Electric Picnic - 14 new acts to be added to the bill
Full list to come on Thursday, sports fans. Anyone want to do some guessing?
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Find your ancestorsOn The Record
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Rocking out in small rooms and on big lawns
Here comes the heat again. White Denim’s first 15 minutes at Dublin’s Academy 2 was one of the finest wig-outs encountered in an age. A packed room looked on in awe as the trio stonked away without taking the time to draw a breath. Guitars, drums and bass entered this fuzzy zone where the interplay was intuitive and there was no need for anyone to even look up from any of the dudes to look up from what they were doing. Songs powered along and the energy in the space was just immense.
White Denim’s current album “Fits” deserves a podium of its own, but so too does the band’s live show. It’s an addictive sensation, all stone-crazy riffs and helter-skelter dashes from the garage-rock side of town. I’d imagine they’ve played their asses off in the last 18 months and it really shows in how they relate to each other and the tunes they’re throwing out there. Hopefully the local musicians in the audience, looking on with their mouths agape, realise just how much work they have to do to get to that standard. This is the real deal alright.
One of the other real deals on offer right now is provided by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Over the last few years, these hardchaws have toured these parts a few times and each show is a masterclass in what a live music experience is all about. I saw them (yes, again) in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday evening and it was further proof that it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive. Every encounter with these masters at work is life-affirming and proof that they’re just not making them like this any more.
Coming less than 24 hours after an epic Glastonbury appearance - Glasto seemed to have had a share of epic turns this year with Bruce, Blur and Neil Young all starring in the despatches from England’s West Country - Springsteen and comrades seemed newly energised by their performance and the reception they got. After all, they don’t get to play to so many newbies at once any more - or play to an audience who spend their time waving flags and wondering if he’ll play “Born In The USA”. It’s interesting to note that the current tour features a couple of rare festival appearances from Springsteen - he even shared a stage on Sunday in Hyde Park, though the less said about some of these acts (I’m looking at you, Dave Matthews Band) the better.
In London, with planes flying surreally over the stage every couple of minutes en route to Heathrow, they opened with an appropriately rollercoaster run through “London Calling”, the second of the weekend’s nods to the memory of Joe Strummer. From then on, it was simply Boss-time, one bona-fide classic after another from a band who seem to be getting better and bolder with age. Yes, Clarence Clemons has slowed down of late - understandable after operations for double hip and double knee replacements - but he still hits markers time and time again. The rest of the band continue to throw shapes with the kind of gusto younger pretenders to their crown can only fake.
At the heart of it all is Springsteen. There are many times during this three hour power-drive through the back-pages of his career when he just loses himself in the euphoria of what’s happening around him on that stage. On “Badlands” and “She’s The One”, he stomps around the stage, rousing the band to go higher and higher. Two hours later, as they burst through “Rosalita” and “Glory Days”, he’s still urging them onwards.
Other highlights: the way Springsteen gathers the cardboard banners and posters with song titles from the crowd and uses them to direct the set-list. Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem coming on to sing “No Surrender” and looking like the kid with the Willy Wonka golden ticket. A glorious “Born to Run” which threatens to burst out of the park and rush off down Park Lane. The way new songs “Workin’ On A Dream” and “Outlaw Pete” have bedded down and already sound like old familiar pals. A passionate “Trapped” roared to the skies. A great, great night out in London town. Those of you with tickets for his shows at Dublin’s RDS on July 11 and 12 are in for one hell of a treat.
Footnote: after the show, 40,000 people quickly and quietly left the venue, which is really a large field with a temporary fence around it. There were a couple of policemen on horseback to stop people walking into the traffic, but that was about the height of the police presence. No drunken eejits (even though plenty of bottles of beer had obviously been consumed judging by the content of the bins - oh yes, very little litter), no haphazard stewarding, no shortage of buses, no-one jumping over fences to get out faster, no calls to the London equivalent of Liveline, no fuss, no drama, no bother. It’s good sometimes to go to a professionally run event attended by civilised human beings. Just a shame you have to go abroad to do so.
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The News at 10 (past 9)
Dong! Free gigs in Dublin! It’s the return of the Salon Music series for the fifth year with a bunch of free shows in the ballroom of the lovely Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park. Hitting the salon will be Julie Feeney (July 21), Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill (August 4), John Taylor (July 28) and Tarab and Xi an Si (August 11). Tickets will be awarded by lottery and you can enter via this website. Remember: if you’re not in, you can’t win.
Dong! What time is it? It’s Banter time! Banter is a new monthly-ish series of informal chats, debates and discussions around pop and pop culture. The first one takes place next Saturday (July 4) in the Mezz room in the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1) and will look at “the state of Irish music radio - past, present and future”. The speakers: Paul McLoone (Today FM) and The Golden Maverick (Power FM). The eejit keeping it all together: er, me. Admission is free but capacity is limited so to guarantee your place, please email your name to conor@bodytonicmusic.com with ‘Banter No1′ in the subject bar.
Dong! Another festival! It’s the Moondance Music & Arts Festival and it will take place at Petersburg House, Clonbur, Co. Galway from August 14 to 16. Giving it (pop) socks on the shores of Lough Mask will be Lisa Hannigan, Jape, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, There are also arts workshops, yoga, theatre performances, storytelling, stand-up comedy, art exhibitions and a Mask Ball with Kila. Weekend tickets are €115.
