On The Record »

• New Music – Il Genio, Jefl & Hyde, Constant Supply

  July 29, 2010 @ 2:09 pm | by Jim Carroll

  The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below.

  Il Genio

  One of the standout Italian acts to catch our attention at last week’s Italia Wave festival, Il Genio are an indiepop duo (extra members come on board for the live show) whose new album “Vivere Negli Anni X” is bursting with taut, well-worked electro thrills.

  

  Jefl & Hyde

  From Nenagh, Jefl & Hyde play robust indie rock with a grand sense of ambition and scale to the songs. First band to feature in New Music with senior and junior county hurling medals. Download band’s EP for free from their Bandcamp site.

  Constant Supply

  Letterkenny-based duo armed with strong songs, sparkling arrangements and a drum-machine whose debut EP “Alleviate” was recorded with Villagers/Cathy Davey producer Tommy McLaughlin. Check out tracks from the EP here.

  Comments (10)

• Hear Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”

  @ 12:07 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Yes, we know that many of you have already, er, acquired the album from elsewhere, but if you want to hear the third album from Arcade Fire in full before it’s released next week, check out this stream. Thanks to Gerry Hanratty for the Tweet-tip.

  Comments (7)

• And you thought they didn’t make ‘em like this anymore?

  @ 10:07 am | by Jim Carroll

  Over the last few weeks, regular chuckles have been provided by reviews of the new album from Richard Ashcroft & The United Nations of Sound. With one or two exceptions (Brian Boyd in our place, for instance), the album has received the kind of kicking usually reserved for your very worst enemy or local Fianna Fail hack. Just even take a look-see at the pull-out quotes which Any Decent Music have gathered from reviews of the album and have a giggle. The consensus is that it’s a dog of a record.

  Surely, says OTR, it can’t be that bad. Surely, thinks OTR, Ashcroft is getting it in the neck for other reasons (people don’t like his hair or something). Surely, wonders OTR, this album which has received the full promotional nine yards from the record label must have some redeeming qualities.

  Sweet suffering Jaysus, that’s an hour of my life I will never get back. It’s easily one of the most hideous, unimaginative, unlistenable, pompous, overblown, grotesque albums I’ve ever had to endure and that includes most of The Cranberries’ back-catalogue. And let’s not even go anywhere near Ashcroft’s lyrics. I’m assuming well-regarded hip-hop producer No ID got paid handsomely for his efforts because he sure didn’t involve in this one for any musical reasons. What a turnip of an album.

  It reminds me that sometimes it’s worth listening to the wisdom of crowds. After all, if the massed gallery of reviewers give an album a good kicking, that’s worth taking to the bank. It’s not as if those critics did a Pitchfork and decided in advance what the review and rating was going to be – yes, I know many music fans think reviewers decide these things at some sort of annual dinner-dance but if they do, no-one has ever invited me along to said soiree.

  And it also works when the thumbs go up rather than down. One of the best reviewed albums right now on Any Decent Music is Janelle Monae’s fantastic record “The ArchAndroid”. With the exception of Mojo (I think the reviewer must have got the wrong CD), it’s rave after rave after rave, scoring mostly 8s, 9s and 10s. If you took this collective wisdom as a recommendation to buy the album, you’d probably be very happy with your purchase. Maybe – just maybe – we can trust some of the reviewers, right?

  Comments (30)

• Ticket giveaway – Paul McLoone Show live in Galway

  July 28, 2010 @ 12:02 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Tomorrow evening (Thursday), Today FM’s Paul McLoone Show will be coming live from Galway’s Roisin Dubh and will feature performances from O Emperor, The Ambience Affair and The Minutes. Thanks to Gugai at the Roisin, we have FIVE pairs of tickets to give away to the first five people to get back to us in the comments field below and say they’d like to go.

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• The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 27

  @ 10:29 am | by Jim Carroll

  As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday July 27, 10pm-midnight

  DJ-ing plug: I’ll be DJ-ing at Glider at the Odessa Club (Dame Court, Dublin 2) on Friday night. Doors open at 10pm, admission is free and the Glider residents will also be spinning. My set may or may not include some of the following….

