Update on last week’s news of RedKid: Dan the man is back on a drum throne soon! After a nasty fall from his bike Keet has confirmed there’s no serious damage -hooray!- and all will be well for the major haul ahead on the release of their eponymous debut in August (I have my copy: it’s great to be jaywalking to Soup!)
The Minutes really are carrying out their threats of gigs in gaffs…or should that be gigs’n'gaffes? Lock up your ma’s bras and hide the dodgy school photos: Phil Kelly has a teaser….watch out for The Minutes’ WhelansUpstairs residency in the next few weeks:
It’s four days since Dry County and my neck still hurts. Now you’re talking.
Live photo experiences for me just don’t get better. To picture, Dry County are a greasy smear of colour, boom, heat. Cars In Walls and The Eclectic broke the soundbarrier with cool support but the night belonged to DC. The house was packed with an easy, baying crowd who roared “encore!” seconds after the lights went down. We were wired. We wanted Stop, Proceed and by God, we got it.
It was the final gig. though the Dry County banner hoists once more on the New Sounds Stage at Oxegen.
When you’re at Punchestown, check the Chem Bros’ magnificent visuals and decide for yourself if Zach de la Rocha is the shit before topping off with the final Dry County performance, ever.* You’ll be glad to say you were there.
I know I would. For me, this is fuckin’ IT. This is why I take photos, why I blog, why on early weekend mornings after constant work, I wound up back back at my desk again in rapture. This is IT.
Brilliant Irish Music.
Team Fresh have a new vid for Trojan, using live footage shot in venues and studios across the north coast and Belfast…
I might buy a bullwhip and herd y’all up to see them rock Auntie Annies in Belfast this Wednesday. Or maybe I’ll turn it round and thrash ‘em down here. A southern gig is long overdue guys!
Fresh from supporting Fight Like Apes in Belfast last week,AJ Suzuki are releasing their new single on iTunes today. Entitled Jump Start, it features remixes by Skibunnyand Jupiter Ace & K Harmonix (and while you’re in the mood, download this free, brand-new mixtape from SkiBunny)….
Still on the subject of things norn, a shout-out to Japanese Popstars who’ve signed an exclusive record deal with Japanese label Beatnik Records who are responsible for Asian distribution of Underworld and Aphex Twin. Signed to Gung Ho! over on the home front, it’s all good for the Japstars who’ve been making fast impressions with their quirky electronics, converting your dearly-beloved Hot Press along with BBC jocks Steve Lamacq and dance legend/MySpaceMusic curator Pete Tong, who’s been playing their tune Sample Whore on his radio show. The band are set to release their Delboy’s Revenge EP on Gung Ho! Records on 19 May and a gander at their MySpace calendar shows a packed live schedule for coming months culminating in a slot at Oxegen in July. Keep your eyes peeled for a show in your town soon!
Your Arch Enemies have posted three wicked new songs to MySpace, a taster of their debut EP to be released sometime later this year. Older songs are available to download via mediafire if you should so fancy…more information here.
Skinny Wolves are up to their usual hi-jinx this weekend with the fabulous Effi Brieste come to Dublin and none other than the Party Weirdo girls pledge support. Give yourself a break and check out the Transformer venue under Thomas Reads while you’re at it…
Wicklow instrumentalists Almost Cliche popped into view this weekend with a live video of their new song Tubelord performed at Eamon Dorans. Not quite ready to steal my heart from ASIWYFA just yet, nonetheless it’s good to see some new post rock beginnings…
If you’re at a loose end tomorrow and fancy a career in the music biz, The Mighty Stef is looking for extras for his Tisch video for Death Threats. Shooting begins at 9am until 6pm in Voodoo Lounge, Arran Quay and follows a theme of red, white and black clothing. Give the man a shout over on his MySpace if you’re interested.
Following previous success on the soundtrack to US drama One Tree Hill, two new La Rocca tunes Love Under Key and Roadway Hymn will feature in the newest series which kicks off for American viewers tonight! Having released their debut album state-side in 2007, band were recently home in Ireland from their LA base to give the record a push on its release here at home and jetted straight back to put the finishing touches to endeavour #2, which is now finished. A chosen title is yet to be revealed so keep checking back for new updates….
Ham Sandwich performed a medley of tunes at Tower Records for the launch of State magazine’s first March issue and the band were so taken with this cover of Goldfrapp’s Ride A White Horse, they’re looking to include it as a permanent fixture to their live catalogue…if YOU agree. Have a listen and let them know if you be likin’ what ya hear…
The clock is ticking down for Limerick’s finest as the entry date for Gohan Records/Limerick Green and Live FM compilation album draws close. If you’re a band from Fab City, get your skates on and get in touch with Alan Jacques…
Finally, check out this new video by Toni Ireton for Noise Control. A keen fan, she combined several months’ music and fashion photography to create this short for Our Life, one of the band’s live favourites and a dead cert for the coming album. It’s looking like a quiet time for the Control crew in the wake of extensive gigging over the last few months…methinks I hear festival batteries a-charging!
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!
Q: What is the real underground scene in Ireland right now?
A: There isn’t one.
No real scene, that is, no one, genre-bound seam of gold snaking through the country, uniting long-lost solidarities and laying previous crimes in music to rest. Where there was once a North against South, rock vs rave demand to choose your field and stick to it, Ireland has cast aside another weight of expectation. We’re disparate now, eclectic and exhilarated with it, flooded with choice and preferences.
An Egyptian magazine approached me for a piece defining the country’s underground music climate. How do you explain the buzz preceding a much-anticipated album or great gigs to people who’ve never been at Radiator and have no basis for judgement? What defines ‘underground’? Is it a lifestyle, a fashion, regime, attitude? Is it post-rock, punk or psychedelica? A promise on a flyer? Does underground extend above and beyond pogoing bruisers, stage-diving, moshing? Is it the frisson that comes with breathing the same air as three hundred other frenzied be-boppers at the Saturday night hop?
I think it’s the creeping sensation of secretive smugness when a band command every fibre of my being via soundwaves and I screw up eyes, wishing they never make it big, stay wonderful, obscure and untainted forever. But that’s no defining angle to write from: that’s just me.
Instead I decided to take a unromanticised stance on ‘underground’: the antithesis of corporate Irish music industry, these are The Domestics, Mildreds of Irish music who come out at night when the reps and execs have left, tidy desks and empty wastepaper baskets. They do the hard work. They are unsung, name-known by few and it is they who power rumbling machines in underground chambers.
