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On The Record

Jim Carroll

Music, Life and everything else

Monthly Archives: June 2007

Sweet charity as Cake Sale goes global

It’s the charity record that keeps on giving. Now comes news that The Cake Sale album is to be released in Britain and the US.

Verve regain their nerve

“You’re more likely to get all four Beatles on stage” was how Richard Ashcroft once responded to a question about a Verve reunion. Last week, though, Ashcroft rejoined Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury and announced a number of …

Fire in the Park – and metal in the nature reserve

The Phoenix Park deer will have company this autumn. MCD Concerts are planning to hold eight outdoor concerts in the largest enclosed city park in Europe – or Dublin anyway. On the Record assumes a large tent will be involved …

The skip to Skib

Let’s hope that some music festival organisers in Austin, Texas don’t have a hankering to call their attorneys about the name used by the newest Irish summer festival on the block. Cork X Southwest is a one-day festival which takes …

The fans strike back

Interesting piece from today’s Times about the slump in concert attendances for such hoary old dinasours as Elton John, George Michael, the Rolling Stones and Barbra Streisand. It seems Irish concert-goers aren’t the only ones up in arms about high …

Tune of the Week – “This Is An Advertisement”

Have you ever tasted grilled puffin? It’s a little bit like chicken.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Random links for your clicking pleasure

Forget catalogue pimping or signing the next big thing, the future for the record industry is to get old hit-makers to make new music. Interesting piece from Forbes about how Sony BMG’s Burgundy Records and Universal’s New Door label are …

More outdoor shows…..in November

The world has gone mad. Or else this is a dastardly plan by MCD Concerts to cash in on climate change and global warming. Per yesterday’s Sunday Business Post: MCD, the country’s largest music promoter, has landed a major deal …

30 years of….
  • Media
  • June 25, 2007, 09:54

Blame Ronan Fitzgerald for this. His post ends with what sounds like a challenge. After listening to this man self-eulogising about the good old days on Irish radio this week I thought: where’s good old Jim Carroll when you need …

Glenn Branca update

Following the recent post about the New York composer looking for guitarists for his forthcoming Dublin show at the Analog festival, Glenn Branca has got in touch with an update. And no, he doesn’t want On The Record to do …

Family-friendly festival for Farmleigh

When the Earl of Iveagh had the builders round to Farmleigh House in 1881 and back again in 1896, he could never have envisaged how his 78-acre estate would be used in the future.

Unsigned, green and wet

Three more fests will be striving to attract Irish festival-goers in the coming weeks. The Undiscovered Festival will feature unsigned acts and new bands in Roscrea, Co Tipperary on June 29th and 30th, while the Irish Green Gathering is an …

Attention hard working bands. Yes, some do exist

Ireland may not have a new band festival of the size or stature of Austin’s colossal South By Southwest or Groningen’s excellent Eurosonic, but it does have Hard Working Class Heroes. The festival is now in its fifth year and …

Come On Kevin
  • Clubs
  • June 22, 2007, 08:24

Classic singles, seminal albums and an unique approach to style and fashion have punctuated Kevin Rowland’s three- decade-long stand at the pop barricades with Dexy’s Midnight Runners. The notion of Rowland as DJ, then, should ensure a full house at …

Free Arcade Fire concert

Steady on, steady on. I mean free concert to dowload. It’s the band’s show from ealier this year at New York’s Judson Memorial Church. Listen and download here (there’s also an interview with the band).

Tune of the Week – “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three”

They don’t make grooves like this any more.

Classified advertising dept

Le Catch writes Random comment. I found a link to a great Irish printing company who were selling these fantastic concert posters recently but I now can’t find the link…and my recent web pages have since been deleted. I know …

It rained like this after the last election too, you know…

I think I’d prefer a bit of war, famine, pestilence and disease to this. When all else fails, send in the lawyers. Last in the very entertaining LA Times series featuring publisher Kurt Hanson and legal eagle Jay Rosenthal debating …

Shoe-in

Props to Killian Doyle for unearthing the latest pair of Manc runners. Following in the footsteps of Joy Division and Johnny Marr, the FAC51-Y3s are limited-edition trainers released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Haçienda. The runners, limited to …

White Stripes bigger than Wet Wet Wet

Per Music Week, the “Icky Thump” single is the biggest selling seven-inch single since Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around”. Icky Thump needed just two days last week to break through the 10,000 sales barrier across two seven-inch formats, …

