Jim Carroll

• Festivals
• August 31, 2007, 10:52

I’ll try and post more pics during the day if I get a chance but, thanks to The Ticket at the Electric Picnic, I reckon blogging might be light for the next few days. If you’re on your way to …

• Bruce
• August 31, 2007, 10:39

Bruce Springsteen has become the latest act to deal with new business realities for the music industry by giving away his music for free.

• Festivals
• August 31, 2007, 10:38

Despite the weather, summer 2007 featured over 70 music festivals and open-air shows in Ireland. Some promoters are already predicting that next year will be ever busier with a number of new festivals mooted and plans afoot to import UK …

• Live music
• August 31, 2007, 10:37

Even more acts are clambering onboard the play-your-best-album-in-full live bandwagon. Lucinda Williams is set to play five of her albums, including “Sweet Old World” and “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road”, in their entirety at separate shows in Los Angeles …

• Festivals Photos
• August 30, 2007, 20:59

• Festivals Photos
• August 30, 2007, 17:04

First things first – there’s no mud. Not a bit of it. The site is sound and the ground is bone dry. It’s surreal to be at an Irish music festival in 2007 without wellies. Surreal. Even Babs agrees with …

• Festivals Food Photos
• August 30, 2007, 14:34

• Festivals Hip-hop Hurling
• August 30, 2007, 08:03

Respect to Shane for pointing out that, while the match itself won’t be screened (boo!), there will be a Kilkenny v Limerick soundclash going down in the Homespun tent in the Body & Soul arena. Repping the Cats will be …

• Tune of the Week
• August 30, 2007, 07:50

3.15pm, Saturday, Electric Arena. We’ll see you there.

• Media
• August 29, 2007, 09:25

They said it couldn’t be done, but we were obviously not listening. This weekend, special Electric Picnic editions of The Ticket, everyone’s favourite entertainment supplement, will be produced and distributed for free to festival-goers on Saturday and Sunday. The Ticket …

• Festivals Media
• August 28, 2007, 21:07

One of On The Record’s many hard-working moles in Montrose tells us that RTE-TV have said no to screening Nick Ryan’s Electric Picnic documentary. The broadcaster was offered the doc for free, but it is believed that they turned it …

• Bruce
• August 28, 2007, 17:46

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Odyssey Arena, December 15. One night only. Only Irish show in 2007.

• Festivals
• August 28, 2007, 10:26

Another day, another festival, another dodgy lorry with lists falling off the back of it spotted in Dublin 3. Thanks to the wonders of MySpace calenders and a few nods and winks, we know that you can expect to see …

• Bruce
• August 28, 2007, 09:16

Good news for a Tuesday morning – you can download “Radio Nowhere”, the lead track from Bruce Springsteen’s new album “Magic”, for free here. And yes, the track rocks. BTW Guardian Unlimited Music are plugging this as their exclusive, but …

• Festivals
• August 27, 2007, 17:51

The boy wonder has the full day by day and stage by stage running orders. Caveat emptor – all line-ups are subject to change, the value of your Electric Picnic experience may fall as well as rise depending on who …

• Randomiser
• August 27, 2007, 09:24

(1) Battles doing “Atlas” live is pretty awesome. The rest of the set was excellent, but “Atlas” was sublime. (2) Crash! Did you hear that? That was the sound of the Sunderland bandwagon coming off the tracks. It sounds remarkably …

• The Far Side
• August 27, 2007, 08:37

As played on Phantom FM, Saturday August 25, 10pm-midnight The Electric Picnic special fought the gremlins which took over the sound desk for a spell and, like any great horror flick which turns out alright in the end, the gremlins …

• Music business
• August 24, 2007, 08:39

It seems that monster concert promoters Live Nation (who, as you all know because you follow these things really closely, are in cahoots with our very own DMC, sorry MCD Concerts) have decided to end their deal with the much …

• Media
• August 24, 2007, 08:38

This morning, we’re opening a bottle of champers and waving big purple underpants around to celebrate Gerry Ryan adding an extra 24,000 listeners to his audience in the latest JNLR book. Who knew? The rot has stopped! Rejoice, rejoice etc …

• Festivals
• August 24, 2007, 08:37

This year’s Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF) will be an Asian-themed event when it returns for its sixth outing in October.

