On The Record »

The last plugs of winter

January 29, 2010 @ 10:34 am | by Jim Carroll

In The Ticket today, there’s the story of Other Voices, a preview of the forthcoming Dublin International Film Festival, an interview with Corinne Bailey Rae about her new album and a chat with Tim Smith from Midlake about jazz, folk and everything inbetween.

In New Music, we roll out the red carpet for Freelance Whales, Sleigh Bells, Esben & The Witch, The Blue Choir and Kiss In Cities, plus Music News stories on Project Guest DJ in Mullingar, the forthcoming IMRO showcase tour and jazz fest 12 Points on the move for ‘10 to Norway.

Album of the week comes from Patty Griffin and there are also reviews of new releases by Hot Chip, The Album Leaf, Lightspeed Champion, Los Campesinos!, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Pantha Du Prince, The Album Leaf, Craig Walker, Corinne Bailey Rae and many more. Plus Eoin Butler’s Shuffle column does the decent thing to a bunch of singles and downloads.

New flicks for your viewing pleasure this week are Precious, Edge of Darkness, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, 8.5 Hours and Adoration. Plus from the cinema dept: film news, the weekly movie quiz and DC’s Screenwriter column.

The Ticket: it goes all the way up to 11

Blog plug: it has been a darn busy week on the blog as two completely random musings attracted plenty of comments. It was the week when OTR turned into a feminist as we wondered why (almost) all daytime shows on national radio are hosted by men. And it was the week when a review of Owen Pallett’s gig in London turned into a lengthy discussion about reviews and the motivations of reviewers with helpful input from Michael Hann, the editor of the Guardian’s Film & Music supplement. A good week’s work.

The OTR plugboard awaits you. Plug and recommend stuff away to your heart’s content (including any and all Haiti benefit gigs you might be planning), but remember to declare an interest where one should be declared. Please note that plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Events with a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. I’m also cutting down on those plugs which appear every week (you know who you are) so don’t say you weren’t warned. Brothers and sisters, the revolution will not be televised.

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Brendan Benson and “unforeseen circumstances”

January 28, 2010 @ 12:14 pm | by Jim Carroll

This time out, it’s Brendan Benson who has to move venue due to the fact that more people want to see him in action. His Dublin show on March 2 will now move from the Button Factory to Vicar Street. Extra tix, at €17 a pop, will be on sale shortly from usual outlets.

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Tune of the Week – “Blue Nile”

@ 10:52 am | by Jim Carroll

Mo’ better blues from the far side.
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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday January 26

January 27, 2010 @ 3:12 pm | by Jim Carroll

I was elsewhere so Derek Byrne took care of The Far Side on Phantom 105.2 last night. Catch Derek’s own show The Lounge every Sunday from 10pm.

The Golden Filter “Solid Gold”
Boy 8-Bit “Baltic Pine (Run hide Survive Mix)”
Simian Mobile Disco “Cruel Intentions (Heartbreak Mix)”
Citay “Careful With That”
Memory Tapes “Bicycle”
Massive Attack “Girl I Love You (She Is Danger Remix)”
The Heavy “How you Like Me Now? (Joker Edit)”
AudioFun “Drop It”
The Selfish Replicators “Strands”
Field Music “Measure”
White Hinterland “Icarus”
Four Tet “Angel Echoes”
Miike Snow “Billie Holiday”
Bears In Heaven “Lovesick Teenagers”
Phoenix “Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands”
Grizzly Bear “Boy From School”
My Brightest Diamond “Plutos Moon (Son Lux Remix)”
Gang Gang Dance “House Jam (XXXchange remix)”
Holly Miranda “Waves”
Owen Pallett “Lewis Takes Off his Shirt”
The Antlers “Apple Orchard”
Dan Black/Kid Cudi “Symphonies”
The Four Seasons “Begging”

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8 out of 10 for Choice Music Prize live event

@ 10:54 am | by Jim Carroll

The full line-up for the Choice Music Prize live event in Vicar Street, Dublin on March 3 next is now confirmed.

The following acts will play live on the night:

And So I Watch You From Afar
Codes
Adrian Crowley
Dark Room Notes
The Duckworth Lewis Method
Julie Feeney
Valerie Francis
The Swell Season

Fellow nominees Bell X1 and Laura Izibor have US touring commitments and will be unable to play at the show.

The live show will be MC’d by Today FM’s Alison Curtis and there will also be snazzy video inserts on the night courtesy of Old Hat. The show will also be broadcast live on the night by Paul McLoone on Today FM. Ticket details here.

* Declaration of interest: I’m the co-founder of this yoke and am also the non-voting chairman of the judging panel.

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If it’s Monday, it must be… Owen Pallett at Union Chapel, London

January 26, 2010 @ 1:54 pm | by Jim Carroll

The venue becomes him. There was always a high (as a kite) church element to Owen Pallett’s music to begin with, so sticking him in these beautiful surroundings in the middle of Islington was always going to be a win-win situation. Then again, as someone muttered in the pew in front of us before a bow was ever applied to a violin, is it possible to have a bad gig in a church?

Pallett is here to give a gentle shove to his new album “Heartland”, a record of such beguiling charm and knockout hookability that you’re totally bowled over in its presence. It may be the best metaphysical album you will encounter for quite some time about a farmer and disembowelment. Before he plays, there’s a meeting of smart musical minds when Sam Amidon and Nico Muhly play. At one stage, Beth Orton wanders on to do so ethereal cooing. When Pallett joins the ensemble for one song – Amidon reminded him backstage earlier that it was “just D-E-G-D” – I’m sure several million musical molecules over London N1 blew their fuses.