Dong! What’s that? That’s Pixies, dude! Pixes play Dublin’s Olympia on October 1 and 2. Tickets will be €54.80 and €44.20 and go on sale on Friday at 9am. They’ll be marking the 20th anniversary of “Doolittle” by playing the album - and assorted b-sides - in full. It will be just like the time they played in the National Stadium with the Pale Saints as support. Ah, old age, I knew there was an upside.
Dong! Belsonic returns to Belfast! Er, I just found the press release on this but we heart city fests and we need a chance to go “Bonkers” so here’s the belated skinny. Playing Belfast’s Custom House Square will be Dizzee Rascal and Vampire Weekend (August 27), 2 Many DJs, Deadmau5 and Boys Noize (August 28) and Dukebox with Duke Special, Bell X1 and guests (August 29). Tickets are £29 per day.
Note to gig promoters who will now try to clog up the comments plugging their gigs: we have a weekly plug-for-all on Friday so save your breath for that.
It’s going to be a good day. B-o-n-k-e-r-s!
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Competition - win a pair of weekend tickets to Oxegen 2009!
We haven’t had a competition in ages on the blog but, thanks to Heineken Music, we have a pair of weekend tickets to Oxegen 2009 to give away to one lucky reader.
Heineken Music are the ones behind the Heineken Green Spheres stage which will feature TV On The Radio, Pet Shop Boys, Regina Spektor, That Petrol Emotion, The Noisettes, Glasvegas, 2 Many DJs, Friendly Fires, Foals, The Saturdays (the only band playing Oxegen which features someone from Tipperary in the line-up, fact fans) and many more.
Then, there’s the rest of the line-up: Blur, The Specials,Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nine Inch Nails, Passion Pit, Hockey, Fever Ray, St Vincent, Villagers and dozens and dozens of other acts. It takes place at Punchestown Racecourse, Co Kildare from July 10 to 12.
To win, simply tell us who would be on your fantasy festival stage. Yes, it’s Fantasy Festival Promoter. Acts can be dead or alive, Irish or international, plausible or implausible. One day’s line-up only and no more than 10 acts and please do give your criteria for your choices. The funnier and sharper the better. Even better, because it’s Fantasty Festival Promoter, you will not have to deal with agents, management, fans, Ticketmaster, Joe Duffy or the guards.
Competition is open until 11.55pm on Thursday and the winner will be announced on Friday morning. One entry per reader please. Judge’s decision is final (ie I decide who wins and will not take any fuming from those who don’t win). Naturally, the competition is not open to anyone currently promoting live shows for a living. Go get ‘em, OTR readers.
* Declaration of interest: I contribute a weekly column to the Heineken Music website
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Don’t stop ’till you plug enough
In The Ticket today, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna talk about their new flick Rudo Y Cursi, there’s an interview with Wild Beasts, James Petralli from White Denim talks about what’s on his rider, Brian Boyd looks at Sufjan Stevens’ latest wheeze and Donald Clarke visits the set of Tom Hall’s new movie Sensation in Bray.
There’s New Music love for The XX, Girls, Highlife, Topcat & Underdog, Race Horses and Emil & Friends and Music News covers the launch of the Hard Working Class Heroes festival, the Raw Sessions TV show and Bruce Springsteen taking on Ticketmaster.
CD of the Week comes from The Duckworth Lewis Method and there’s also reviews of releases by La Roux, Richard Bishop, Marc Carroll, Bibio, the “7 X 7 Beat” compilation on All-City, Nell Bryden, Black Sabbath and many more.
New movies in the cinema this week are Rudo Y Cursi, Year One and Sunshine Cleaning, while there’s also movie news, the weekly movie quiz and DVD reviews.
The Ticket: music, movies and fudge
The weekly OTR community noticeboard is now open for your plugs. You know the story: plug your wares, keep the plugs short and to the point (I will edit them if they’re not) and make sure you declare an interest where one should be declared.
Please note that all comments on the death of Michael Jackson are here. I guess all will be quiet on the Oasis-in-Slane story today.
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Revenue Commissioners lodge petition to wind-up POD Concerts
Simon Carswell reports in today’s paper that the Revenue Commissioners have lodged a High Court petition seeking the winding-up of POD Concerts, the company behind the Electric Picnic festival. This is on foot of an outstanding VAT bill for €800,000 and the case is due to be heard on July 13.
However, the report and a statement on the Elecric Picnic website stresses that the move will have no effect on this year’s Electric Picnic festival (which is now owned and run by EP Republic, a joint venture between POD and Festival Republic), any upcoming shows promoted by the company (such as Leonard Cohen in The O2) or any of the Pod’s venues.
Per Simon’s report, “POD Concerts said it had been in talks with the Revenue and its creditors with a view to paying its debts and “sought time” from the Revenue “in order to execute this….This has not been forthcoming from them, even after paying them a substantial down payment in March and putting a payment plan to them for full execution over 16 months”.
There was no statement from the Revenue about this.
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Michael Jackson RIP
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Anyone for some more pain in Slane?
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Tune of the Week - “Street Corner Music”
Forget food miles, let’s talk about music miles.
