EP10: Body & Soul Love Letter timetable
Full list of acts and times for the Body & Soul Love Letter stage is now live.
On The Record »
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It’s time for Celebrity Áras
It’s the game for all the family: who do you think will be the next President of Ireland? The gig is up for grabs next year and the jostling for position has already begun. You will probably have seen a ton of names put forward for the position, from such seasoned members of the country’s political classes as David Norris, Bertie Ahern and Brian Crowley to such currently non-political figures as Mary Davis and Emily O’Reilly. Doubtless, some of the above will still be in the frame when the posturing ends and the canvassing begins in 2011.
But there have also been a couple of celebrity names thrown into the hat too. At least, Miriam O’Callaghan has had the sense to quickly pour a large bucket of cold water over fevered speculation about her would-be suitability for Áras an Uachtaráin. Elsewhere, though, there has been no such restrain with Liveline (Fergus Finlay topped their list of worthies) to The Star (Georgia Salpa is their girl for the Park) getting in on the act. And to think that this gig used to be considered to be just the job for retired Fianna Fail lads looking to improve their golf handicap. Yes, Ireland has moved on. Sort of.
Seeing as Ben Frow and TV3 have not returned our calls about Celebrity Áras, a show where a bunch of would-be presidents are stuck in a caravan park in November and the population gets to decide which of them wins free bed and board for seven years in a mansion in the biggest park in Dublin (just imagine the ratings!), OTR is giving readers the chance to decide who gets the job. The rules are simple: the nominees have to be Irish citizens and over 35 years of age. Get picking!
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Mick Lally RIP
The death has been announced of Irish actor and Druid Theatre co-founder Mick Lally. Best known for his role as Miley Byrne in long-running soap Glenroe (he played the same character in Bracken before that), he was 64 years of age. Condolences to his family and friends.
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EP10: Mindfield, Body & Soul timetables
It’s going to be a week of line-ups and timetables. Here’s the first one to come our way: the line-up for the Leviathan and Arts Council Literary Stages in the festival’s Mindfield area.
Highlights (for us, anyway): a quiz with OTR’s favourite broadcaster Sean O’Rourke, Politics in the Digital Age debate, Jon Ronson, Mike Scott reading from his memoirs, Paul “Skippy Dies” Murray having a chat, Crime Writing with Declan Burke, Arlene Hunt, Declan Hughes and Gene Kerrigan and the Drivetime Four Savvy Women slot.
Lowlights: a fairly dull-looking panel on the past, present and future of the music business featuring Howard Marks. Dude knows as much about the music business as I know about international drug-smuggling (and, to paraphrase Prizzi’s Honor, if he was so smart at smuggling drugs, how come he kept getting caught?)
UPDATE: running order for Body & Soul’s main stage – thanks to ShowYourBones for the heads-up
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Women on the wireless
It has been one of the more consistent media memes of the silly season now drawing to a close: why are there so few female voices on the radio? Of course, there is nothing new about this deficit – we drew attention to this issue back in January, while Una had a fine piece on this in the Trib in May – but it really came to a head in the last two weeks. Perhaps it was the lack of other stuff to talk about that so many women (and men) suddenly went “hang on, where are the girls on the radio?”.
The fact is, though, that it has been like this for quite some time and, even though the bandwagoneers will quickly find some other issue to push (what about, for example, why there are so few male PR practitioners in Ireland?), it won’t go away. After all, the current schedules, the ones which show up a huge lack of female voices on national radio in prime-house weekday hours (ie 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday), are likely to remain unchanged for at least 12 months. You can get used to just having a few current affairs’ presenters on RTE Radio One as the only females on your national wireless until the next seasonal schedules are announced and this kicks off again.
RTE radio boss Clare Duignan penned a robust letter to The Irish Times last week about the issue, where she listed off every single female jock on RTE’s many stations. Of course, Duignan missed the point by a mile – this is about the huge lack of female voices on national radio in prime-house weekday hours, not how many female producers or non-peak hour DJs on minority stations you have – but she did at least make the effort to get someone to go through the personnel files.
Last week, I interviewed the new Head of 2fm John McMahon (interview here). One of the (many) issues we discussed which didn’t make the cut due to space restrictions was the issue of women on the wireless. Here are his thoughts on why there are so few female voices on the radio:
“I don’t know and there needs to be more. I don’t buy this research that everyone seems to have read but no-one seems to have seen that listeners don’t like female voices on radio. Maybe that existed in 1950s’ America or something. We have five female presenters on 2fm and we need to have more. As someone who is married to a presenter/reporter, I can assure you that it’s not deliberate. We do have women in the 7am to 7pm slot at the weekend and we have female contributers, but we need to have more.
“But there are very few female presenters on any radio station and if 90 per cent of the people coming through from local to national are male, then 90 per cent of the DJs will be male, which is why I want to go outside the usual channels to find new DJs. I’ve been running the station for nine months, but if I’ve been running the station for five years and that’s still the case, I think it would be a very valid accusation to throw at me.”
I’m sure there are many local radio listeners who will disagree with McMahon’s view by listing off the many female DJs working at the business end of a microphone in local radioland. Yet his point that it’s not deliberate is something which very few could contest. Some might argue that the only way around this is through gender quotas and positive discrimination (as we’ve seen discussed over the summer to correct the lack of female politicians in the Dail), but that presents a whole other set of questions and issues. The fact remains, though, that you can expect this issue to be trotted out again next year (and probably the year after as well) as solutions seem to be in short supply.
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U2 continue to diss their “not very accessible” album
It would seem that U2 are keen to put a little distance between themselves and current album “No Line on the Horizon”.
This week, Bono described the album as “not very accessible, lyrically or musically”.
“We put out a really difficult record,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “I would have to admit that. If I was a teenager, it would be like a European movie, it’s art house.”
This follows on from his comments last October when he described the February 2009 album as “a work that is a bit challenging for people who have grown up on a diet of pop stars.”
The fact that the album has sold poorly may have something to do with the singer’s disdain. Naturally, the singer was not so forthcoming when the band were hyping the bejaysus out of the album on release to their camp followers in the fourth estate. Now, he’s keener to talk up three unreleased albums and the band’s new songs rather than the current release.
But Bono’s comments are not the only sign of a change in attitude towards “No Line On the Horizon”.
There’s a marked difference in the set-lists for U2’s recent live gigs compared to a year ago, with the band no longer frontloading material from the current album.
For instance, their Croke Park shows from July 2009 saw the band opening the show with four songs from “No Line on the Horizon”, something which even tried the patience of long-term U2 fanciers.
