The Goo 1
Editors Note APR '25 JOHN BRERETON Contributors A
dhamh O’Caoimh David Carr Jack McBain Ethan Golding Christian Wethered Oran O’Beirne Dan Hegarty Kerry Mahony Cliodhna Ryan Paul McDermott Conor Farrell Louis Scully Des Traynor Niall McGuirk Brendan White Billy O’Hanluain Allie Ryan Lili Karrenberg John Brereton Mia Grabow Grainne Glynn Hugh Straine Editor: John Brereton thegoodublin@gmail.com Design & Layout: Abdul Hamid Ali aa@hkm.se Cover Photo: Meljoann Listings Editor: Christine O’Growney thegoolistings@gmail.com Social Media: Jack McBain/Jamie Lee Forde Distribution: Kamil Zok distribution@hkm.ie Singles/EP’s for review: thegoosingles@gmail.com All other queries: thegoodublin@gmail.com We might be slightly behind timewise with celebrating International Women’s Day but it’s great to have an issue almost exclusively featuring some of our finest female artists and from such varied fields of music. Our cover artist Meljoann has released her third album, Status and it’s a beauty, a wonderfully produced slab of danceable pop underpinned with some of the most salient lyrics heard in years. Written, performed, produced, and mastered by the artist, Status prompts a critical discussion about the forces that shape our culture, while proposing we reclaim autonomy and build a better, more self-sufficient future. As Meljoann pointedly states, “There is an important conversation to be had around the fact that our culture is controlled by billionaires. This album describes this late-capitalist dystopia, in which Big Tech and Big Data hold our fates in their ghoulish hands. It also describes how we can escape. Our community is creating grassroots networks, building on open tech and anarchist principles of dual power and mutual aid.” An artist who has firmly pushed against big tech is the seventeen year old old time Blues sensation from Donegal, Muireann Bradley, an artist who has basically eschewed musical history this side of World War 2 to carve out a burgeoning reputation for herself as a top class interpreter of the music of the Mississippi Delta. Muireann’s guitar chops are sensational and she has a long career ahead of her. Delving deeper into the past is Dee Armstrong, a member of the iconic group Kila for three decades, who has just released her debut album, Deichtine’s Daughter, where she weaves together original compositions, family collaborations, and centuries-old tradition, reimagined with her distinctive artistry. The album explores themes of strength, independence, and the untold stories of warrior women and showcases Dee’s absorbing, dynamic musicianship. Living in Ireland since 2003, Korean jazz pianist So Young Joon has performed as a pianist, composer and arranger with numerous ensembles in all of Dublin’s main jazz venues, as well as with her own quintet, for which she composes original music. Notable performances include three concerts in the National Concert Hall, one of which was a sold-out event in which she led a six-piece band in a criticallyacclaimed radical rearrangement of the music of Thelonious Monk and it’s on this tip that we feature her here. Her monthly Groovy Sunday Jazz Master Album series, Hyde Bar, on Lemon St, has celebrated classic albums by Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck and Count Basie thus far and is highly recommended. Trycksak 5041 0004 John Brereton 3 S E V A R N Ä E M N K T