One charge often leveled at Pallett, Muhly and cohorts, a cadre of bright sparks who sweep ideas from classical to electronica to indie to pop before them, is that it’s all a mite too clever. In fact, you can actually see a backlash of sorts building in places about this very thing. During our interview earlier, Pallett made a point about how UK reviews of his new album were so-so compared to reviews elsewhere. Look at Japan or Ireland or even the US, he said, the reviews there were great. But in the UK? There, the criticati seem to be coming out against the more cerebral style of indie blowing this way on the wind from across the Atlantic. Perhaps some reviewers and writers are pining for Britpop 2.0? Add in some odd reviews of acts like Beach House who’ve enjoyed much blog adulation and you wonder do some want to swap the brainy sounds of now for, well, Kasabian, Lost Prophets and Biffy Clyro.

On the evidence of this show, you’d be a fool to swap this sushi for that stodge. A show which sparkles and soars with gleeful abandon, Pallett and his onstage accomplice Thomas Gill tuck in all the song edges before unfurling them again when something even brighter comes to mind. It’s music for skylarking and twilight-dreaming which is beginning to remind me more and more of the sonic cornfields of Arthur Russell. Pallett plays Dublin’s Whelan’s on March 18 and that one is hugely recommended. Here’s a suggestion: next time out, why not stick him and his devotional music in the plush, spectral surrounds of Christchurch Cathedral?

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The randomiser says “do you come here often?”

January 25, 2010 @ 10:45 am | by Jim Carroll

Quote of the weekend: “running a record store is like running an angling shop these days: the customers are all middle-aged men”. There were many, many, many fine takeaways from our Banter session with Olan O’Brien from All-City Records on Saturday afternoon as he went through the history of that shop and label. Other nuggets included a stat that just 30% of All City’s business comes from records/CDs and some musing on why Los Angeles’ urban sprawl is the go-to place for hot music right now. Thanks also to 2fm’s Jenny Huston and Irish Independent’s Nick Kelly for their time and contributions to our second Banter discussion at the weekend. Using Jenny’s book In Bloom: Irish Bands Now as a jump-off point, we explored the past, present and possible futures of Irish music. Podcasts on both sessions to come.

Florence & The Machine return to Dublin’s Olympia for shows on May 2 and 3. Tickets on sale from Friday at €28. That’s a 12.5% increase in ticket prices (and, we assume, her fee) since her gig at the same venue last month.

New DJ incoming at Today FM. Red FM’s KC is leaving the southern capital for the big smoke where he’ll take over the 10pm to midnight slot from Alison Curtis, who is moving to the early breakfast show (5-7am). That move means both Today and 2fm are now all-male broadcasting bastions from 7am to close of business. I can see a few opinion columns a-brewing already….

Observer Music Monthly goes out with a bang with beautiful portraits of those rock’n'roll, blues, jazz and country legends still with us. Let’s remember the mag for features like this rather than its usual quota of ass-licking reviews.

The Beatles’ songwriting collaborations and partnerships as you have never seen them before.

More Haiti benefits: live sets from BATS, Hunter-Gatherer and Groom plus DJ sets from Nialler9, Mary Jane Girls, Popical Island and guests at the Twisted Pepper on February 4. Music from 8pm, preceded by a cake sale from 7pm, admission is a tenner and all cash raised goes to fund GOAL’s work in Haiti.

Book of the weekend: plenty of fabulous reviews incoming (one here and one here) for Race of A Lifetime, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s revealing look at the runners and riders (so to speak) in 2008’s US presidental election. Excerpts from the book (which is called Game Change on the other side of the pond) here.

Doom, gloom, repeat to fade: worldwide sales of recorded music slumped (you could also say “fell”, “dived”, “dipped”, “collapsed” or “were down”) 10% in 2009. Heavens to Murgatroyd!

I bet there is much chewing of the cud about that figure and other record industry woes at the annual MIDEM shindig going on right now in the south of France. You really have to wonder just how relevant MIDEM is in this day and age. While I know a lot of business gets done with various labels selling catalogues and doing distribution deals, the lack of a robust live angle makes this something of a gathering for the dinosaurs. That said, there is always one or two snippets of interest so it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on Hypebot’s MIDEM coverage this week for breaking news.

Time to program your spam filters to delete all mails with the words “Meteor Music Awards” and “Most Promising New Act” as tens of thousands of acts who think they’re the “most promising new act” barrage, harrass and pester you for your vote. It’s like the invasion of the bodysnatchers with guitars. There’s a reason why public votes don’t work, you know.

Film of the weekend: if you only go to see one extraordinary crime thriller set in a French prison this week, make sure it’s A Prophet. In particular, Tahar Rahim puts in an incredible performance as Malik, the prisoner at the centre of the drama as he develops from a no-mark to a player over the course of the film.

Kudos to the Richter Collective for their Introduction to Belfast bash at the weekend which featured SKP, Girls Names and Not Squares. Enjoyed the post-Wavves wobbles and rattles of Girls Names, while Not Squares again demonstrated the very best way to kick out the jams is to do so without paying the slightest heed to anyone else. The new single is called “Asylum” and it melt your head into tiny little pieces.

I’d forgotten how slamming this tune was until I was DJ-ing on Saturday night and came across it. Take it away, Lefties Soul Connection!

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Deep sea plugging

January 22, 2010 @ 10:44 am | by Jim Carroll

In today’s issue of The Ticket, Fionn Regan talks about his new album “The Shadow of An Empire”, there’s a New Music special from the annual Eurosonic festival, Donald Clarke previews this year’s Sundance film festival and Brian Boyd has a look around Dublin’s latest new venue, the Grand Canal Theatre. Plus Music News stories on Haiti benefit gigs, the Temple Bar Trad festival and the death of Kate McGarrigle.

Album of the week comes from Four Tet and there are also reviews of new releases from Beach House (hear one of the finest albums of the year for free here), The Soft Pack, Mick Hanly, Yeti Lane, Erland & The Carnival, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Sarsparilla, Coscán and many more. Plus Eoin Butler’s review of the latest singles and downloads in Shuffle.

New flicks in the cinemas this week include A Prophet, Brothers, The Boys Are Back and Ninja Assassin. Plus DC’s Screenwriter column, movie news and the weekly film quiz.

The Ticket: whatever it is, the Ticket has it.