Now, though, it’s a brand new instrumental (“Return of the Stingray Guitar”) and a golden oldie (“Beautiful Day”) which are the opening songs of choice on the current European tour.
The people have spoken and U2, it would appear, have listened.
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#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes
This week’s essential tunes on the OTR jukebox. Please feel free to add your own selections below.
Miami Horror “Sometimes” (Caroline)
Classy electropop from Australian producer Benjamin Plant, who has definitely spent some time with New Order’s “Technique”.
Sunburnt Jets “Low Flying Crow” (Self release)
Warm-hearted pop songs written in a Japanese apartment and recorded in a Monaghan bedroom by ex-Green Lights’ dude Colin Boylan. Download the album for free here.
Robyn “Body Talk, Pt 2” (Konichiwa)
The second of three mini-albums this year from the Swedish pop diva. Standouts include “Criminal Intent” and the “U Should Know Better” duet with Snoop Dogg.
Arp “The Soft Wave” (Smalltown Supersound)
Second album of sublime textures, fuzzy atmospherics and Kraftwerk and Cluster-inspired ambience from Tussle and Alps’ dude Alexis Georgopoulos.
Sufjan Stevens “All Delighted People” (Asthmatic Kitty)
EP of new songs featuring “a dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence”.” New album “The Age of Adz” is released on October 8. Download the EP here for $5 or via eMusic
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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs
Autumn movie preview: Donald Clarke marks your movie card from September to Christmas with Harry Potter, Saw, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Narnia, Tron, The Social Network and many, many more.
Packing A Picnic: Festival advice, ideal line-ups and other fare from Jonsi, The Horrors, Eels, Brendan Perry and Bad Lieutenant.
Pop Corner: Ailbhe Malone doesn’t rock, she pops.
Plus: reviews of music releases from The Count & Sinden (CD of the Week slot for the brilliant “Mega Mega Mega”), Peter Broderick, Rose Elinor Dougall, Fight Like Apes, Adebisi Shank, Brandon Flowers, Glen Matlock, The Like, Máire Breatnach & Cormac de Barra, Abbey Lincoln and others, and new movies on the block including Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, The Maid, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Grown Ups and The Leopard.
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. It’s going to be a lovely weekend, folks.
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New Music – Niki & The Dove, Star Slinger, Vermillion Sands
The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below – two of this week’s picks comes from reader recommendations.
Expect Gothenburg’s Malin Dahlström to feature on many next big thing lists in the coming months on the back of her dramatic voice and icy, throbbing Nordic grooves. Forthcoming Moshi Moshi single “Under the Bridges”/”DJ, Ease My Mind” is a gilt-edged calling card.
A Manchester-based producer called Darren, Star Slinger has had a prolific run of late with a bunch of dazzling slo-mo instrumental hip-hop tracks. Download tunes for free here. Recommended by OTR reader Petee.
J.G. Ballard fans, these Vermillion Sands are four garage-rock freaks from Treviso in Italy with a fine barrage of squealing, squawking jangles and twangs to their credit already. Recommended by OTR reader Fiona.
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Ticket giveaway – PVT at The Workman’s Club, Dublin
It turns out that the PVT show at The Workman’s Club in Dublin on Thursday September 9 will be the first gig at the new venue. Yes, we know the venue is already open for drinking and there was a launch last night, but the On The Record Presents with the mighty PVT will be the first actual proper gig at the venue.
(Speaking of launches, is there an actual point to these stupid things? OTR has long been a DDL dude – don’t do launches – because they’re a complete and utter waste of time. Anyway, back on topic)
We have FIVE pairs of tickets to give away to the show. If you’d like to come along, holler at me in the comments and I’ll select names at random in the morning. If you’re not in, you can’t win. Thanks to Karl at the Workman’s Club for the tickets.
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The Far Side – playlist for August 24 – now with stream
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday August 24, 10pm-midnight
Listen Again to The Far Side: you can listen back to a stream of last night’s show here and there’s also a Soundcloud playlist below.
Miami Horror “Sometimes” (Caroline)
Robyn “Criminal Intent” (Konichiwa)
Alex Winston “Medicine” (Heavy Roc)
The Count & Sinden “After Dark” (Domino)
Lindstrom & Christabelle “Lovesick” (Feedelity)
Four Tet “Nothing to See” (Soul Jazz)
Tensnake “Coma Cat” (Permanent Vacation)
Retro/Grade “Pulsar (Rockit)” (Bootleg)
Floating Points Ensemble “Post Suite” (Ninja Tune)
Niki & The Dove “DJ, Ease My Mind” (Moshi Moshi)
Orphan Boy “Some Frontier” (Concrete)
David’s Lyre “Heartbeat” (East City)
Ahu “To Love” (One Handed Music)
Cee-Lo Green “Fuck You” (Elektra)
Janelle Monae “Locked Inside” (Bad Boy)
DJ O-Face “Dirt On Your Crown” (Bandcamp)
Big Maybelle “That’s A Pretty Good Love” (Savoy)
The Chiefs “Mr Machine, Pt 1” (White)
Golden Echoes “Packing A Grip” (Crumco)
The Boogoos “Theme de YoYo” (Perfect Toy)
Fever Ray “Mercy Street” (Rabid)
Sufjan Stevens “From The Mouth of Gabriel”
The National “You Were A Kindness” (Session)
Dangermouse & Sparklehorse “Revenge” (Parlophone)
Arp “Catch Wave” (Smalltown Supersound)
Nick Rosen “Twin Harbors” (Porter) -
Social networking obsolescence and all that jazz
Hypebot is a must-read for anyone looking for a steer on the Venn diagram between music, business and technology. Aside from snarky shorts about Stevie Nicks blaming the internet for destroying rock (though Nicks is one of the first “established” acts I’ve heard making salient points about new acts), they also dig out interesting stories from the undergrowth which deserve more oxegen.
Yesterday, they highlighted the 2010 Social Networking map sourced via Three Billion. It’s a fantastic graphic, as you can see:
What’s immediately striking is that there are plenty of networks on that map which we might not necessarily hear a lot about all that often. Habbo, for instance, certainly has a lot of users, while Orkut, the Brazilian and Indian Facebook, continues to truck along nicely. Despite the fact that the site is constantly thrashed by users for poor design and navigation, MySpace is still very much in the social networking game. There may be plenty of alternative attractions like Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Mixcloud for instance, but MySpace is still the go-to big dog on the map for music.
