I was delighted see some bigger crowds and happier faces on Day Two of Dublin’s Camden Crawl, as gig-goers began to embrace the fine art of venue-hopping. A couple of late starts permitted me to see shows I didn’t think I’d get to, (Northy rockers LaFaro, the ever-luminous Rubberbandits and, for the second time in as many days, the brilliant DELS, whose album Gob is next on my to-download list), which left me wondering why the schedule wasn’t more scattered in the first place.

That said, the gigs I got to see this weekend were well worth the trek, and reports from shows elsewhere around the city, equally effusive. If the event returns for a second year, providing the folk behind it organise themselves as well the bands on stage, Dublin will have a truly great new festival on its hands.

Here’s what I saw on Day Two…

The Good: 

LaFaro

Riff-toting Northerners LaFaro are highly revered around these parts for their not-much-nonsense rock (I’m referring here to the ‘tween-song banter, which tends to get very silly very quickly), so it’s no surprise that they draw a heaving crowd to the upstairs venue in Whelan’s tonight, despite the fact that Ireland’s favourite polyethylene-wearing satirists are playing just around the corner.

Blessed with a thundering, throbbing, heavy duty sound, typified by breakneck rhythms, clattering percussion and snarling vocals, Black, Magee, LaFaro and Lynn easily charm the pants off the Whelan’s massive, some of whom are too entranced by the racket to headbang along. Relentless party number ‘Boke’ (hear above) from their monstrous second album Easy Meat, quickly sorts that out and thank God it does – an old school rock show this masterful and frantic deserves such a reception.

The Great:

Lemonada live in The Grand Social at the Camden Crawl Dublin. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Lemonada

Staff in the Grand Social are using every possible excuse to creep out from behind the bar and hang around the venue floor, so compelling are the experimental sounds of Lemonada. This 21-year-old mystery man makes heavy, pulsing, occasionally tribal dub and hip hop-tinged tracks, rendered all the more impressive by a Timbaland-esque knack for using non-musical samples.

Take ‘Namaste, Bitch’, the first track from his debut release Kelly Green Vol 1., which samples the nursery rhyme ‘Three Little Kittens’, Jim Reeves song ‘Welcome To My World’ and the voice of a thick-accented ballet teacher, all in just two minutes and seven seconds – I’m talking seriously head-spinning stuff, here. Elsewhere, there are moments of pure electronic wallop, as the impenetrable samples momentarily give way to simply massive beats, beats I can easily see being shopped out to artists on any level of the pop spectrum, all the way up to R. Kelly and Drake. They’d be lucky to have them.

The Wonderfully Weird:

 Nanu Nanu live in The Workman’s Club 3at the Camden Crawl Dublin. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Nanu Nanu

For a lot of pretty obvious reasons, the Irish DIY music scene is not a very glamourous place. It’s tough, for example, to survive the mosh pit at an And So I Watch You From Afar gig and come out looking as you did before you entered it, particularly if you went in looking like a premature Blanche Devereaux (I have the broken earrings to prove this.) It’s just one of the reasons why Nanu Nanu‘s Camden Crawl show makes for a terrific change of pace.

The theatrical team behind this Mork & Mindy-themed, self-described alien pop outfit are Marc II (Marc Aubele) on synth and production, Glitterface (the remarkably busy Laura Sheeran, clad in a mirrored bustier and make-up to match) on synth and vocals and Jane Cassidy (presumably her actual name) on visual effects. Specialising in a particularly flashy brand of avant garde electronica, Nanu Nanu employ echoey vocal effects and a whole lot of otherworldly hoots and clicks to create their beautifully freakish sounds.

Rare bird Sheeran happily waves her arms around her head, commanding the lights from the visual show to swirl about with her, while partner in crime Aubele remains eerily still at his post. The infinitely spooky ‘Skin’ is a highlight, as is a Soft Cell-tastic cover of Katie Kim’s ‘The Feast’ and a very, very distorted version of Blondie’s ‘Heart Of Glass’. Less a gig and more a glimmering visual and aural attack, Nanu Nanu’s Camden Crawl debut was positively shudder-inducing in all the right ways.

Day One of the inaugural Camden Crawl Dublin didn’t pass without a few logistical hiccups, but a couple of late starts and some general bewilderment didn’t stop patrons from going home with some wonderful tunes swimming around in their heads.

