October 2nd, 2008 by nay
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
Posted in Artwork, HWCH, Unsigned Bands | No Comments »
September 17th, 2008 by nay
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HWCH, Music | 8 Comments »
September 17th, 2008 by nay
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..
Posted in HWCH, Music, Photography, Reviews | 4 Comments »
September 15th, 2008 by nay
…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?
Posted in HWCH | 5 Comments »
September 12th, 2008 by nay
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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Posted in HWCH, Music, News, Photography, Tours, Unsigned Bands | 7 Comments »
September 9th, 2008 by nay
Posted in HWCH, Music, Unsigned Bands, Venues | 11 Comments »
August 26th, 2008 by nay
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
Posted in Albums, EPs, Freeeeee Stuff!, HWCH, Music | No Comments »
February 21st, 2008 by nay
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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Posted in Festivals, HWCH, Music, News, Photography, Unsigned Bands | 4 Comments »
September 29th, 2007 by nay
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 »
Posted in Festivals, General Camaraderie, HWCH, Music, Photography | 1 Comment »