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This week in The Ticket, your plugs and OTR’s plugs

July 30, 2010 @ 9:29 am | by Jim Carroll

Band Of Horses: we talk to Ben Bridwell about the Band Of Horses’ take on DIY funding, Willie Nelson and beards.

LoneLady: ahead of her Castlepalooza appearance this weekend, the Manchester musician talks electronic pop with Sinead Gleeson

Cathal Coughlan: the Microdisney and Fatima Mansions leader talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his new album, “Rancho Tetrahedron”.

Plus: reviews of music releases from Arcade Fire (CD of the Week slot for “Suburbs”), Wavves, Jaill, Menomena. Cignol, Grasscut, The Soundcarriers, Cathal Coughlanand others, and new movies on the block including The A-Team, The Karate Kid, South of the Border and My Night With Maud.

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

The Workman’s Club sneak preview: any OTR readers who want to have a look at new Dublin venue The Workman’s Club, located on the quays beside the Clarence Hotel, before it opens in September can do so at 9.30pm tonight. Venue booker Karl Geraghty stresses that it’s not a launch (no free drink, no bands playing, no industry gobshites networking) and more a chance for city music fans to take a look before the action starts. He says it was partly inspired by OTR reader Quint’s recent comment about the place.

DJ-ing plug: I’ll be DJ-ing at Glider at the Odessa Club (Dame Court, Dublin 2) on Friday night. Doors open at 10pm and admission is free (just tell the people at the door that you’re going to Glider).

The OTR plugs service is now open for business. Please feel free to plug and recommend stuff away to your heart’s content, but remember some simple rules. Declare an interest where one should be declared. Plugs are accepted on the whim of OTR and may be edited for length/clarity/common sense. Plugs which mention a commercial sponsor are really ads and will probably not be published in this slot. Plugs which plug the same stuff every week will also be deleted – if people ain’t interested by now, you should really get the message. Have a fabulous weekend, especially if you’re heading to Castlepalooza, Indiependence, Cork X Southwest, Spraoi or Lenny.

Comments (22)
#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes

@ 9:18 am | by Jim Carroll

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

Melvin Bliss “Synthetic Substitution” (Contempo)

Remembering the man behind one of the most sampled tunes in hip-hop history, who passed away this week.

Alina Orlova “Laukinus Suo Dingo” (Fargo)

Striking debut album from a Lithuanian diva in the making with a thrilling voice and some dark, intense, dramatic songs.

Keep Shelly in Athens “Fokionos Negri Street” (Self release)

Mysterious Greek combo making dreamy Balearic pop with oodles of sandy atmospherics.

Peter Broderick “How They Are” (Bella Union)

Forthcoming release from the prolific composer is a beautifully crafted set of hushed, folky, minimal classical pieces. Listen to “Pulling the Rain”, “With A Key” and “Hello to Nils” from the album here.

Various “James Brown’s Original Funky Divas” (Polydor)

Fine collection of JB’s leading ladies including Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson, Anna King and Marva Whitney

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Italia Wave had it all for €60: football, debate, even music

@ 9:05 am | by Jim Carroll

Italia Wave is the festival that has everything: football, politics, comics, films, a triathlon and, yes, music.

Held last weekend in Livorno in Tuscany, its third home after stints in Arezzo and Florence, Italia Wave’s strength lies in the width and depth of what’s on offer. You could call it a music and arts festival, but that doesn’t explain the presence of former professional footballers Francesco Toldo and Predrag Pasic. They were here to talk about Inter Campus, the Milan club’s youth academy, which works with young players in deprived areas worldwide.

Then there was Gian Carlo Caselli, Turin’s chief prosecutor and former anti-mafia legal kingpin, discussing the Italian Constitution with Subsonica lead singer Boosta. You wouldn’t get that class of thing at Oxegen.

Musically, Italia Wave was also as diverse as you can get. While there was a strong reliance on UK stadium acts – Underworld, Groove Armada and Faithless all headlined – there was also reggae (Julian Marley), Catalan turbo folkpop (Ojos de Brujo), meat-and-two-veg indie (Editors) and a Finnish take on Afrobeat (JImi Tenor’s collaboration with Nigeria’s Kabu Kabu).

On the new music front, there were a couple of acts on the bill that Italia Wave had come across at the Eurosonic showcases in Groningen earlier this year. On the Record liked the cut of Danish grime-pop princess Lucy Love and French 1970s-style soft-rock revivalists Jamaica, while Italian acts My Awesome Mixtape and Il Genio warrant further investigation.

Add in a low ticket price (€60 for entry to all five days and nights of the festival) and a fantastic location by the sea and you can quickly begin to see the attraction of an event such as Italia Wave for locals and visitors alike.