Dubliners don’t appear all that familiar with the original Camden Crawl; most seem to have heard more about individual performances (like this Florence + The Machine show from 2008, or this security-defying Odd Future gig from last year) than the festival itself.

Punters who found themselves confused by the unusual scheduling (Ghostpoet performs at 7.50pm tonight, while relative unknowns occupy much later slots), myself included, clearly missed the ethos of the event.

“All bands on the Crawl receive equal billing,” reads a statement on camdencrawldublin.com, “with no acts being billed as a headliner…please be aware that any artist can and may appear at any venue, at any time.”

Which brings us to an even more disorienting point; stage times and venue line-ups were kept a closely guarded secret until just two hours before the event, leaving punters pretty much in the dark.

On a rainy Friday night, you have to forgive the Irish crowd their grumbles. Spoiled rotten by similar events like Hard Working Class Heroes and the outrageously frugal Ones To Watch festival, we’re used to rocking up at 9pm, and squeezing in half a dozen bands before finishing the night with the biggest, loudest act on the bill.

At the Crawl, everything kicks off at 6.45pm and most venues have wrapped up by 11. The schedule is based around five time slots, which, factoring in 15 and 20-minute walks between some venues, makes darting around from gig to gig, catching a couple of songs here and there, damn near impossible.

Thankfully, with one night down, we’ve now had ample time to get our heads around the Lucky Dip that is Camden Crawl Dublin.

Day One was a triumphant one for homegrown acts; Le Galaxie, Jape and ASIWYFA all pulled in massive crowds, while, across the Liffey, the phenomenal DELS played to seven people. Understandably but surprisingly, given the festival’s penchant for placing all acts on an equal footing, most ticket-holders were happy to catch just a few bands that they know and love. I, on the other hand, was after fresh blood.

Here’s what I saw…

The Good:

Young Wonder live in The Grand Social at the Camden Crawl Dublin. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Young Wonder

There’s something terribly jammy about tonight’s set from Cork duo Young Wonder, although I should stress that it’s the crowd, rather than the musicians on stage, who have struck it lucky. The starry-eyed electronic outfit, comprising beats man Ian Ring and pipes girl Rachel Koeman, appeared on our radar not four months ago, fully-formed and sounding very much like a band breezing their way through their third album.

The Camden Crawl set is only their second ever live show (the first took place just last week in Cork’s Pavilion, which the fledgling band miraculously packed to the rafters) so, naturally, I’m happy to forgive a few hitches and bumps, but as it turns out, I can relax – Ring and Koeman have it all under control.

Ring busies himself with a bounty of electronic gadgetry while Koeman happily grinds along to his every musical twist and turn, dropping an icy, somersalting vocal as she goes. Clueless happen-uponners and seasoned musos alike are instantly charmed by their blissed-out, hook-heavy tunes, particularly the handsomely glossy ‘Orange’ and the jittering, Avalanches-sampling ‘Flesh’. If this is takeoff, I can’t wait to see Young Wonder in full flight.

The Great:

SertOne live in The Mercantile at the Camden Crawl Dublin. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

SertOne

Portadown lad SertOne cuts a particularly memorable figure in his cocked cap and specs, which is probably why the man responsible for what happens on the screen behind him, namely, Brendan Canty of Feel Good Lost Films, has chosen to feature his silhouette so heavily in his visual show. From the very first glitch-fed blast, it’s clear that this hip hop-influenced producer and remixer is just as distinctive on the ears as on the eyes.

Ranging from the delicate to the banging, his electronic creations are strikingly different, but each one carries the same masterful flow. After a year of near-constant gigging, being the centre of attention is nothing new to the 23-year-old, so whether thundering through his razor-sharp set solo or vibing with Young Wonder’s Rachel, who, sans headdress, joins him on stage to add a couple of verses to his remix of ‘Flesh’, Sert seems thoroughly at home. A quick scan around the Mercantile floor proves what I already suspected; every single head is bobbing along to the groove.

Also great: Jogging, whose thrash-happy set left me thirsting for a new album, and the shapeshifting sounds of Scotland’s Dam Mantle, who plays The Twisted Pepper tonight at 10pm.

