Shouts to Gala from 79 Cortinaz! His artistic skills catalogue every step of his band’s 79 Adventurez and even gave away a comic book of their adventures instead of a run-of-the-mill press release on releasing debut album Hopioki earlier this year. In spite of the trials of the musicians’ life, it’s been a good ‘un for 79Cz: they’ve consistently risen to the top of some prolific competitions and album feedback has been positive. On the back of a well-padded calendar, I’d say it ain’t done getting better yet….

*Click for zoomy hi-res*

Here’s the schizzle: Leinster Paranormal currently features a radio interview with Hopioki producer Rat Scabies, drummer of The Damned….

www.79Cortinaz.com

Ultimate of Irish music, the festival line-up catered all imaginable tastes with eighty homespun talents and an ‘Invasion’ curated by Sons & Daughters, one of Scotland’s finest musical exports of recent years.

Friday kicked off with a quirky blend of alternative pop from Fred in Meeting House Square despite the persistent shrilling of a neighbouring alarm.They exploded into a big deal across the Atlantic this year and have the tour dates to prove it.

Flying to the Button Factory for Panama King’s set, to my dismay the bands were running twenty minutes early and the northerners had already finished. Instead re-routed to Fiach, only to emerge minutes later, ears ringing from a crucifying volume level of intimate Dame Lane.

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Thank YOU for your patience. I appreciate it! You all need to hold yo’ hosses anyways, how do you think they managed without me, back in the day without an interactive website and my scintillating witticisms?

/ego trip.

So!

My review of the weekend is here on the Hub of Music Domination and also on Hot Press
I also have rather schwee photo galleries:

Elsewhere…

Cluas have the most comprehensive coverage of the weekend as four writers braved the slippery cobbles

Entertainment.ie follow on from their brilliant pre-fest coverage with Jenny Mulligan and Lauren Murphy providing excellent reviews of the weekend 

State also went along with snapper Loreana Rushe

Nialler9 wants to know what you thought

Aoife McIndie shares her thoughts 

MuzuTV pre-recorded studio sessions with each band and promise to complement with live vids. Just do the www.muzu.tv

I need sleep. So tired. All I can see is weeks and weeks of work stretching back years. Zzz..

…bear with me people. It was an incredible weekend jampacked with a stellar array of great Irish and some mentaller Scots. However there’s still a lot of work to do. I’ll have the full review and a glut of pictures up soon as I’ve had more than three hours’ sleep!

How was it for you?

Fight Like Apes have rescheduled their upcoming Irish dates in order to accompany The TingTings on their autumn tour of the United (Ape) Kingdom. Though the album launch of Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion <see the album artwork by Loreana Rushe> is still set for 26 September in Whelans, other performances will now take place as follows:

Sun 12th October Cork Cyprus Avenue
Mon 13th October Galway Roisin Dubh
Tue 14th October Limerick Dolans Warehouse
Fri 17th October Mullingar The Stables
Sun 19th October Dundalk Spirit Store

The reason behind this is apparent due to the Ting Tings dates which cover major venues in England, Scotland and Wales.  Hit ‘read the rest of this entry‘ or the band’s MySpace to find out more.

I had a shoot with the guys on Tuesday morning and we originally planned a tour of our own: round Dublin in an open-topped bus! Alas, the weather conspired and instead we hit Sub City comic book store on Exchequer Street instead. They’re a great bunch to work with and I hardly had to tell them to do anything. Bring on the hair at Meeting House Square!*

www.fightlikeapesmusic.com

*Fight Like Apes play HWCH at Meeting House Square, Saturday, 23:20*

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Schedule Friday 12th September
Meeting House SQ	The Lost Brothers	Fred	Lines Drawing Circles	We Were Promised Jetpacks	Super Extra Bonus Party	Fighting With Wire
The Button Factory	Supermodel Twins	Panama Kings	The Last Tycoons	The Brothers Movement	Nakatomi Plaza
The Academy 2	Caruso	Groom	The Hot Sprockets	Dublin Duck Dispensary	The Revellions	Class of 1984
Andrews Lane	Heartbreak Cartel	Tiger Empire	Vodkopter	Chequerboard	Kill Krinkle Club	Pocket Promise	HWCH late club
Eamon Dorans	The Aftermath	Tidal District	De Salvo	Walter Mitty & The Realists	Cutaways	The Rags
Dame Lane		Alphamono	Fiach	Half Cousin	John Shelly & The Creatures	David Turpin

Schedule Saturday 13th September
Meeting House SQ		The Kinetiks	Bats	Halves	The Minutes	Fight Like Apes
The Button Factory	Hybrasil	A Lazarus Soul	Deaf Animal Orchestra	little xs for eyes	Le Galaxie	Fangs
The Academy 2	Pilotlight	Distractors	The Dagger Lees	The Whisky Works	Noise Control
Andrews Lane	The Holy Roman Army	Grand Pocket Orchestra	The Vinny Club	Foxface	Crayonsmith	Frightened Rabbit	HWCH late club
Eamon Dorans		70 Cortinaz	Sparks Fly	The Parks	Sickboy	Gorbachov
Dame Lane		Dolbro Dan	Nick Carswell	Tom McShane	Cian	Ollie Cole

Schedule Sunday 14th September
Meeting House SQ	Larmousse	Armoured Bear	New Amusement	Angel Pier	We Are The Physics	Sweet Jane	Sons & Daughters
The Button Factory	Valerie Francis	Mackerel the Cat	One Day International	Carly Sings	Autamata
The Academy 2	My Brother Woody	Not Men But Giants	Robotnik	Heathers	More Tiny Giants
Andrews Lane	Followers Of Otis	Sideproject	The Ambience Affair	Exit: Pursued by a Bear	Hooray For Humans
Eamon Dorans	The Cades	Headgear	The Beat Poets	Sounds of System Breakdown	So Cow	202s
Dame Lane		Fiona Melady	Bravado	Mark Austin	The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock

Looks like Dame Lane’s replaced Eustace Street’s The Hub. What do you think? Any serious clashes/venue surprises? What night looks best for you? Academy2’s got some choice cuts over the whole weekend, Meeting House Square looks promising and The Button Factory’s sorted, too. Brilliant late finish on Sunday night from Sons and Daughters ensures no one has to miss out on the Scottish curators’ grand finale.