• Live music
• August 24, 2007, 08:27

The Scandinavians are coming. Irish history may tell us to be wary of any Nordic invasion, but there should be little reason to fear the latest bunch of folk from up north heading here for the Hard Working Class Heroes …

• Live music
• August 24, 2007, 08:27

Ahoy me hearties! Turning Pirate is one of the more interesting musical turns scheduled for the Spiegeltent when it’s pitched in Dublin for next month’s Fringe fest. An evening of unlikely musical collaborations, Turning Pirate will see the likes of …

• Hip-hop
• August 24, 2007, 08:23

Dr Dre has found yet another distraction to keep him from completing Detox, the album that’s fast turning into hip-hop’s version of Guns N’ Roses’s Chinese Democracy. Dre filed a lawsuit against his former label, Death Row, over the rights …

• Media
• August 23, 2007, 18:08

The full JNLR figures are available for all to see and scratch their heads over here. No huge changes in terms of the headline figures, but individual audience figures from marquee-name broadcasters residing in Montrose yet to come.

• Media
• August 23, 2007, 16:42

The first hard data from today’s JNLR book to make it our way shows very good news for Today FM. Ian Dempsey, Matt Cooper, Ray Foley and Tony “Hey! It’s Tony! Fenton!” Fenton have added 15,000, 13,000, 24,000 (you read …

• Tune of the Week
• August 23, 2007, 12:14

C’mon people, get happy.

• Media
• August 23, 2007, 08:25

Gerry Ryan, John Clarke (dude, how are you? Long time, no hear. We must do coffee! What do you think of Rafa’s beard?), Ian Dempsey, Tony Fenton, Ray D’Arcy, Mary Wilson, Ana “Yee-Haw” Leddy, Tom Dunne, Ray Foley, Matt Cooper, …

• Festivals
• August 22, 2007, 17:24

Something else which fell off a lorry. I’m really worried about all these lorries with dodgy trailers around this neck of the woods of late. Here’s a very long list of the acts who will be heading to Stradbally, Co …

• Hip-hop Media
• August 22, 2007, 11:30

Mention of Nik Cohn in a post below brought a couple of comments from Fergal and JP about the great man and his books like “Heart of the World”, “Yes We Have No” and his New Orleans hip-hop tale “Triksta”. …

• Randomiser
• August 22, 2007, 09:19

Well, not the Irish blogosphere’s answer to Kinky Friedman. He publishes his debut big buke in February and it’s called Order of the Phoenix Park. Here’s the Amazon blurb for it: When Twenty gets an early morning wake-up call from …

• Festivals
• August 21, 2007, 14:00

Of course, if MCD were to look for examples of commendable customer service, they wouldn’t have to take cues from their Irish competition. In fact, they wouldn’t even have to go outside the MCD tent. Have a read of this …

• Babs Live music
• August 21, 2007, 11:07

There have been a few pieces filed already following the Consumer Association of Ireland’s decision to publish their letter to MCD Concerts giving out about the recent Babs show in Dublin. Readers will recall that MCD established a committee in …

• Randomiser
• August 21, 2007, 09:27

I usually don’t remember anniversaries like this, but I was doing some research on something else last week and copped that it’s 16 years ago today since Nirvana played Dublin’s Top Hat (and 16 years ago yesterday since they tore …

• Live music
• August 20, 2007, 11:41

When details of the Ian Brown show at the Big Top in Dublin’s Phoenix Park were announced, On The Records gallery of erudite posters chuckled long and hard. He’ll never pull 5,000 punters, you cackled. He can’t sing, you sniggered. …

• Randomiser
• August 20, 2007, 11:08

(1) Jockette Jessica Kurten is not a happy camper when it comes to the media pointing out that her horse failed a dope test. (2) The Rolling Stones played in a big field in Co Meath and everyone went home …

• The Far Side
• August 20, 2007, 08:28

As played on Phantom FM, Saturday August 18, 10pm-midnight. And no, podcasts and listen-on-demand facilities are not available. Take it up with The Management, OK? It’s amazing how hearing one tune can remind you of so many other tunes to …

• Festivals
• August 17, 2007, 12:30

As if one Leviathan tent full of political cabaret, assorted mischief-makers, people onstage heckling the hecklers in the audience and Clint Velour was not enough to be going on with, there will be TWO Leviathan-helmed tents at this year’s Picnic. …

• Festivals Hip-hop Live music
• August 17, 2007, 08:57

A new festival will bring such hip-hop luminaries as Mos Def, Madlib and De La Soul to Dublin in the autumn.

• Music business New releases
• August 17, 2007, 08:48

Dan O’Connell is The Thurston Revival, the Maidstone-born, Vancouver-based one-man band who is laying claim to releasing the most expensive debut single ever. O’Connell intends to sell 100 copies of his Somewhere There’s an Angel single (albeit on high- quality …

• Media
• August 17, 2007, 08:46

The bubble has certainly not burst. A year on from launch, pureplay pop music cable channel Bubble Hits is pulling in viewers and is now as widely available in Ireland as it is in the UK. Founded by James Hyland …

• Irish music
• August 17, 2007, 08:44

Here’s a name for 2008. Balbriggan teen Lesley Roy may be very much below the radar at home, but the same can’t be said abour her international profile. Part of Dublin’s Religion Music stable, Roy signed last year to big …

• Bruce
• August 16, 2007, 18:14

Electric Picnic? Pah! THERE’S A NEW BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ALBUM ON THE WAY! It’s called “Magic” and it’s out October 2nd in the United States (which translates to September 28th over here). Wonder will this get leaked? Good news – he’s …

• Tune of the Week
• August 16, 2007, 12:26

There are many, many acts I’m looking forward to seeing at the Electric Picnic, but I’m really relishing a chance to finally see Malajube. Especially since I’ve learned how to pronounce their name.