But while all the focus today is on Twitter and Facebook, the yin and yang of joining the dots with your peers, it’s worth bearing in mind that a day will come when even their user-base may begin to shrink and the social hordes will find somewhere else to call home. Technology doesn’t stop evolving, changing and progressing just because you have 500 million users. I mean, look at the map of online communities from 2007 (thanks to Richard Cantwell at Geographic for tweeting me the link).
Look at a site like Digg, for instance, which was one of the Web 2.0 kingpins. Per the Guardian, they’re currently losing users hand over fist (a third of users between March and April 2010) as people go digging elsewhere. Yes, Digg and various commentators thought the site had a long shelf-life but it was the users who decided otherwise. As Charles Arthur points out in that Guardian piece, “just as in American politics, there are no second acts on the web…it’s OK to stop growing; what’s not OK is to shrink, because you lose advertising income and can’t increase your rates. Result: a death spiral.”
While it’s easy to know when a site runs out of steam and traction – there are probably OTR readers who can still remember their password for Bebo but when is the last time they logged on? – it’s slightly harder to know when the end is nigh. Again, look at that map. There’s still a hell of a lot of networks on it which must be doing enough business to get by, but many of these will have shrunk in size a year from now as others come on steam. For a band or brand looking at social networks to pimp their wares, the trick is to know which ones to buy into and which ones to sell out of.
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Ticket giveaway – Stand & Deliver
Stand & Deliver is a new RTE stand-up comedy show which will be recorded live in Galway’s Roisin Dubh next week.
The show, which will be broadcast throughout November and December, will feature the following comedians making you laugh in the venue next week:
Thursday September 2: Jason Byrne, Sarah Millican, Carl Barron, Jarlath Regan and John Colleary & MC Joe Rooney
Friday September 3: Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter, Glenn Wool, Gearoid Farrelly and Eleanor Tiernan & MC Kevin Gildea
We have FIVE sets of tickets to give away to EACH recording – if you want a pair, let us know in the comments field below which night you want to go to (Thursday or Friday) and we’ll select the names at random in the morning. Thanks to Gugai and crew at the Roisin Dubh for this.
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The randomiser kicks out the jams
10 days to go until the Electric Picnic opens its gates for business and, well, you’re going right? One of the strangest sights this year has been the amount of ticket giveaways and competitions doing the rounds (and here’s one which that list doesn’t include, plus don’t forget the huge number of radio giveaways, like the one on Ronan Collins’ show on RTE Radio One yesterday). Let’s hope someone is buying the tickets, eh? Maybe we’ll see a ton of National Concert Hall groupies moving from Earlsfort Terrace to Stradbally Hall now that the RTE Concert Orchestra are on the bill. A smart PR addition because it means oodles of pre-match coverage from RTE.
More tickets: are Ticketmaster rather than the acts and promoters about to become the first big beast to seize the all-in ticket pricing agenda? Can’t wait to see acts, agents and promoters react to this – after all, they’re the ones who have used Ticketmaster as a handy scapegoat for high ticket prices for years.
More Electric Picnic: Karin from Fever Ray and The Knife talks about motherhood, the Sami people, dry ice and opera.
The 10 most disastrous music industry deals from the last 10 years. No mention of Sony signing Jedward, strangely. Our favourite? Robbie Williams’ $160 million 360 Deal in 2002: “Williams loves being able to walk the streets of Los Angeles without being recognized. EMI, which structured the pricey deal, is somehow less thrilled by that freedom.”
New music from Sufjan Stevens? Yes please. You can download his ace new EP “All Delighted People” for five bucks here.
Via Record of the Day, the once booming HMV oulet in Shibuya in Toyko joins the ranks of CD stores in the city which are pulling down the shutters for the last time.
Incoming: Peter Broderick plays The Pavilion, Cork on October 20 and Workman’s Club, Dublin the following night. New mini-album “How They Are” is very sweet.
We heart record labels, but what the hell do they do these days? On the back of our mates Arcade Fire hitting Number One in the United States’ album charts last week with (excellent new album) “The Suburbs”, Sasha Frere-Jones takes a look at the role of record labels like Merge in 2010.
September sees the posthumous release of Aeromodeller’s “First Flight”, an album of masterful jangly pop from the late Derrick Dalton, who died in 2008. Derrick played with various acts on the Dublin scene (including Hey Paulette, Mexican Pets and Crumb), but Aeromodeller was his solo buzz. The album is released by YesBoyIceCream/Disques Fridge on September 29 and there will be a special gig in memory of Derrick that night in Whelan’s in Dublin featuring sets from Thread Pulls, Richer Than Astronauts, The Dinah Brand (whose second album “I Can Walk Through” is released in October) and The Little Beauties. €12 gets you admission to the gig, a vinyl copy of “First Flight” and Crumb’s “Like Goodbye” single. All profits from the gig to Aware.
Vote Irish! It’s that time of year again when DJs start jostling for position in the DJ Magazine Top 100 DJs Poll. Strangely enough, there’s only ever been one dude from the Republic to feature in the poll and that’s John O’Callaghan, who was at number 24 last year. The Top 20, we reckon, beckons this year.
Good series from Drowned In Sound as they mark 10 years of dubstep.
And interesting series on the future of the music business from The Music Network with Everett True on the future of music journalism, various talking heads on the future of the record business and Gerd Leonhard on the future of the future.
Forrester’s Mark Mulligan gets to do what every music business writer wants to do and tells EMI Music that he told ‘em so.
And finally, trust us, she’s going to be the star of EP 2010
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Some managers do ‘ave ‘em
It has been a busy few weeks for the country’s leading music manager Paul McGuinness. While you’d think that he would have enough on his plate now that his main employers U2 are back in the touring game, McGuinness took the time to pen an extensive thought piece for GQ magazine on the state of the business. Headlined “how to the save the music business”, it’s more or less a follow-up to the U2 manager’s speech at the MIDEM music conference in January 2008 about piracy, copyright and internet service providers living life high on the hog.
And, as was the case with that speech to the folks in Cannes, the article and its contents has attracted a lot of attention. Brian Boyd’s piece was one of the first of these, an opinion piece which elicited a response from EMI Ireland and IRMA big cheese Willie Kavanagh. Yes, it’s a sign of the strange times the music business finds itself in that a manager and a record label are on the same page about an issue. Once upon a time, there was no love in the room as each side did their best to outdo the other. Now, well, any port in a storm.
While some commentators have concentrated on McGuinness’ long-held views on ISPs, other targets of the manager’s spiel were quick to respond. In the GQ piece, McGuinness refered to bloggers as “anonymous gremlins who wait to send off their next salvo of bilious four-letter abuse whenever a well-known artist sticks their head above the parapet”. Like, get it off your chest, Paul!
