While The Mighty Stef is currently grappling his plans for the follow up to 2007’s Sins of Saint Catherine, released on his own The Firstborn Is Dead label, new EP Death Threats is soon to hit ears and shelves across the country, great news for those who appreciate the rollicking sounds of Stef, a seriously busy sailor since the first album’s release. An American tour supporting Flogging Molly gave the man a new whack of lust and life which shall no doubt make for a compelling array of new material. No musician could possibly remain unchanged having suffered the cruellest loss away from home: his gear. Stolen or mislaid, the truth is unclear. Perhaps a delicious stream of vitriol towards thieves and low-lives will find its way to album #2….
Pictured above with friends from the film and is director Evan (in the red stripes), Check out The Mighty Stef’s blog for a little background info on guest appearances and the recording process.
Described as “four folk songs from the underbelly of modern Ireland”, the EP tracklist follows:
1. Death Threats
2. The Mero [Ft. Ronnie Drew & Flogging Molly]
3. Where The Nightmares Begin
4. Romantic Ireland Is Dead And Gone [It Lays With 2pac in the Grave]
Released on May 23rd, details of pre-ordering and stockists are soon to come. There will be no official launch party for Death Threats but there are several secret events lined up to run concurrently with the EP’s release so keep an eye on the man’s MySpace calendar to avoid missing out.
Here in all it’s marvellous Tisch glory, the Death Threats video by The Mighty Evan Polivy.
Stay tuned to OHR for more of the latest Tisch videos….
Since this was picked up by entertainment.ie as Video of the Week, Robotnik is a very happy…human. Created with cheap chalk and a blackboard, People Walk Away is anti-singer/songwriter Chris Morrin’s most popular track, rated #7 in the Vodafone Bright New Sounds competition. His MySpace shows busy times ahead and fun tunes on the player, so get a skiddle over if you like what you’ve seen.
Alphastates have juggled a heady couple of weeks with the impending release of Human Nature, follow-up to 2005’s Made From Sand. A shaky rendition of (I Lost My Heart To A) Starship Trooper on the Podge and Rodge Show last week left the uber-coolers a little red-faced but they’ve now bounced back on form, bringing news: users of music websites MySpace and iLike can stream tracks from the new album while 2005’s debut Made From Sand has been uploaded as seperate tracks to buy from downloadmusic.ie
Also on the download front but this time freeeebie-wise, Black Soul Strangers have uploaded a live recording of Wichita from their Crawdaddy show last week. They plan to start recording debut single Leave in April, having already started pre-production with Tom McFall (R.E.M, Bloc Party, Stars) and say everything is coming along nicely indeed…
Losing their original drummer Jimmy hasn’t set The Things back any: new EP Tiger sees the hairy scaries hit the Roisin Dubh in Galway tomorrow night (27 Mar), Tower Records Dublin at 6pm on Friday (28) and Psychotic Reaction at Crawdaddy on Saturday (29). It’s good to hear of launches further afield from home ground and indeed, The Things have big plans abroad, starting with a June jaunt to Berlin, recording new tracks for what is as yet known only as a “project”. Chilling!
Television Room return as headline acts to Revolver at Radio City this Saturday, accompanied by Cowboy X and The Ghandis. Great news for the hard-working quintet who’ve gigged a slew of dates and singles since their return to the limelight late last year. New single Modern Boys and Girls is almost trademark, jangling instruments and sunny vocals providing some of us (ie, sick, sniffly me) with a glimmer of sunshine. Be sure to download the single over at downloadmusic.ie or Sonikpollen.
It’s been a good week for The Eclectic as their excellent EP Breathe gets some well-deserved recognition over on State and Mp3Hugger. Check out their last.fm page for free downloads from their debut Songs For A Blank Canvas or stream the Breathe EP from their MySpace…just so you’re in the mood for what’s shaping up to be a storming headliner at Death Via Satellite with The Idiot and Verona Riots in Eamonn Dorans this Friday . and
IMRO’s Showcase gets into full swing with its second free gig, this Friday at the Sugar Club with LeGalaxie, Betamax Format and Grand Pocket Orchestra. Treats galore in-store from the righteous musical organisation of Ireland, all free, can be found over on the website.
Thanks to Forever Presents, Bats are very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very excited to support Chrome Horse at Whelans on Friday.
Upstairs, Subplots follow on stellar supports with Butterfly Explosion and Codes to launch new single Alarms also on Friday. They were fabulous at AC30, which was apparently the last performance of their old set list, from now on focussed on reflecting the tone of imminent, untitled debut album…
Codes have enjoyed a jaunt or two across the country in recent weeks, including Galway, Mullingar and an Irish language session on Newstalk, all to promote new single This Is Goodbye. On the agenda is a Cardiff trip to develop dragon-heads and a penchant for rugby, along with the lesser task of recording their debut album. On-board to produce is Greg Haver who previously worked wonders with Welsh luminaries Manic Street Preachers and SuperFurryAnimals. However you have one last chance to catch Codes live before they go, at next week’s IMRO Showcase (more info next week or see the website above)…
Speaking of Whelans and debuts, Readers’ Wives‘ self-titled album goes live Upstairs this Saturday. However you must first nab a listen of RW when they command the airwaves on Aoife McIndie’s radio slot tomorrow night on 103.2 Dublin City FM…
Also on Saturday, Dirty Epics and Travega take over The Stables in Mullingar.