Haiti benefit plug: Swell Season and Frames’ frontman Glen Hansard plays a solo gig at Whelan’s in Dublin on Sunday (January 24). Admission is €15. See today’s Ticket and this OTR post for details of other benefit gigs. If there are any other Haiti benefit gigs you wish to plug, please feel free to list them in the comments below.

Banter plug: don’t forget the first Banter sessions of ‘10 happen tomorrow at the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1). Full details of the two panel discussions here.

The OTR community bulletin board is now open for business. Plug and recommend stuff away to your heart’s content, but remember to declare an interest where one should be declared. Please note that plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Events with a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. I’m also going to start cutting down on those plugs which appear every week (you know who you are) so don’t say you weren’t warned. D Fence!

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R. Kelly, Dublin, April

January 21, 2010 @ 6:29 pm | by Jim Carroll

Oh baby! R. Kelly plays Dublin’s Grand Canal Theatre on April 7 as part of his “‘Ladies Make Some Noise Tour”. Tickets go on sale from next Thursday at €81.25 and €60 a pop. Oh baby (part two)!

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Tune of the Week – “Please Don’t”

@ 10:53 am | by Jim Carroll

David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, a dozen guest vocalists and a concept album about the shoe-obsessed wife of a brutal dictator. I mean, what could go wrong?
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Wrecking the record labels’ buzz

January 20, 2010 @ 3:40 pm | by Jim Carroll

Tom Silverman is the guy who gave the world one-time hip-hop powerhouse Tommy Boy Records and the New Music Seminar (NMS), the New York-based music business gathering which did the job which the likes of SXSW and Eurosonic are doing now.

With NMS back on the schedule as a touring event, Silverman has been doing some talking heads’ stuff and especially turning his attention towards the area of record sales. We all know from kicking the tyres, reading the tea-leaves and seeing how much money acts are charging for live gig tickets that money is too tight to mention in the record side of the house. Nonetheless, Silverman’s stats and analysis make for desperately gloomy reading.

In a lengthy interview (and here) with Musician Coaching, Silverman points out that most major label album releases have little chance of breaking even unless they sell north of 250,000 copies. Even at that – and only 112 albums hit that target in 2008 – many don’t even turn a profit due to the size of their production and marketing budgets.

“A good part of those records that sell over a quarter of a million they hoped would sell over a million or two million, and only sold a half a million or less. So they overspent on them and didn’t make money on them. So those 112 records are the only records they could make money on at all. Probably 25-50% of those didn’t make money either. So only 60 releases make money, and the amount of money they make except for maybe four or five giants hits – the Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas level of hits – aren’t really making significant money. In the old days, one hit used to pay for 20 stiffs. Now one hit doesn’t even pay for one stiff.”

So, you think, that’s the majors screwed unless they cut down on costs. Happy days for the DIY and indie sector, right? Well, no. As we have seen with Radiohead, the DIY route is fine if you’re an established act who have already used major label largesse to build an audience, but Silverman points out that the DIY route doesn’t always work for acts who want to get on the radar. Taking 10,000 album sales as a benchmark – “when you sell 10,000 albums, you’re no longer an obscure artist; people know about you. You may not be a star yet, but you’re in the game. That gets you out of the glut and into the game” – Silverman points out that of the 1500 albums which sold over 10,000 units in the US in 2008, only 227 were by new bands with only 14 of these truly DIY ventures.

If there an upside, Silverman points out, it’s in the growth of digital sales. Yet as regular OTR readers know, the only way labels will able to take advantage of this will be by cutting their costs to match the new levels of revenue. If they do become more cost-effective, it may mean more releases becoming profitable. However, with revenue from digital sales unlikely to ever match the revenue received for the last few decades from physical sales, you have to wonder how many labels will be willing to take a punt on a new, unproven acts?

More and more, I expect to see labels adopting a football club “galactico”-like approach, where they’ll sign acts who’ve already proven they have an audience by hitting that 10,000 sales target under their steam or on a smaller label. The job of the label then is to turn those 10,000 sales into 100,000 and beyond. The question remains, though: are the days of a band who can reach multi-million sales status over the course of a few albums well and truly over?

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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday January 19

@ 10:46 am | by Jim Carroll

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday January 19, 10pm-midnight

DJ-ing plug: I’ll be DJ-ing at the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1) on Saturday night with Nialler9 as part of the Introduction to Belfast night from the Richter Collective, which will feature live sets from the mighty Not Squares, Girls Names (check ‘em out) and SKP

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim with Santigold “Please Don’t” (Todomundo)
The Dark Esquire “Situation” (Thisisnotanexit)
Mock & Toof “Farewell to Wendo” (Tiny Sticks)
Two Door Cinema Club “What You Know” (Kitsune)
Errors “A Rumour In Africa” (Rock Action)
These New Puritans “Attack Music” (Angular)
Jamaica “Cross the Fader” (Perspex)
Memory Tapes “Pink Stones” (Something In Construction)
Othello Woolf “Stand” (Young & Lost)
Dinosaur Feathers “Vindela Vida” (Self release)
Langhorne Slim “Say Yes” (Kemado)
Dirty Projectors “Cannibal Resource” (Domino)
Veronica Falls “Found Love In A Graveyard” (Captured Tracks)
Lindstrom & Christabelle “Looking For What” (Feedelity)
Moodymann “I Can’t Kick This Feelin’ When It Hits” (Planet E)
Floating Points “Truly” (Eglo)
Rockettothesky “14. 15. 13, 14” (Tiger)
Seabear “Libraries” (Morr Music)
JJ “My Way” (Secretly Canandian)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings “This Land Is Your Land” (Daptone)
Ted Hawkins “Watch Your Step” (Rounder)
Arthur Russell “Maybe She” (Rough Trade)
Anne Briggs “The Time Has Come” (CBS)
Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers “Peace in the Valley” (Speciality)
Mark Hollis “A New Jerusalem” (Polydor)
Jimmy Behan “Through the Trees” (Audiobulb)
Roland Kirk “I Talk With the Spirits” (Verve)

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The randomiser brings all the boys and girls to the yard

January 19, 2010 @ 11:15 am | by Jim Carroll

Music for Haiti: Andy Irvine, The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock, Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, The Hounds and Big Monster Love play a Haiti benefit gig at Whelan’s in Dublin on February 14 with tickets at €15.