Problem is, though, that many of those who write and blog about music business comings and goings are far from anonymous. Mike Masnick, editor of Techdirt, spoke for many when he wrote “Hi Paul. My name is Mike Masnick. Nice to meet you. I may be a blogger, but I’m not anonymous. Not only that, I’ve also attended the past few Midems, as well – and have even presented a few times off the same stage as you – and, oddly, it didn’t end in anonymous gremlins and backlash. Perhaps you’re doing something wrong.”
Masnick points out in his well-reasoned response that the problem is the “us vs them” attitude which still seems to hold sway, even as the record industry lurches from one crisis to the next. Where McGuinness and Kavanagh see attacks and bogeymen, Masnick and co see people “who love music and worry about an industry that is making many misguided and dangerous decisions that do more to harm the music world than the new services and technologies you apparently haven’t taken the time to understand.”
It really is time for a reset, but the problem is that those who should be doing the resetting are only interested in maintaining the status quo. Masnick again: “we’re not attacking you. We’re pointing out the very big flaws in your ideas. Rather than repeating the same flawed plans – with gratuitous and incorrect claims of some anonymous mob that’s out to get you – perhaps you could respond to the actual points that we’ve raised? Or is asking for that just a form of an attack?”
As has been the case since technology overtook the record industry, the response is always about attacking the naysayers and protecting assets rather than innovation and futureproofing. The music industry’s permanent establishment – this includes labels, promoters and managers of established acts – don’t have a clue how to address the changes which have torn their business apart. Many are holding on in the hope that they’ll have retired before the time comes to really have to make seismic, far-reaching changes and that will be left to someone else to do. The problem is that the time to make those changes in a manner which they manage and control is long gone. The new permanennt establishment won’t have anything to work with at this rate and are really just destoned to become catalogue pimps. When technology began to dictate how the music industry worked, the industry blinked. You can’t go back to 1999 and lunch Shawn Fanning and his uncle.
Every other creative industry is now examining how the music industry has made a hames of things and trying to avoid making the same mistakes. It’s unlikely that these other sectors will simply resort to sending in the lawyers and blaming it all on ISPs. Instead, there will be a process of engagement and change which take new realities into account. Yep, some will resort to attacks and tirades but those with sense will get on with things. No matter how much you want to do it, you can’t turn the clock back.
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The Walkmen, Ireland, November
The Walkmen play Dublin’s Tripod (tickets €22.50 plus Ticketmaster charges) on November 15 and Galway’s Roisin Dubh (tickets €26 and €24 from venue) the following night.
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This year’s festival census sees smaller events march on
The census returns are in: there were 75 music festivals and outdoor shows held in Ireland this summer.
Since 2007, an annual crowd-sourced headcount has been carried out on the On The Record blog to attempt to establish the number of festivals and one-off outdoor shows which happen here every summer.
While the census can’t and doesn’t claim to be 100 per cent accurate, the returns does provide a handy guide to the state of the sector.
What’s striking in the last two years is the steady, ongoing increase is the number of smaller events. Even though big cheese events like Oxegen and Electric Picnic continue to get the most attention by virtue of the size of audiences they attract, smaller events attracting 5,000 punters or less are certainly gaining traction.
The biggest decrease? That would be in the number of standalone outdoor artist shows in venues like Marlay Park and Malahide Castle. This is due to such shows moving indoors to the O2 to avail of fixed production costs (and avoid the vagaries of Irish summer weather) and also to a reduction in the number of heritage acts on the touring circuit this year.
But it’s not all beer and skittles for the small festivals. Two events which were due to be held in August – the three-day Indie’Go festival in Fenagh, Co Carlow with Aswad, Alabama 3 and Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, and the Summer Blowout Leaving Cert results party featuring Alexandra Burke, N-Dubz and Razorlight at Dublin’s Donnybrook Stadium – were cancelled.
In the case of Indie’Go, the cancellation happened on the second day of the event, while Summer Blowout organisers Premium Nights put it down to “circumstances beyond our control”.
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#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes
This week’s essential tunes on the OTR jukebox. Please feel free to add your own selections below.
Egyptian Hip-Hop “Some Reptiles Grew Wings” (Moshi Moshi)
Excellent Hudson Mohawke-produced EP of technicolour wibbly-pop from bright-as-a-button Mancunian teens
Antony & The Johnsons “Swanlights” (Rough Trade)
Due in October, the new album from Antony Hegarty and friends is a much stronger, robust and more rounded experience than previous releases.
The Count & Sinden “Mega Mega Mega” (Domino)
Chockablock with big-room boogie, “Mega Mega Mega” also remarkably succeeds in showing Mystery Jets in a good light, via their guest spot on “After Dark”
Timber Timbre “Timber Timbre” (Full Time Hobby)
Spooky rustic folk sounds on the third album from Canadian Taylor Kirk, the dude with the “creep on creepin’ on” motto.
Various “Shangaan Electro” (Honest Jons)
“It’s fantastic, it’s the best thing I’ve heard for a long time, it’s how music should be” (Karin Dreijer Andersson from Fever Ray and The Knife)
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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs
The Libertines: ahead of the band’s (alleged) £1.5 million reunion gigs, Lauren Murphy runs the rule over the act who were once considered the most influential band in Britain.
Blink 182: Mark Hoppus tells Tony Clayton-Lea about the growing pains of the 25 million album selling punk rock band.
Take 2: with the cinemas bursting at the seams with remakes of every description (and redos of Footloose, Red Dawn, My Fair Lady and Straw Dogs to look forward to), Joe Griffin gives his guide to when to remake and when to let it lie
Plus: reviews of music releases from Philip Selway (CD of the Week slot for the Radiohead drummer’s solo debut “Familial”), Magic Kids, Skream, Jamaica, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, “The Last Airbender” soundtrack, Matthew Dear and others, and new movies on the block including Salt, Marmaduke, The Expendables, The Illusionist, Pyjama Girls and Mother.
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. So, did you get your Arcade Fire tickets yet?
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New Music – The Holidays, Ghost Estates, Sun Airway
The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below.
Sunnysideup harmonies and wide-eyed melodic pop from a Sydney band with a couple of humdinger singles to their name (check out excellent current release “Golden Sky” in particular) and a debut album called “Post Paradise” to come next month.
Dublin-based newbies featuring ex-members of 8Ball and Sickboy making a hugely alluring and promising rattle if current anthemic demo tune “October” is an indication of where they’re at, which you can listen to here.
Philadelphia duo Patrick Marsciell (sound designer) and Jon Bathmus (vocals) keep it gloriously mellow with slow-motion, dreamy, hazy electronic chimes and tones. Debut album “Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier” to be released on Dead Oceans in October. Download tracks and remixes from the band here.
