Peoples, get yourselves to Filmbase today at 4pm for the screenings of two cult Irish music documentaries: Darklight Festival’s cultural weekender kicks off with Shellshock Rock , “John T Davis’ lyrical snapshot of Northern Ireland’s burgeoning punk scene in the late 1970s” and The Stars Are Underground, 1996’s short film on the indepent Irish music scene based on The Frames’ song of the same name. Davis will be on hand for a Q&A afterwards. As an ardent fan of Norn Iron’s great new scene, I’m so there. Tickets cost €5.
(Check out the schedule: there are some brilliant films such as Heavy Metal in Baghdad and Tron…!!) Road Records follow up with an undergound art exhibition and book launch in the store’s basement on Fade Street afterwards with tunes from David Beattie and Maximum Joy’s Mici Durnin. What a way to welcome the weekend…
Road Records celebrate Record Store Day tomorrow April 19th with an array of in-store performances and a four-day sale…I’m marking Record Store Day by celebrating Road.
Befitting a capital city, Dublin is home to many small music shops. Some are well-stocked, bright and airy, catering to specialist demands while some, like Sound Cellar, are dark and gloomy but well-stocked nonetheless. Tucked off South Great Georges’ Street, its mythical status furthered by necessary initiation/directions to find it, Road Records is an established pinnacle of independent music. No other retailer in Ireland can challenge its reputation as an invaluable resource for bands and fans alike and many a mega-friended MySpace bears the store’s avatar with pride.
Chaotic garage band The Urges have signed to US label Wicked Cool Records! Steve van Zant’s New York label spotted the Dublin five-piece at Cavestomp Festival in 2007 and liked what he heard so much, they’ve been snapped up. I’ve been sitting on this story since posting the news of Little Stephen championing the band as Coolest On The Planet several months ago, when a stray MySpace bulletin leaked the contract news and died a rockstar death minutes later.
Truly deserving a claim of the ‘garage’ genre, The Urges’ sound was spawned in a damp little lock-up in late 2004. Not your usual bunch of moods full of useless musical knowledge, this bunch instead admitteded their ignorance and embraced the life of rock and roll. Less than a year later, they topped the Irish charts with their debut single Around and Around and the accumulated arrogance kicked a dose of vintage mayhem across Irish boards, culminating in the release of 2007’s debut Psych Ward album, released here on CD by Stomping Ground and on vinyl through Screaming Apple Records in Europe and Off The Hip in Australia. Extrapolated from contemplative ambience or shoegaze, The Urges’ pride in chaotic, rocking regime, living the Sixties larger than the swingers themselves, has got them noticed. It’s good to see them go where they’ll be appreciated.
Built around London’s famous garage club of the same name (favourite hangout of The White Stripes, Billy Childish resides there on a monthly basis), Dirty Water Records has released a limited edition of The Urges’ latest theme, a split 7″ single with Spain’s Hollywood Sinners, launched in Eamonn Dorans and the Dirty Water Club last weekend.
From there skyscrapers are the limit with New York-based Wicked Cool. Home to Chesterfield Kings,The Len Price 3, Cocktail SlippersandThe Charms, the label’s spearhead is none other than guitarist of the E Street Band, natty Silvio Dante in The Sopranos and airwave jockey on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Indeed, the world’s a fuzzy oyster.