There are also two Belfast4Haiti benefits in the city on January 31. The Answer, In Case Of Fire, Panama Kings, Kowalski, General Fiasco, Cashier No. 9, A Plastic Rose, Not Squares and dozens more will play the Limelight, Katy Daly’s and Spring & Airbrake from 3pm, while there are DJ sets from David Holmes, Phil Kieran, Japanese Popstars, Boxcutter, Col Hamilton, Psycatron and many more at the Stiff Kitten that night.

There’s a Haiti Earthquake Fundraiser in Cubins. Cork this coming Friday. On the bill: The Frank and Walters, John Spillane, Interference, Two Time Polka, The Nail Drivers, Hot Guitars, Steve Housden and many more. Admission is €15

If anyone else is running a Haiti benefit gig around the country, please feel to post details in the comments field below. Meanwhile, here’s Arcade Fire’s Regine Chassagne on her homeland, while Wyclef Jean admits that his Haiti charity, Yele Haiti, made “mistakes”.

The New York Times muses on the web’s “drive-by anonymity” and culture of nastiness.

It had to happen: Sub Pop moves into the world music market with new label Next Ambiance. Next up: Tad Doyle’s concept album with the Master Musicians of Jajouka.

It’s not just record labels who are doing the merger waltz – Billboard sees a load of digital music companies jumping into bed together in the year ahead.

Per ATL, the mighty LCD Soundsystem play Dublin’s Tripod on April 20 and 21. UPDATE Per press release from POD Concerts, tickets for the April 20 show (€36.50 and €39.50) go on sale on Friday.

Anyone want to read a “rambling tirade from a 37 year old technophobe”? You might change your mind when the rambler in question is DJ Shadow. Dude starts the year with a lengthy post about the state of the musical nation.

Can you fly a kite on the radio? Interesting piece from Siobhán O’Connell about movings and shakings at RTE Radio One and 2fm including a bit of a spin from somewhere about a swapping of the Ryans (G Ryan to the senior station and Tubs to 2fm). Given that we hear a few contracts are up for renewal in March and that there’s talk of one or two big moves afoot at 2fm, it’s a case of don’t touch the dial. Meanwhile, we also hear of changes in the air at Today FM with new recruits on the way.

If only our good friends in the Green Party had insisted on a public inquiry into the banking debacle when they were negotiating the recycled programme for government back in October, they wouldn’t have to go around huffing and puffing about the need for a “hybrid” inquiry right now. Then again, they were more interested in the fate of the ferrets back then. Or was it squirrels? On the inquiry tip, Fintan O’Toole poses a couple of questions which might be asked.

OTR bookclub: fantastic review of former New York cop Edward Conlon’s memoir Blue Bood which certainly persuaded me to go off and buy the book.

As featured in the ace Up In The Air:

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Banter at the Beatyard

January 18, 2010 @ 11:09 am | by Jim Carroll

The first Banter sessions of 2010 take place as part of The Beatyard at the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1) next Saturday (January 23).

The Beatyard is an all-day music expo featuring workshops, panel discussions, a record fair and showcases.

The first Banter session at 3pm is The All-City Story. Nearly ten on years from opening its doors in Dublin’s Temple Bar and having operated out of four different buildings on the same street, All City’s Olan O’Brien charts the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Dublin’s only dedicated hip-hop and graff supplies store. Plus how the shop’s label has evolved to the stage where its “7 x 7″ release with cuts by HudMo, Mike Slott, Onra and friends was one of the must-have compilations of ‘09 for beats heads worldwide.

Then, at 4.30pm, it’s In Bloom: Irish Music Now. 2fm DJ Jenny Huston’s book “In Bloom: Irish Rock Now” tracks the current state of Irish rock with profiles of many of the leading players on the scene and we’ll be using this as a jump-off point for an assessment of the current state of Irish rock music. Is the current scene the same as it was in the 1980s and the 1990s? Are all these bands just hometown heroes with little chance of doing anything beyond Ireland? How hard is it for an Irish act to make a living from their music in the 21st century? The discussion will feature Jenny, Nick Kelly from the Irish Independent and myself.

As always, admission to Banter and The Beatyard is free.

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Eurosonic 2010: the report from the second night

January 16, 2010 @ 11:46 am | by Jim Carroll

The second and last night of Eurosonic 2010 sees even more music fans taking to their bikes in an effort to get across town to see yet another new buzz band. This morning, agents, promoters and radio folks will gather for their European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) pow-wow to see what bands will be spending this summer comparing catering at various European festivals. More on that wisdom of crowds and the pointyheaded analysis from Eurosonic next week but, for now, here’s the A&R report on the bands that impressed me during last night’s shenanigans.
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Eurosonic 2010: first night despatches

January 15, 2010 @ 12:08 pm | by Jim Carroll

Hello from snowy Groningen where the first new music showcase of the year, Eurosonic, is in full flow. This year, the two-day festival sold out way in advance which means there are even more booking agents, festival promoters, radio folk, journalists, bloggers, photographers and music fans rushing around from venue to venue in search of the fresh sounds of tomorrow. The Eurosonic folks have found a rake of new venues in the city-centre and erected a tent (sadly, not the same big top which Irish promoters fell in love with a few years ago) to accomodate all the acts. The bike hire scheme seems to be a roaring success too. After the jump, some of the acts from last night’s rounds who made me go “yes!”
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A wide choice of plugs now available for all

@ 11:21 am | by Jim Carroll

In The Ticket this week, Donald Clarke has a chinwag with Jason Reitman, the direct of Up In the Air, Tony Clayton-Lea throws his eye over the Choice Music Prize shortlist (as do the OTR readers), former Choice Music Prize judge Brian Boyd talks album prizes, Lauren Murphy says “hej” to First Aid Kit and Sinead Gleeson finds out from the people at Dublin’s Road Records about the ups and downs and ups of music retailing.