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Electric Picnic – day by day breakdown with some smart comments
Full list below. Per promoter, stage times will be released on the Wednesday before the festival.
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Behold the Hard Working Class Heroes
Hundreds of bands applied to play Hard Working Class Heroes 2010, but there could only be room for 100 on the final bill. The acts who will be playing in Dublin venues Andrews Lane Theatre, The Button Factory, The Mercantile, The Grand Social, Sweeney’s, Twisted Pepper and The Workman’s Club from October 7 to 9 as part of HWCH 2010 are as follows:
At Last An Atlas / Autumn Owls / Awake Young Soldiers / Axis Of / Bantum / Biggles Flys Again / Bitches With Wolves / Blasterbra / Bouts / Cast Of Cheeers / Cfit / Cloud Castle Lake / Colenso Parade / Conor Mason / Conor Walsh / Creatures / Dark Room Notes / Datadrip / Deaf Joe / Electric Penguins / EleventyFour / Enemies / Escape Act / Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters / Friend / Funeral Suits / Funzo / Futures Apart / GMC / Goatboy / Grand Pocket Orcherstra / Hal / Hellfire Cub / HERM / Hired Hands / Holy Innocents / House of Dolls / Ivan St John / Jefl & Hyde / Jennifer Evans / Jogging/ John Shelly and the Creatures / Junior 85 / Keith Mullins / Kid Karate / Kill Krinkle Club/ LaFaro / Le Galaxie / Leaflog / Liz Is Evil / Lost Chord / Miracle Bell / MO-T/ Mrs Healy’s First Class Choir / New Amusement / Norabelle / Nouveaunoise / Our Little Secrets / Pearse McGloughlin / Pio / Percolator / Planet Parade / RSAG / Scared Animals / Sleep Thieves / Slumberjet / Sounds of System Breakdown / Squarehead / Strait Laces / Super Extra Bonus Party / Sweet Jane / Talulah Does The Hula / The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra / The Capitals / The Crayon Set / The Dead Flags / The Depravations / The Dirty 9s / The Eulogys / The Evening Watch / The Gorgeous Colours / The Holy Roman Army / The Loafing Heroes / The Lost Brothers / The Minutes / The obcd / The Q / Tiny Magnetic Pets / Toy Soldier / Trophy Boyfriend / Valerie Francis / Verona Riots /Vickers Vimy / We Are Losers / We Cut Corners / We Should Be Dead/ Windings / Yeh Deadlies / Yes Cadets / Zealots
The best place to check out these acts – and hundreds of other new Irish acts – is on the excellent Breaking Tunes site. When it comes to finding Irish bands to profile in New Music every week, I’m using Breaking Tunes more and more.
More to come on HWCH 2010, including details of some very interesting panel discussions and an OTR Presents evening. If you want to know my feelings on HWCH and events like it (and what bands who’re fuming about not getting in should do), this post is the one to read.
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Whipping boys and scapegoats
Are you right there Michael, are you right? Chances are, like all returning holiday-makers, former banker Michael Fingleton had a lot of things on his mind when he landed at Dublin airport yesterday. He was probably trying to remember where he had left his house-keys, hoping there was some grub and a nice bottle of white wine in the fridge and wondering if he could have a lie-in the following morning.
As he walked off the plane, in his canary-yellow holiday gear and Panama hat, the last thing he expected to see was a RTE camera crew. David Murphy’s report on last night’s news was one of those pieces of footage you know is destined to be played over and over and over again. Murphy pursued the reticent banker up stairs and out doors, with Fingers trying desperately to shake him off without (a) hitting him or (b) telling him to PFO. He muttered a few comments but nothing we didn’t expect to hear. We have seen this kind of footage before as a news crew go in pursuit of the latest public scapegoat or whipping boy like greyhounds after a hare at a coursing meeting.
Thing is, though, Fingers, his buddy Seanie Fitzpatrick and Paddy Kelly, the Desperate Dan of the developing classes, are just the thin edge of the wedge. In golf clubs and living rooms all over the country, other potential scapegoats probably watched the footage, raised their glasses and said a quiet hurrah. Someone else is getting it in the neck and they’re escaping. You’d hurrah too if it was you.
It’s easy to blame all our woes and ills on a dastardly trio like Fingers, Fitzie and Kelly. They’re the ones we saw flaunting things when times were good and even when times were bad (see Kelly knocking back at the champers in Glenties a few weeks ago). They were always going to be first up on the gullotine when the good times came to an end. Things like Fingleton’s pension and Kelly’s BMW have become Irish versions of Nazi gold, things we believe they plundered from us and we want back.
But, let’s be honest here, there’s a hell of a lot more characters who need to be brought to account as well as those three stooges. I’m not saying that the three lads are innocent victims – far from it – but they’re not the only ones. The more we concentrate on a couple of eejits who lived life high on the hog and allowed the publicity and accolades go to their heads, the more we’re avoiding the bigger issues. Look at who has replaced the likes of Fingleton and Fitzpatrick in the banks and look at their track records. We seem to be replacing like with would-like-to-be-like. There’s no sign of the radical overhaul of the banking sector which you’d think events of the last two years would call for. Instead, our Fianna Fail and Green Party government keep pumping cash into a dead bank and are happy for the public and media to take out their ire on Seanie and Fingers. It seems to be the Irish way: when things go bad, identify a scapegoat and let rip.
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The Far Side – playlist for August 17 – now with stream!
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday August 17, 10pm-midnight
Good news: we’re now in the streaming business and you can listen back to a stream of last night’s show here. Yes, you’ll be able to listen back to The Far Side EVERY week from now on. In future, I’ll post the playlist once the streams are live. Thanks to Brian, Fiona and Caz at Phantom for sorting this out.