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

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

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

Il Genio

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

Jefl & Hyde

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

Constant Supply

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

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Hear Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”

@ 12:07 pm | by Jim Carroll

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

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

@ 10:07 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

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

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

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Ticket giveaway – Paul McLoone Show live in Galway

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

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

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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 27

@ 10:29 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

Comments (21)
Incontinent pigeons 1, Kings Of Leon 0

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

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

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

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

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

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On The Record signs €1 million record deal

@ 10:05 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

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

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

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The new old reliables

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

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

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

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

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

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

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When music and politics collide

@ 8:20 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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Is Live Nation’s day of reckoning approaching?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments (21)
#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes

@ 9:05 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

DJ Pogo “Upular” (Self release)

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

Ghost Hunter “Island Barbados” (House Anxiety)

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

Chief “Modern Rituals” (Domino)

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

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

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

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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs

@ 8:21 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New Music – Meljoann, A Classic Education, Savoir Adore

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

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

Meljoann

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

A Classic Education

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

Savoir Adore

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

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Banter pocast from the Earagail Arts Festival

@ 1:21 pm | by Jim Carroll

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

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OTR hits Italy. Italy not impressed

@ 9:50 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

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Electric Picnic 2010 – more names for the picnic basket

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

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

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

So, you have your ticket, right?

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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 20

@ 9:48 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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Mercury Music Tuesday – now with shortlist, including Villagers!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The winner will be announced on September 7.

Comments (71)
The changing face of Main Street Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

Comments (29)
The randomiser says “ciao”

@ 10:00 am | by Jim Carroll

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments (22)
Derek Nally RIP

July 16, 2010 @ 10:10 am | by Jim Carroll

Promoter, booker and manager Derek Nally died yesterday. Long associated with Whelan’s and The Village in Dublin as venue booker, Derek also managed Irish acts Juliet Turner and Ham Sandwich and promoted many, many gigs over the years (recent or current gigs included Betty LaVette, Booker T, Martha Reeves and Allen Toussaint). Deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Comments (47)
Will promoters get tough with artists on fees?

@ 10:03 am | by Jim Carroll

You can’t argue with the cash register. Those in the music business who still think the live side of the house is going to save us all may have to do a bit of a rethink on the back of new ticket sales data.

According to live industry magazine Pollstar this week, there has been a 17 per cent drop in the amount of money generated by the hundred biggest tours trucking around the United States between 2009 and 2010.

Add in the amount of US shows and tours which Christina Aguilera, The Eagles, Rihanna, Limp Bizkit and many more have cancelled due to, er, “unforeseen circumstances” and you can see there’s trouble at the mill.

Over here, we’ve also seen a slew of slow-selling and poor-performing shows all year long. Gigs which would have sold out in the blink of an eye in the good times (Green Day, Paul MacCartney, Bob Dylan, Oxegen etc) just don’t do the same business or generate the same heat as before.

It’s abundantly clear that people are not buying tickets because they think the shows are too damn expensive. Yes, they’re also fed up of heritage acts coming around again every season, but the ticket price is a big bone of contention.

Cutting ticket prices, though, will involve reducing artist fees and we can expect resistance. As revenue from recorded music has nosedived, acts and their agents have done the dog with live fees to compensate, which has meant a steady rise in ticket prices.

It will be interesting to see if promoters start to get tough with acts on fees. After all, paying big money for a band who only pull a half-full house is not exactly a great business plan.

Comments (16)
#Now Playing – this week’s top tunes

@ 9:43 am | by Jim Carroll

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

Jay-Z “99 Problems” (Roc-A-Fella)

One of many smash hits from Jigga’s exceptional performance at Punchestown Racecourse last week.

Brokenchord “Blue Star EP” (Black Acre)

Beautifully melancholic, dubby, hazy electronica from the teenage Lithianian producer

Buddy Miles “Them Changes” (Miracle)

Even the artwork on this stomping 1970 album from the Band Of Gypsies powerhouse drummer is a wow.

Solar Bears “She Was Coloured In” (Planet Mu)

Forthcoming debut album from Dublin/Wicklow duo John Kowalski and Rian Trench who specialise in shimmering dayglo pastoral soundscapes.

Hamper McBee “The Good Old Fashioned Way” (Twos & Fews)

“An album of recordings done in the 1970s in rural Virginia, all a capella songs probably tracable back to Irish sean nos” (selected by Will Oldham)

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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs

@ 8:12 am | by Jim Carroll

Kristin Hersh: the Throwing Muse talks about the tangibility and aesthetics of her Crooked project with Sinéad Gleeson

Tired Pony: Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol tells Tony Clayton-Lea about Tired Pony, his latest side project with help from Richard Colburn, Iain Archer, Jacknife Lee, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Troy Stewart.

Cougars: as Catherine Zeta-Jones pulls a young lover in The Rebound, Tara Brady unpicks Hollywood’s cougar culture

Plus: reviews of music releases from Mount Kimbie (CD of the Week for the excellent “Crooks & Lovers”), Tom Petty, Jedward, Tracy Bonham, Perfume Genius, Department of Eagles RPA and the United Nations of Sound, Big Boi, Phil McDermott, Alex Mathias, the “Inception” soundtrack and others, and new movies on the block including Toy Story 3, Inception, The Concert, Good Hair and Rapt.