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The Italian connection
We’ve been talking a lot of late here about festivals out foreign like Primavera and Sonar. This weekend, there will hundreds (thousands?) of Irish walking around the Eavis small-holding in Glastonbury. Many of you will also be planning to head away to Airbound (Bodytonic and Nightflight’s beano in Croatia), EXIT, Melt, Sziget, Pukkelpop and Benicassim (which seems to the only European date which the Tom Tom Club are doing).
One of the best European festivals I’ve been to in recent years is Italia Wave. After wandering from Arezzo to Florence, it has now found a semi-permanent home by the sea in Livorno. This year’s fest will feature Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Placebo, 2 Many DJs, Ellen Allien, Howie B (his Beautiful project with Luca Bergia and others) and many, many more, including a veritable ton of Italian bands. Add in films, literary bits and bobs, comics (a public interview with Gilbert Shelton), sports (including a 10km road-race), theatre and you have over 130 events on 9 stages from July 16 to 19.
Admission to all daytime events and the first night’s gigs is free, a ticket for Saturday with Kraftwerk and the Aphex Twin is €25 and a weekend ticket is €60.
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The Far Side - playlist for Tuesday June 23
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday June 23, 10pm-midnight
Omar Souleyman “Leh Jani” (Sublime Frequencies)
Konono No 1 “Kule Kule” (Crammed)
White Denim “Say What You Want” (Full Time Hobby)
Crocodiles “Summer of Hate” (Fat Possum)
Wilco “Bull Black Nova” (Nonesuch)
The XX “Teardrops” (White)
Sleep Thieves “Osumi” (Self release)
Holy Roman Army “Empty Skies” (Collapsed Adult)
Ruari, Zinc & Tom Oberheim “Analogue” (RBMA)
Mike Slott “Knock Knock” (All City)
Sa-Ra Creative Partners “I Swear” (Ubiquity)
The Field “I Have The Moon, You Have The Internet” (Kompakt)
Bibio “S’Vive” (Warp)
Daniel Rossen “Waterfall” (American Dust)
Noah & The Whale “First Days Of Spring” (Mercury)
Woods “Rain On” (Woodsist)
Mulatu Astatqe “Yekermo Sew” (Buda Musique)
Mahmoud Ahmed “Fetsum Denq Ledj Nesh” (Buda Musique)
Ornette Coleman “When Will The Blues Leave?” (Contemporary)
Yonlu “Q-Tip” (Luaka Bop)
Elaine Brown “Seize The Time” (Water)
William De Vaughan “Be Thankful For What You Got” (Roxbury)
Nina Simone “Feeling Good” (Verve) -
The pain in Slane
While all the pre-match commentary might have led you to believe that such a headline would be refering to the meat-and-two-veg on the line-up, there really should not be any surprises about what’s causing friction after this year’s big gig at Slane.
Kitty Holland’s news report this morning has the organisers planning a “detailed review” about the problems which are said to have occured at the festival. These problems, which were not mentioned by the gardai in their post-gig wrap, led to hundreds of fans venting online and on the airwaves yesterday about lengthy queues to get into the field, drunken behaviour from concert-goers and more lengthy queues to get on buses after the event. Strangely, no-one complained about the music. Kitty’s report includes some of these comments which were culled from Liveline, boards.ie and this blog.
The news report also has an admission from promoters MCD that “ticket scanning checks were suspended for about 30 minutes shortly after 6.35pm at one entrance to ease queues through the forest lane way”. Does anyone know if there were ticket checks done before this point as is often the case at events of this size? You know, security people at the site entrance or perimeter checking to make sure everyone going past actually has a ticket for the show. Or was there just one ticket checking operation in place? I’m sure this is something which would have been outlined in the event management schedule agreed by the promoters, venue owner, gardai, local authorities and Meath County Council.
It will be interesting to see if this story continues to gain traction or if, like so many of its predecessors, it will simply go away. As I said in comments below, “our day of hell at the rock’n'roll concert” stories have occured again and again over the last few summers, from Oxegen 2006 to Babs in 2007. But in all these cases bar Babs (where the people who were fuming knew exactly how to fume to get results), there was a bit of a brouhaha before everyone and Joe Duffy moved onto the next outrage. That’s how the summer gig cycle works: pre-gig buzz, gig, post-gig fuming and then everyone buys tickets for the next gig. Just don’t expect Noel Gallagher to offer you a refund for your troubles.
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On The Record at Sonar
Much has changed at Sonar since the first time I found myself standing on that astroturf in the middle of Barcelona’s CCCB/MACBA in June 1999 taking it all in. Back then, Sonar was something of a bit of a best kept secret beyond Catalunya and wasn’t attracting the kind of heat and traction which was to soon come its way. In fact, as I was reminded this year, myself and my two companions represented a very exotic breed that year: the first very pale Irish yahoos to find their way to Sonar. If only the poor Catalans had known then that we were actually the acceptable face of Irish yahoos…..
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The boutique options
I had a look at a couple of smaller festivals - in size and price - in the paper on Friday. It was chiefly about Castle Palooza and Indiependence, but with mentions too for Le Cheile, Glasgowbury and KnockanStockan.
Besides their ticket prices, all five feature largely homegrown bills (although Indiependence has Ocean Colour Scene and Super Furry Animals as headliners) and they’re also fests who have been slogging away for a number of years in various guises.