The Count & Sinden “After Dark” (Domino)
Aeroplane “Superstar” (Wall Of Sound)
MEN “Credit Card Babies” (Trouble)
Mosco Tiles Fonclaire Steel Orchestra “Black Man’s Cry” (Now-Again)
BBC “Ngozi” (Honest Jons)
Egyptian Hip Hop “Moon Crooner” (Moshi Moshi)
Gold Panda “Snow & Taxis” (Ghostly International)
Skream/La Roux “Finally” (Tempa)
Mount Kimbie “Before I Move Off” (Hot Flush)
Dam Mantle “Theatre” (Growing)
Jai Paul “BTSTU” (Self release)
No Age “Glitter” (Sub Pop)
The Holidays “Golden Sky” (The Passport Label)
The Immediate “A Ghost In This House” (Fantastic Plastic)
The Sunburnt Jets “Not the Easy Game” (Self release)
The Morning Benders “Promises” (Rough Trade)
Chief “The Minute I Saw It” (Domino)
Boo Radleys “Lazarus” (Cherry Red)
Talk Talk “I Believe In You” (EMI)
Lee Fields & The Expressions “Do You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)” (Truth & Soul)
Timber Timbre “We’ll Find Out” (Full Time Hobby)
Twin Sister “Lady Daydream” (Double Six)
Olof Arnalds “Svif Birki” (One Little Indian)
Peter Broderick “Human Eyeballs On Toast” (Bella Union)
Dr John & The Lower 911 “Feel Good Music” (Proper) -
Omar Souleyman for Electric Picnic 2010 – and rest of Body & Soul bill
Omar’s coming! All the way from Syria to Stradbally, the mighty Omar Souleyman tops the bill on the Body & Soul stage at the Electric Picnic. I saw him at Sonar 2009 and it really was quite a spectacular show.
More previously unannounced names for the Body & Soul stage at EP 2010:
John Cooper Clarke
Timber Timbre
John Smith
Peverelist
Thread Pulls
The Low Sea
Jennifer Evans
Daithi O Dronai
Jimmy Penguin
Martin Hayes & Denis Cahill
Iarla O Lionaird
Spook of the Thirteenth Lock
Holy Roman Army
Johnny Flynn
I Draw Slow
Tucan
Lisa O’Neill
Nouveaunoise
Ultan Conlon
Ambulance
Kill Krinkle Club
Twin Kranes
Hunter Gatherer
Natural History Museum
Patrick Kelleher
Butterfly Explosion
Deaf Joe
Maud in CahootsMeanwhile, here’s Omar in action
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Latest bout of musical chairs in RTE radioland
Tomorrow (Wednesday) sees the announcement of new schedules for both RTE Radio One and 2fm. As always happens when there are moves and transfers of this nature afoot, the rumour mill goes into overdrive. It’s all under wraps until tomorrow morning, but any OTR readers who would like to make some educated guesses are free to do so. Naturally, anyone who would like to guess how many female DJs and presenters will get primetime spots on either station is also welcome to speak their mind. OTR’s favourite rumour so far? Tom Dunne to move from Newstalk to take over the helm at 2fm’s breakfast show.
UPDATE: New 2fm schedule has weekend jock Hector Ó hEochagáin taking over the breakfast show (7-9am), Ryan Tubridy (9-11am), Colm Hayes (minus JimJimJimJimToInfinityAndBeyond, 11am-1pm), Larry Gogan (1-2pm), Rick O’Shea (2-4.30pm) and Will Leahy (4.30-7pm). What’s that expression? Oh yeah: “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose”
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Cultural confidence and cash
Many readers will probably nod their heads in agreement at Irish Times arts blogger Laurence Mackin’s piece on the new bustle in the capital city’s cultural hedgegrows of late. Laurence writes about knees-ups and soirees in new venues like the Joinery Gallery, Monster Truck Gallery and Centre of Creative Practices. You could also add gigs in city-centre apartments and joints like Space 54 in Smithfield to that list.
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OTR’s Monday morning 12 step re-up programme
(1) A huge thanks to our 500 Words of Summer guest writers from last week. The pieces were splendid, the ideas were sharp and the writing was top-class so thanks to Ailbhe Malone, Derek O’Connor, Aoife Flynn, Lauren Murphy (who is now blogging so make sure to bookmark The World Won’t Listen), James Byrne, Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, Aoife Kelleher, Stevie Grainger and Sinead Gleeson (tip of the hat for the series name too). We shall do it all again sometime.
(2) It was supposed to be a quiet week on the blog, but the latest bout of Arcade Ire put paid to that one. Thanks to band manager Scott Rodger for coming on here to give his side of the story (comment number 76 here), though I do have a number of as yet unanswered questions for him (comment 83). Still, OTR was right on the date, support act and price. Yes, Hot Press, we were – unlike you, we took the additional Ticketmaster charges into account to give the price the fans pay, not just what the press release says (“from” can cover a multitude). The campaign for all-in ticket prices starts now.
(3) A good result from Croker yesterday as the Premier County take their place, via the back-door, in the All-Ireland hurling final. Given all the chat in the build-up about Waterford, Davy Fitz and their allegedly awesome training, I was quite surprised at how underwhelming and unconvinving they were individually and collectively once the game started. Still, we’re in the final against the “Greatest Team of All-Time”. Surely the Cats are due one off-day, right?
(4) OTR has some truly champion meals last week in The Chop House in Dublin and the Liberty Grill and Cafe Paradiso in Cork. It’s been years since I last ate in Denis Cotter’s restaurant in Cork, but Cafe Paradiso is still the business. Yes, it’s a vegetarian restaurant, but don’t let that put you meat-eaters off because this is a truly awesome gastronomic experience. This week, I shall attempt to recreate their beetroot risoto, using freshly plucked beetroots from the back-garden. A good summer for beetroots….
(5) Time to revise the 2010 OTR’s festivals and outdoor shows census seeing as both the Indie’Go Festival (Fenagh, Co Carlow) and Summer Blowout (Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin) did not and are not going ahead. In the case of the Indie’Go Festival, they’re blaming “a number of reasons largely related to financial problems which included low investment and poor ticket sales” for yanking the festival on its second day. However, some punters, outlining how much they spent to get to the festival, point out that “If ticket sales were the factor of the cancellation, why were tickets still available on saturday – surely ye knew it was to be cancelled?” The Summer Blowout, AKA the Leaving Cert results party which was supposed to feature Razorlight, Alexandra Burke, N-Dubz and many more, has been “cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control” with the show now moved to Dandelion, Button Factory and Club 92. Odd, really, when you consider that the lads behind the event, Shane Harnett and Shane Madden from Premium Nights, were telling the Sunday Business Post only last week that ticket sales were “reasonably strong”. Once again, proof that you need more than a good idea and a big field to put on a festival.
(6) Lots of gig announcements last week and here’s a rundown of the ones we like. DJ Shadow returns to Ireland for gigs in Cork (Savoy, Sep 30), Dublin (Tripod, Oct 1) and Galway (Radisson, Oct 2). The Temper Trap play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on Oct 30 and Dublin’s Tripod the following night, MF Doom is at Dublin’s Button Factory on Oct 12, while Terry Riley celebrates his 75th birthday with a bash at the Tain Theatre in Dundalk on Oct 29, which will also feature Talvin Singh and George Brooks alongside the minimal kingpin.