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

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

Comments (5)
New Music – Gypsy & The Cat, Kisses, The Darling Sins

July 15, 2010 @ 3:14 pm | by Jim Carroll

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

Gypsy & The Cat

Kicking off a New Music duo special: Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers moved from Melbourne to London where their folky electro-pop owes as much to Jeff Buckley as it does to MGMT. Latest single “Time to Wander” is delightful.

Kisses

Los Angles duo featuring Jesse Kivel (also in New Music faves Princeton) and fashion blogger Zinzi Edmundson making bittersweet, breezy disco-pop tunes like “Bermuda” or new single “People Can Do the Most Amazing Things”.

The Darling Sins

Wexford-based Leni Morrison and Joe Harpur’s chance meeting at a gig in Dublin was the starting point for a bunch of raw, hugely promising slow-motion, blues tunes with plenty of crunch in the mix like “Pebbles” and “Magic In Our Air”. Listen to tunes from the band here

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Banter hits Donegal

@ 11:55 am | by Jim Carroll

The next Banter session happens on Saturday next (July 17) at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny as part of this year’s Eargail Arts Festival.

“Outstanding In Their Own Fields – Where The Irish Music Festival Goes From Here” will feature Paul McLoone (Today FM, The Undertones), Una Mullally (Sunday Tribune, TG4’s Ceol Ar An Imeall), Declan Forde (POD Concerts and Electric Picnic booker) and myself looking at the current health of the domestic music festival scene and how things might look five years from now.

Further information on Banter at the EAF here

And if you’re in the mood for more EAF activities, Villagers play at The Grill (Port Road, Letterkenny) on Saturday night with support from Windings.

Comments (8)
Road Records to close

July 14, 2010 @ 5:19 pm | by Jim Carroll

Of course, we have been here before, but this time, it’s for keeps. Road Records will close its doors on Fade Street in Dublin on July 24. It is the end of the Road for good.

Shop owners Dave Kennedy and Julie Collins have posted an explanation about why the shop is closing on their website. Despite their own best efforts, and a lot of goodwill from many in the local music community once the shop’s difficulties became known in January 2009, it now transpires that keeping a small indie record store open in the capital city in 2010 is one hell of a job and not something they can keep doing.

Per the statement, “it’s sad to have to admit that but this time, I think its true, we can’t blame digital sales, illegal downloading etc – the world is a changing place and I can’t see any room in it for kooky little indie stores like ourselves.”

Road is not the only record store to close its doors in recent years. As we saw on Record Store Day back in April, there are less and less indie record stores on our streets. We may argue the toss here every day about music. We may go to cheer on new bands when they play in a venue near us. We may travel to festivals all over the continent. But the nuts and bolts of acquiring music has changed to the detriment of the physical stores. The move to downloading and streaming, as well as a myriad of other socio-economic reasons from the price of music to a time-poor culture, means we spend less and less time browsing the racks in a small store in search of a CD or vinyl record to bring home.

Of course, some stores still continue in business here and especially elsewhere. Many OTR readers will have an anecdote about a holiday visit to a well-stocked, busy indie store in London, Amsterdam or Barcelona. As we saw the first time around when this debate was aired in January 2009, other countries can still support an indie retail sector, albeit on a much reduced scale than used to be the case. The fact that people have time to visit these stores in other cities is another example of how a time-poor culture has changed our relationship with the record shop.

It is a sad day for many reasons. The shop owners and their staff are losing their livelihoods. There is one less sympathetic space for local indie releases. There will be one less Irish-owned independent shop on Dublin streets. There will be one less place to send visitors to town looking for a record store.

But it does remind us, as the website statement puts it, that the world is a changing place and a record store like Road will struggle to maintain its status in the middle of such changes. Music will continue to be made. Audiences will continue to want to hear music. It’s the exchange between the artist and the audience, and how that exchange is brokered, which is changing.

And let’s reiterate as we said above that there are still record shops open for business in Ireland (see list here) and there may well be some new music retail enterprises coming on stream in the coming months. One shop closing is a blow, but that shop is closing because people are no longer buying music in the same way that they once did. Other means of buying and selling music will come to pass. Trade and commerce will go on.

I’ll leave the last word on this to Will Oldham. I interviewed him last week and when I was transcribing the tape earlier, this quote stuck with me and seems apt in the circumstances. “I don’t feel an exceeding amount of loyalty to the future of physical records”, he said. “I would never deny the past of physical records – the musical experience which are held in physical objects like CDs, cassettes and vinyl are not always repeatable. But the importance of music is how valid it is to the audience and if the audience find all the validity in music through downloads and abstract things then that’s the future of music. And I love music more than I love the music business or physical records.”

Comments (49)
Another contrary aul’ fella disses the interwebs

@ 12:58 pm | by Jim Carroll

It must be the weather. Following last week’s assault on the internet by Prince, we now have Sex Pistol frontman, PiL instigator and everyone’s favourite butter salesman, the one and only John Lydon (nee Rotten), having a go at the internet.

From an interview with The Word magazine: “I entirely mistrust the internet. It’s a world of chaos and lies, there’s no monitoring the truth there. Most of the innuendo and lies about me come from the internet. I don’t know how long it will last either. I suspect some sort of mind-shift is about to happen here.”

