Centuries of Learning, by Padraig Cooney

Centuries of Learning

by Padraig Cooney

supported by

	/

Cassette + Digital Album
Collectors edition in a swanky box

Includes unlimited streaming of Centuries of Learning via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

€13 EUR or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

€7 EUR or more
Cassette + Digital Album
petrol blue cassette in a cardboard 0-board cover

Includes unlimited streaming of Centuries of Learning via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

Purchasable with gift card

€9 EUR or more
VIP membership

Join now to receive all the new music Strange Brew releases, including this album and 51 back-catalog items, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. Learn more.

Join Now €60 EUR/year or more

1.	Green Light 04:03	buy track
2.	Space 06:27	buy track
3.	Another Reputation Ruined 02:34	buy track
4.	Moonlight 03:25	buy track
5.	Talleyrand 03:16	buy track
6.	Blackrock Diving Tower 02:28	buy track
7.	Houses (ft. Bronwyn Murphy-White) 04:49	buy track
8.	Engrenages 02:37	buy track
9.	Off The Books 02:51	buy track
10.	Nature Walks 03:23	buy track
11.	A Drifter Sings 02:27	buy track
12.	How Sweet You Are 03:16	buy track
13.	Now We Must End 02:39	buy track

about

Centuries of Learning is the debut album by Dublin musician Pádraig Cooney. It is a distillation of his creative endeavours over several years writing, playing and singing in Dublin’s alt-pop underground, and an attempt to approach a record, 13 years after the fact, in the way he approached 2008’s Land Lovers debut Romance Romance. That is, restricted to synths, guitar and drum machine, with a mixture of premeditation and improvisation, make the most complete one-person pop suite that his abilities would allow at that time.

The title 'Centuries of Learning' is taken from the song Space, where in context it refers to the accumulation of technical expertise and cultural knowledge by Europeans, put to the service of violent exploitation of the rest of the planet. However, as the album title, it says: "I've been at the music long enough, here's what I have learned".

Over the course of its 13 songs admittedly anchored in the aesthetics of the 1970s, you’ll find dark electronic passages (Off the Books), hints of Italian TV variety show instrumentals (Another Reputation Ruined), slinky French pop (Engrenages), the expansive Space, the hooky Green Light, the dark country rumination of Moonlight and the primary-coloured Talleyrand. Bronwyn Murphy White, Padraig’s wife and bandmate in Skelocrats, pops up for a star turn lead vocal on Houses.

The record was self-produced, recorded at home but mixed by the pros: Fiachra McCarthy and Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) working on roughly half the tracks each.

Lyrically, it’s a wild ride from meaningless musicality (Green Light) to imperialism (Off the Books), colonialism (Space), housing (Houses), environmental vandalism (Nature Walks), historical figures as ferrets (Talleyrand), mind-controlled killers (A Drifter Sings) and, beyond linguistic content, an instrumental that attempts to soundtrack a video of people messing on a diving platform during a big storm (Blackrock Diving Tower).

Padraig says:
"I made this record after coming up with the melody for Space in the shower in October 2020, without previously having had any intention to do anything. I wrote and recorded the whole thing between then and early February 2021 in a very intense burst of work. I know that I make good music when I pressurise myself to bring something from the flimsiest idea to completion in a day or two and there's a real thrill in that. Thrills were at a premium in winter 2020/21 as you may remember. There's also a purity in going it completely alone, making no compromises on the songs, doing everything yourself. It's not a superior way of working but it is distinctly itself. I ended up having to basically cut it in half to fit on 2 sides of tape, and it's lucky for the appreciative listener because there's a nice little EP up my sleeve there from the off-cuts."

credits

released September 29, 2022

All songs written, performed, recorded and produced by Padraig Cooney.
'Houses' sung by Bronwyn Murphy White.
Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 13 mixed by Fiachra McCarthy at Heftrax.
Tracks 3, 4, 7, 10, 11 and 13 mixed by Daniel Fox at Sonic Studios.
Mastered by Mikey Young.

Artwork by Bronwyn Murphy White.

Published by Tremelo Music Publishing
Copyright Strange Brew Records 2022

license

about

Padraig Cooney Dublin, Ireland

Songs and, why not, productions from an old man going solo... and winning.

contact / help

Contact Padraig Cooney

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Padraig Cooney, you may also like:

Frankly, I Mutate
by Paddy Hanna

supported by 6 fans who also own “Centuries of Learning”

Paddy took chances. The album just has a sound that can only stem from him being true to himself. It's intricate, well-arranged, poetic, and hilarious. Hell of an album from a hell of a guy! digerydude
go to album
Imagine I'm Hoping
by Paddy Hanna

supported by 6 fans who also own “Centuries of Learning”
go to album
Softer Measures
by Feather Beds

supported by 5 fans who also own “Centuries of Learning”
go to album
Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs
by Blood Cultures

The mysterious masked group Blood Cultures returns with a record of bubbling, tuneful synthpop. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 3, 2019
go to album
SPIRITUS
by Home Body

Buoyant vocals and a varied palette of synths work in perfect tandem to create gorgeous art-pop that's able to address big realities. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 2, 2019
go to album
Ashes Remix EP
by Douglas

The LA singer-songwriter revisits this year's "Ashes" LP with a collection of remixes from Kris Passion, Linus, XOR, and more. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 10, 2021
go to album
No Snitch
by Junior Brother

supported by 5 fans who also own “Centuries of Learning”
go to album