In search of a non-cliché St. Patrick’s Day playlist

Editor's Note: This article was originally presented as part of Victor D. Infante's Listen Up column in 2016. The playlist has been updated several times since then.

If you were to judge by your average American St. Patrick’s Day celebration, Irish music only has three speeds: 1.) Classic Celtic folk music; 2.) a more contemporary, punk-inspired brand of rock in the vein of the Pogues, and 3.) U2. And while there’s nothing wrong with any of this — except perhaps for a good deal of what U2’s released since “Rattle & Hum” — it creates a fairly narrow portrait of contemporary Irish music, which is actually one of today’s most vibrant and exciting music scenes.

So in the interests of the holiday, and finally being able to show up at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration and not be subjected to another round of “Danny Boy,” this half-Irish author, with the help of a few dozen invisible Internet friends, has created what he hopes is “A Thoroughly Non-Cliché St. Patrick’s Day Playlist.”

So how does one go about putting together a non-cliché St. Patrick’s Day playlist? Step One: Avoid the obvious. A few touchstones familiar to a listener are fine, but try to avoid the expected Celtic traditional music. I actually love rather a lot of that music, but sometimes it’s hard not to think that Americans believe Irish music is frozen in the late 19th century, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Secondly, limit yourself to only a few of the contemporary heavyweights. For our purposes, I passed on U2, even though I love the band’s earlier work, and Van Morrison, even if he’s one of the greatest singer-songwriters alive today. On the other hand, I was swayed to include Sinead O’Connor. Even though her “I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got” is one of my all-time favorite albums, I wasn’t conversant in her recent music. My loss — “How About I Be Me (and You Be You)?” and “I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss” are among the singer’s best work. I chose to use her “Take Me to Church,” which is a very different song than the pop favorite by Irish singer Hozier, although I used that, too. We all have our weaknesses.

And speaking of my weaknesses, I had to use Glen Hansard, because whether he’s performing solo, with the Swell Season or with the Frames, he writes the most emotionally devastating songs out there, and I couldn’t resist adding “Falling Slowly” to the list. Likewise, I found a home for Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter,” but not the Waterboys, even though that’s one of my favorite bands of all time. One of the problems with a playlist is that the songs have to play well together, and sometimes you have to kill your darlings. I’d gladly have included some representatives of Ireland’s vibrant metal and hard-core scenes, especially Primordial, Cruachan, Sweet Savage or Condemned to Death, but they just didn’t play well with others.

Likewise, I couldn’t use a lot of Irish hip-hop, because of language concerns — Dublin rapper Rejjie Snow had to stay on the cutting room floor, despite his power and irresistible sense of propulsion, but I was able to use “Amnesia Comes Easily,” by hip-hop duo Messiah J & the Expert, which features vocals by Joanne Daly. From the straight-up pop genre, it was hard to resist unconventional choices such as Laura Izibor’s “Mmm…” and Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You,” songs that are popular in Ireland but virtually unheard here. The Corrs are a little more familiar here, though, and I couldn’t pass up their pop hit, “Breathless.”

I resisted putting the Pogues on the list, because the band is more-or-less inactive, but included “Drunken Lullabies,” by the similarly influenced Flogging Molly, even though only singer Save King is actually from Ireland. I had to repeatedly bat away recommendations for the Dropkick Murphys, because they are from Quincy, Massachusetts, not Ireland. If we included solely Irish-American acts, we’d be here all day. But that didn’t leave me any shortage of great rock songs, including “Blue Collar Jane,” by the Strypes, “Liar’s Club,” by Stiff Little Fingers, “The Song They Play Every Night,” by Little Green Cars, “Johnny Got a Boom Boom,” by Imelda May, “Small Pony,” by DOTT and “N17,” by the Saw Doctors.

Lastly, Ireland has no shortage of amazing singer-songwriters, including Damien Dempsey, Gavin James, Lal Lavelle and of course the mighty Luka Bloom, whose “I Need Love” is straight-up gorgeous. Throw in bands such as In Tua Nua, My Bloody Valentine, Two Door Cinema Club, Ash, Heathers and The Frank and Waters, and you have yourself a snapshot of an active and vibrant musical scene that’s unpredictable and defies pigeonholing. There’s nothing wrong with loving the classics, or even loving U2, but if one wants to love Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps one should explore what it’s music is now, not just what it once was.

Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: In search of a non-cliché St. Patrick’s Day playlist