  MEN “Credit Card Babie$” (Trouble)
  Screaming Females “I Don’t Mind It” (Don Giovanni)
  Twin Tigers “Automatic” (Old Flame)
  The Naked & Famous “Young Blood” (Neon Gold)
  Savoir Adore “We Talk Like Machines” (Cantura)
  Drop Out Orchestra “Emperor Tamarin” (Drop Out)
  Tensnake “Get It Right” (Permanent Vacation)
  Mugwump “The Congregation of Descaled Clerks” (Throne of Blood)
  Midnight Magic “Beam Me Up” (Permanent Vacation)
  Tortoiseshell “This Girl (Canyons dub)” (Hole in the Sky)
  The Holidays “Golden Sky” (Libertion)
  The Bees “Silver Line” (Fiction)
  Shirley Scott “I Want You Back” (Atlantic)
  Melvin Bliss “Synthetic Substitution” (Contempo)
  Oriol “Joy FM” (Planet Mu)
  Keep Shelly In Athens “Fokionos Negri Street” (Self release)
  Ghost Hunter “Island Barbados” (House Anxiety)
  Still Corners “Endless Summer” (Great Pop Supplement)
  Rhino Magic “Home With You” (Self release)
  Erykah Badu “Southern Gul” (Motown)
  Isaac Hayes “Soulsville” (Point Blank)
  Mavis Staples “A House Is Not A Home” (Stax)
  Betty LaVette “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” (Anti)
  Donovan “Get Thy Bearings” (EMI)
  Leonard Cohen “Famous Blue Raincoat” (CBS)
  Alina Orlova “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (Fargo)
  Nick Rosen “Twin Harbors” (Porter)

  Comments (21)

• Incontinent pigeons 1, Kings Of Leon 0

  July 27, 2010 @ 2:16 pm | by Jim Carroll

  As most OTR readers will know by now, everyone’s favourite inexplicably popular faux-authentic rockers Kings Of Leon ran into a spot of bother at a gig at the weekend. Headlining the (wouldn’t you know?) Live Nation-owned Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St Louis, the Kings were forced to curtail their set after three songs when pigeons in the rafters of the venue decided to poo on the band.

  Obviously many people have similar feelings when they hear the band’s music and news of such direct action has sprouted wings. There has been a lot of follow-up pieces – Oliver Crowe from support band The Stills has his say, including the line “I bent over to do, like, a shoegazer move, and I felt something very substantial on the back of my head and down my back” – as the shit continues to hit the fan. That’s two pretty darn terrible puns in one paragraph.

  Naturally, the blame game immediately began in earnest with the band blaming the venue (“don’t take it out on Jared, it’s the fucking venues fault. You may enjoy being shit on but we don’t” tweeted band drummer Nathan Followill) and the venue issuing refunds.

  However, the venue claims that the band had been warned about this earlier in the day (apparently, there has been “a significant pigeon infestation problem” with summer shows at the venue) and obviously other bands have taken on the pigeons and not left the stage after three songs. Indeed, there was also an incident at the venue at a recent Tom Petty show when Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell had to helped offstage due to dehydration but no-one is blaming the pigeons for that one. It really does seem as if the Kings Of Leon were well and truly given the bird.

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• On The Record signs €1 million record deal

  @ 10:05 am | by Jim Carroll

  We can exclusively reveal this morning that On The Record has signed a €1 million record deal with Sony Music. The deal, which will cover recordings of OTR reading new and old blog posts very fast over a variety of house, techno, funk, indie and Radiohead soundtracks, will see OTR becoming the first millionaire blogger in the world. “I’m chuffed and over the moon and feel 110 per cent about this”, said OTR from the hot-tub on his new private plane (bought for a song from NAMA). Other news sources, please copy (as usual)….