So who’s next to join this pair of Victor Meldrews in the cranky corner? My money is on Chris de Burgh.

Comments (16)
The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 13

@ 9:34 am | by Jim Carroll

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday July 13, 10pm-midnight

Podcast: You can will find a podcast of this show to download here. Thanks to Martin Foyle for the taping and uploading.

DJ-ing plugs: I’ll be DJ-ing at Strange Brew at the Roisin Dubh, Galway with Gugai on Thursday (after the O Emperor gig), and at the Earagail Arts Festival at Bar Rouge, The Grill, Letterkenny on Saturday (after the Villagers’ gig).

The Knocks “Make It Better” (Neon Gold)
Holy Family “Whatever There’s to Know” (Self release)
Fang Island “Life Coach” (Sargent House)
Sleigh Bells “Tell ‘Em” (N.E.E.T.)
Crystal Castles “Baptism” (Fiction)
Black Keys “Howling for You (Prins Thomas remix)” (V2)
Chemical Brothers “Swoon (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix)” (Virgin)
Kisses “People Can Do the Most AmazingThings (St Etienne remix)” (Surrounded by Sound)
Breakbot “Baby I’m Yours” (Ed Banger)
Holy Ghost “Say My Name” (DFA)
Memory Tapes “Bicycle” (Something In Construction)
Kenny Clarke “Big Bang” (Horo)
Tshetsha Boys “Nwampfundla” (Honest Jons)
Janelle Monae “Tightrope (Organised Noise remix)” (Bad Boy)
Cee-Lo Green “ChamPain” (Mixtape)
Dam-Funk “A Day at the Carnival” (Proximal)
Carlos & Gaby “Happy Summer Solstice” (All City)
Cignol “Commaspace” (Alphabet Set)
Brokenchord “Bluestar” (Black Acre)
Disclosure “Offline Dexterity” (Moshi Moshi)
Perfume Genius “Mr Peterson” (Organs/Turnstile)
James Vincent McMorrow “Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree” (Burning Rope)
Laura Marling “Alpha Shallows” (Virgin)
Candi Staton “I’ll Sing A Love Song To You” (Honest Jons)
Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child” (Columbia)
Dorothy Ashby “Myself When Young” (Cadet)

Comments (16)
Rockefeller Productions: the sequel

July 13, 2010 @ 1:52 pm | by Jim Carroll

Readers may recall this post from June 29 on Rockefeller Productions and their problems promoting shows by Ute Lemper, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithfull, Tony Curtis, Marilyn and The Chippendales. During the course of researching that piece, I made several attempts to reach the company’s boss James Delaney O’Neill to get his side of the story, but never received a reply. On July 1, he contacted me by email and, over the next few days, we talked on the phone a number of times. I then emailed him a list of questions about Rockefeller Productions and those shows and he replied to these. Those questions and answers are below. A news story based on this Q&A ran last Friday.
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PVT, Dublin, September

@ 10:09 am | by Jim Carroll

The next On The Record Presents gig will be PVT (the band formerly known as Pivot) who will play The Workman’s Club in Dublin on September 9. This will be one of the first shows at the new venue, which is located next door to the Clarence Hotel on Wellington Quay. Tickets for the gig go on sale on Friday at €13.50 (plus Ticketmaster charges) a pop. News on support acts and all the rest of it to come. PVT’s new album “Church with No Magic” is released on Warp Records on August 6.

Comments (25)
Sugar Minott RIP

July 12, 2010 @ 2:04 pm | by Jim Carroll

Jamaican dancehall reggae star Sugar Minott died suddenly on Saturday, aged 54. Obituary here.

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Oxegen 2010 – the post-match analysis

@ 10:01 am | by Jim Carroll

In some ways, OTR wrote most of the post-match analysis for Oxegen 2010 a year ago. Back then, we were predicting that Oxegen 2010 would be a pop and Irish affair. It’s good to know that OTR has readers in Dun Laoghaire.
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The €34 million plus music festival

July 9, 2010 @ 8:59 am | by Jim Carroll

Here’s something to occupy your time on the way to Punchestown today: how much is Oxegen worth to the Irish economy?

While there has been a lot of chatter and analysis this summer about the attraction of foreign festivals and a go-slow in ticket purchasing here, Oxegen is still the big kahoona when it comes to outdoor music bashes in Ireland. Even with a couple of no-shows like Drake and John Mayer, it’s easily one of the heavyweight bills of the European season.

Let’s start our back-of-an-envelope calculations with the ticket revenue. Oxegen has a 85,000 capacity, but there is no breakdown given on those who purchase weekend tickets against those who go for daily tickets.

There has been a huge promotional push in the last few weeks, which usually indicates a shortfall in sales. Therefore, let’s go with a guesstimate of 60,000 weekend sales and 15,000 daily sales. That’s a ticket take of in or around €15 million, based on an average weekend ticket price of €222 (different prices for three or four day tickets, with or without camping).

Our 75,000 Oxegen goers then need cash to pay for travel, food, drink and other essentials. These amounts will vary depending on circumstances, but an average of €250 a head would probably wash which means another €19 million in the pot.