Gigmania – lets go indoors

There are more gigs happening in Ireland in the next few months than have ever happened at any time in this nation’s history. Fact. You can blame the Greens for this (they’re fair game for everything this weather) or you …

You’re A Guitar Star

New York composer Glenn Branca nees 100 guitarists for his forthcoming show in Dublin’s Docklands. Well, 80 guitarists and 20 bass guitarists to be exact. The bass guitar is the one with four strings, in case you’re wondering. Anyway This …

The record industry strikes back

Andrew Dubber is a lecturer at the University of Central England in Birmingham specialising in online music, media and radio technology. He also does a very good blog called New Music Strategies. Paul Birch runs an indie label called Revolver …

Hang the DJ as 2XM cut back on talk
  • Media
  • June 15, 2007, 09:58

The digital switch-on has begun in earnest at RTÉ with plans announced this week for six trial digital radio stations.

Ritter record return

Less than 18 months after the release of Josh Ritter’s well-received Animal Years album comes news of a new record from the Moscow, Idaho native. The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter will be released in Ireland on September 7th. Recorded …

Snow Patrol freebies

Gary Lightbody and friends have provided further proof that the future of the music business may well be tickets and T-shirts. Fans who buy tickets for Snow Patrol’s Australian shows in September will receive a free copy of the band’s …

Marketing drive

As marketing gimmicks go, you have to admit that these Icky Thump USB drives from the White Stripes are kind of cute. There’s a Jack one and there’s a Meg one and each 512MB drive contains the band’s new album. …

Lovely Slint hurling

Slint are on their way to Dublin. It’s a Don’t Look Back jobbie where key acts are invited to play seminal albums in their entirity which means Slint will be playing “Spiderland” at Tripod on August 18. Tickets now on …

Tune of the Week – “Just A Song About Ping Pong”

I heard the new single from The Thrills during the week. This, you will be glad to hear, is not it.

Four and a half reasons why the current issue of Mongrel magazine rocks
  • Media
  • June 13, 2007, 14:25

(1) You know those really painful My Weekend features you see in newspaper supplements? Do you ever think they really should read like this? (2) The Cool Kids. We love the Cool Kids. “Mikey Rocks”. “One, Two”. Mongrel talks to …

Shorties

We like the look of the “I wish Arcade Fire were playing” tee. We also like the look of these White Stripes USB drives, but would you pay $99 for them? End those pub arguments about the best cover versions …

The big picture

Rule number one, look at the big picture. OK, sorry, look for the big picture.

The Re-Up

Big thanks to Conor Pope for keeping a eye on the shop last week while I was unblogged on holidays. Conor is the Pricewatch fella so check him out if you have a burning consumer issue or a rip-off to …

Hebden back in Fridge

Not content with following his Four Tet star and collaborating with legendary US jazz drummer Terry Reid, Kieran Hebden has now reconvened his first band Fridge for their first tour in six years. The reason for this burst of activity …

Pluck off: guitars galore

It’s the summer of the guitar. Glenn Branca’s forthcoming visit to Dublin for the Analog festival on July 15th will see the New York composer instructing 100 local guitar slingers for a performance of Hallucination City. Meanwhile, some of the …

Special date for Derry
  • Clubs
  • June 8, 2007, 14:12

While many Irish clubbers will be packing their bags and brushing up on their Catalan ahead of next week’s Sonar festival in Barcelona, others will be relishing the return of the Celtronic festival to Derry later this month. Celtronic has …

MySpace looks a bargain after CBS deal

If you’re one of the 15 million people who have been using the Last.fm online music service to discover new bands and tunes since 2002, it may be interesting to know that you’re worth just under $20 (€15) to the …

Popworld for 50 Cent

Profiles of 50 Cent have always noted the rapper’s sideline venture hawking bottles of Formula 50 grape-flavoured vitamin water. Last week, that sideline turned into a very lucrative business deal as Coca-Cola acquired Glaceau, the company which manufactures the water, …

Sound of the underground

If drinking, carousing, debates and fights in a place where “men had women, men had men and women had women” is your idea of a good night out, you’d probably have loved the Catacombs. Back in 1940s Dublin, Dickie Wyman’s …

Justin’s love sounds

Bands seeking a record deal should prepare to send their CDs forthwith to Justin Timberlake. He has become the latest pop star to take on the mantle of record executive, as he becomes chairman and chief executive officer of Tennman, …

Size matters as record industry faces squeeze

The man who makes those snazzy “the end is nigh” sandwich-boards must be working overtime at the moment, as the major-label record industry wonders where its next tax-deductible meal is going to come from.