There’s New Music berths for Real Estate, Joy Orbison, Hold Your Horses!, Trilogy and Moonlight Bride, plus Music News stories on London’s Next Big Thing Festival, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble surfing to Donegal and Gary Lightbody’s new ensembles.

Album of the week comes from Owen Pallett and there are also reviews of new releases from These New Puritans. Lindstrom & Christabelle (what an album!), Fyfe Dangerfield, Eels, Adam Greene, Tindersticks, Blockhead, Delphic, Vincent Campbell and many more. Plus Eoin Butler does the Shuffle with the singles and downloads.

New flicks for your viewing pleasure include Up in the Air, 44 Inch Chest, All About Steve and Still Walking. Plus film news, DVD reviews and the weekly movie quiz.

The Ticket: there’s eating and drinking in it.

For those wondering where all the Choice action is with leading members of the Irish rock aristocracy throwing their toys out of the pram, you’ll find it here.

The OTR noticeboard is now open for business. Plug and recommend stuff away to your heart’s content (even new albums by Irish acts) but remember to declare an interest where one should be declared. Please note that plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Events with a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. Please don’t leave any drawing pins on the floor.

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The Low Anthem struck by “unforeseen circumstances”

@ 1:15 am | by Jim Carroll

The “unforeseen circumstances” this time, however, are that more people want to see The Low Anthem live when they visit Dublin next month than could be accommodated in the orginal venue. The band’s show on February 8 will now be held in Vicar Street, with extra tickets on sale from today.

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Jay Reatard RIP

January 14, 2010 @ 8:44 am | by Jim Carroll

Memphis garage rock guitar-slinger Jay Reatard has died. The body of 29 year old was discovered in his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

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It’s the one you have been waiting for – the Choice Music Prize shortlist

January 13, 2010 @ 4:14 pm | by Jim Carroll

Here are the 10 albums which have made the Choice Music Prize shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2009 (list in alphabetical order:

And So I Watch You From Afar “And So I Watch You From Afar” (Smalltown America)
Bell X1 “Blue Lights On The Runway” (BellyUp)
Codes “Trees Dream in Algebra” (EMI)
Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Chemikal Underground)
Dark Room Notes “We Love You Dark Matter” (Gonzo)
The Duckworth Lewis Method “The Duckworth Lewis Method” (1969/Divine Comedy Records)
Julie Feeney “Pages” (Mittens)
Valerie Francis “Slow Dynamo” (VF)
Laura Izibor “Let The Truth Be Told” (Atlantic)
The Swell Season “Strict Joy” (Plateau)

The live event will take place in Vicar Street, Dublin on Wednesday March 3 and will feature performances from as many of the acts who can play on the night as possible (we’ll be announcing the full details in the next few weeks). Tickets, priced €27 euro including booking fees, go on sale on Monday next.

The winning act will receive a cheque for €10,000 (courtesy of the Irish Recorded Music Association and the Irish Music Rights Organisation) and a smashing piece of glassware (courtesy of industry body Recorded Artists & Performers). Without those three industry bodies, there would not be a Choice Music Prize.

The shortlist is selected by a panel of 12 folks who write about and/or talk about and/or broadcast music for a living. They compile their individual Top 10 lists and we combine the results, giving 10 points to the album at number one in each list, 9 points to the album at number 2 and so on right down to one point for the album at number 10.

As is customary, these judges have stayed schtum about their involvment in the project until now. A lot of people wonder why we keep their identities under wraps – it’s simply to ensure that there is no canvassing from PRs or labels and that the judges can come up with the shortlist without any third party pressure whatsoever. As simple as that.

Anyway, the judges who came up with this shortlist and will have the final decision on March 3 are:

Martin Burns (News of the World)
Josh Clarke (i102-104, Galway)
Roisin Dwyer (Hot Press)
Tony Fenton (Today FM)
Cathal Funge (Phantom 105.2, Dublin)
Padraic Halpin (Ragged Words)
Sophie Gorman (Irish Independent)
John McMahon (2fm)
Rob O’Connor (Beat 102-103, Waterford)
Eva Staic (Spin 1038, Dublin)
Chris Wasser (Evening Herald)
Aoife Woodlock (Other Voices)

Declaration of interest to keep everyone happy: I’m the co-founder of this yoke and am also the non-voting chairman of the judging panel.

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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday January 12

@ 11:11 am | by Jim Carroll

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday January 12, 10pm-midnight

You’ll find a Spotify playlist based around last night’s show here.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring “Anxiety” (Goner)
These New Puritans “Fire Power” (Angular)
Vampire Weekend “Giving Up the Gun” (XL)
The Soft Pack “Pull Out” (Heavenly)
Four Tet “Sing” (Domino)
Martyn “Little Things” (3024)
Beach House “Zebra” (Bella Union)
Freelance Whales “Starring” (Frenchkiss)
Field Music “Measure” (Memphis Industries)
Jonsi “Boy Lilikoi” (Parlophone)
Midlake “Children of the Grounds” (Co-Op)
Hired Hands “Calcutta” (Any Other City)
Active Child “She Was A Vision” (Transparent)
The XX “VCR (Matthew Dear remix)” (XL)
Jah Wobble “Get Carter” (Pressure Sounds)
Reflection Eternal “Just Begun” (Blacksmith)
Gil Scott Heron “Me and The Devil” (XL)
Joy Orbison “The Shrew Would Have Cushioned the Blow” (Aus)
Untold “Gonna Work Out Fine” (Hemlock)
Sbktrkt “Right Place” (White)
Tinderstricks/Mary Margaret O’Hara “Peanuts” (4AD)
Esben & The Witch “Marching Song” (Self release)
White Hinterland “My Love” (White)
Julianna Barwick “Choose” (Florid)
The Knife “Colouring of Pigeons” (Rabid)

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Coming soon: Treme

January 12, 2010 @ 4:42 pm | by Jim Carroll

Treme is a brand new drama written by the man behind The Wire, David Simon, set to air in April. Set in the New Orleans’ hood of the same name and featuring a very tasty cast-list, Simon describes the show as “a post-Katrina history of the city”.