All in all, that’s €34 million or thereabouts from those who attend the festival. Then, there’s the knock-on income and expenditure over the weekend, like wages (everyone from Dublin Bus drivers to people selling t-shirts on the site) and accommodation for the non-campers. Maybe it’s time to think about Oxegen’s economic heft as much as its rite-of-passage role in Irish life.

Comments (31)
#Now Playing – this week’s top tunes

@ 8:18 am | by Jim Carroll

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

Ol’ Dirty Bastard “Got Your Money” (Elektra)

Neptunes-produced sticky jam from back in the day with the mighty ODB/Big Baby Jesus plus Kelis providing that slinky vocal hook.

Against Me! “White Crosses” (Sire)

The album where the Springsteen-endorsed Florida punks do a Hold Steady or Gaslight Anthem without losing an iota of their fury. The album is streaming in full here.

Matthew Larkin Cassell “The Complete Works” (Stones Throw)

Hats off to Stones Throw for this sweet collection of rare cuts from the Seventies era cult San Fran soul-jazz-pop singer-songwriter.

Civil Civic “Run Overdrive” (Self release)

New rifftastic fuzzyrawk single from Australian duo who moved to London/Barcelona in seach of good vibes. Download the tune here.

Various “Shangaan Electro” (Honest Jons)

Dazzling compilation of hyperactive new-school Soweto electrogroove, all produced by Shagaan kingpin Nozinja. Tip of the hat to Nialler9 for the CD. More videos here.

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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs

@ 7:47 am | by Jim Carroll

Janelle Monae: we meet the only blockbuster pop star around with an album inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Jedward: the twins get legless with Brian Boyd.

The perfect Hollywood summer blockbuster: Donald Clarke wonders why Hollywood doesn’t just cut to the chase and produce one endlessly recyclable summer blockbuster that would that would keep all comers happy forever.

Plus: reviews of music releases from M.I.A. (CD of the Week for “/\/\ /\ Y /\”), The Roots, The Coral, “Dark Night of the Soul”, Tame Impala, Zero 7, Bombay Bicycle Club, Joel Plaskett, Tired Pony and others, and new movies on the block including Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Predators and Leaving.

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

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

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New Music – Nicolas Jaar, Computer Magic, Uber Glitterati

July 8, 2010 @ 2:28 pm | by Jim Carroll

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

Nicolas Jaar

Sublime electronic compositions with one eye on the dancefloor and one eye cocked towards the concert hall from the 20 year old New Yorker who already has had releases on the Wolf + Lamb, Circus Company and Clown & Sunset labels. Currently finishing off his debut album “Tre” inbetween studies at Brown University in Rhode Island. Check out a selection of tunes and remixes here.

Computer Magic

Sun-hazed, heat-warped, beautifully impulsive and highly suggestive electronic textures from New Yorker Danielle Johnson who fits in her music-making between college, graphic design and blogging. Check out the slo-mo delights of “On VHS” and “Downtown Is Broken” on her Soundcloud.

Uber Glitterati

Glitzy occasionally melancholic electropop with synthy swoons and wobbly disco stabs from Belfast duo Elizabath McGeown and Stevie Mac who also do a fine line in remixes. Download “Resolutions” here.

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Prince says internet is “totally over”, tells lolcats to chill

@ 11:48 am | by Jim Carroll

Quote of the year: “”The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

You’d never think old Squigglehead had a new album coming out that he’s giving away for free next weekend via a newspaper (which has a website), would you?

Comments (20)
KRS-One, Dublin, October

July 7, 2010 @ 12:02 pm | by Jim Carroll

The mighty KRS-One will be playing Dublin’s Tripod on October 24. Tickets go on sale next Tuesday at €24.50 a pop. He was due to play a gig at the Button Factory (nee Music Centre) back in July 2005 but, although KRS One was in the city, he never actually performed.

Comments (20)
The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday July 6

@ 9:48 am | by Jim Carroll

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday July 6, 10pm-midnight

Podcast plug: you can now download a podcast here of last week’s show, The Far Side of 2010 So Far. Big thanks to Martin Foyle for doing the taping and uploading.

DJ-ing plugs: I’ll be DJ-ing at Strange Brew at the Roisin Dubh, Galway with Gugai on Thursday week, July 15 (after the O Emperor gig), and at the Earagail Arts Festival at Bar Rouge, The Grill, Letterkenny on Saturday week, July 17 (after the Villagers’ gig).