  Sadly, such musings remain a figment of our fertile imagination, but we’re indebted to the Beeb (via a link from Record of the Day) for reminding us of the very strange beast that is the one million quid record deal.

  Every X Factor winner or finalist has signed one of these beasts. Sure, didn’t Jedward get two of ‘em – one from Sony and, then when Sony came to their senses and dropped the duo, one from Universal. Every Irish Next Big Thing back in the 1980s signed one, before everyone came to their senses and the band went back to signing on instead. We even know of at least one Irish band who signed a million quid deal which was actually destined for another act their label’s A&R department were after but ended up going to the Irish act by mistake. Hell, there are probably even OTR readers who have had the one million quid contract carrot dangled before them.

  One million quid record deals are both the unicorns of the entertainment business (the band don’t actually get handed a million quid there and then) and handy shorthand for a band striking the big time. As legal consultant Ann Harrison points out in Liam Allen’s piece, “it’s such a convenient number and it hasn’t changed for years. It hasn’t gone up to £1.5m or £2m and it hasn’t gone down to a half million – everyone always signs a £1m record deal.”

  However, changes in how the business roll means such deals are becoming few and far between. These days, it’s priests, nuns and members of the Women’s Institute rather than new, raw bands who are offered one million quid deals. Even the days of acts like REM or Robbie Williams making out like galatico bandits at contract renewal time seem over as the record industry comes to its senses and realises there’s no cash in the bank for such flamboyant, over-the-top, deal-making. But you can still expect the “one million quid record deal” chestnut to be brandished now and again when a PR needs to spin a hack a tale.

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• The new old reliables

  July 26, 2010 @ 11:50 am | by Jim Carroll

  A few weeks ago, at the Future of Music in A Digital World conference in Dublin, one of the speakers, Andrew Dubber, made a great quip about the live business industry. The best way to ensure a successful live career for your band, he said in response to a question from the audience, was to have had a hit in 1985. Cue mass outbreak of the chuckles amongst the conference-goers and Twitter feed readers.

  Having spent the weekend checking out the fare at Italia Wave, though, you have to concede that Dubber’s smart comment could well be a mantra for the current age. Of course, the likes of Groove Armada, Faithless and Underworld were not knocking out the hits in 1985 (the latter were then operating as Freur, having failed to set the world alight when they had a squiggle as their name), but fastforward to 1995-99 and those acts were very much in their pomp. Now, some 10 to 15 years later, they are the old reliables on the festival circuit, the acts who, along with the Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, can make a decent living every summer hitting the big tents, football stadiums and racecourses around Europe.

  Sure, all of ‘em are still cranking out new material every few years and there is every chance that they might score another sneaky hit (look at The Prodigy, for example, and that decent last album “Invaders Must Die”). But the audiences aren’t there for the new tunes – they want a fix of the nostalgic good vibes when the bassline thumps and you get to hear “I See You Baby” or “Born Slippy” again. The bands give the crowds what they want because those tunes still work wonders, the reviews are glowing and the agent gets a call on Monday morning with a rebooking for next summer. Everyone’s a winner.

  It makes you wonder, though, where the next batch of old reliables are going to come from. While you could argue that we’re doing fine with Kings Of Leon (pigeons-permitting), Coldplay, Muse and Snow Patrol, what comes next? Where are the next batch of headliners to follow those acts when the pigeons and Freddie Mercury complexes take their toll? And, more importantly, how the hell are they going to rise to the top? After all, the majority of the acts mentioned above benefited from that old traditional model where hit songs ensured major album sales which led to a growing audience and thus higher live fees. Now that that model is looking a little green around the gills (certainly the relationship between the first two components anyway), is there another way for acts to go from playing a small stage in year one to a bigger one in year two?

  Of course, that transfer process still exists – look at Florence & The Machine, for example, between 2009 and 2010 and we will probably see the same thing happen between 2010 and 2011 with Mumford & Sons – but it remains to be seen if the momentum will be maintained to the same extent as before with the same amount of acts going from next big things to headliners to old reliables. The proof will only come 10 to 12 years from now when and if OTR’s equivalent is reporting back from Italia Wave 2022 on headliners Florence & the Machine, Mumford & Sons, Two Door Cinema Club and The Coronas.