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Omphaloskepsis for the nation

@ 10:53 am | by Jim Carroll

As happens every couple of months, there has been yet another outbreak of introspective navel-gazing amongst the blogging classes. You know how it goes, don’t you? In this case, it was prompted by a piece in the Sunday Times which screamed from the rooftops that Irish blogging was, like, so over. This was followed by predictable huffing and puffing amongst those who blog or used to blog which always happens when The Sunday Times in particular decides to poke those who blog or tweet. Then, there was Una Mullally’s guest post on Twenty Major’s blog about the subject. That received a couple of hundred comments which sort of nixes the the notion that no-one really reads blogs any more. Naturally, there were other pieces about this too.

All of which means that it may be high time for me to have a look at my own belly fluff. It could get ugly. Hey, at least you have been warned.
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Archive: Al Green

January 11, 2010 @ 4:16 pm | by Jim Carroll

Willie Mitchell’s death last week prompted me to pull out this interview with the great Al Green from the Irish Times’ archives. This interview is from 2005 when Green was plugging his “Everything’s OK” album which Mitchell had produced. Indeed, Green’s career might have been a whole lot different had he not bumped into Mitchell all those years ago. Interview with one of the greatest soul voices of them all after the jump.
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Competition – predict the Choice Music Prize shortlist and win €100 of On The Record’s money!

@ 10:52 am | by Jim Carroll

On Wednesday afternoon, the Choice Music Prize shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2009 will be revealed and fun and games will then ensue.

In an attempt to outdo last year’s lavish launch (the one which was voted Launch of the Decade by readers of VIP Magazine), this year’s announcement will feature 10 celebrities each revealing one of the 10 acts on this year’s shortlist. Inbetween each announcement, a 10,000 strong children’s choir will sing selections from each nominated album, doves will be released from large boxes and there will also be fireworks left over from Hallowe’en. Celebrities who are currently thought to be freeing up their schedules for this year’s launch, which will be held on the building site in Dublin’s docklands where Anglo Irish Bank were supposed to have their HQ, include Tiger Woods, some of the kids from Fame, Jedward, Jon Bon Jovi, Nelson Mandela, Mariah Carey and Iris Robinson. This launch will take place regardless of what the weather is like. (*)

But why wait until Wednesday? In a feat of generosity not seen since last year, On The Record will give €100 of his own cash to anyone who can predict the 10 albums on the shortlist. Yep, the prize which no-one won last year is back. Due to the recession, it has not increased. But hey, it’s still €100.

Here is your chance to see if your own musical smarts match those of our 12 expert judges. Can you come up with the same Choice Music Prize shortlist as our 12 esteemed judges?

The rules are simple. You can enter once and once only. Entries will be accepted up to 11am on Tuesday. Anyone who makes a smart remark which is not judged by me to be funny will be disqualified. Anyone who mentions the Hardy Bucks will also be disqualified. Members of the Green Party are not allowed enter because they should be out clearing the snow/slush/ice. I mean, they caused it.

Declaration of interest: I’m the co-founder of this yoke and am also the non-voting chairman of the judging panel.

(* Real announcement will be made on Wednesday at 3pm on Today FM and on the official Choice Music Prize website)

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Julian Casablancas on The Strokes

January 8, 2010 @ 3:51 pm | by Jim Carroll

In today’s Ticket, there is an interview with Julian Casablancas.

While he is naturally talking about his banging new solo album “Phrazes of the Young”, talk also turns to The Strokes. The band have already announced a couple of festival dates for 2010 – and are supposed to be back in the studio this month working on album number four – but Casablancas was not exactly jumping up and down about it. Here’s the relevant extract (complete with some quotes which got edited out for space reasons)

So is Casablancas looking forward to becoming a full-time Stroke again?

“To be honest, no, but I’ll do it. It’s hard because I have to be careful about what I say about this. I do an interview here in Ireland and speak my mind and end up upsetting other people in the band and they’ll be busting my balls about what I said to you.”

That doesn’t sound like fun.

“It sucks. The tension and the stress of that whole time with the last album was such a downer that I’m, yeah, guarded about what might happen next. I mean, we have never really worked together, at least not in the way I understand the term.”

It must be even more difficult when you remember the early days, when you and the other young guns were having a ball just making music together.

“The music part is not hard, it’s all the crap that comes with it that I find hard. Working on music is when I’m happiest.

“When we took the ferry here from Scotland last night, I got to sit and work for an hour and a half and I was so happy. I love stage one of any idea. The hardest part of it is easy because it’s fun.

“But then when it comes to all this other shite, when you’re dealing with people and their people and trying to get things done and dealing with different ways of getting things done and all the challenges that takes, man, that’s hard.

“What are you going to do? This is what I do, that ain’t going to change. These solo shows I’m doing now are the first time I’ve been onstage since I took a break. I didn’t miss it or I didn’t really get excited about it, but I have found, as the tour went on, that I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever have. I think I wasn’t really enjoying it before.”

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Strokes and plugs

@ 11:03 am | by Jim Carroll

In The Ticket this week, we talk to Julian Casablancas about solo albums and Strokes’ issues, Donald Clarke hits The Road with Viggo Mortensen, we pay tribute to the late, great Michael Dwyer with a selection of his articles from the back-pages of the paper, Brian Boyd books his ticket for the Meteor Music Awards and there is New Music love for Lonelady, Sisters of Transistors, Angkorwat, Number Theory and School Tour.