At a time when a couple of other players in the game have decided to sit this year out, it is heartening to see these smaller fests having a pop. Some might say that they’re a little mad, but I think you’ll find that little bit of madness in all promoters. Putting on a live music event where success is subject to the vagaries and foibles of the gig-going public has always been a risky bet, but it’s even more so at a time when wage-packets are that little bit lighter thanks to the government’s new raft of levies and taxes. The next couple of months are going to be very interesting for all live music players, big and small.
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Why did the chicken cross the road? To plug his gig at the weekend
In The Ticket today, you will find an interview with John Turturro (”one of the most distinctive actors of his generation (and) the best reason to see Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen” says Donald Clarke), a short history of pre-historic movies, a look at how the summer is shaping up for festivals like Castle Palooza and Indiependence amd Brian Boyd on why EMI Records do not heart Danger Mouse.
There´s New Music love for Local Natives, Housse de Racket, Fly Girlz, Hundred In The Hands, EleventyFour and Rubik, while Lauren Murphy has the news on Dylan Haskins´new all-ages venue in Dublin, Belfast´s Trans festival and Sigur Ros trying to win a cuddly toy on Icelandic TV.
CD of the Week comes from Wilco and there are also releases of new releases from Gossip, White Denim, The Holy Roman Army, The Mars Volta, Oskar, Sam Isaac, Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Túcan and many more.
In the cinemas, the week´s new releases are Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, Fugitive Pieces and Katyn. Plus the weekly movie quiz and some DVD reviews from the lads who cover the flicks, there´s also movie news.
The Ticket: you know it makes sense.
The OTR community noticeboard is now open for business. You know what to do - and if you don´t, someone will be along very shortly to show you what to do. Please declare an interest because it´s only polite
By the way: some very interesting comments still coming in here and here - thanks to everyone for their contributions to what has been another very busy week at OTR.
New week: a report from the Sonar festival in Barcelona. Yep, I´m back in Catalunya again with another bunch of Irish yahoos for the 16th running of the Sonar bulls. Tune in on Monday (or Tuesday) for the skinny. I´m here to do a special show for The Far Side in a few weeks and have already seen awesome live sets from Konono No 1 and Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics (and interviewed Hank Shocklee) so I´m very happy. See y´all next week.
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Tune of the Week - “Teardrops”
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Grizzly Bear, Dublin, November
On The Record has learned that Grizzly Bear will be playing Dublin’s Vicar Street on November 1. It’s a Foggy Notions gig and tickets go on sale this Friday at €22 a pop (plus booking fee) from usual outlets. Interview with the band here and review of their awesome “Veckatimest” album here.
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The Far Side - playlist for Tuesday June 16
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday June 16, 10pm-midnight
Beastie Boys “Sabotage” (Grand Royal)
Bad Brains “Big Takeover” (Caroline)
Death “Rock-N-Roll Victim” (Drag City)
Monks “Monk Chant” (Light In The Attic)
Cause Co-Motion! “Which Way Is Up?” (Slumberland)
Double Dagger “Helicopter Lullaby” (Thrill Jockey)
Toddla T “Shake It” (1965)
Major Lazer “Hold the Line” (Mad Decent)
Amanda Blank “Might Like You Better” (Downtown)
Animal Collective “Summertime Clothes” (Domino)
Sleep Thieves “Osumi” (Self release)
Highlife “F Kenya Rip” (New High)
Local Natives “Sun Hands” (Chess Club)
Bibio “Ambivalence Avenue” (Warp)
The XX “Basic Space” (Young Turks)
Janelle Monae “Sincerely, Jane” (Wondaland Arts)
Jesse Dee “Alright” (Munich)
Booker T “Hey Ya” (Anti)
Mulata Astatke & The Heliocentrics “Blue Nile” (Strut)
Allen Toussaint “Victims of the Darkness” (Warner Brothers)
Anna King “Sittin’ In The Dark” (Shout)
Willie Isz “Georgiavania” (Lex)
Speech Debelle “The Key” (Big Dada)
Sa-Ra Creative Partners “Dirty Beauty” (Ubiquity)
Onra “My Comet” (All City)
Deradoorian “Weed Jam” (Lovepump United)
Sir Richard Bishop “The Pillars of Baalbek” (Drag City)
Gregory & The Hawk “Voice Like A Bell” (Fat Cat)
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Has the countdown to the end of the 99 cent download begun?
Leaving aside the fact that yesterday’s announcement by Universal Music and Virgin Media that they’re going to be launching an eat-all-you-can download service in the UK is about 10 years too late, it’s clear that we’re finally seeing some sense developing in the record business.
Of course, there are lots of details which won’t become clear until the service launches later this year - like the price for a start, though the Guardian reckons it will be about £15 a month - but the basics are in place. Virgin Media users will be able to stream or download as much of the Universal catalogue as they wish for a monthly fee. That’s as much U2, Kanye West, The Killers, Razorlight, Elton John and The Saturdays as you can take. The ISP is also in talks with other labels so they may well have more catalogues to offer by the time they press the start button. It’s a take on the subscription model which so many music business observers have been talking about for years - eMusic with no (no) limits, if you like.