Tickets are priced €44.98 for the weekend or €19.95 per single night.

Not content with joining the hordes offering a free HWCH download, ALS have uploaded six songs from their eponymous debut album to MySpace for your grabbin’ pleasure. Which is really rather generous of them as it’s very difficult to find a copy in your local record store! The songs are Only Say The Word, Darkest Before Dawn, Processor, Pure and Simple, Octoberness and Sober Me, while seventh track Sanctuary is available from entertainment.ie/HWCH.

More recently, A Lazarus Soul followed on from controversial second album Graveyard of Burnt-Out Cars with
The Lia EP, recorded as a testament to Brian Brannigan’s niece Lia who lives with cerebral palsy :

We’ve recorded an e.p for her and that’s her being all Kim Gordon on the front cover. The first track is a new als song called “s.r.k”. The second is a new version of “decade for believing” with Paddy Barrett playing guitar and gracing the song with his heavenly vocals. The third is a version of “star of david” recorded in a light house during a storm.We filtered out the wind and rain so it sounds like we recorded it in one take, in a room with a piano. The last track is sanctuary from our first album (most people who buy this will be hearing als for the first time so will need a gentle introduction). It costs 5 euro and all money will go toward helping Lia to hold her head up while she smiles.

Download A Lazarus Soul or buy The Lia EP at www.myspace.com/alazarussoul

This has been an interesting one to watch and read! Over at Entertainment.ie they’ve been tracking the progress of the downloads chart and so far The Revellions are top dogs. They’ve maintained a lead of almost 100 points for the last week though Class of 1984 are creeping up with a quiet cackle.
Holding strong at 10 are Tiger Empire with Everyone vs Everyone while lucky 13 goes to Robotnik. I expected Chequerboard and SEBP to score higher but it’s good to see The Hot Sprockets got a look-in too. Not that it’s a competition or owt: the top twenty most-downloaded artists will feature on a special Hard Working Class Heroes compilation CD to coincide with the September event.

On a side note, you’re a hard-nosed bunch of Joe Publics in the bands’ comment boxes: I’ve never seen such ascerbic remarks in my life! Check out your favourite bands’ pages to see what people really think of Ireland’s finest…

202’s // 79Cortinaz // A Lazarus Soul // Alphamono // Angel Pier // Armoured Bear // Autamata // Bats // Bravado // Carly Sings // Caruso // Chequerboard // Cian // Class Of 1984 // Crayonsmith // Cutaways // David Turpin // Deaf Animal Orchestra // Distractors // Dolbro Dan // Dublin Duck Dispensary // Exit: pursued by a bear // Fiach // Fighting With Wire // Fiona Melady // Fred // Gorbachov // Grand Pocket Orchestra // Groom // Halves // Headgear // Heartbreak Cartel // Heathers // Hooray for Humans // Hybrasil // John Shelly and the Creatures // Kill Krinkle Club // Le Galaxie // Lines Drawing Circles // Little XS For Eyes // Mackerel The Cat // Mark Austin // More tiny giants // My Brother Woody // Nakatomi plaza // New Amusement // Nick Carswell & The Elective Orchestra // Noise Control // Not Men But Giants // One Day International // Panama Kings // Pilotlight // Pocket Promise // Robotnik // Sickboy // Sideproject // So Cow // Sounds of System Breakdown // Sparks Fly // Super Extra Bonus Party // Supermodel Twins // Sweet Jane // The Aftermath // The Ambience Affair // The Beat Poets // The Brothers Movement // The Cades // The Dagger Lees // The Followers of Otis // The Holy Roman Army // The Hot Sprockets // The Kinetiks // The Last Tycoons // The Minutes // The Parks // The Rags // The Revellions // The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock // The Vinny Club // Tidal District // Tiger Empire // Tom McShane // Valerie Francis // Vodkopter // Walter Mitty & The Realists // Youre Only Massive //

Dublin quartet Distractors will not be joining their Irish compradres (Cathy Davey, Iain Archer, Paddy Casey, Oppenheimer, Fight Like Apes, Channel One, Delorentos, Driving by Night and The Bleedin Bleedins) in the Lone Star state to play SXSW festival this March.
Since the departure of bassist Noel Kavanagh recently the band have made the interesting decision to cancel their appearance at the prestigious Texan festival, instead choosing to close ranks and address the changes apparent as four-piece.

Formed in 2006 from the ashes of several musical projects and links (guitarist Ciaran Kavanagh played for The Rags before joining his cousin Noel, who knew singer Karl from previous band 100 Bullets) Distractors sneaked themselves into Dublin’s music hang-outs as teenagers and used their innate knowlege of the scenes in the city to cement a reputation as an exciting live act, landing spots in the IMRO and HWCH showcases in next to no-time.

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FRIDAY

Hard Working Class Heroes 2007 kicked off last night and music heads were out in force for another extravaganza of the Up’n'Coming. Read the rest of this entry »