“It’s just what the Dublin music scene needs. A big slap of this! Take this Humanzi and take this the Chakras and take this The Things….. extended list of 36+ really really bland been there done it before bands… YAWN. Some thing different, something new. Thanks 2008!”

and yes the Green Lights EP was indeed, epic! Electro Funk beats with haunting lyics that kept me going many a nights is that oh so hum drum night job in Dublin’s inner city conrete jungle. when is some record producer going to cop and see that this raw talent of bands like the Green Lights and GPO are what the “cool kids” really listen to. horrahh for myspace!! and the new bands it breeds.

“It’s just what the Dublin music scene needs. A big slap of this! Take this Humanzi and take this the Chakras and take this The Things….. extended list of 36+ really really bland been there done it before bands… YAWN. Some thing different, something new. Thanks 2008!”

Word!

Futurism…only too comprehensive. I wish there were dozens more of equal calibre to add.

-c

Colin - oh so you didn’t get fed-up with “JACKET!!” X3 ?? Most annoying line of 2008 imo.

Declan - I also hope to see your name on that list next year, considering you said I’m doing the EP photos

Frankie - tis indeed, Gone To Sea is my NA auto-assumption tune - yaknoworramean - and stands corrected. Who did you enjoy this year yourself?

Burn Rubber : Yeah the Cascade Sounds one IS great! Such confident self-promotion definitely warrants linking to your site

James : Green Lights are deadly, rocky, dancy, pensive, the lot! I refuse to believe it’s the last we’ve heard of Leigh. No no no….

Rojo : I bought Subplots and lost it before importing. It’s in my room somewhere
Villagers will be soo exciting! I am doing a diff post looking to 009 so I’ll be holding you to come comment on that!

wheatln : I’d say Funeral Suits are amongst the most underrated on your list. I’d like to see a lot more exposure for them next year. Their EP is still growing on me, loads of diversity in the songs gives an inkling of how we can expect to hear them fill out and develop in 2009.

Bands do go the extra mile to release and record their music by themselves but I don’t think should be contrasted to the effort signed bands put in. There’s a different obligation to each side and one shared goal: to do their music justice. Rather I’d compare bands with EPs, regardless of record labels, to those who have no releases. I do think singles are a waste of time, lacking depth, there’s no real market unless they’re looking to saturate the shallow mainstream.

However I take it for granted that a good band are going to release EPs. and albums. It’s expected, they must have the confidence and passion to take their music as far as they can on their own, especially in this country. Alternative music simply isn’t important enough for a band to aim for a record contract to release their songs, it should be an option and nothing more.
It’s a mark of dedication and affirmation of talent to forge ahead and release because it’s a worthy risk. If a committed band believe their songs are good and the audience is out there, waiting to grow, then it should become imperative to make the most of that, regardless of how much time and expense is involved. I think too many artists have got caught up in the finished product of physical music releases, put everything into rehearsing and working to fun the record and trip up by not having enough of an audience to sell to at the end.
Depending on a band’s motivation, it’s not so difficult to release as it once was. If the aim is to spread word of your music, it can be a relatively inexpensive process to record lo-fi demos and spread them like viruses. Promotion is easier than it’s ever been: cop-on gets you very far at gigs, chats and on the Net. That’s where real hard work comes in, through constant gigging, bigging and spam. Freebie downloads, plaguing the media like psoriasis for interviews, features and reviews. Hand-folding covers for scores of inexpensive CD-R copies to pass out, flyering like a motherfuck…releasing is hard work.

If I ran a label, I’d want to see some evidence of how much faith and application a group put into their music. It’s not enough to have incendiary tunes or brilliant stagemanship, by self-releasing a band shows they’re prepared to work hard and on their own initiative and don’t waste time hanging about waiting to be discovered. They make it happen.

Some of those who do release successfully go on to record with a label’s backing. Then the original ambition picks up pace in obligation to honour the label’s investment and test their creativity, having been given an official green light. I think it’s so important to consider the role played by supportive record labels, the respect and belief they show in their signings. Their cash, time and effort go on the line for interesting strangers and sometimes the risks can be huge. By connecting, clueing in to the motivation and aesthetic of a band’s sound, they know where to take them, promote them, encourage and advise them. But where the unsigned answer to no one and go only where they choose, signed bands then have to follow through their labels’ endeavours, and it’s then that music becomes a constant career, powered by more than early love for gigging.
So regardless of backing, it will always be hard work.

j

EPs are a funny thing, as I assume most of the bands on this list will have funded them themselves and so the physical and financial toil and effort they had to put in is probably going to be a lot more than a label-funded album. The promotional budget is going to be pretty low and so picking up EPs by them will have to be as a result of word of mouth, knowing them or most favourably having your socks blown off from seeing them live somewhere!

Autumn Owls - insomnia lodge
The Hot Sprockets - country dirt
and have to put in The Eclectic - Breath. That band really don’t get enough exposure for their talents!

Lets hope we’ll be on the list next year Nay! Early enough realease because we decided not to over the xmas period!

Make Happy Ware - GPO , Subplots - We Carved Our Names In Glass, Ugly Megan - Three Whole Funs!