There’s a quote in the press release about how both parties believe the move will bring about a “rapid and permanent change” in how people buy and listen to music. That’s a bit of an understatement, if the service is as good as it sounds and doesn’t turn out to be another record biz pig-in-a-poke. As we’ve discussed here (and here as well), services like Spotify and, now, Universal-Virgin may well be the way forward. They show the industry finally accepting that sending in the lawyers with cease-and-desist letters is not going to stop illegal file-sharing. Hell, nothing is going to stop file-sharing. The only thing which may persuade some illegal file-sharers to pay for their music is to provide a legitimate, easy-to-understand alternative. Enter Spotify, Universal-Virgin and a plethora of others which may well be waiting in the wings.
Naturally, I’d give anything to see the maths behind all of this and find out how much the label expects to make from this deal. You can be sure that Universal are charging a high premium for access to the farm, especially when (see next paragraph) they can expect to lose a sizable revenue stream from the download stores. You can also be certain that the money-men behind Universal’s premier league signings have already renegotiated contracts to reflect the new realities.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect to all of this is the positioning of such subscription services as iTunes-killers. While there’s no doubt that Apple’s Steve Jobs provided the record industry with a get-out-of-jail-free card when he put the iTunes store online in 2002, few of the deal-makers saw a situation emerging where Jobs, their one-time white knight in a black polo-neck, would change the game in the way he did. They’ve been trying since then to win back that leverage and it’s subscription services like Universal-Virgin which may well turn the tide in their favour. After all, if you can download or stream all the music you want, are you really going to be ponying up 99 cent a pop for a MP3?
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Gigroll
The Drones are coming. The Aussie band, who were just mighty at the recent Primavera, play Cork’s Cyprus Avenue (November 6), Galway’s Roisin Dubh (7) and Dublin’s Whelan’s (8).
It must be at least a year since the Brad Mehldau Trio were in these parts. Anyway, Mehldau, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard play Dublin’s Vicar Street on October 17 and Cork’s Opera House the following night. Lovely.
Anyone for more Deerhunter? It seems like only yesterday since they were stuffing Dublin’s ALT to the gills - hang on, it was only yesterday - but they’re coming back to the city to play Whelan’s on August 23.
Legend alert: the mighty Allen Toussaint plays Dublin’s Whelan’s on July 13. Dude has played on more great records than you’ve had hot dinners.
Gregory & The Hawk’s lovely album “Moenie and Kitchi” for Fat Cat was one of those which nearly got away in 2008. Check the duo out when they play Cork’s Infirmary (Mardyke Complex) and Dublin’s Whelan’s (upstairs) on June 21 and 22 respectively.
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Ace of clubs
It was the kind of publicity money couldn’t buy. Just as well really, because Robbie Fox probably doesn’t have a bean to spend on PR at the moment. The club and restaurant owner spent much of last week talking to newspapers and radio shows about his troubles. With the companies behind such Fox fixtures as Renards, Tante Zoe’s, Brown’s Barn and Barracuda now in liquidation, the owner was in a talking frame of mind. The liquidator is in place, the creditors have formed an orderly queue and the process of paying them some of what they are due has begun. Many of these creditors are probably also in similar queues elsewhere, waiting to get paid by other debtors as Recession 2.0 bites.
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Who let the plugs out?
In this week’s issue of The Ticket, there’s an interview with Dirty Projectors on the occasion of the release of new album “Bitte Orca”, a preview of the Stranger Than Fiction documentary festival, a look at the Street Performance World Championships as it revs up for days out in Cork and Dublin and Brian Boyd on Vevo vs YouTube.
There is New Music love for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Legion Of Two, An Horse, The Mummers, Bibio and Reminder. In Music News, Lauren Murphy reports on a forthcoming Jeff Buckley tribute gig, Phil Spector whinging about prison life and continental love for Fight Like Apes.
CD of the Week comes from Neil Young and there are also reviews of releases from Jimmy Behan, Speech Debelle, The Low Anthem, Toddla T, Cass McCombs, Placebo, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Nouvelle Vague, Losoul, Jesse Dee, Larry Beau and others. Plus Eoin Butler dishes out the wisecracks along with the singles.
New film releases this week are Looking For Eric, The Hangover, The Last House On The Left (man, they’ve taken out TV ads for that one like they’re going out of fashion), Red Cliff and Doghouse (it gets one star so the review is probably more entertaining than the film).
Plus a report from China on John Woo’s “magnum opus” Red Cliff, an interview with Bradley “The Hangover” Cooper, DVD reviews, weekly movie quiz and much, much more.
The Ticket: more laughs than Tommy Tiernan
The OTR noticeboard is now open for business. Plug gigs, clubs, blogs, sales-of-work or things you saw on the back of t-shirts but please - please - do declare an interest where one is relevant.
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Faith No More, Dublin, August 27
On The Record gets info on gigs from all sorts of places, but this is the first - and probably last - time we’ve ever got the skinny about an upcoming show from the back of a t-shirt. Per Adrian from Faith No More 2.0, the band will be playing Dublin on August 27. The source for this info? Tour dates published on the back of t-shirts on sale at the band’s (by all accounts excellent) show at London’s Brixton Academy last night. We kid you not.
OTR: we care a lot.
UPDATE: Per report in Hot Press, the venue for the show is the Olympia.