The Swine:

Wounds live in The Twisted Pepper at the Camden Crawl Dublin. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Wounds

“Drat! What’s that I’ve trodden in?” I regularly find myself asking at gigs, but never before has the answer been fresh pig’s blood. To be quite clear, Dublin rockers Wounds have gone all out for their Camden Crawl debut – an unsettling, ear-splitting and grotesque affair, during which front man Aidan Coogan hurls the severed heads of two deceased pigs around the Twisted Pepper floor. Only 50% of Wounds perform from the stage; Coogan and his brother, guitarist James, both spend the entire set writhing around with the punters, occasionally threatening to knock one over into a pool of hog innards. Our red-faced master of ceremonies clearly delights in his role as the band’s premiere shock tactician, throwing tortured shapes with every inch of his body and carefully constructing a makeshift shoji screen from a couple of the festival’s stand-alone banners just to dramatically knock it down again.

Of course, some form of physical ambush was to be expected from a group who describe themselves as “four disgusting people in one disgusting band”, whose online home can be found at fuckwounds.com, and who have opened for the all-spitting, all-snarling Gallows, but unlike the boys from Watford, they don’t have the hard-hitting prose or the musical heft to back it up. That said, it’s not an entirely bad thing that the theatrics outweigh the tunes tonight – at a festival like Camden Crawl, it’s all about making an impression and Wounds’ gag-riddled set certainly captured my interest.

TONIGHT:

Clock Opera

Melodica Deathship

Lemonada

Tieranniesaur

Alarmist

We Are Losers

Hands Up Who Wants To Die

Lafaro

Cashier No.9

Ghostpoet

Katie Kim

Kwes

My Best Fiend

Toby Kaar

Rubberbandits

Deaf Joe

Girl Band

Sleep Thieves

Bantum

Fionn Regan

Gaz Coombes

Mystery Jets

Axis Of

The Crayon Set

Dott

I’m Your Vinyl

Inni-k

Kool Thing

Moscow Metro

No Monster Club

The Notas

Rhob Cunningham

Simon Bird

Swords

Tara Masterson Halley

Yeh Deadlies

Hush War Cry

Fred & Bob

Nanu Nanu

Barry Not Garry

And more from Evi Vine, Trophy Wife, Polarbear, Let’s Buy Happiness, Dam Mantle, Blacklisters, Dels, D/R/U/G/S, Dutch Uncles and Becoming Real.

Day tickets are priced €25.00. To buy, go here.

Here’s something you probably already know; this Saturday, April 21 is Record Store Day.

In the unlikely event that you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s what you need to know. 2012 marks the fourth annual international Record Store Day, a kind of Indie-focused pseudoholiday founded in 2007 by record store employee Chris Brown (not that one, silly) in celebration of all things round and shiny that play beautiful music. Since then, the third Saturday in April has bestowed us with exclusive vinyl and CD releases and once-off in-store performances in record stores all around the globe. It’s also the only day of the year to see more people walking around with armfuls of music than nodding along to their iPods, which makes it a truly wonderful thing.

Last year’s Record Store Day brought a tonne of Irish goodies with it, including but not exclusive to, a double A-side single from Enemies, a stomping set from Toby Kaar in Plugd Records, Cork, and Lykke Li’s gorgeous mini-show in Tower Records, Dublin. The line-up for 2012 is just as exciting, and for the most part, free, which leaves you with plenty of pennies to spend on new releases from Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, The Flaming Lips, The Civil Wars, Beach House, Feist, Mastodon, St. Vincent, Neon Indian, and old releases from David Bowie, Abba, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Clash, Miles Davis, Ozzy Osbourne and T. Rex.

It’s no surprise that it’s the vinyl fanatic’s favourite day of the year, but for all you new-timers, there’s also a handful of exclusive releases planned for CD and cassette. After that, it’s just a great excuse to kill an hour in your local music store.

So go. Buy something. Buy this thankfully non-limited edition cobalt blue pressing of Bill Evans’ recently-uncovered Top Of The Gate show from 1968. Buy this frankly bonkers Damon Albarn remix of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’. Buy this incredibly awesome talking singles collection from The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. Whatever you buy, you’ll be putting your money into music you can hold in your hand, hang on your wall, or cover with coloured paper and give to your mate. Personally, I can’t think of a better way to spend my pocket money.

The full list of record store day purchasables and downloadables is here, and to find out more about Record Store Day events around the world, pay a visit to Chris Brown (still not him) and company at recordstoreday.com.