(7) Our second favourite news story from last week’s newspaper – and our favourite.
(8) This is what crate-digging for beats looks like in Two Thousand and Ten (thanks to Tim Tonic for the link):
(9) Some piechart to start the week: “a graphic illustration of music industry madness”
(10) OTR Plugs: the next On The Record Presents features a date with PVT at The Workman’s Club, Dublin on September 9. Meanwhile, the next Banter takes place at the Twisted Pepper, Dublin on Sep 22 with Cillian Stewart (Castle Palooza) and Paul Brown (Earagail Arts Festival) discussing the ins and outs of running an Irish festival. Those behind Summer Blowout and Indie’Go are, of course, welcome to attend.
(11) The flogging a dead horse business is still ongoing. Sleep in Michael Jackson’s bed! Spare us.
(12) Let’s dance!
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Guest post – 500 Words Of Summer – Sinéad Gleeson
Last but by no means least, the final entry in OTR’s 500 Words of Summer series. I hope you’ve enjoyed this week of other voices on the blog and, yep, I think we’ll do it again sometime. We end with Sinéad Gleeson paying tribute to the man who provided “the crazy paving foundation” of her musical likes.
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Plugd gets back into the record selling business
Cork’s Plugd Records is set to re-open later this month.
The record shop’s new home is at the Triskel Arts Centre’s temporary location in the ESB Substation on Caroline Street. Plugd will then move with the Triskel back to the latter’s renovated and expanded space in Christchurch in 2011.
Plug’s Jim Horgan says the hook-up between the two has been a possibility for a few years.
“I had a few tentative conversations with the general manager, Ben Cuddihy, and it seemed we both wanted something to happen. We had been co-promoting occasionally and the Triskel hosted a few Plugd gigs.
“Last year, the Triskel relocated for renovations and Plugd closed. During this time, we talked more, until the Triskel director Tony Sheehan brought it together and made it happen.”
Horgan explains that it was increasing rent and rates, not a dip in sales which caused the shop’s demise.
“The main reason we closed was less to do with a decrease in sales and more because of continuing high overheads and rent in a limited space. The new rent for twice the size works out at about a quarter of what we were paying previously.”
It will be business as usual for Plugd at the Triskel from August 28. “It will be same range of music as always”, says Horgan. “We will take advantage of the extra floor space by introducing elements of visual art, design, film, magazines and books into the shop”.
And Horgan believes the link with the Triskel will be positive for both parties.
“If you ask anybody in Cork about the Triskel, they will give varying opinions on what they would do differently, yet everybody has been to something there they were into.
“There is a sense that the Triskel has a lot of potential that hasn’t always been realized. By hosting ourselves, the Black Mariah and Corcadorca, I think the Triskel is well on its way to reaching its potential.”
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#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes
This week’s essential tunes on the OTR jukebox. Please feel free to add your own selections below.
Highlife “Best Bless EP” (The Social Registry)
Beautifully off-kilter Afropop grooves from Gang Gang Dance/White Magic member Sleepy Doug Shaw’s other project.
Skream] “Outside the Box” (Tempa)
New bag of dubstep highlighters from Oliver James. Loving “Finally” with La Roux supplying the bittersweet, lovelorn vocal stings.
The Naked & Famous “Young Blood” (Neon Gold)
More sublime pop from the Antipodes. This time, it’s a summertime boom tune from an Auckland band who’ve already topped the New Zealand charts with this track.
Sleigh Bells “Treats” (N.E.E.T.)
Still better than a double-espresso for getting the morning started. Fuzzy freak-scene pop with oodles of sparkle.
Various “Black Girl” (Concord/BGP)
Rare-as-they-come blaxploitation soundtrack from Ossie Davis’ 1972 flick featuring Betty Everett, Walter Hawkins and others.
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New Music – Josephine, We Love, Rural Savage
The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below.
Keep an eye and ear on Manchester-raised Josephine Oniyama, especially if she keeps producing smouldering, smokey, hypnotic folk-soul tunes like current single “I Think It Was Love”.
Florence duo Giorgia Angiuli and Piero Fragola have an album due next month on Bpitch Control which will be a must-hear for fans of space-age electro-disco with glittery, gorgeous bells and whistles. Download a live set from the band here.
http://www.vimeo.com/8278956Snotty, ragged surf-punk, garage-rock and bogbilly melodies from Galway-based Donegal-reared half-wits who have a few decent tunes lurking beneath their oily fuzz and buzz. Hear tracks from the band here.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – James Byrne
The next guest post in the 500 Words of Summer series comes from James Byrne, the man behind Any Other City Records. Here, he explains just why he runs a label.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Lauren Murphy
OTR’s 500 Words of Summer series continues with music writer Lauren Murphy rewinding five years to how the Irish music scene looked in 2005.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Aoife Flynn
For the latest post in our 500 Words of Summer series, we say hello to music programmer Aoife Flynn who wonders if we’re living through a golden age for Irish music.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Derek O’Connor
We have reached the halfway point in OTR’s 500 Words of Summer series and here’s writer and ex-blogger Derek O’Connor on his slow-tech summer.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Aoife Kelleher
Next up in the 500 Words of Summer series, documentary-maker Aoife Kelleher writes about some recent music documentary discoveries.
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Arcade Fire, Dublin, December
OTR understands from an assortment of industry sources that Arcade Fire will play Dublin’s O2 on December 5, with a second date currently on hold for the following night. Full confirmation on ticket prices (we’re hearing €73), support bill (we’re hearing Vampire Weekend) and on-sale dates to come. These are the Arcade Fire shows which were predicted by OTR back in March. As this is currently unannounced, I’m marking the post as speculation for now and, if the info is wrong, I’ll set the Kilkenny hurling team on my “industry sources”.
UPDATE My industry sources (and Kilkenny hurlers) can rest easy. This gig is now confirmed for December 5 with support from Vampire Weekend and Devendra Banhart. Tickets go on sale next Friday and are priced from €55.80 to €66.70 which, with additional Ticketmaster fees and charges for purchasing the ticket via the web or over the phone, will bring the higher ticket price up to the €73 price. I’ve removed the “speculation” tag from this post as the show, support and ticket price quoted above are now confirmed. Question: is this the first time that the manager of a high profile act has confirmed and announced a gig via Twitter and a blog BEFORE the promoter gets the press release out?
