Entries to the ‘most contrived artwork and band-name’ Tracer AMC/And So I Watch You From Afar gig-goodies competition closed last night and I was left the enviable task of sifting through the mountain of submissions, which was wrapped in oh, three minutes or so :p

Without further ado:

Malville - A Place To Live by Seamus

and

An Illness Bravely Borne - Empty Turmoil vol. 1 (defined) by OneForTheRoad

Both recieve a pair of passes to the 16 May BoomBoomRoom gig and signed albums and posters from Tracer AMC/And So I Watch You From Afar. Thanks to everyone who participated, some truly awful albums came in! Also to the bands for donating free stuff and David and Cauls at AC30 Dublin for the passes.

Y’all better be warned. Serious photo-indulgence coming yer way next week

The Flaws - Bank of Ireland National Student Music Award @ The Village - 24/04/08

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Here’s a little bit o’ fun and games! The nice people at Club AC30 Dublin -whose awesome Chequerboard, Airiel and Ulrich Schnauss show blew up the Button Factory on Friday night - have whipped together a sweet collection of good stuffage for two lucky souls. To celebrate the AC30 Dublin/BoomBoomRoom’s massive pairing of And So I Watch You From Afar and Tracer AMC, pinnacles of Belfast’s stellar post-rock scene, we’ve been bouncing around all sorts of high-faluting notions! One such display of extravagance concerns The Utter Freebie Madness of the AC30 camp who want to give away signed posters and albums from each band along with two pairs of passes for the May 16th gig.

All you have to do is concoct your own mock post-rock tribute band and spoof album cover. To get you started, we’ve thrown a couple together ourselves! Most contrived band name or downright zany cover wins. Send yours to rockeroffher[at]gmail[dot]com…Entries close at 6pm on Wednesday night. Now, where did I leave my psuedonym?

Check out nsma.hotpress.com for a full down of the grand final, complete with photos!

A right stink was kicked up by one lone dissenter on the official Road To V messageboard regarding the inclusion of Galway band Blasterbra in the final 14 of the festival competition.

Apparently as the band are Irish and non-resident in the UK, they were not eligible to participate, despite the previous inclusion of the new-defunct The Immediate. V representatives contacted Blasterbra in search of a loophole to ensure they retained their place in the final but efforts proved fruitless and Blasterbra were dropped.

Read the band’s MySpace blog for more…commiserations guys

To be honest, it’s a fecking farce that V allowed willingly allowed the band to enter despite their Irish status. Or is it another example of British people forgetting Ireland’s a republic?

Here’s to Floyd Soul Soul and the Wolf’s howlin’ success! The Waterford pack romped home to victory in the Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards final at The Village last night. Chosen in the first heat of the competition in Galway along with last night’s joint runners-up, DISCOnnect4, their raw, rocking style  impressed judges no end. Also in second place were Dublin’s own Jerome’s Law, who stole whoops and cheers from The Village crowd with an enthusiastic live performance. Dirty 9s, Ladydoll and Philtre conceded good-natured defeat and left to pack up their gear and drown their sorrows. Performing popular songs from their Acheiving Vagueness album were the The Flaws, who polished off the night for The Village crowd.

The winning band receives a slew of prizes including extensive rehearsal and recording time,  CD duplication, legal advice and a cash prize from IMRO, which means we may soon see an EP from the Waterford four. Also in the mix is an interview with HotPress and a photoshoot with fabulous Ian Oliver.