Cathal Coughlan (musician)

Cathal Coughlan is an Irish singer songwriter, formerly of Microdisney and The Fatima Mansions. His work with both bands has received much critical acclaim, so has his solo material.[1]

Cathal Coughlan, 2020

Professional career

Coughlan began singing in the late 1970s. After Coughlan met Sean O'Hagan, they formed Microdisney in 1980.[1] His lyrics focus on politics, the seamy side of relationships and the interplay between the two, utilising surreal imagery and literary and historical references. He also uses a variety of musical styles, including neo-classical, folk and industrial rock.

His voice has prompted comparisons with Scott Walker, whom Coughlan considers a major influence.[2] As a solo musician, he has completed five albums, the most recent of which is Rancho Tetrahedron. Coughlan is based in London and for a time became involved in musical theatre, mainly in France. In 2006 he was described in The Irish Times as the 'genius of Irish rock'. He was the subject of the documentary 'The Adventures of Flannery' which had screenings in Cork, Belfast, Dublin and further afield.M

In August 2010, Coughlan released the album Rancho Tetrahedron, credited to "Cathal Coughlan and the Grand Necropolitan Quartet". The Irish Times noted that "Coughlan's mixture of acerbity and dark lyricism is sustained on his fifth solo album, that there is a subtle Latin influence on the music, and Coughlan's Scott Walker inflected voice has never sounded better."[3] Earlier in the year Coughlan had also duetted with Dave Couse on the song "Good Friday" from Couse's Alonewalk.

He recorded with comedian Sean Hughes, High Llamas drummer Rob Allum (under the name of his alter-ego "Cod") and Paul Jarvis of SLAB! as "Bubonique", releasing a number of CDs parodying current musical trends, including the albums "20 Golden Showers" and "Trance Arse Volume 3".

In 2011, Coughlan began a collaboration with the British singer-songwriter Luke Haines and the writer Andrew Mueller, resulting in the live song/speech show The North Sea Scrolls, for a premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2011. The studio recording of The North Sea Scrolls was released November 2012.

On 27 November 2017, it was announced that O'Hagan and Coughlan would reform Microdisney for a one-off concert in the National Concert Hall, Dublin on 2 June 2018. Coughlan subsequently stated on his website that due to the sellout of the Dublin show, they would be performing a one-off in London as well. They performed the album The Clock Comes Down The Stairs in full, and performed a wider selection of the former group's repertoire at their final shows in Dublin and Cork in 2019.[4][5][1]

In 2020, Coughlan completed work on an album entitled "Song Of Co-Aklan", featuring collaborators old and new - including Nick Allum, Aindrias O'Gruama, Jon Fell, Luke Haines, Audrey Riley, James Woodrow and Rhodri Marsden. The album is released in March 2021 on Dimple Discs and was preceded by the 'Song of Co-Aklan' single. He is also now part of a duo with US-based Irish producer and musician Jacknife Lee, which has also completed an album.[6]

Discography

Microdisney

Fatima Mansions

Solo
  • Im' long Me Measaim (Split flexi-disc/CAFF1) – 1989
  • Grand Necropolitan – 1996
  • Black River Falls – 2000
  • The Sky's Awful Blue – 2002
  • Foburg – 2006
  • Rancho Tetrahedron – 2010 [#12 IRE Indie]
  • Song of Co-Aklan - 2021

Collaborations
  • 20 Golden Showers – as Bubonique (with Sean Hughes) – 1993
  • Trance Arse Vol 3 – as Bubonique (with Sean Hughes) – 1995
  • The North Sea Scrolls – as The North Sea Scrolls (with Luke Haines and Andrew Mueller) – 2012
  • Into the Green – with Francois Ribac and Eve Schwabe – 2014

Soundtrack
  • The Last Bus Home 1990 – Johnny Gogan
  • The Bargain Shop 1992 – Johnny Gogan
  • Mapmaker 2001 – Johnny Gogan

Citations
  1. "There's an Ironic Symmetry there, and I feel pretty good about it." Cathal Coughlan interview, The Ticket Magazine, The Irish Times, February 16, 2019( pp. 8-9).
  2. Gildas. "Cathal Coughlan: Black River Falls". popnews.com. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  3. Gleeson, Sinéad (30 July 2010), "Review of Rancho Tetrahedron", The Irish Times, retrieved 5 August 2010
  4. http://cathalcoughlan.com/wp/
  5. https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/microdisney
  6. Clayton-Lea, Tony (18 June 2020), "Jacknife Lee: 'If I'm not making noise, I get very grumpy'", The Irish Times, retrieved 14 September 2020
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