Meanwhile, here’s a rundown of what the Irish have in store (har de har etc.) for us this Saturday.

NEW RELEASES

pic found here

PATRICK KELLEHER: Ghost Wop Tape

Granted, a selection of classic doo wop covers is not something every Irish singer-songwriter will attempt, but it suits era-hopping crooner Kelleher down to a tee. So far confirmed for the six-track cassette, spookily titled the Ghost Wop Tape, is a seriously lovely version of ‘Angel Baby’ by Rosie And The Originals, which first hit the charts in 1960, where it promptly became John Lennon’s favourite song.

As for the other five tracks on the cassette, we can only speculate. My money’s on ‘Eddie My Love’, originally by The Teen Queens, which appeared on a Kelleher live album in 2009, and I’ll be desperately hoping for a recording of his version of The Ink Spots’ ‘Do I Worry?’, which absolutely slayed me when I heard him perform it at a secret show a few years back.

Available on Long Lost Records from Elastic Witch, Dublin. Listen to Patrick’s version of ‘Angel Baby’ here.

ADULTROCK: Loves

A particularly exciting one, this. The first physical release from Gavin Elsted’s beat-heavy not-so-solo project Adultrock, Loves is a nine-track album of woozy instrumentals and lush experimental dance tracks. Jen Connell, formerly of Cork’s Hooray For Humans, lends vocals to the vintage-sounding melody on ‘Poplife’, while Wicklow teen Monto brings his inimitable quirk to a remix of same. The Squarepusher-esque ‘Hermione’ is a personal fave, but really, the whole thing is totally swoonworthy.

A very limited run of 60 cassettes will be available on Long Lost Records from Elastic Witch, Dublin. Meanwhile, you can stream or buy online for a price of your own choosing here.

RETREAT FROM MOSCOW: In Search Of Home

Another debut physical release, this time from Retreat From Moscow, the brainchild of 21-year-old Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist Stephen Tunney, whose roof-scraping vocals have already earned him comparisons to Bon Iver.

In Search Of Home is a lo-fi-sounding folk and synth record, a paradox in itself, but don’t worry, it all makes sense when Tunney’s meandering voice and strikingly honest lyrics kick in.

A very, very limited run of 35 copies will all new art by LL man Aidan Wall be available on Long Lost Records from Elastic Witch, Dublin. A free digital download is available here.

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Record Store Gay Compilation

Clearly, the good folk at Outhouse, a LGBT community resource on Dublin’s Capel St., can’t resist a good pun any more than I can, choosing to celebrate Record Store Gay on April 21 with a unique compilation album of classic queer anthems. 14 brave Irish bands have chosen to take on such iconic tracks as Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Candi Staton’s ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ and some slightly lesser known numbers like ‘Big Gay Heart’ by the Lemonheads and Bananarama’s ‘Robert De Niro’s Waiting’ (personally, I’d have gone for this.) It didn’t take much to sell me on this one, with bands like Crayonsmith, Hello Moon, Logikparty and Drunken Boat on board. About six seconds into Gaz LeRock’s hypercharged version of Anita Ward’s ‘Ring My Bell’, I knew I was onto a good thing.

The compilation will be available at the Outhouse Record Store Day show (details below). Listen to four of the tracks online here.

HIDDEN HIGHWAYS: Hidden Highways

I’ve bigged-up breezy boy-meets-girl outfit Hidden Highways before, so I was especially psyched when word of country rock duo’s debut EP reached me last week. The eponymous four-tracker captures everything there is to like about the shiny new twosome; surfy, swaying rhythms, flawless vocals and melodies you can’t help but kick back to. I’m still having trouble deciding who sounds better – Clare’s ukulele-toting songwriter Vertigo Smyth or Donegal painter-come-singer Carol Anne McGowan – their honey-dripped cover of ‘Come Wander With Me’, the cult song from the very brilliant Twilight Zone TV series, makes it especially tough.

Available on Out On A Limb Records, and to stream here.

GRETTA GUNN: The Hunt

Looking every bit the ’60s bombshell fatale on the cover of her three-track EP The Hunt, Kildare singer-producer Gretta Gunn uses stark beats, wobbly rhythms and chart-ready vocals to create some very dark and very becoming electronic pop. She also happens to sound remarkably like Debbie Harry. Some girls have all the luck.

