To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Irish post rock legends The Redneck Manifesto we had the band curate a special playlist of influences which prompted them to want to make music at the outset of their careers, and tracks that have sustained them and inspired them throughout the following twenty years
Mervyn Craig, Matthew Bolger, Richie Egan, Niall Byrne, Neil O'Connor and Glenn Keating have also kindly explained why each track means so much to them.
The Redneck Manifesto will release their latest opus 'The How' featuring the single Djin Chin on November 20th, and the group will undertake a career-spanning celebration in Vicar Street on November 30th, with special guests The Dublin Guitar Quartet, and New Jackson.
Sebastien Tellier - Le Long de la riviere tendre
Sebastien Tellier is a timeless French musician and songwriter. He could have existed and fit in at anytime in history but luckily enough he has been around at the same time as me. He has so many styles of music he plays around with. Some synth driven, some quirky, but for me I think he's at his best when he creates music with a striped back nostalgic feel. Emotionally deep but fragile at the same time. MB
Franco - Azda
This band just makes me feel good. I'd imagine every playlist I make has a Franco track on it. NB
Fugazi - Break
Fugazi have been a major influence on myself and the rest of the band since even before TRM got together. The way in which they expanded on the idea of what hardcore punk music could be was truly inspirational. They didn't limit themselves musically, dipping in an out of dub and reggae while retaining and sensibilities of DC hardcore. We were very lucky to have been asked by Fugazi to support them when the played in Dublin many moons ago, which is one of my fondest TRM memories. MB
Daniel Brandt - Kale Me.
This one’s quite a recent discovery. Daniel Brandt is a German composer and percussionist who combines organic acoustic sounds with experimental electronics. A very inventive track with an interesting textural interplay of the instruments. I believe this track contains a recording of his washing machine going mental which he uses to build tension, and why not when it works this well. - MC
Can - Moonshake
Really big fan of german music, in particular krautrock. Jaki Liebezeit was one of the greatest drummers ever - less is more. NOC
Daniel Lanois - Frozen
I love the way the bass and the slide guitar interact in this tune, sonically it is pretty sparse but anything in there is doing an important job. The use of space and fx is second to none, it feels like a few worlds colliding but never feels cluttered. This one speaks to the soul of the listener. RE
Aphex Twin - #3
There is so much beauty in this song. Around the time I had started to go to see TRM gigs, this would have been on heavy rotation. Apart from just how sublime the tones and textures are in this tune, the simplicity of the chord progression and the incessant repetition was extremely emotional for me - although I can't say why exactly!!! I remember clearly being at an early Rednecks gig, thinking to myself that they were searching for that same emotion. But to see 4 people so perfectly linked together in rhythm and harmony, it was powerful and gave me the same feeling as listening to this piece. The two things will remain forever linked in my mind. GK
Aerial M - Wedding Song No. 2.
Aerial M is the solo project of David Pajo from Slint. I was obsessed with this album for years. Just a really simple and beautiful song. Perfect bedtime listening. - MC
Andy Stott - Violence
I don't know a huge amount of stuff by Andy Stott, but I think this track is great, I love the tension and distorted build in it. I think I first heard this through a Spotify recommendation of all things, can't remember what I'd been listening to that prompted the recommendation (maybe Demdike Stare) but for once they got it right. NB
EROS - Tortoise
One of my favourite bands - Tortoise are much more than the poster boys for Post Rock that they are touted to be. I am sure they would not relish that title, but it can't be denied that they have had an almost immeasurable influence on countless artists, particularly those operating in the world instrumental music. Personally, they opened my mind up to jazz, contemporary composition, the German pioneers of electronic music, hip-hop, post punk ...the list goes on. But this song blew my mind in terms of its arrangement and production. The off kilter sequenced percussion and the insanely gated live drums still inspires me so much in my approach to how to make acoustic and electronic instruments melt together. Its hard to know where one ends and one begins. Not to mention the 2 harmonising basslines at the end of the track. GK
Oneohtrix Point Never - Black Snow
Blends classical and cutting edge EDM together - nuts and really something fresh and new. The music video is pretty funny too. NOC
Owls - Everyone Is My Friend
We all went to see Owls in around 2002 in a bar on Dorset Street. It's a very rare moment when you encounter a musician who completely changes how you see an instrument. Vincent Villareal, Owls guitarist, is one of those people. I had never heard or seen a guitar played like that. Totally new and filled with emotion and melody. I still take inspiration from his style of playing today and this track is my favourite of theirs. MB
Emily A. Sprague - Water Memory 1
This record has a deceptively simple blueprint but repeated listens allows it to open up into its own very special meditative world. The real skill she possesses is being able to present the bare minimum but yield maximum emotional results. This song is made for thinking and staring out into space getting goosebumps. RE
Polaris - Conquering Small Spaces.
Such an incredibly underrated band from Leeds featuring one of my favourite drummers of all time, Neil Turpin. I first saw them play at a hardcore and punk festival in Bradford in the mid '90s. After hours of pounding brutality from the rest of the line-up these guys came on and totally blew me away. I’d never seen an underground band with such incredible musicianship and it was a real eye opener in terms of what a hardcore band could be. This instrumental track from their second album really highlights their intricate melodies along with their flawless shifts in rhythm and dynamics. -MC
Luke ABBOTT - Modern Driveway
Modern classic? I came to know Luke Abbott's output through an Essential Mix that Radiohead put together a few years back. That song was called Brazil and it's simply a stunning piece of music. It made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole in terms of his music and that of the music of his fellow Border Community labelmates. Modern Driveway was immediately nostalgic, yet completely fresh. Metronomic, but languid and groovy in equal measures. It has been out quite a few years at this point, but has a timelessness that all great art does. His recent work, as Szun Waves in collaboration with drummer Laurence Pike of PVT and Saxophonist, Jack Wyllie, is currently blowing my tiny mind. GK
Polvo - Feather of Forgiveness
This band were a slow burner for me, I "kinda liked them" for ages but over the years I've grown to love them. They're one of my reference bands, I couldn't tell you how many times a band has reminded me of Polvo, but just weren't as good. NB
Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
I was more than likely listening to this when I joined the band in 2003 and doing my M.A in Music Technology in Trinity. The harmonic and rhythmic movement is just so hypnotic. NOC
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit
We’ve always loved the magical locked groove Fela manages to conjure. The tightness here has been earned through hours of playing and you can hear it so clearly. Straight from the get go the bounciness gets your shoulders moving and every element tells it’s own story. The story behind the title is well worth looking up too. Fela and Tony Allen are big for us. RE
The Redneck Manifesto play Vicar Street, Dublin on November 30th, with special guests The Dublin Guitar Quartet, and New Jackson. Tickets €30.40 on sale now.