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• When music and politics collide

  @ 8:20 am | by Jim Carroll

  Here’s a grand sight and sound for a Monday morning in late July. While his peers headed for the MacGill Summer School, ex-government minister for parsnips Trevor Sargent, last in the limelight when he resigned his post In February, reached for his guitar and sang his heart out for the kids instead. A man’s got to do what a man has to do. Via the excellent Come Here To Me! blog. Anyone else have footage of other casualties from the current Dail (Willie O’Dea, George Lee, John O’Donoghue etc) armed with a guitar, cello, tuba or hurdy-gurdy?

  

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• Is Live Nation’s day of reckoning approaching?

  July 23, 2010 @ 9:58 am | by Jim Carroll

  The bigger they are, the harder they fall. As the music business story of the summer Stateside continues to be about cancelled shows and underperforming gigs, industry big cheeses Live Nation have found themselves experiencing a huge stock market siump.

  Last week, the company lost $432 million of its market capitalisation as shares collapsed by over 20 per cent after a warning about weak ticket sales.

  The dive was accelerated by a botched investor presentation. As the company attempted to blame the media and dismiss Pollstar data (while simultaneously citing stats from that company in another part of the presentation), investors got nervous. Live Nation boss Irving Azoff’s strop about “shortsighted” investors didn’t help the mood either. Cue a massive sell-off.

  Live Nation’s day of reckoning has been on the cards for some time. The problem for the company is that their business model is flakey and the numbers have never added up.

  The company has operated as a music business Pac-Man in recent years, gobbling up everything in sight including venues, promoters and Ticketmaster as well as moving into non-core areas like labels and artist management.

  But the current slump in the music market means Live Nation’s revenue projections are off, while their core concert management business has consistently been in the red since 2005.

  It’s worth noting that Live Nation’s exposure is not just confined to the US market. They’re a significant Euroepan player, controling a large chunk of the UK market via its partnership with MCD boss Denis Desmond’s Gaeity Investments.

  In a recent interview with IQ magazine, Desmond confirmed that the plan is to recreate that partnership in Ireland.

  “In England, we’ve got Live Nation/Gaeity which works great and the plan is to recreate that in Ireland. We are talking, we are nearly there.”

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• #Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes

  @ 9:05 am | by Jim Carroll

  This week’s essential tunes on the OTR jukebox. Please feel free to add your own selections below.

  Bernard “Pretty” Purdie “Soul Drums” (Date)

  Hear the funkiest drummer in the business get wicked. Title track of an album loaded with primetime chunky breaks.

  

  DJ Pogo “Upular” (Self release)

  A boom tune at the Strange Brew club in Galway’s Roisin Dubh where chords, bass notes and vocal samples from the Up film create a beaming floorfiller.

  Ghost Hunter “Island Barbados” (House Anxiety)

  Beautifully spooky (naturally) minimal tropical house from Sheffield producer Robert Verrecchia.

  Chief “Modern Rituals” (Domino)

  Forthcoming debut album from Southern Californian band with melodies and harmonies bursting out of every song.

  

  Lee Fields & The Expressions “My World” (Truth & Soul)

  “The whole album front to back, every single song on it, is perfect” (selected by Ben Bridwell from Band Of Horses)

  

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• This week in The Ticket – and your plugs

  @ 8:21 am | by Jim Carroll

  Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy: ahead of his Irish tour, Will Oldham talks about his one-new-album-a-year recording schedule and his man-love for Merle Haggard, Leonary Cohen and, yes, R. Kelly

  The Magic Numbers: Lauren Murphy does the math with the two sets of brothers and sisters as they limber up for their third album

  Back to the 1980s: A look at Hollywood’s obsession with the 1980s via remakes of Wall Street, Nightmare on Elm Street, Red Dawn, Clash of The Titans and The A Team.