250 copies of The Hunt will be available on Limited Edition 10″ white vinyl. Stream it online here.

DAY EVENTS

(free, unless stated otherwise)

TOWER RECORDS, Wicklow St., Dublin

All-day event on Friday, April 20

3pm: Tieranniesaur
4pm: The Riptide Movement
5pm: Pale
6pm: The Urges

All-day event on Saturday, April 21

1pm: Simone Felice
2pm: HAL
3pm: Sweet Jane
4pm: Dark Room Notes
5pm: Elevens
6pm: Special guests (Is it Rizzle Kicks? I’d be totally happy with Rizzle Kicks…)

ELASTIC WITCH, The Twisted Pepper, Dublin

All-day event from 2pm with:

Optimo
Girls Names
Last Days of 1984
Simon Bird
Ships
Adultrock
Skinny Wolves DJs

OUTHOUSE, Capel St., Dublin

All-day event from 2pm with:

Gaz LeRock
Hello Moon
I ♥ The Monster Hero
Drunken Boat
Lamont Bailey Wall
School Tour
Lovesea & T
Seeping into Cinemas
Soil creep
You Kiss by the Book

WINGNUT RECORDS, Bell, Book and Candle, Galway

2pm: Nanu Nanu

3pm: Bouts

4pm: Vince Mack Mongrul

5pm: Loner Deluxe

6pm: Them Martyrs

COOL DISCS, Foyle St., Derry (in-store and next door, upstairs in Sandinos)

All-day event from 2.30pm with:

Decky McLaughlin

Paul Casey

Conor McAteer

Conor Hutcheon

Finbar O’Doherty

Pete O’Hanlon

Conor McAteer

Paddy Nash

Wileman

Alan Williams

SOAK

The Wood Burning Savages

Strength

Marsfield

EVENING EVENTS

ELASTIC WITCH, The Twisted Pepper, Dublin

8-11pm. Admission: €8 before 9pm, €10 after.

BATS, Magic Pockets and Turning Down Sex.

PLUGD AND PING PONG, the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork

8.30pm. Admission: €10/8

The Jimmy Cake,  Melodica Deathship and Nanu Nanu

The name: Katharine Philippa

The deal: Portadown singer, pianist and guitarist Katharine Philippa has been performing since she was old enough to squawk out a tune, but the Queen’s University School Of Music student only got around to releasing her debut EP last year, at the ripe old age of 20. Operating within a genre she’s dubbed ‘Reflectivism’, Philippa makes sensitive piano numbers, intense, looped ballads and soulful electronica, all of which can be heard on the EP in question, Fallen.

The sound: Bright, dynamic, thoughtful alt. pop that’s both lush and minimal, depending on what the melody calls for. And the girl’s voice speaks for itself…

Meanwhile, this remix of ‘Whiter Than I’ by Cardiff drum and bass fiend Conek4 and this woozy number by producer and songwriter Martin Byrne show that Philippa’s extraordinary pipes can work in a beatier setting.

She says: “I have always had a passion for music. This love has fueled a passion to create songs that are deep, honest and pure.” – from her blog.

I say: Being completely prejudiced against fair maidens holding apples, I was never going to get excited about a record with this as its cover;

…but while Philippa may look like your typical chirping wallflower, there’s real power in them lungs… and on the record. When I stumbled upon Fallen, it felt like a reward for all the hopeful mouse-clicks that led to something predictable or mundane.

For lovers of: Fiona Apple, James Blake, Lisa Hannigan, Joanna Newsom

In a word: exciting.

What now? See Katharine support Decomposing In Paris in the Menagerie, Belfast on March 29 or at the Love & Death Inc. acoustic night on April 26.

Follow: kphilippa

Like: Katharine Philippa on Facebook

The name: Costello

The deal: One quarter of Dublin hip hop collective Street Literature, Costello first came to my attention as the dextrous partner in rhyme of fellow Workin’ Class Records man Lethal Dialect at the MC’s game-changing performance at this year’s Ones To Watch festival. March 15 marks the release of his debut solo effort, Illosophical, a classic take on the sociopolitical blueprint developed by Public Enemy, 2Pac and others.

