Steven O'Rourke posted on November 16, 2008 19:00
Key Notes Top Ten Irish Albums: 9
Microdisney - The Clock Comes Down The Stairs
While Microdisney's We Hate You South African Bastards! is probably the greatest title of any Irish album,
there is no denying that The Clock Comes Down The Stairs is the greatest section of Cathal Coughlan and Sean O'Hagan's combined discography. Released in 1985 the album went on to be voted the best album of the decade by The Sunday Tribune newspaper in 1989.
Now, given the fact that Key Notes was 3 when the record was recorded it's fair to say this blog didn't purchase it upon its release. Indeed, don't tell anyone but Key Notes' first version of this LP was a tape of a tape (in the days when taping music was going to kill the industry; sound familiar?). This blog has since got his hands on a vinyl version by chance. Key Notes was actually 'googling' something completely different (a piece of art if you must know) and was asked 'Did you mean The Clock Comes Down The Stairs?' He didn't as it happens, but the name evoked images of evenings spent recording and listening to mix-tapes. A copy of the LP would soon be winging its way to Key Note Towers.
What this blog loves about this LP is its sense of humour. Tracks such as Genius and Horse Overboard drip with sarcasm. Other stand-out tracks include Goodbye - It's 1987, Birthday Girl and A Friend With A Big Mouth. It's hard to pick a favourite track from this album but, if a gun was placed to Key Notes' head, he'd have to pick Genius: 'You're a genius, you're a giant, you're a prince, you are the Pope, the things you feel are just a joke, so burn, burn, burn.' Listen to it just once and then try get it out of your head for the rest of the day. It's, well, genius.
The Clock Comes Down The Stairs was perfect Celtic Tiger music even though it was written well before this countires boom years. This was music for disaffected outsiders in a land full of pretention. Fair enough, it was written in 1980's London but the sentiments expressed on the LP applied just as much to Ireland in the 90's and the Naughties.
Microdisney - Birthday Girl
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