Breton “15X” (You Will Be Following)
Gypsy & The Cat “Time to Wander” (Young & Lost Club)
Fang Island “Daisy” (Sargent House)
Civil Civic “Run Overload” (Self release)
Fiction “Curiosity”(Offset)
Safari “Quicksand” (This Playground)
Aeroplane “I Crave Paris” (White)
Trentemoller “Shades of Marble” (In My Room)
Nicolas Jaar “Materials” (Circus Company)
Korallreven “Loved Up” (Fast Cut)
Diskjokke “En fin tid” (Smalltown Supersound)
John Talabot “Matilda’s Dream” (Permanent Vacation)
El Guincho “Cuerpo Sin Alma” (Young Turks)
Computer Magic “On VHS” (White)
Janelle Monae “Faster” (Bad Boy)
Big Boi “Follow Us” (Def Jam)
Chiddy Bang/MGMT “The Opposite of Adults” (Parlophone)
Four Tet “Sing” (Domino)
Actress “Let’s Fly” (Honest Jons)
Wolf + Lamb “Just for Now” (Wolf + Lamb)
Andreya Triana “A Town Called Obsolete (Mount Kimbie remix)” (Ninja Tune)
Matthew Larkin Cassell “Another Day Gone” (Stones Throw
Eddie Harris “Silver Cycles” (Atlantic)
Lester Bowie “For Fela” (Horo)
The Clarke-Boland Big Band “Sakara” (Polydor)
Stevie Wonder “They Won’t Go When I Go” (Motown)
Max Richter “Infra 2” (Fat Cat)

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Gigroll: Warpaint, John Grant, Yann Tiersen

July 6, 2010 @ 2:04 pm | by Jim Carroll

The excellent Warpaint play Dublin’s Crawdaddy on October 21. Tickets are €14 and go on sale on Friday.

John Grant, the dude from The Czars and the singer behind the fine “Queen of Denmark” album from earlier this year, plays Whelan’s in Dublin on August 21. Tickets are now at sale at €15 a pop.

Yann Tiersen returns to Ireland for shows at Befast’s Mandela Hall (October 22), Dublin’s Village (23), Cork’s Pavilion (24) and Galway’s Roisin Dubh (25). Tickets for the shows (Belfast £17.50, Cork €25 and Dublin and Galway €27) are now on sale.

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The randomiser says it’s going to be the Dutch vs the Germans

@ 9:50 am | by Jim Carroll

DJ Shadow has the power. The first Dublin appearance in a while for Josh Davis is a between-albums affair, with Shadow out to road test some new material, show off his new live show and award the faithful with some high quality boom-bop from the back-pages – and it worked on all three levels. He played a couple of new tracks – one was crunchy, mashed-up drum’n'bass, one was a nod to Herrmann’s sense of time and place, one was a beautiful lilting lullaby and one was all of the above with added acceleration. The show featured Shadow working away in a giant pod-like ball on the stage (think Wayne Coyne’s bubble, only non-transparent) with superb mind-bending eye-candy projected onto it and the giant screen behind (I didn’t catch the name of the visuals creator, but s/he deserves a shout-out). Meanwhile, the takes from the back-catalogue were choice, meaty and beaty, with “Organ Donor” in particular still in my head this morning. Per Shadow, new material will be here within months.

Missing in action: the lists of acts and yokes which have gone AWOL ahead of the weekend’s Oxegen love-in at Punchestown Racecourse continues to grow. John Mayer and Drake have joined Wolfmother and Airborne on the list of acts you won’t be seeing at “Europe’s favourite music festival”. There have been no replacements announced for these four so let’s hope someone is keeping an eye on the overall tally to make sure there really are “over 150 acts” there to stave off calls to the Advertising Standards Authority on Monday morning. Grizzled fest-goers will also note the lack of an IMRO stage (very few Irish bands playing this year), the Bacardi stage (thanks to OTR reader Southbhoy for pointing that one out), MTV’s logo and O2’s corporate presence at MCD’s big ‘un. We also hear that many Irish record label folks are fuming about a late-in-the-day decision to charge them for the tickets they need for their working passes. Still, if we’re to believe the Sindo, only “a limited number of tickets” are still on sale for the weekend’s bash so maybe punters haven’t noticed.

More flotsam and jetsam on artist fees and how your favourite stars don’t like you to know how much they’re getting paid for their festival turns. £1.5 million for The Libertines?

Next year, you may not have to bring any euro with you to Punchestown if plans for cashless fests come to pass.

It’s official: Live Nation’s nemesis AEG Live are talking to labels about stuff. AEG big boy Randy Philips says the talks have been “very exploratory”. Wonder did the labels or AEG provide the chocolate biscuits?

Good news from one of OTR’s favourite festivals: 62 acts who played at this year’s Eurosonic festival in Groningen have landed 147 European festival slots under the ETEP program. The big winners were The xx and FM Belfast with 11 and nine shows apiece, but even acts with just one or two bookings will testify to the benefits of a good show in Holland in January. Full info on Eurosonic 2011 here.

Who said there’s no money in selling CDs and stuff? The HMV brand’s operating profits are up by 37 per cent in the latest set of annual returns.

Back to the old-school…

Comments (59)
Slow music and short attention spans

July 5, 2010 @ 2:20 pm | by Jim Carroll

As so often happens when there’s a list involved, last week’s post outlining OTR’s 30 best albums of 2010 so far generated a large bag of comments. Inbetween the ones listing individual lists (always welcome) and giving out about albums I overlooked (also, always welcome), there were one or two comments which set me thinking.

Regular OTR reader Ally rowed in with some discordance about lists in general and how he’ll wait for the end of the year to pick three albums from 2010, while our friend in Moscow Morov wondered if we were still listening to many of the albums listed in June 2008. Interesting questions and points, which leads us to slow music and short attention spans.