The sound: A well-crafted mix of straight-up, beat-led rhymes and melodic, soul-tinged hip hop. On first single and album opener ‘Young Apprentice’, Costello showcases an upfront, no-nonsense approach to songwriting, not unlike that which we’ve come to expect from right-hand man Lethal.

Personally, I prefer the lusher side to Costello’s material, tracks like ‘The Representatives’ feat. G.I., where Costello’s pronounced Northside drawl juts out brazenly against a jazzy, groovesome sample and the hypnotic ‘The World Is Yours’, which features honey-voiced urban crooner Willa Lee.

He says: “When we were growing up there was two things to do. We chose the music side over crime. We’re putting out albums instead of being locked up. My stand point is that hip hop music is all about putting out a positive message.” – from an interview with new(ish) non-profit Dublin city newspaper rabble.

“We’re deep with this hip hop, the love affair is intimate…” – from ‘Young Apprentice’ feat. G.I.

I say: In the wake of RTÉ’s dreadfully-received documentary, Reality Bites: Ireland’s Rappers, Costello proves that honest, gimmick-free hip hop in any accent has the power to charm the open-minded listener.

For lovers of: Street Literature, Lethal Dialect, Sons Phonetic, Scary Eire

In a word: Genuine.

What now? Illosophical is streaming at Costello’s bandcamp. Let’s see how many lyrics you can memorise before the launch in the Twisted Pepper on March 15…

Like: Costello on Facebook

The name: Young Wonder

The deal: As mentioned in my last post, Leeside musical duo Ian Ring and Rachel Koeman AKA Young Wonder are pretty much guaranteed a rapturous reception when they release their debut EP in April, which will serve as a formal introduction to their woozy, trance-infused electronic pop. In the mean time, one song has surfaced, the euphoric ‘Tumbling Backwards’, with music video by visual hit factory Feel Good Lost films. Actually, founder Brendan Canty has done more than just provide optical accompaniment; Young Wonder are the first act to release music under the production company’s shiny new record label, Feel Good Lost Records.

The sound: Big-boned beats with a glossy, distorted vocal.

They say: “Yay for over 2,000 views in 48 hours…” – from Twitter.

I say: It’s the least a fiery track like ‘Tumbling Backwards’ deserves. (Now 4,200 and counting…)

For lovers of: Daithi, Sun Glitters, Slow Magic, Washed Out, Twin Sister

In a word: Blissful

What now? Simply sit tight and wait for the EP to drop. I got my ears on a funky little chillwave ditty called ‘Orange’ a couple of months ago and I’ve been craving more ever since. If patience isn’t your suit, a somersaulting version of ‘Tumbling Backwards’, remixed by the wonderful Daithi, is available to download here for nada.

Follow: young__wonder

Like: Young Wonder on Facebook

The name: Hush War Cry

The deal: four qualified architects dropping sweet, sweeping guitar rock and joining Toby Kaar, Reid, Fingersmith, Brian Deady, I’ll Eat Your Face, Versives and the soon-to-be-massive Young Wonder in proving that Cork city is one of the most bountiful artistic spots on this island. Only two songs have surfaced so far, both of which sound like lost tracks from Wild Beasts’ Kate Bush-inspired second album Two Dancers.

The sound: Ambitious, compelling dream pop featuring lush arrangements, big words and a bit of blue-eyed soul. ‘Lily’ in particular, with its sky-scraping vocal and vintage-sounding chorus, is unmissable. And free. Don’t forget free.

Psst. Here’s a snippet from the forthcoming ‘Apparitions’…

They say: “I can’t control the things I don’t know” – Window To The Heart

I say: Wild Beasts may have gotten there first, but there’s plenty of room in the fidgety art rock alliance for Hush War Cry.

For lovers of: Wild Beasts, Villagers, Kate Bush

In a word: Delicate

What now? Mark the appropriate date down in your amusements journal;

Feb 2nd – The Roisin Dubh, Galway (supporting Jape)
February 9th – Bourke’s, Limerick
March 2nd – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
April 7th – Pine Lodge, Myrtleville

Then sit around and twiddle your thumbs until their debut EP Apparitions hits the shelves and interwaves next month.