Final gig recommendation goes to So Cow and Michael Knight who lend support to Norwegian label-mate Soda Fountain Rag (all three have released through Dublin-based yesboyicecream records) on Monday 31st March Upstairs Whelans. It’s looking to be a corker: considered a one-woman powerhouse of anti-folk, Soda Fountain Rag’s worked with Scandinavia’s finest including Jens Lenkman and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. Her debut album It’s Rag Time! is released on April 4th and will be launched in London with the support of Michael Knight, so you’re being treated to a pre-release sorbet of tracks which all sound absolutely delicious….
Congratulations to whoever won Deis Roc on TG4 last night. I sent my text in for The Dirty 9s, had a giggle at the very clean and old Dirty Face Kids, marvelled how good-looking Ronan O’Snodaigh is when he’s shaved and popped out to make a cup o’cha…to completely miss the announcement. Bah!
And I’ll miss Yngve Wieland: he’s leaving our shores, sailing across to Albion in his steadfast guitar with only his album and some phone numbers to bide his way to London town. Convinced as much can be done in Ireland and ready for pastures new, Yngve hopes to release his debut album Tell Men This to a new audience and I can only wish him all the best of luck and late nights. Come back soon, ya hear?
I leave you with my favourite flyer of the week: The Amazing Few are going Commie at Pravda’s Blitz Club tomorrow night.
And one last video, RedKid’s Rocket Ship…check out the cool sequence at the end using Toni Ireton’s photos from the shoot!
If you played Dead Start Program to death and are anxious for a new fix of Dark Room Notes, they’ve posted four songs from their 2fm session with Dan Hegarty in September last year. One or two of these tracks may be reworked to feature in their debut “lovely vintage analogue synths” album, scheduled to be recorded this summer. Catch DRN this weekend for the Dublin wing of Akoustik Anarkhy when they support Eyebrowy faves UK-based It’s A Buffalo and LAPals
Although these flyers mention the BoomBoomRoom as the venue, gigs have been moved to Murrays (formerly Fraziers) of O’Connell Street so any purchased tickets will be made good on the night.
My photos have not done this band justice! Terrordactyl rocked right out amid the CD racks and a decent crowd….
Their nutty EP features four top-notch songs: Hikkomori, Calabunga, Stingray and Pat Kenny’s Mind and is of course available from Tower, Road Recs and your usual dealers.
Well, I hope you went to SuperExtraBonusParty at Whelans on Saturday cos there’s no way you’ll get into Heaven otherwise. They. Were. Divine!
There were looooads of photographers there, squished in amongst the discarded t-shirts, pint glasses and elbows. Check out Niall’s blog for videos nd photos from Dolan….
Already having fairly recent SEBP pics from Crawdaddy in November I decided to go a little crazy on Saturday night. There’s an energy and exuberance in their music, particularly personified in Everything Flows and I hoped to capture that by tuning the camera to an off-beat setting. Normally gig photos need a high shutter speed to snap movement without blur whilst the aperture opens to its widest in order to allow more light to enter the cam in that short time.
Slow-sync flash isn’t gonna set the world alight anytime soon: the neon ‘blurnt’ is beautiful but rather commonplace in gig-photos where the lighting’s dim. Black and white pictures have been around since the beginning of photography itself and it was the grainy monochrome quality of an underground gig I wanted to capture here, with the added modernity of slow-flash flare. What do you think?
And as usual, waaaaaaaaay too many photos. These are my favourite out of hundreds…
Niall has posted SEBP’s new vid for Everything Flows and I have not been left so open-mouthed and gleeful by an Irish video, ever!
Over the last few days I’ve been working on the 500 photos from their Whelans’ show on Saturday night and will have them up soon. Supported by Captain Moonlight and Nouveaunoise, the Boners were on the Dublin leg of their tour promoting the new Everything Flows EP. I picked up my copy on Saturday and love the extra tracks stemming from 2007’s self-titled SuperExtraBonusParty album, in particular the Cadence Weapon remix. However the album has taken an awful lot of wear in the last few weeks and really, really grown on me. I think it’s because I’m a child of the Eighties who loved her butter-yellow Saturday morning cartoons and the sweet jingles of an Amiga on ‘pause’. My kids love the band too and will FREAK when I show them this. How sweet is the little sun and the car, handbrake-swerving up the mountain?!