  Plus: reviews of music releases from Andy Cutting (CD of the Week for the English folk musician’s solo debut), Tom Jones, Sheryl Crow, Macy Gracy, I Am Arrows, Fang Island, MIke Oldfield, The John Henrys, “Shangaan Electro”, Lee Knotizand others, and new movies on the block including Splice, Baaria, The Rebound, The Colony, City Island and Baraka.

  All this and more in The Ticket, in print, online and the best of The Ticket on the app.

  The OTR plugs service is now open for business. Please feel free to plug and recommend stuff away to your heart’s content, but remember some simple rules. Declare an interest where one should be declared. Plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Plugs which mention a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. Plugs which plug the same stuff every week will also be deleted – if people ain’t interested by now, you should really get the message. The Juve fans at breakfast were asking a lot of questions about Shamrock Rovers.

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• New Music – Meljoann, A Classic Education, Savoir Adore

  July 22, 2010 @ 2:56 pm | by Jim Carroll

  The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below.

  Meljoann

  Dublin-based producer Meljoann Ryan’s “Tour Guide EP” for Boy Scout Audio is a fine introduction to her ear-catching electro-funk. Expect an album later this year, plus Ryan is also half of Gland & Conduit with fellow producer Herv.

  A Classic Education

  Orchestral, expansive moody indie-pop with plenty of spit and polish from a Bologna-based six-piece (though the singer is Canadian) with a new EP forthcoming on Lefse Records in September

  

  Savoir Adore

  “We Talk Like Machines” is the reason why we’re digging the bright, big, kooky electro sounds of Brooklyn duo Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer. Currently touring the UK with an album due later this year on Cantora.

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• Banter pocast from the Earagail Arts Festival

  @ 1:21 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Last Saturday, Banter hit the Earagail Arts Festival for “Outstanding In Their Own Fields – Where The Irish Music Festival Goes From Here”. The discussion featured Paul McLoone (Today FM, The Undertones), Una Mullally (Sunday Tribune, TG4’s Ceol Ar An Imeall), Declan Forde (POD Concerts and Electric Picnic booker) and myself looking at the current health of the domestic music festival scene and how things might look five years from now. You’ll find a podcast of the discussion here. Big thanks to Derek for getting this sorted so quickly.

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• OTR hits Italy. Italy not impressed

  @ 9:50 am | by Jim Carroll

  Saluti from Livorno in Tuscany where OTR is now in situ for the annual Italia Wave festival. We were at this one in 2006 (when it was in Arezzo) and 2007 (when it was in Florence) and now, we’re back again as it settles into its new home by the sea.

  Over the next few days, there’s a rake of big hitters (Underworld, OK Go, Editors, Groove Armada, Ojos de Brujo, Faithless, Moodymann, JImi Tenor etc), rising names (Lucy Love, Jamaica), Italian acts (…A Toys Orchestra are the only ones on the list that I recognise) and the odd WTF? (Julian Marley) to catch. Aside from the main stage in the local football stadium (Livorno are now back in Serie B after a woeful season in the top ranks last year), there’s a couple of other stages around the city hosting film screenings, workshops, exhibitions and more bands.

  Naturally, OTR will be keeping an eye on the attendance too. While there’s been a lot of talk at home about how so many would-be Oxegen and Electric Picnic-goers are heading elsewhere for their festival kicks, the numbers of some of the main European fests are actually down this year. In Spain, the big one for many international visitors, Benicassim, saw its attendance slump from 200,000 in 2009 to 127,000 this year, with a 10 per cent fall in foreign visitors. Meanwhile, the Rock In Rio Madrid also reported a fall (from 290,000 to 250,000) as high unemployment and lack of cash forced punters to stay away. It seems that it’s not just in Ireland that punters are seeking value-for-money and a decent line-up.

