Wide variety of music borrowed by members of Clare County Library

Mayhem, by Irish Rockabilly singer Imelda May, was the most popular music CD borrowed by members of Clare County Library in 2011. Her debut album Love Tattoo released in 2007 also proved very popular with borrowers. Second in popularity among library members was the highly anticipated fifth album from American rock band The Kings of Leon. Their album Come Around Sundown has been nominated in the Best Rock Album category of the 54th Grammy awards. The third most popular music CD among County Clare library members was The Witmark Demos by Bob Dylan. This collection features forty seven songs recorded by the artist between 1962-1964 – accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, harmonica and occasionally piano. Fifteen of the songs were recorded by Dylan especially for these sessions, and have never been officially released to the public until now.

Sharon Shannon’s album Galway Girl continues to be popular since its release in 2008. The album has gone Platinum in Ireland four times and the title track has won the Meteor Award for most downloaded song for the last two years. This is the fourth year in a row that Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon has appeared in the list of the top ten most borrowed music CDs by members of Clare County Library. Sixth on the most popular list was The Suburbs by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. The album won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards and Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards.

Three places on the ten most popular music CD list were claimed by traditional music. An Traidisiún Beo by Angelina Carberry and Martin Quinn is a collection of traditional Irish music tunes played on button accordion and tenor banjo. Seanchas is the first album in five years by County Waterford based band Danú. It features vocals by Muireann nic Amhlaoibh and has received wide critical acclaim. Dance Sean Nós by Tom Doherty features a section of lively, old style melodion tunes recorded at various tempos for sean-nós dancing. Number ten on the most popular list was Station to Station by David Bowie. Bowie’s highly influential 1976 album was released as a 3-CD Special Edition by EMI in 2010. A 5-CD, DVD and heavyweight vinyl Deluxe Edition of the album was released at the same time.