Album of the week comes from Vampire Weekend and there are also reviews of new releases from Mike Slott, Laura Veirs, Clipse, Florence Rawlings, Good Shoes, Peter Von Poehl, You Me At Six, Chris Wood, Rita Hosking, Huw Warren, Gil Evans and many more. Plus Eoin Butler saddles his pony and goes on the trail of new singles and downloads in Shuffle.

New flicks getting the onceover are The Road, Daybreakers, It’s Complicated, Treeless Mountain and It Might Get Loud. Plus film news (including plans for a third screen at Dublin’s IFI), the weekly movie quiz and DVD reviews.

And, of course, the most comprehensive guide to going out that you’ll find in any Irish publication.

The Ticket: no business like snow business

The first OTR community noticeboard of the new year and decade is now open for business. You know the score: plug and recommend stuff (even Irish TV comedy shows – yep, the fascinating discussion from earlier this week is still very much going on) but remember to declare an interest where one should be declared. Please note that plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Events with a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. Now, has anyone seen my toboggan?

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Tune of the Week – “High & Low”

January 7, 2010 @ 1:15 pm | by Jim Carroll

The best music is made by people who always think big.
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Panda Bear, Dublin, March

January 6, 2010 @ 2:06 pm | by Jim Carroll

As spotted by OTR reader Spacey here, the awesome Panda Bear plays Dublin’s Vicar Street on March 12.

UPDATE: Tickets are €24 and are now on sale from usual outlets.

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Willie Mitchell RIP

@ 1:14 pm | by Jim Carroll

The great Memphis soulman and producer Willie Mitchell died yesterday morning aged 81.

The Royal Studios owner and longtime Hi Records boss will be forever associated with classic soul cuts from that great city, most notably the work he did down through the years with the mighty Al Green, who Mitchell came across singing in a bar in Midland, Texas and persuaded him to go to Memphis to work with him.

Over the next couple of years, the Green-Mitchell partnership produced a string of soul hits. You name one of those tunes which is always associated with Al Green and you can bet it was on the Hi label and Willie Mitchell had something to do with it. Seven years, eight albums, 20 million sales.

Mitchell started working again with Green in recent years and produced both 2003’s “I Can’t Stop” and 2005’s “Everything’s OK” albums. When I interviewed Green in 2005, he was full of praise for his old buddy: “Willie Mitchell put his stamp of approval on those records and produced it like Willie Mitchell records ought to be produced. He said I had to sing on it like it ought to be sung. He’s up and at it again. He’s walking around that studio, his thinking is clear and his production capabilities are back.”

Let’s remember him this way

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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday January 5

@ 11:16 am | by Jim Carroll

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday January 5, 10pm-midnight

You’ll find a Spotify playlist based around last night’s show here.

Moonlight Bride “Young Guns” (Self release)
Errors “A Rumour In Africa” (Rock Action)
These New Puritans “We Want War” (Angular)
Friendly Fires “On Board (Joakim remix)” (XL)
The Juan MacLean “No Time (Shit Robot remix)” (DFA)
New Amusement “Planner” (Any Other City)
Holiday Shores “Phones Don’t Feud” (Two Syllable)
The Sweet Serenades “On My Way” (Leon)
Delphic “Clarion Call” (Chimeric)
MillionYoung “Hammock” (Arcade Sound)
Freelance Whales “Generator ^ Second Floor” (Frenchkiss)
Justin Vernon & Eau Claire Memorial Jazz “For Emma” (Jagjaguwar)
Sam Amidon “How Comes That Blood” (Bedroom Community)
DJ Mitsu the Beats “Free Your Mind” (Jazzy Sport)
Jay Electronica “Exhibit C” (Control Freaq)
Bullion “Say Goodbye to What” (One Handed)
Om Unit “Lavender” (All City)
Lindstrom & Christabelle “High & Low” (Feedelity)
Trilogy “Brother Don’t Cry” (Self release)
El Michels Affair “C.R.E.A.M.” (Fat Beats)
The Frank Derrick Total Experience “No Jive” (PS)
Joe Henderson “Foregone Conclusion” (Milestone)
Archie Shepp “Attica Blues” (Impulse)
Mor Thiam “Ayo Ayo Nene” (Now-Again)
Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood “Fall In Love” (Mochilla)

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Why are Irish comedians on the telly not very funny?

January 5, 2010 @ 4:42 pm | by Jim Carroll

Despite my best intentions, I accidentally saw a bunch of Irish comedians on various TV shows over Christmas. It was as if RTE got a job-lot of them in return for a few boxes of broken biscuits and some stale mince pies. They were all out sporting their finery: Tommy Tiernan, Hector Ó hEochagáin, PJ Gallagher, Pat Shortt (he was on TV more times than The Angelus over the last few weeks), Maeve Higgins, Podge and Rodge. Even that terrible Dave McSavage show, The Savage Eye, which all the TV critics went inexplicably ga-ga over, got a few airings. Maybe RTE felt that this was a way of brainwashing the nation about the state of Irish comedy?

But what struck me about all of the above was just how unfunny they were as a viewing experience. You certainly wouldn’t think we were the self-proclaimed funniest nation on the planet from watching these shows. Whether it was Tiernan and Ó hEochagáin’s woeful chat-show Tommy and Hector’s Craic House (some of the humour here revolved around pointing out that Kerry footballer Paul Galvin was sporting skinny jeans) or the brace of Shortt star vehicles (obvious rough drafts which needed a hell of a lot of script doctoring), the shows were amateurish, hackneyed and terribly, terribly dull.

What’s clearly obvious is that comedians are getting the TV nod long before they’re actually ready for it. While it’s the accepted norm elsewhere for comics to have a go at TV, they usually have already made their bones as performers and have the assistance of a strong, experienced team of writers, editors and directors. It’s hard to believe that this is the case here when you watch a veteran funnyman like Shortt struggling to make Mattie and Inside the Crystal Ball work. In Shortt’s defence, as we have seen with Garage, he can act when he has top-notch material and direction.

