This Glasgow Celtic Rock tour de force has become one of the best bands of the century, with the best Irish Rock since the days of The Pogues and Horslips. These Irish Glaswegians just can’t be topped. Songs of solidarity, liberation and working class harmony, The Wakes reign as one of the best bands of today, and “The Red and The Green” deserves to be rated as the best CD release of 2013, without any doubts. It wasn’t difficult to decide who should wear the Celtic Crown of 2013, and that had to go to the mighty melodious yet boisterous, and show stopping, never letting you down, and always fighting for your rights while rocking and reeling, Glasgow’s finest, The Wakes.
2.) The Rapparees “RE:SESSION” :
This 5 piece Belfast band are the latest and the greatest and they’re about to kick start a France/Germany tour in 2014, so if you get a chance to see them live, don’t miss it, they are one of the finest new Irish bands today. And I think that they have done the best version of “Outlaw Rapparee”, yet.
3.) Dropkick Murphys “Signed and Sealed In Blood” :
This Boston band really needs no introduction so I will just say that they are undeniably the best Celtic Rock band in the world with no exceptions (except for maybe, The Wakes…), and this CD just proves that they are still the world heavyweight champions of Irish Rock and Reel.
4.) Brick Top Blaggers “Two Years Enough” :
These Californian Celts are no joke, and this 2nd full length proves that they are a band that is here to stay. Their brilliant tribute to the heroes of Easter Week, 1916, “The Rising” is reason enough to check these folks out.
5.) McAlpine’s Fusiliers “When Giants Walked Our Streets” :
These Australian Celtic Rockers never cease to amaze me, and this latest creation by these Fenian Aussies is proof positive that these musicians are in a class of their own and cannot be overlooked or forgotten. Their tribute to the heroes of the legendary Fremantle Fenian prison break, “The Edge of the World” is just another reason to remember these Fenian Australians.
6.) Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones “Let You All Be Irish Tonight” :
These legendary balladeers combine grace, grit and Gaelic melody into one amazing, incomparable Fenian masterpiece. Be sure to get a copy of this rafters roaring, singing larks a soaring, high-stepping, rebel baby.
7.) Kevin Flynn and The Avondale Ramblers “The Broken Pavement of Avondale” :
From the streets of Chicago, comes something that you only experience, once in a lifetime, and that’s the whiskey fuelled, bar room brawling Irish-American Rockers, known as Kevin Flynn and The Avondale Ramblers, who have done it again, with another phenomenal tribute to the Celtic Spirit of working class Chicago. A must for any fan of genuine Irish Rock n’ Reel. Added bonus is guest singer, Tony Duggins, who sings with Kevin Flynn in one dynamic duo in one of my favorite tunes on this kick ass CD, “Don’t Bury Me Outside of Chicago”.
8.) Pol Mac Adaim “My Name is Troy Davis” :
Although this CD didn’t come out in 2013, it’s still one of the best and most radical folk albums of the 21st century. Pol Mac Adaim is the Joe Hill, the Woody Guthrie, the Luke Kelly, of today. Revolutionary music that comes from the heart, that can make you cry or pump your fist in anger, Pol Mac Adaim has that ability.
9.) Damien Dempsey “Almighty Love” :
This is another release that wasn’t released in 2013, coming out in the fall of 2012, and was given my Top Ten rating in 2012, but its still, in my opinion, one of the Top 10, Irish CDs of today, by a gifted pugilist, songwriter, musician and Dubliner, the unbeatable, Damien Dempsey. And you have to listen to his “Fire In the Glen”, to really understand why this musician will always be a crowd pleaser.
10.) The Tossers “ The Emerald City” :
Last but never least, goes to my favorite South Side Chicago rabble rousers., with one of their best releases to date. Get a copy folks, you won’t be disappointed. You can love them, you can hate them, but they’ll always be The Tossers, to me.
--- Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael