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• Electric Picnic 2010 – more names for the picnic basket

  July 21, 2010 @ 10:28 am | by Jim Carroll

  The latest batch of bands for Electric Picnic 2010 in Stradbally, Co Laois from September 3 to 5 are as follows:

  Two Door Cinema Club
  Laura Marling
  Robyn
  The Tallest Man on Earth
  The Antlers
  Cymbals Eat Guitars
  Chew Lips
  Fang Island
  Donal Dineen, Niwel Tsumbu & Friends
  The Riptide Movement
  Brian Deady

  So, you have your ticket, right?

  Comments (48)

• The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 20

  @ 9:48 am | by Jim Carroll

  As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday July 20, 10pm-midnight

  Rai Knight “New New” (FrontStreet)
  Wavves “King of the Beach” (Bella Union)
  Tweak Bird “A Sun/Ahh Ahh” (Souterrain Transmissions)
  Discodeine “Singular” (Dirty)
  Matthew Dear “Soil to Seed” (Ghostly International)
  Breakbot “Baby I’m Yours (Aeroplane remix)” (Ed Banger)
  Shit Robot “Tuff Enuff” (DFA)
  It’s A Fine Line “Do the Hot Tar” (Marketing Music)
  Nicolas Jaar “Love Teacher” (Circus Company)
  Blondes “You Mean So Much to Me (Ghost Hunter remix)” (Merok)
  Kraftwerk “Tour de France” (EMI)
  Bernard “Pretty” Purdie “Soul Drums” (Date)
  Mocambo Allstars “The Next Message” (Mocambo)
  DJ Pogo “Upular” (Self release)
  John Legend & The Roots “Our Generation” (Revival)
  Janelle Monae “Locked Inside” (Bad Boy)
  Buddy Miles “Them Changes” (Miracle)
  Matthew Larkin Cassell “Beggin’ to Stay” (Stones Throw)
  Lee Fields & The Expressions “My World Is Empty Without You” (Truth & Soul)
  Villagers “Home” (Domino)
  Mountain Man “How’m I Doin’” (Bella Union)
  Son House “John the Revelator” (Charly)
  Bukka White “Fixin’ To Die Blues” (Complete Blues)
  Ray Charles “Drown In My Own Tears” (Atlantic)
  The Kills “Pale Blue Eyes” (Revival)
  La Roux “Bulletproof (Acoustic version)” (Polydor)

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• Mercury Music Tuesday – now with shortlist, including Villagers!

  July 20, 2010 @ 9:33 am | by Jim Carroll

  It’s that day of the year again. Sometime before noon, the Mercury Music Prize folks will announce this year’s shortlist and all hell will break loose as people argue the toss about the albums which made the cut and the albums which didn’t. It happens every year and, despite the annual whinge that prizes of this ilk don’t matter any more, the list will cause the usual helping of controversy. It has done so since the prize began in 1992 and will do so again this year.

  The predictions are already in. Kitty Empire, Brian Boyd (who has a good track record predicting the winner) and Neil McCormick have had a go, while Ragged Words have come up with a scientific approach to the whole thing.

  I’m always reluctant to make predictions about this thing for a couple of reasons. We don’t actually know who is on the judging panel and we don’t know which acts and albums have actually put themselves forward for contention – you need to apply for the Mercurys and pay a fee of around £200 and only 233 acts bothered to apply in 2007.

  And, most importantly of all, the judges themselves don’t have the final say on the make-up of the shortlist. Have a read of what former judge Jude Rogers has to say about the votes of the 10 judges are collated. “How are the choices then collated?”, she asks in the piece. “Sadly, I don’t know. It remains “confidential”, but I wish that it wasn’t.” It’s this “confidential” process which ensures there’s a token jazz/folk album on the list.