UPDATE 2: Tickets go on sale on Wednesday from usual outlets and are priced €59.80 (circle seats) and €54.80 (standing and upper circle seats)
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Dirty Projectors, Dublin, September
Dirty Projectors play their second Dublin show of 2009 at Whelan’s on September 16. The band’s awesome new album “Bitte Orca” is released this week (review here) and you can read an interview with them in The Ticket on Friday. Here’s the band performing with Bjork in New York last month.
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The Wire on the radio and in the paper
It’s a B-More takeover of sorts on Lyric FM on Friday. Actors Clarke Peters (AKA ace detective Lester Freamon) and Reg E. Cathey (AKA political smoothie Norman Wilson) from The Wire take over John Kelly’s JK Ensemble on Friday afternoon.
Mo’ men behind The Wire: here’s Davin O’Dwyer’s interview with David Simon for the paper at the weekend.
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The Far Side - playlist for Tuesday June 9
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday June 9, 10pm-midnight
Local Natives “Sun Hand” (Chess Club)
Race Horses “Cake” (Fantastic Plastic)
Wave Machines “Wave If You’re Really There” (Neapolitan)
Lacrosse “We Are Kids” (Tapete)
Rubik “Wasteland” (Fullsteam)
Emil & Friends “Downed Economy” (Transparent)
Franz Ferdinand “Katherine Hit Me” (Domino)
White Denim “Say What You Want” (Full Time Hobby)
PVC Streetgang “Cutlass” (Self release)
Django Django “Storm” (Shadazz)
The Mummers “Sleepyhead” (Big Bass Drum)
Tim & Sam’s Tim and Sam Band “Summer Solstice” (Static Caravan)
First Aid Kit “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” (Rabid)
Rhythm Is Rhythm “Strings Of Life (Beatless mix)” (Transmat)
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble “War” (Honest Jons)
Mulata Astatke & The Heliocentrics “Esketa Dance” (Strut)
Mor Thiam “Ayo Ayo Nene” ( Now-Again)
El Michels Affair “C.R.E.A.M.” (Fat Beats)
Menahan Street Band “Made the Road By Walking” (Dunham)
Grizzly Bear “Southern Point” (Warp)
Holy Roman Army “Elegy” (Collapsed Adult)
Joker’s Daughter “The Last Laugh” (Double Six)
Florence & The Machine “I’m Not Calling You A Liar” (Moshi Moshi)
Julie Feeney “Stay” (Mittens)
Sharon Van Etten “I Wish I Knew” (Drag City)
Sleepy Sun “Duet With the Northern Sky” (ATP) -
Sonic Youth, Dublin, December
And sure, we were only talking about Kim Gordon earlier on…. Sonic Youth play Dublin’s Vicar Street on December 6, their first gig here since Electric Picnic 2006. Tickets for this POD joint are €48.50 and €42.50 a pop and go on sale on Friday, which happens to be the day the band’s new album “The Eternal” is released.
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The randomiser says “what’s good for the goose is good for the Ganley”
Much as I wish I could claim the above headline, all credit to OTR reader Declan for that one yesterday.
Cluas marks ten years in the writing-about-music-online business with the site’s writers compiling their list of the Top 50 Irish Albums, 1999-2009. Chances are you don’t agree with the list so head here to do some venting. Congrats to editor/publisher/founder/chief tea-maker Eoghan O’Neill and crew on the first 10 years.
Best way to ensure a best-seller? Publish the libel report for the book first.
Now is the summer of our (indie) disco tents. The Irish premiere of the All Tomorrow’s Parties doc takes place at Dublin’s IFI on June 20 during their Stranger Than Fiction fest. Per the blurb: “All Tomorrow’s Parties is a DIY concert film featuring performances from an eclectic mix of some of the most influential artists including: Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle And Sebastian, Patti Smith, Grinderman, Iggy and the Stooges, Portishead, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Gossip, Daniel Johnston and The Boredoms.”
Hands up how many On The Record readers were at Planetlove last weekend or Life the weekend before? Yep, thought so
Free Optimo! The Glasgow duo will be joining the Shock DJs, Nightflight DJs and friends for a free all-day party at the Bernard Shaw in Dublin next Saturday from 1pm. Later that night, Optimo hit the decks at Pogo. At the BS bash, JG Wilkes and JD Twitch will be doing a non-dancefloor set, probably akin to last year’s wonderful “Sleepwalk” compilation.
Ben Wardle asks why all the fuss this weather about Island Records? You have to agree with him: whatever about the Island of old when Chris Blackwell was at the helm, the Island of today is just another major label subsidary shuffling and shifting beans.
Kim Gordon for Prez! We’ve always liked the Sonic Youth queenpin, but now she’s just gone and biffed Radiohead on the nose in an interview with The Guardian so, natch, we like her even more. Yeah, we’re shallow like that. On Radiohead’s name-your-own-price stunt: “it seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn’t catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don’t sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever.”
Last week, oversized music promoters Live Nation introduced a “No Fee Wednesday” deal which most people thought meant exactly that. Not so, reports Alan Duke for CNN.
The Face may be returning. No, really. I bet dSide is next.
eMusic subscribers, are you unhappy, irritated or annoyed with the new pricing plans at the popular music subscription service now that major label Sony Music has swung by? You’re not alone.
