of the Evening – A beacon of reflective positivity

Nottingham pianist and musician has recorded a collection of beautiful piano instrumentals

Fish Go Deep: What I Mean by Beautiful – Rebel City house music

The duo behind the decks at Sir Henry’s present their fourth studio opus

Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee: Los Angeles - A guest-packed sonic extravaganza

Former drummers of The Cure and Siouxsie and The Banshees unite with producer Jacknife Lee

Kojaque: Phantom of the Afters – An emotional odyssey of hard-hitting raps and soft beats

Cabra man pours his heart and soul into his most personal, poignant and open album yet

Øxn: Cyrm – A modern masterpiece from Irish neofolk supergroup

Members of Lankum and Percolator join Katie Kim on the most astonishing surprise package of the year

Dreams of Electric Bleep review: Classic cuts from a golden age of Irish electronic music

A cracking compilation of electro tunes from the 1990s and 2000s still sounds futuristic and fresh after all these years

Sufjan Stevens: Javelin - Songs of tenderness and vulnerability with added poignancy

Detroit singer releases 10th studio album following an autoimmune disorder diagnosis

Jape: ‘I thought music was the only medicine I needed to survive. When I got older I realised this is not entirely true’

Richie Egan on living in Sweden, parenthood, his new album and becoming a musical lifer

Mick Flannery: Goodtime Charlie - Best-selling troubadour lightens up

Cork singer is more hit than miss on an assured eighth album

The Chemical Brothers: For that Beautiful Feeling - Seamless, sweet psychedelia

One of the defining acts of British electronica continue their revival

Róisín Murphy: Hit Parade – Joyful songs about not taking life for granted

A cracking collaborative masterclass from innovative outliers of modern music Murphy and DJ Koze