Captain Moonlight, On The Lough
Posted on 14th Jan 10 by Paddy Murphy | 
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Crashing down in the tail end of 2009, Captain Moonlight‘s third full player, On The Lough, brings his Agroculture Trilogy to a close. Armed with a wit and intelligence of a modern day urban philosopher ‘the Captain doesn’t dare hold back on the trilogy’s closer. 2009 was some year for Irish hip-hop, we had gems [...]
Crashing down in the tail end of 2009, Captain Moonlight‘s third full player, On The Lough, brings his Agroculture Trilogy to a close. Armed with a wit and intelligence of a modern day urban philosopher ‘the Captain doesn’t dare hold back on the trilogy’s closer.
Captain Moonlight, Illustration by Kevin Kinneally
2009 was some year for Irish hip-hop, we had gems from RíRá, (Horses Work for Donkey’s Wages) the fantastic debut EP from The Rubberbandits, Drawing Pictures of Each Other Smoking Fags (awesome name, eh?) and Night Horses from the genre defying, Super Extra Bonus Party. Just to mention also, that not one of these releases were nominated for this years piss-poor Choice Music Award.
Anyway, Captain Moonlight has released the final part of his Agroculture series in the shape of On the Lough and it proudly stands as probably the most complete record of the trilogy. Fans of the Kilkenny rapper will know of his political insight and his anger on the many issues that are rammed down our necks everyday from an apathetic media. They will also know that ‘the Captain has no fear when it comes to pointing a (middle) finger at those in power.
Fans will also be familiar with his sencerity on the issues, you see ‘the Captain actually gives a shit about this country and he gives a shit in a non-patronising way. Anyone can stand on a soapbox and rant and rave but the Marble City MC is too smart and well-read for any over-reactionary sprouting. “Ireland is the graveyard of the rebel yell, buried with full military honours and a quick sell” from Fuck U, video below.
The Blind, is a look at everything around us and how, even though, so much has gone belly-up in recent times we still follow those in power blinglessly and faithfully.
Opening track Introinspection, however, shows that our hero hasn’t lost any of his wit and sarcasm, a song that highlights his arrival. A track with a scuzzy guitar riff and a lyric that has an air of confidence that wasn’t as present on his previous records. The tune is cocky to the point of becoming ironic. While your average gangsta rapper will boast on his first song of how awesomely great he is ‘the Captain keeps it light-hearted, but still manages to draw us in because, unlike other rappers, this guy is so good that he should be big-headed but instead he makes fun of the whole notion.
That air of confidence runs through the record from start to finish and it’s something that maybe wasn’t so prevalent in the last two releases. Not that on the last two he was feeling sorry for himself or anything, but rather that the last two records and the experiences of playing up and down the country have led Captain Moonlight to exactly where the trilogy was supposed to bring him.
On The Lough
One of the things that the noughties brought us were trilogies and sometimes it can be fantastic, mostly it means shite, but the odd time when, it actually works out (insert favourite movie trilogy here), a trilogy closes we feel a tinge of sadness that something so good has come to an end. It’s like when you finish a good book, happy you read it but wish you could get your mits on another that’s just as good.
Since getting the record, the only hip hop I’ve been listening to has been the three Captain Moonlight records and it needs to be said again that this is the most complete of the trilogy, it has the best production, done by ‘the Captain and Davy Holland. It has the best lyrics. The Suir-sider has gotten better and better lyrically with every release and, best of all, it has the best tunes. Work commenced on this record a good while ago and you can tell that every tune has been laboured over until each one was finally up to the MCs high standard.
On The Lough, (Back Cover)
A note must also be made of the inclusion of Jinx Lennon, a personal hero of mine, who adds his vocals to four tracks here. Lennon and Captain Moonlight have been playing all over the country in recent years and it’s absolutely wonderful to see both of them come together on the record.
Another thing that stands out are the extra influences that are heard on this record, on previous ones it was easy to get where ‘the Captain’s taste had come from, old-school hip hop, punk and rock with a bit of electro, but with the latest one we can clearly hear Motown influences, big band sounds and dance music. There’s even some splashes of funk and soul thrown into the mix. Without a doubt, this is the most danceable record of the trilogy.
People are finally taking note of homegrown hip hop, so if this is your first introduction to Captain Moonlight then it’s safe to say that On The Lough is his best record to date.
Drop-d Rating: 9/10
Tags: Agroculture, Agroculture Trilogy, Captain Moonlight, jinx lennon, On The Lough