Of course, there is also the sense that RTE are jumping on a rolling bandwagon. As they’ve seen over the last few years, Irish comics can draw the crowds when they’re in stand-up mode so the natural thing is to stick them in front of the cameras with some semblance of a show. This works both ways as Irish comedians who have had TV exposure know they can expect a bump in the turnout for their live shows afterwards which is why they spend so much time in the RTE canteen. But as the last few weeks have shown, there’s a huge difference between being a good stand-up comic and putting together a great TV show.

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Ticketmaster Ireland announce 15% bump in sales

January 4, 2010 @ 4:06 pm | by Jim Carroll

Per a report in this morning’s Indo, the Irish branch of the ticket giant had a bumper 2009. The piece quotes Ticketmaster Ireland managing director Eamonn O’Connor: “despite everything, business held up during the year, with ticket sales up by around 15pc on 2008″. There’s mention of the O2, of course, as well as shows by Bruce Springsteen, U2, Take That and others.

The article doesn’t go into any great detail about the company’s actual turnover, but we can assume that the breakdown of income from services charges and money paid out in terms of wages, rent, advances etc will be contained in the annual accounts. While there is no mention of the actual volume or value of tickets sold, a 15 per cent rise in sales year on year is pretty good work in the middle of a recession. Indeed, the statement from the company was subsequently used to paint a very rosy picture of the Irish live music business sector on today’s Morning Ireland radio show.

But when you do some back-of-an-envelope calculations, that 15 per cent bump seems a little on the conservative side.

Take the O2 (nee Point), for instance. The revamped Dublin venue is cited as one reason for the increase in sales. However seeing as the 8,500 Point became the 14,000 capacity O2, a 64.7 per cent jump in capacity according to my calculator, you would imagine that Ticketmaster were selling far more than just 15 per cent extra tickets for this venue compared to the previous year. Indeed, given that this venue was closed for much of 2008 due to building work and given the huge number of shows held in the O2 during 2009, Ticketmaster’s increase in ticket sales for this venue alone on a year-by-year basis must have been off the scale. Certainly, it would have been far in excess of 15 per cent.

The Indo piece does naturally acknowledge that there was some slippage beyond the undoubtedly huge and ongoing success of the O2 by mentioning a fall in turnout for festivals in 2009. While the Electric Picnic did claim a sell-out in the end (no change in total ticket sales there), that was one press release which MCD Concerts did not have to issue for last year’s Oxegen festival which failed to sell out. But surely that reduction in ticket sales wasn’t enough to reduce the huge increase gained from the volume O2 sales to just 15 per cent?

Then, as we know from the annual OTR gig census, there’s the fact that there was a slight rise in the number of outdoor shows and festivals in 2009 meaning more tickets to be sold. Plus you also had the sell-out Oasis (remember them?) gig at Slane Castle – there was no Slane Castle show the previous year – which meant an extra 80,000 ticket sales which Ticketmaster didn’t have to count in 2008. All things considered, 15 per cent does seem a little on the low-ish side – unless some shows which promoters claimed did really, really well did not actually do the business at all.

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Tipping into Twenty Ten

@ 10:50 am | by Jim Carroll

It’s not just all about resolutions at the sharp end of a new year. As is now customary at the start of every year, the tipping has begun in earnest, with various music pundits and observers attempting to show that they know what new bands will make a splash – any kind of splash – in the next 12 months.

But before I throw my hat into the ring, let’s have a look back at what I said 12 months ago (you can follow that link to read what my fellow tipsters had to say for themselves):

“I’m putting a few euro on Passion Pit, Hockey, Dinosaur Pile-Up (the return of grunge), Chairlift, Villagers and Little Boots to make a splash in 2009. Wavves, AKA San Diego kid Nathan Williams, will provide plenty of No Age, buzzy, noisepop highs, and also keep an eye and ear on London’s Three Trapped Tigers, Manchester’s Everything Everything, Australia’s Temper Trap and, from the Liberties in Dublin, Imelda May. I’m also keen to hear more from the excellent Langhorne Slim, French band The Do and Swedish producer Kleerup, who has already proven he knows his way around whip-smart pop via his work for Lykke Li and Robyn.”

Well, swings and roundabouts to be sure. While some of the acts like Passion Pit and Hockey did very well (and no, I didn’t expect Imelda May to end up playing the O2 by years’ end either), I’m still waiting for some of the others to come good. I’m assuming The Do spent ‘09 in the recording studio and maybe Kleerup was there with them.

Most of all, there is the question of what exactly we’re tipping these acts to do. After all, in the brave new world of the 21st century music business, there are so many different definitions of success. I’m certainly not expecting any of the above to become the biggest noise on the planet because that game is well and truly over. You can pin that state of affairs on the lack of investment capital (and patience) which labels now have at their disposal and assorted new market realities. In truth, few tipsters really expect their bets to become as big as the Kings Of Leon overnight (well, bar Alan McGee and perhaps those who rise to the bait and comment on his tips). All tipsters know that a band require time, tenacity, tunes and a huge amount of luck to get anywhere at all.

But tips also hopefully reflect the reality that acts don’t need to become blockbuster names to keep on keeping on. A band like Dinosaur Pile-Up could well have waited for a grunge bandwagon to roll in and carry them away, but the Leeds’ trio instead played a ton of shows and festivals in 2009 and are probably very happy with their lot 12 months on from that excellent “My Rock & Roll” single. If they’re still making music and winning fans five years from now, they’ll probably be delighted. And that’s a good benchmark as any for all the acts who come up trumps in the current tipping tombola.

After the jump, my 10 for 2010 feature, as published in The Ticket last week. It’s a list of 10 acts you or may not have already heard about, but which I think you’re going to dig in the next 12 months and beyond.
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Michael Dwyer RIP

January 2, 2010 @ 1:09 pm | by Jim Carroll

This newspaper’s film critic Michael Dwyer died on New Year’s Day after a short illness. Hugh’s obituary is here and tributes can be posted on Donald’s blog here. Michael’s last piece for the paper, which was published in The Ticket a few weeks ago, is here.

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