• Media
• August 16, 2007, 11:18

If John Ryan thought he’d got a kicking in the past from the likes of The Sunday Indo, it’s nothing compared to the treatment which the Blogorrah publisher is getting from New York dog-blog Dig & Scratch since the demise …

• Media
• August 16, 2007, 09:02

I used to do PR for bands and labels, but I’m OK now. My colleague Shane also has a PR past. He must be going through Tony Soprano-like therapy at the moment because he’s been writing about it a bit. …

• Festivals
• August 15, 2007, 17:19

News of what’s in store when that lovely Spiegeltent returns to the city in September for this year’s Dublin Fringe festival. Here’s what may interest On The Record readers. Yeah, there’s some theatre and cabaret stuff happening too which we’ve …

• Festivals
• August 15, 2007, 16:28

Honest guv, it fell off the back of a lorry. Thanks to the latest On The Record mole to join our merry gang for this – we owe u a pie. I’ve always liked the Body & Soul area at …

• Football
• August 15, 2007, 10:50

Who knew that Roy Keane had so much in common with Albert Reynolds? One of the former Taoiseach’s more embarrasing gaffes came during a Dail exchange many years ago when, replying to heckles from Fine Gael’s Nora Owens, he retorted …

• Festivals
• August 14, 2007, 10:37

Here’s some news about one addition to this year’s Picnic that I hadn’t heard about before – Fossett’s Circus. A world where aerialists defy death, jugglers defy gravity, acrobats defy description and the clowns simply defy everyone. No lions or …

• Music business
• August 13, 2007, 15:15

Ah Tony , there really was no-one else like you. I know I’m not alone in remembering the life and times of Anthony Howard Wilson at the moment. Like so many others, I had several encounters with him down through …

• Randomiser
• August 13, 2007, 09:40

Wilco dept – As predicted here, oh, months ago, Wilco are on their way to play a plush venue in Dublin with a roof on it (yeah, we mean Vicar Street, still the finest venue in the city) later this …

• The Far Side
• August 13, 2007, 08:49

As played on Phantom FM, Saturday August 11, 10pm-midnight. The show featured tributes to late greats Tony Wilson (besides Joy Division, there was also a connection to ESG as the Scroggins girls played at the opening night of the Hacienda) …

• Music business
• August 10, 2007, 21:14

Very sad news from the Manchester Evening News – the Factory Records, Hacienda and In The City legend Anthony H. Wilson has died. He had been battling kidney cancer for the last couple of months. Wilson truly was one of …

• Arcade Ire Live music
• August 10, 2007, 09:56

Well, the tickets went on sale at 9am and sold out within nanoseconds. Already, On the Record readers are fuming. Here’s Sharon: I’ve been trying to buy tickets since 9am online and each time – ever since 9am, I’ve been …

• Venues
• August 10, 2007, 09:52

Acts seeking to strut their stuff on a stage in Dublin in the coming weeks face a limited choice due to the temporary closure of some key venues.

• Festivals
• August 10, 2007, 09:49

Arts Council head Olive Braiden had an interesting piece in this paper during the week bigging up cultural and festival tourism. While Braiden concentrated her spiel on conventional arts festivals, there’s no doubting the huge domestic and international interest in …

• Irish music
• August 10, 2007, 09:42

Lets hope next month’s Hard Working Class Heroes new band beano at Dublin’s POD complex has some berths on board for bands operating under their own steam. Like Suddyn. The Clonmel natives are getting a lot of traction thanks to …

• Downloads Music business
• August 10, 2007, 09:40

Remember Spiralfrog, the record industry-backed firm promising free ad-supported music downloads? It missed its mooted December 2006 launch, and subsequent infighting nearly scuppered the ship. Now, users have been invited to test a beta version of the site, with a …

• Tune of the Week
• August 9, 2007, 19:03

We need more warriors like of Shape Of Broad Minds. We really do.