Per the lovely Metric, you don’t need record labels to get by in this tough ol’ world when you have the Canuck government in your corner. Sigh, if only we had a government like that. Sigh, if only we had a government. Yeah, I knew I’d get back to politics again today….
And finally, there ain’t no fool like an old-school fool. For unseated MEPs and councillors of every stripe.
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On The Polls: more people read On The Record than voted for Silvio’s soldiers
Here we go with our takeaways from Elections 2009 (note to self: maybe that should that be Elections 2009 - Part One?). The people have spoken and now, they will watch on in horror as what they’ve said is totally ignored. Dermot Ahern and John Gormley, we’re looking at youse, buds.
(1) It was not the great Facebook leap forward. Fianna Fail flops Garret Tubridy and Ronan Callely probably have more friends on Facebook than people prepared to give them their number one preferences.
(2) What do Mairead McGuinness and Oxegen dance fans have in common? They have both felt hugely euphoric in the same big shed in Punchestown.
(3) This was probably Enda Kenny’s finest hour. When he took over Fine Gael in 2002, the party was as good as dead and buried after an appalling general election. Now, the man from Mayo leads the largest party in the land, has KO’d Fianna Fail and is probably bursting for another election. Does this mean that more people see him as Taoiseach-in-waiting?
(4) On the other hand, Brian Cowen probably felt like pulling the duvet over his head and staying in bed this morning such are Fianna Fail’s woes. Dismal, grotesque, disastrous, unprecedented - and that’s probably just how his jilted councillors are feeling as they fume and fumigate. Could it get worse for him? Well, there’s always the next general election and, as John Bowman pointed out in his speed-tally of what might happen then, they can expect to lose seats all over the shop. Sure, they always say that a spell in opppsition is good for the soul.
(5) Best count coverage: Irish Election and especially their liveblog. Long after RTE, Newstalk and TV3 had gone home for the night and put on their pyjamas, you could still find streams of count info, unfiltered data and interesting rumours here. In fact, as the counts go on, the micro-blogs and tweet-collations are still hopping. Sure, OK, there were probably only a hundred or so political junkies still hooked up on Saturday night/Sunday morning, but we really (really) appreciated the fix. Kudos to all involved.
(6) While pundits will obviously go on at great length about Fianna Fail and the Green Party’s bad day at the office in Dublin, the post-mortem at Sinn Fein HQ when it comes to their performance in the capital city may be well worth ear-wigging on. There was no need for the lads with the tricolours this time. The party lost three council seats in the city as votes were dropped, high profile candidate like Daithi Doolan were Mannixed and previous poll-toppers were displaced. Meanwhile, Mary Lou McDonald lost her seat as her first preference vote slid from just over 60,395 in 2004 to 47,928 this time out. Is this “Dublin says no” time? The boys and girls in the back-office should start the blame report by rewatching Gerry Adams’ interview on TV3 on Saturday evening - when it comes to the economy, dude really does not have a clue. No seriously, dude hasn’t a breeze. At a time when economic affairs matter more than the national question, blow-ins from up north won’t wash any more in the big smoke.
(7) And then, there are the new PDs. Did you see the puss on ex-Galway mayor Niall O’Brolcháin as he tried to analyse where it all went wrong? The milk in your fridge is probably sour after enduring that one. But O’Brolcháin is not alone in feeling dismayed about what just happened. Those peeved Greens obviously didn’t get the memo that unpopular government parties always get a collective wedgie from the electorate in mid-term elections. And they certainly didn’t read the second page where people who voted Green in 2007 said “we didn’t vote Green to put Fianna Fail back in”. The question now is do they stay or do they go. Watch out for much windy taking of the high ground and “reflection” by some of your favourite Greens in the coming months.
(8) Does Mary Fitzpatrick’s poll-topping in Cabra-Glasnevin mean she’s now entitled to the keys to St Luke’s? Or does Bertie get to keep the shop until the next general election?
(9) Around about 10pm last night, there was a thunderous clatter and, lo, a voice came on the radio from the south-west. Jackie Healy-Rae has not - I repeat, has not - had a dose of the jitters about supporting this beaten docket of a government. The independent TD from the Kingdom, who left listeners in no doubt that he is not a George Lee fan, is standing right behind Brian Cowen. The word from Michael Lowry, the other indie TD in the government camp, was a lot cuter: “with the election of four county councillors and three urban councillors, I have seven councillors. I am bigger than the Green Party nationally.”
(10) From the money-can’t-buy-you-love department (copyright RR). We’re going to miss Silvio and co, you know: the man, the legend, the hubris, the FCA, the 106 European seats which never materialised. In the capital, it turned out that most people prefered their old Triton shower (or at least wanted to go with a shower who didn’t suddenly turn up out of nowhere with loadsamoney) to the one Libertas were touting. The stories from thsi campaign are going to be only fabulous. Meanwhile, in the north-west, the fuming goes on. Best quote on the BallotBoxGate came from George Hook: “just how many ways can you open a ballot box?”
More election bits and pieces to come during ther day and I’ll post them below. Stay tuned.
UPDATES
(11) The next EU debate on copyright is going to be interesting. At least one dude from the Swedish Pirate Party is heading to parliament.