We live in a time when nearly absolutely every piece of music is available at the touch of a button. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true. Bar out of print records and analogue stop-outs, you can find every single tune out there online via Google. If you’re like me, this is the greatest thing ever, as every day becomes another treasure hunt complete with a new set of maps.

But even if there’s infinite choice, there’s only a finite amount of time. There just isn’t enough time in the day or week or month to get through all that music which is out there to be heard and experienced. Infinite choice and finite time means that we’re in churnover territory. I know I’m not alone in going through albums and tracks at a much faster rate of knots than used to be the case in years gone by. You listen and if it doesn’t work, you’re onto the next thing. Why not? There’s something new coming down the pipe right now and if you blink, you might miss it. Some of you may say you should stick with an album for longer but I spent far much time this year on dross like Joanna Newsom and Yeasayer to fall for that one again.

And it doesn’t just apply to music: look at a fad like facedown which prompted mainstream press articles a few short weeks ago (here’s one from The Irish Times and here’s one from the the Irish Indo a week later). Have you noticed anyone doing the facedown thing of late? And we’re leaving the Oxegen facedowns out of it because they’re facedowns of another kind. No? It seems that the facedown addicts had their day in the sun and moved on. Bought the fad, tweeted the fad, moved onto the next fad.

There are countless other examples of trends and phenomenon which have a brief moment in the sun before falling to earth, but I always felt that music wasn’t subject to the same demands. After all, if the music is good enough, it will surely make a case for itself and force its ways onto the agenda. Comments welcome – but only till 6pm because we’ll have moved onto something else by then.

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Janelle Monae’s star power

@ 10:08 am | by Jim Carroll

So this is what the revolution looks and sounds like. We’re in the Hoxton Square Bar, a small room in east London which is packed to capacity. The man on the door says there are 240 people inside, but it sure feels from the heat that they’ve packed in some more bodies. There’s sweat rolling down the walls, there’s excited hollering from the masses and there’s the sense that we’re at an event. All eyes are on the stage where Janelle Monae is rocking her socks off. She just can’t stop. We don’t want her to stop.

Monae is in London to plug the bejaysus out of “The ArchAndroid”. It’s the pop album of the season, an album full to the brim with tunes which take their cues from all over the shop. There’s rock and funk and soul and hip-hop and psychedelia in the mix as Monae tips the hat to (deep breath) James Brown, OutKast, Grace Jones, Sly Stone, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder and various other famous flames. Sure, there’s a dastardly concept based on Metropolis (Monae is an android called Cindi Mayweather) and a striking image (tuxedo and quiff), but there are also stone-cold magnificent tunes to keep the whole party going. “Tightrope”, “Cold War”, “Faster”, “Come Alive”, “Wondaland”: she certainly didn’t skimp on the fabulous tunes front. (The album is streaming here).

Those tunes are important because Monae didn’t quite have a handle on this before. I caught her at SXSW 2009 and, while hugely impressed once I’d worked out what was going on, there was little to hang onto bar the brief outlines of a r’n'b/hip-hop star not going through the usual motions. Fastforward a year and Monae has “The ArchAndroid” to do all the heavy lifting for her.

Now, when she plays live, she does so with gusto and a whole bunch of fantastic tunes. As a five piece band (including two dancers who seem to be wearing beaked masks borrowed from The Knife) colour in the lines in the songs, Monae turns on the style. She can sing like an angel, but this is very much about the performance. Every tune packs a punch as Monae the show-woman channels everyone from Muhammad Ali to James Brown. That trademark quiff comes undone time and time again and she pins it back into place every time. It’s part of the uniform and she most definitely is working up there.

We talk a lot about stars and star power these days. Just as we’ve turned “genius” into a catch-all term by hoisting it on bedraggled lo-fi whippersnappers who can’t keep their guitars in tune, our overuse of the star term means we kind of take it for granted.

But Monae’s show retakes, remakes and reshapes that. You watch her turn this packed little club insideout and upsidedown and you know this is just the start of things. It’s exciting, uninhibited, edgy, sexy, provocative and exhiliaring. She’s a star, pure and simple, and she’s just getting started.

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New venues on the block in the big smoke

July 2, 2010 @ 10:07 am | by Jim Carroll

Dublin’s gigging infrastructure is about to get a rejig with the arrival of three new venues in the coming months.

The Frank Gleeson-owned Mercantile on Dame Street will open a new 250 capacity live room in the coming weeks and will be booked by former Button Factory and Whelan’s booker Dave Allen. Meanwhile, Pravda on Liffey Street will house a 350-400 capacity live room from September.

However, the most interesting new arrival on the scene may well be The Workman’s Club on Wellington Quay next to the Clarence Hotel.

The site used to be home to the City of Dublin Workingmen’s Club, until they moved to a new premises on Little Strand Street, which was built for them by Clarence Hotel owners Brushfield Ltd.

Vacant since 2003, the venue will reopen with a 260 capacity live room from September and will be booked by Karl Geraghty, formerly of Aiken Promotions.