• Media
• August 9, 2007, 14:17

When the Oxegen and Babs nonsense hit the fan back in July, there was one notable absentee from the gallery of pundits having a go. Joe Duffy was on holidays and the nation wept tears of relief. But he’s back …

• Media
• August 9, 2007, 13:56

Shane has already covered RTE TV’s forthcoming new season in some depth, but it seems that the national broadcaster is going all out from September to wow and win us over. From today’s paper: The Late Late Show will have …

• Live music
• August 9, 2007, 09:49

One of the more usually reliable On The Record sources has it that the Strawberry Jam band play Tripod on November 4.

• Festivals
• August 9, 2007, 09:35

I’ve been tracking the progress of the Underage Festival all summer long. In a nutshell, it’s an one-day event featuring the likes of Mystery Jets, Crystal Castles, Foals, Cajun Dance Party, Erol Alkan, I Was A Cub Scout, Tiny Dancers …

• Media
• August 8, 2007, 14:04

RTE Radio One’s News At One spent about five minutes on this story about a German woman who had a pencil lodged in her head for 55 years and finally had it removed. Hopefully, we’ll get similar relief when this …

• Media
• August 8, 2007, 11:17

From the front page of today’s newspaper. The caption reads: Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion holds a model Aer Lingus aircraft after an engine fell off it during a photocall at Stormont with Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley …

• Music business
• August 8, 2007, 09:27

On The Record’s favourite music biz exec and Celine Dion accomplice seems quite taken by the whole 360 business model. Annoucing net losses and reduced revenue in the last quarter for Warner Music, Edgar Bronfman Jr told analysts that the …

• Live music
• August 7, 2007, 15:29

Per his site, he plays the Big Top on October 28.

• Irish music
• August 7, 2007, 10:51

Update for all you HAL fans out there who were asking about their whereabouts below. Yes, the band still exist and have been working on new songs for a second album. However, there’s no planned date for it to be …

• Media
• August 7, 2007, 09:15

Lee Hazlewood RIP – obituary from The Guardian Prospect magazine takes a look at pop-onomics in its current issue. Could the wisdom (and wallets) of crowds be the new way forward for the music business? The Sunday Times looks at …

• The Far Side
• August 5, 2007, 14:41

As played on Phantom FM, Saturday August 4, 10pm-midnight. That Tiger Force tune is AWESOME so hats off to Pedro for the tip on that. It’s from a great mini-album called “A Wasp In A Jar” (8 tracks in 18 …

• Politics
• August 3, 2007, 19:03

Say hello to Senator Ivor. It does, you have to admit, have a certain ring to it. I wonder does this mean the return of the caravan? Hopefully, he’ll be able to take some time from his hectic schedule as …

• Festivals Live music
• August 3, 2007, 18:35

In a throwaway comment a few weeks ago, I said that we’ve probably had over 60 music festivals and outdoor shows in Ireland this summer. Then, you lot took over and the monster list began. It went on and on …

• Irish music Media Music business
• August 3, 2007, 09:21

The punters have spoken and they are blanking Teenager. First-week sales figures for The Thrills’ new album were just as disappointing as the critical reaction to the band’s third album.

• Media
• August 3, 2007, 09:15

Memo to RTÉ radio queenpin (and country singer with recent Midlands act Cosmic Banditos) Ana Leddy: there is another way to cover arts on the radio. Axing the dull Eleventh Hour is a start, but Leddy should also tune into …

• New releases
• August 3, 2007, 09:11

Paddy Casey releases his third album, Addicted to Company (Part One), on September 7th. It’s the singer-songwriter’s follow-up to his blockbuster Living, which has sold a colossal 175,000 copies in Ireland alone. However, after two albums, Casey has yet to …

• Jazz
• August 3, 2007, 09:10

Dublin will be getting its Lieb on at the end of the month with the visit of veteran jazzer David Liebman. In addition to working with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, Liebman has also taken a keen interest in the …

• Media
• August 2, 2007, 19:29

Just noticed that the recently launched Spin South West has a couple of decent shows on Friday nights if you’re looking for some wireless enlightenment (all shows streamed on the station site). My old mucker Paul Webb (and the resident …

• Live music
• August 2, 2007, 11:29

Ian has the scoop on this one. UPDATE Tickets go on sale on Friday August 10, priced 49.20 euro. Seeing as this will be Arcade Fire’s FOURTH show in ireland this year, do people think it will sell out right …

• New releases
• August 2, 2007, 10:32

• Tune of the Week
• August 2, 2007, 08:47

It’s so much easier to get excited about a new band, isn’t it?

• Music business
• August 1, 2007, 18:31

The New York Post is reporting that Madonna may be about to do one of those 360 deals which are set to be all the rage in the music business in the coming months. Now that her deal with Warner …

• Media
• August 1, 2007, 14:10

For the next 31 days, all manner of stories, notions and whims will end up getting headlines because there is nothing else to write about. In newspaper offices everywhere, there’s already a frantic look in the eyes of commissioning editors …