(12) Very good blog post from Deaglán about where the Greens might go from here
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Tune of the Week - “Hold On”
This one goes out to all the sitting and wannabe MEPs and councillors in the audience today.
The band are called AsDSSkA. Yeah, I know, the shelf with all the catchy names must have been bare when they called by. Anyway, AsDSSkA are Aska Matsumiya (her form includes The Sad and Moonrats) and David Scott Stone (who has spells with The Sads, Get Hustle, Unwound and The Melvins to his name).
The two of them make dreamy, moody, out-there ambient music full of winsome coos, Satie-like abstract piano trembles, slow-mo synths and deeply lovely soundscapes to make you sigh with delight.
“Hold On” is out as a single at the moment on the Family Bookstore label and this tune comes with a smashing video put together by Spike Jonze and Crystal Moselle.
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Open the doors, the plugs are here!
In The Ticket today, Eric Cantona talks about football, movies and playing the trumpet, Brian Boyd dives into a brave new interactive musical world, there are New Music profiles of Florence & The Machine, Jon Hopkins, Dorian Concept, Generationals, Lacrosse and Love Language, find out how Duff McKagan became a music biz sage and there’s an interview with the Thisispopbaby folks. There are Music News stories on small fests getting bigger, Jimi Hendrix conspiracy theories and the new Arctic Monkeys album.
CD of the Week comes from Dirty Projectors (it’s an awesome album) and there are also reviews of releases from The Laundry Shop, Kasabian, Crocodiles, Donnacha Toomey, Aslan, Elvis Costello, Blur, El Michels Affair and many more.
New flicks in the flickodrome this week are Terminator Salvation, Last Chance Harvey, Anything for her, Fermat’s Room and The Grocer’s Son. Plus the winning entries in the recent Cinemagic Film Festival reviewing competition, DVD reviews, the weekly movie quiz, movie news and, the question of the day, can you handle Donald Clarke in 3-D?
The Ticket: from movies to music and back again via the kitchen floor
The OTR community noticeboard is now open for business. Plug what you have to plug but please do declare an interest where relevant. Thankin’ you.
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Fleetwood Mac, Dublin, October
Hear that? That’s the sound of groans from Elton John, James Taylor, The Eagles, Rod Stewart and a gallery of other AOR seniors with tickets to hawk for Irish summer shows as yet another heritage act decides to hit Ireland to add some ducats to their pension fund. Fleetwood Mac play Dublin’s 02 on October 24, which neatly puts paid to ridiculous rumours (hur, hur) that they were going to pitch a tent in Stradbally in early September. Per press release, tickets are “from” €86.25 a pop (no details on it about when they go on sale). How high will those tix go? Probably higher than even the Mac got when they were recording “Tusk”.
UPDATE: Tickets go on sale on June 12 and range in price from €126.25 to €86.25.
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The Far Side - playlist for Tuesday June 2
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday June 2, 10pm-midnight. It was the first Far Side block party of the summer - yes, there will be a few more and yes, I will remember to flag them in advance.
CSS v Tom Tom Club “Lets Make Love (Streetlife DJ remix)” (White)
Indeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Mirage remix)” (Italians Do It Better)
Rockers Revenge “Walking On Sunshine” (Mentronome)
Rolling Stones “Undercover of the Night” (CBS)
Grace Jones “Pull Up To The Bumper” (Island)
The Juan Maclean “The Simple Life” (DFA)
Telex “Moskow Diskow” (Hansa)
Afefe Iku “Mirror Dance” (Yoruba)
DJ Mujava “Township Funk” (Warp)
Leftfield “Afro-Left” (Hard Hands)
Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)” (Columbia)
Shirley Ellis “The Clapping Song” (Congress)
Vicki Anderson “A Message To The Soul Sisters” (People)
Missy Elliott “Get UR Freak On” (Atlantic)
Naughty By Nature “Hip Hop Hoorah” (Tommy Boy)
De La Soul “The Magic Number” (Tommy Boy)
Jimmy Castor Bunch “It’s Just Begun” (RCA)
Cymande “The Message” (Sequel)
Toots & The Maytals “Funky Kingston” (Trojan)
Junior Murvin “Police & Thieves” (Island)
ESG “UFO” (99)
Nu Yorican Soul “I Am The Black Gold of the Sun” (Talkin’ Loud)
Nightmares On Wax “Night’s Interlude” (Warp)
Roy Ayers “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” (Polydor) -
On The Record at Primavera
When the time comes to compile the blame report for sluggish and slow festival ticket sales in Ireland this summer, the finger-pointing can probably begin with flights to Barcelona and Girona last week. Every single flight heading from Ireland to Catalunya for a couple of days must have been full to the brim with Primavera-bound punters. While the Primavera Sound organise don’t compile a geographical breakdown of where the 70,000 punters who hoof their way to the Parc del Forum hail from, there’s no doubt that there was easily a couple of thousand Irish in the mix - and that’s not just the very drunk young wan giving out yards to the man at the crepe stand because he didn’t have any butter. Rather than spending their hard-earned cash on Irish fests, these punters decided to spend that money on a flight, a ticket and an apartment or hotel room in Barcelona instead. Many too may have extended their trip for a couple of days and made a holiday out of it. And they still had enough cash left over for some tapas.
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