  Such caveats aside, I think we can expect to see The xx, Gorillaz, Laura Marling, Wild Beasts, Plan B and Foals on the list. I’d like to see Mount Kimbie there as well, but have a feeling their album may have been released too late to make the cut so the nod for the weird electronic album will go to either Bass Clef, Hudson Mohawke or Four Tet. I think we’ll see at least one (Villagers) and maybe two (Two Door Cinema Club) Irish acts on the list – in fact, leaving aside the fact that I only bet on hurling and greyhounds, I’d place a large lump of money on “Becoming A Jackal” being on that list at noon. If they want a token folk album, I hope they go for The Unthanks because “Here’s the Tender Coming” is a joy. Kele and Steve Mason are outside bets, while Mumford & Sons should make the grade and will probably win it.

  We’ll publish the list when we have it, but you have two hours or so until then to make your call. Remember, though, that winning the Mercury doesn’t always amount to a hill of beans. Last year, Speech Debelle went on to sell just 13,000 copies of her “Speech Therapy” album after her win – and she can’t keep blaming her label for that.

  And here’s the shortlist, sports fans. Big congratulations to Conor J O’Brien and Villagers!

  Biffy Clyro “Only Revolutions” (14th Floor)
  Corinne Bailey Rae “The Sea” (EMI)
  Dizzee Rascal “Tongue N’ Cheek” (Dirtee Stank)
  Kit Downes Trio “Golden’ (Basho) – review here in case you’re wondering WTF?
  Foals “Total Life Forever” (Transgressive)
  I Am Kloot “Sky At Night (Shepherd Moon/EMI)
  Laura Marling “I Speak Because I Can” (Virgin)
  Mumford And Sons “Sigh No More” (Island)
  Paul Weller “Wake Up The Nation” (Island)
  Villagers “Becoming A Jackal” (Domino)
  Wild Beasts “Two Dancers” (Domino)
  The xx “xx” (XL)

  The winner will be announced on September 7.

  Comments (71)

• The changing face of Main Street Ireland

  July 19, 2010 @ 4:11 pm | by Jim Carroll

  Last week’s news that Dublin’s Road Records would be closing for good caused a predictable wave of sadness and regret. Another record store bites the dust. Another essential component of the Dublin music community disappears. Another small independently-owned and operated store goes out of business.

  That last point is one which doesn’t just apply to record stores. As Niamh noted, “it really feels like a part of Dublin has died along with the closure of Road”. The same feeling applies to streets up and down the land. Small shop owners are putting up the shutters and throwing away the keys. Social and economic changes mean they just can’t compete with the bigger stores. The streetscape is changing and we don’t seem to be able to do anything about it.

  And it’s not just happening in cities. Driving around the west and northwest at the weekend, I lost count of the number of villages where the only shop now is the local petrol station. Main streets which once had a few thriving wee shops are now empty, with all commercial business kept to the outskirts of the town. It’s probably not as pronounced in the cities because the trade continues despite the change of owner – foreign brands or chains simply move into spaces which were once occupied by indie businesses – but the overall trend remains the same as the small, local store gives way to the bigger operator where economies of scale and profit margins are all that matters. Staying in business is hard work – see Alexia’s post about her mother’s bookshop, for instance – but some continue to persevere in the face of diversity because of customer loyalty.

  “Customer loyalty”, though, is easier said than done. When a shop like Road closes, we wring our hands and bemoan the loss. Of course, we’ll say, there are reasons why we didn’t shop there any longer ourselves, but we’re still sad to see ‘em go. We wanted them to remain because they provided an intangiable feel-good factor. But the feel-good factor about having an independent bookstore or cafe or grocery on your Main Street will never be enough to keep those businesses open. If we’re really serious about local, independent shops, the ones which are different from the pack, we need to spend money in them. And at a time when value-for-money is the new national mantra, that may not be as easy to do as we might hope.

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• The randomiser says “ciao”

  @ 10:00 am | by Jim Carroll

  The weekend was spent in the wild west and the even wilder north-west. Big thanks to Gugai and all at Galway’s Roisin Dubh for the invite to play some tunes at Strange Brew the other night. As always, a cracking night out, chieftly because Gugai has schooled the club-goers so well that they know (and appreciate) their tunes . It’s the only club in the land to the best of my knowledge where that fabulous Memory Tapes’ remix of Tanlines’ “Real Life” is an anthem – or where anyone who requests Kings Of Leon gets escorted from the premises by the bouncers. Lot of love in the room for Holy Ghost!, Lefties Soul Connection, Funeral Party, Freelance Whales, Harlem, Thee Oh Sees and Foster the People too. Strange Brew will be hitting the big smoke in October for a special Hallowe’en show at the Workman’s Club.