Geraghty hopes to book a wide range of acts and nights for the new venue. “Bands are always saying that they want to play somewhere different and we think the venue is definotely that. We want to be be very inclusive about who plays here and we’ll certainly work with smaller promoters.”

Reaction to the space has been hugely positive. “I’ve been showing bands around and their imaginations are already running wild about what they can do here.”

However, The Workman’s Club won’t be just catering to Irish indie, electronic and hip-hop acts.

“We’re open to whatever people want to suggest”, stresses Geraghty. “I want to cater to a broad range of ages and have sixtysomethings coming in and feeling comfortable. Everyone can have a different view of what the venue can do.”

One of the first acts to be confirmed for the venue are Blitzen Trapper, who play there on November 22.

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#NowPlaying – this week’s top tunes

@ 9:34 am | by Jim Carroll

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

Kele “The Boxer” (Wichita)

Bloc Party’s lead dude flexes some muscles and peppers his tunes with quality electro juice. Hear tracks from the album here.

Ray Charles “Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music” (Rhino)

From 1962, Ray Charles retools country and old-timey honky-tonk tunes with a big-band swing and some Brother Ray soul.

Nick Rosen “Into the Sky” (Porter)

Beautifully soulful album from the Build An Ark-affilitated Californian musician and singer with help from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, the producer behind the “Suite for Ma Dukes” tribute to J Dilla. Hear tracks from the album here.

Michael Jackson/Fela Kuti “The King Meets the President In Africa” (AfroStreet)

The King of Pop and the Afrobeat legend get the mash-up treatment from the Marksmen Guerilla Production Network. Free download here.

Chiddy Bang “Opposite of Adults” (Parlophone)

Potential summer boom tune from Philly duo Chidera Anamege and Xaphoon Jones using MGMT’s “Kids” to great effect.

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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs

@ 8:45 am | by Jim Carroll

Arcade Fire: the return of the big music as Montreal art rockers Arcade Fire chat to Brian Boyd ahead of a date at Oxegen and the release of new album “The Suburbs”

The Oxegen 10: my guide to the 10 bands to catch and the 5 tunes we want to hear from each of them.

The Coronas: from backing a Beatle and playing Oxegen for the third time to being the wedding band at Brian O’Driscoll and Amy Huberman’s do, the Dublin band tell Lauren Murphy where it all went right.

Plus: reviews of music releases from Janelle Monae (CD of the Week for “The ArchAndroid” – I saw her live last night in London and she rocked), Drake, Flaming Lips, Kylie, Feeder, I Am Kloot, Horse Feathers, Richard Julian and others, and new movies rated and slated including Shrek Forever After, Heartbreaker, White Material, Tetro and Doors.

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

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

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New Music – Breton, Weekend, Fred & Bob

July 1, 2010 @ 2:45 pm | by Jim Carroll

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

Breton

London-based music and visuals collective currently making waves with their crackly, off-kilter, ambitious art-rock. Both EPs to date, “Practical” and the latest “Sharing Notes” hint at a band who have plenty of ideas under the bonnet and are not afraid to unleash them. Fabulous video for “15X” below.

Weekend

San Fran trio whose forthcoming debut album “Sports” for Slumberland will bring even more tastemakers around to feast on their lo-fi shoegazey pop. For now, check out their recent Daytrotter session for some jagged jams.

Fred & Bob

Not two lads called Fred and Bob, but rather a Dublin-based four-piece making fuzzy, punky, energetic pop with loads of likable throwback ‘90s indie edges. New EP “On A Good Day” will make you twist and shout.

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Italians do it better

@ 12:20 pm | by Jim Carroll

All this talk of summer festivals reminds me that it’s time to check in with our friends in Tuscany and see what this year’s Italiawave festival has to offer.

Taking place in Livorno from July 21 to 25, Italiawave 2010 will feature performances by Underworld, OK Go, Editors, Faithless, Groove Armada, Lucy Love (we heart Lucy Love), Moodymann, JImi Tenor, Jamaica, Julian Marley, Ojos de Brujo and tons of Italian acts, including the excellent …A Toys Orchestra, White Sunset and dozens more.

Aside from the main stage stuff by night, there’s also various day stages with bands, (occasionally heated) literary discussions, comic book art symposiums and film screenings. While the large bulk of the events are free, a festival pass costs €70.

If anyone has any more info on other off-the-beaten-track European fests – ie the ones we may not have heard about, rather than the likes of Benicassim or Sziget – please post details below.

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Snap-happy with Friedman in Dublin

@ 9:08 am | by Jim Carroll

You’ve probably clocked a Glen E Friedman photograph without realising it. Over the course of his career, Friendman has worked with the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Ice-T, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Run DMC, KRS One and many more, plus a rake of old school skateboarders.

Opening next week in Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema, Fuck You All is an exhibition featuring 40 pieces from Friedman’s back-catalogue. The exhibition opens on Thursday July 8 at 7pm and will feature a public Q&A with Friendman about his work and a screening of Instrument, a film about Fugazi, another band Friedman has been associated with over the years. Admission to the opening event is a fiver, while the exhibition will run in the cinema until the end of July.

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