Follow: hushwarcry

Like: Hush War Cry on Facebook 

Although I sadly missed the debut live performance by Nanu Nanu, Day Four of Ones To Watch couldn’t have been sweeter, thanks to great sets by Bouts, The Dying Seconds and more. It was a perfect, if a little overwhelming, end to the festival that is fast becoming one of the most essential events in Irish music.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14

The Great:

Performing in Whelan’s on Day Four. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Spies

Doom rockers Spies have an average age of about 19, so it would make perfect sense if their live show involved all five members awkwardly fumbling about the stage, bumping into each other and knocking over their monitors. Instead they are, simply, one of the most composed bands around, which perfectly suits their booming, epic, thundering sound. Drummer Jeffrey Courtney-Flynn earned plenty of fans last night with his roaring, rumbling grooves. Meanwhile, Michael Broderick’s floor-skimming voice gets me every time.

The (also) Great:

Performing in Whelan’s on Day Four. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

Alarmist

Instrumental foursome Alarmist are already known for their incredible live show, but even their biggest fans (myself included) will have been impressed with last night’s set, which countless members of the audience watched literally open-mouthed. Typically of the alt. rockers, the show was was totally gimmick-free (aside from perhaps, when Barry O’Halpin played guitar and keys at the same time, which is surely a gimmick worth applauding). Alarmist don’t do smoke and mirrors, just soaring, arresting choons, flawlessly executed.

The Surprise: 

Performing in the Village on Day Four. Photo by Ruth Medjber.

.

Gypsies On The Autobahn

Sleep Thieves performing in The Village on Day Three. (Deadly) photo by Ruth Medjber.

Day Three of Ones To Watch 2012 boasted more musician-with-laptop types than any other event I’ve been to on Irish shores, which, at first, appeared to be good news for the beat-hungry paying customer, but bad news for the artists themselves. With so many similar acts on the bill, how does Joey Two Synth make his name count? And more importantly, how many individuals from this tipsy Friday night crowd will be able to remember it tomorrow?

There’s no questioning the Irish appetite for computer-generated sounds – you only have to look to the drool-inducing line-up gracing the Twisted Pepper tonight (SertOne, Bantum, Monto, Datadrip, Reid and more) for proof that electronic music is in marvelously good health – but a truckload of them all at once was just too much to process. At least, this is what I assumed.

As it happened, the acts on last night’s bill were innovative and versatile enough to vanquish my worries completely. On first gawk, it would have been easy to mix up Last Days Of 1984, Tenaka and White Collar Boy or equally, Reid, Simon Bird, Bantum and Trophy Boyfriend, but each set was genuinely memorable, with each new sound tugging at a different nerve.

I’m not even going to attempt a comprehensive review of last night’s goings-on. Reid delivered above and beyond what I was expecting. Daithi trumped anything I’ve seen him do before. It was a night for overachieving.

Tonight, at the band-heavy fourth installment of Ones To Watch, I’ll be asking the same questions as before, only replacing Joey Two Synth with Billy New Strat. If I get anywhere near as encouraging an answer, I’ll be a very happy punter.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13

The name: Reid. Just Reid.

The deal: yet another young Irishman making potent, swoonworthy electronica, 22-year-old Corkman Eoghan Reid launched his solo project a little quicker than most, playing his first ever live show at Electric Picnic last September. Since then, he’s released a debut EP, Genesis, and rustled up some really lovely remixes of tracks by Twin Sister, Owensie and Come On Live Long.

The sound: Woozy, atmospheric and heavy on the fizz and crackle.

This remix of Come On Live Long‘s ‘White Horses’ is my favourite Reid number yet, available for free download here.

There’s also Genesis, the free mini-album which was released on Blah Blah Blah Records last November. Here’s the video for the title track, featuring footage from Dimensions Of Dialogue, a stop motion animation created by Czech artist Jan Švankmajer.

He says: “MPD32 is making my live set so much more fun… Can’t wait to test it out at the Ones To Watch 2012 in Whelans.” – from Twitter

I say: If the live show’s half as good as the recorded material, Ireland’s got another truly brilliant beatmaker on her hands.

For lovers of: Toby Kaar, Solar Bears, Paul Kalkbrenner 

In a word: cryptic

What now? Get an earful of Reid here and an eyeful of Reid tonight in Whelan’s as part of the Ones To Watch festival, or tomorrow in the Twisted Pepper along with, among others, SertOne, Bantum and Monto.

Follow: EoghanReid

Like: Reid on Facebook