  Incoming: Calvin Johnson plays in the Exchange in Dublin on July 30. The Beat Happening and K Records will be supported by Patrick Kelleher, Laura Sheeran and the excellent Squarehead. Doors open at 6pm, admission is €6 and it’s an all-ages buzz.

  Galway was, of course, all a-titter with the Galway Arts Festival in full flow. Only got to see one thing and that was Spike Jonze’s robot love story I’m Here. A hugely enthralling, imaginative and quite special 30 minute flick.

  Who said the days of record labels are over? Online pop oracle Popjustice have jumped into bed with Virgin Records to kick off Popjustice Hi-Fi. First releases will come from Rosanna and Bright Light Bright Light. Speaking of labels, two interesting profiles of two very contrasting label chiefs: ECM’s Manfred Eicher and Sony Music’s Howard Stringer.

  Arts & crafts dept: The Kit & Caboodle takes place at the POD on July 31 featuring Irish and International artists and crafts makers showcasing and selling their wares. Starts at 12.30pm and runs until the early evening.

  As regular OTR readers will note, we usually link to a band’s MySpace site but you have to wonder how long more that particular web entity will exist as a going concern. Per Techcrunch, the site’s visitors have halved in six months – maybe Rupe will stick MySpace behind a paywall a la the Sunday Times? Meanwhile, new music offerings keep on coming: say hello to Numubu, a social networking site for musicians and music industry professionals.

  Incoming (2): the mighty Of Montreal (and good pals of Janelle Monae) play Dublin’s Tripod on October 3. Tickets for the show are €19.50

  Thanks to Paul, Derek, Kim and all at the Earagail Arts Festival for hosting the Banter session in Letterkenny on Saturday afternoon. Paul McLoone, Una Mullally and Declan Forde joined me and a well turned-out audience to yak at great length about the future of the Irish music festival. Interesting snippets (especially about how reduced ticket prices will impact on a festival), points and diversions galore – podcast to come.

  Outgoing: John Butler Trio’s upcoming show at Dublin’s Grand Canal Theatre has been yanked, along with shows in Liverpool, Bournemouth and Dusseldorf, due to “logistical reasons”. Per band management, gigs will be rescheduled in 2011. Man, the Grand Canal Theatre isn’t having the best run of luck with shows, is it?

  Pie-of-the-day: why major label acts often end up in a financial pickle.

  Fred Goodman talks turkey about his new book “Fortune’s Fool: Edgar Bronfman Jr., Warner Music and an Industry in Crisis”. If it’s half as good as “The Mansion on the Hill”, it will be one for the holidays.

  A lot can change in two months and so it is with Villagers. They took to the stage of the Grill in Letterkenny on Saturday night with a new-found swagger which can only come from playing like demons nearly non-stop since we last caught them in action back in May. The lovely atmospherics in the songs are now brilliantly accentuated and amplified without losing any of the emotional power, while the entire set packs much more of a cohesive punch. You begin to wonder what the next album will sound like, especially if Conor J O’Brien brings that band into the studio with him. That said, there’s a hell of a lot of road still to be covered by “Becoming A Jackal”. There’s an album with legs on it. Afterwards, there was also a lot of leg on display when Paul McLoone and myself hit the decks (not our legs, mind). Memo to Tommy from Villagers: you need to practise your scratching skills some more.

  One for the Moog fans in the audience: MoogFest 2010 hits Asheville, North Carolina, the town Bob Moog called home from 1978 onwards.

  And finally, a tune which put a smile on every face at Strange Brew the other night. Up, up and away:

  

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