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Mumblin’ Deaf Ro
Anyone who follows the music business or technology threads on OTR will have come across the erudite, considered and articulate views of regular poster Ronan Hession AKA Mumblin’ Deaf Ro. When I was putting together the prospective list of writers for the 500 Words of Summer series, Ronan’s name was the first one on the page. Here, he goes data-mining to inject some truths into one never-ending music business debate of our time.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Stevie Grainger
The second in OTR’s 500 Words of Summer series comes from Cork DJ and vinyl enthusiast Stevie Grainger on why the 45 is his weapon of choice.
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Guest post – 500 Words of Summer – Ailbhe Malone
Welcome to On The Record’s 500 Words of Summer series.
All this week, we’re running guest posts from a bunch of people on a variety of topics. You will definitely recognise some of the writers and you will probably not know others but, trust me, all the posts are well worth reading. The writers were given a simple brief: write about whatever you want to write up to and including 500 words. We’ve got posts to come on the golden ages of Irish music, running a label, music documentaries, the joy of the slow-tech life, seven-inch singles and much more besides.
We kick off the series with Ailbhe Malone who goes in search of some young voices in pop.
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No more altruism under Radiohead’s rainbow
Back in 2007, the music business story of the year was Radiohead’s decision to give away their new album “In Rainbows” for free.
The majority of industry observers and commentators followed the party line that this was a revolutionary move.
Few mentioned, though, that the Oxford band could only afford to do this because they established a huge audience over a 12 year tenure and a six album innings on EMI.
But Radiohead’s altruism with “In Rainbows” was never going to be finite.
The Torrent Freak blog reported this week that industry lobby groups the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) have begun to target fans who are sharing those “In Rainbow” songs online with cease-and-desist letters. Yep, the very same songs the band were giving away for free back in October 2007.
The problem lies in the fact that the band signed a brace of deals with XL Records and Sony subsidary ATO for the December 2007 physical release of “In Rainbows”.
Now, the RIAA and IFPI, the bodies who represent the labels Radiohead signed with, have sent in their legal eagles, asking blogs sharing the band’s material to stop.
“These recordings are owned by one of our member companies and have not been authorised for this kind of use,” said the RIAA, which represents major US labels, in one letter.
Given Radiohead’s previously stated stance on filesharing, you’d expect the band to be chomping at the bit to correct this situation. After all, do the labels really own the recordings or do they just have rights to exploit the physical distribution of the album?
Sadly, a band rep declined to comment when contacted by Torrent Freak.
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#Now Playing – OTR’s top tunes
This week’s essential tunes on the OTR jukebox. Please feel free to add your own selections below.
Ceo “White Magic” (Sincerely Yours)
Sincerely Yours label boss and Tough Alliance dude Eric Berglund delivers a fine solo album loaded with smart, melodic pop and club cuts.
Arcade Fire “The Suburbs” (Sonovox)
Montreal’s big music bucaneers take their cues from the ‘burbs for a third album which walks a fine line between and around the white picket fences. Hear the album in full via Grooveshark here.
Cosmetics “Sleepwalking” (Captured Tracks)
Sexy, spooky, shimmering Italo disco groover from Vancouver duo with an album due before year’s end.
John Grant “Queen of Denmark” (Bella Union)
The debut solo album from the Czars’ frontman, featuring Midlake as his back band, gets better and better with every listen. Playing Whelan’s in Dublin on Aug 21.
Various “Black Man’s Cry” (Now-Again)
Stonking collection of Afrobeat thrillers from Nigeria, Ghana, Colombia, Trinidad and elsewhere inspired by Fela Kuti. Check out this track from Lever Brothers Gay Flamingoes for a taste.
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This week in The Ticket – and your plugs
N-Dubz: as Dublin’s run in the football continues…oh, sorry, wrong Dubz. Lauren Murphy hangs tough with grime-pop queenpin Tulisa as N-Dubz limber up for a Dublin show.
Flying Lotus: we get high with Steven Ellison as he talks superheroes, his aunt Alice Coltrane and jazz.
Milk: ahead of Europe’s first outdoor gay music festival, Brian Finnegan asks if a festival like Milk can please all of the people all of the time. Plus our top 10 divas and a Q&A with the fabulous Roisin Murphy.
Plus: reviews of music releases from Johnny Duhan (CD of the Week slot for “The Burning Word”), Stars, The Books, PVT, La Roux, Monarchy, Mt St Helen’s Vietnam Band, Best Coast, Lunfardia and others, and new movies on the block including Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, Beautiful Kate, Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl, London River, Knight & Day, Step Up 3-D and Undertow.
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. Our hurling bet for the weekend – the Cats by 6 points (sorry Rebels).
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New Music – David’s Lyre, Clement Marfo, Maighread
The latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in The Ticket. All tips for future New Music picks welcome below.
Manchester singer-songwriter Paul Dixon is set to capture many hearts in the coming months with that mighty rumble of a voice and top-notch retro-sounding songs like forthcoming single “Tear Them Down”
Vibrant modern pop from South London rapper Clement Marfo and his seven-piece band throwing hip-hop, soul, r’n’b and reggae into the mix. Forthcoming single “Champion” sounds like a sure-fire hit.
Limerick-born, London-based electro-pop diva in the making with a fine handle already on the ins and outs of synth-pop machinations, vocal projections and sussed songwriting. Check out the Mark Video-directed promo for “Sea”.
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OTR’s outdoor shows and festivals’ census for 2010
It’s that time of the summer again. We’ve done this in 2007, 2008 and 2009 – a crowdsourced census to try to establish the number of festivals and outdoor shows which occur in Ireland every summer.
After the readers have had their say and remind me of the ones I’ve forgotten about or never heard about, the total usually comes in at around 70. I have a feeling this number may be down somewhat this year as not as many big stand-alone acts were touring this year. This meant fewer gigs in Dublin venues like Marlay Park and the RDS, while acts who were touring tended to take their show to the O2 instead. However, that said, it’s obvious that there are also a lot more smaller fests happening too.
Let’s get the ball rolling. List begins after the jump and currently stands at 75. Please list all additions in the comments field and I’ll update the list as the new ones arrive. Please note: (1) only events which run over the summer (ie from May to September) and (2) “outdoor shows” also cover tents.
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Ticket giveaway – One Summer’s Eve
One Summer’s Eve takes place in Dublin’s Meeting House Square next Saturday. This Choice Cuts joint will feature live sets from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the North Strand Kontra Band, Brian Deady and DJ Sets from Tu-ki, B+ and Handsome Paddy. OTR has THREE pairs of tickets to give away – if you want a pair, let us know in the comments field below and we’ll select three names at random in the morning.
UPDATE: because of the volume of entries, Choice Cuts have now given us FIVE pairs of tickets to give away so thanks to them for that
(Giveaway now closed)
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No Age for Foggy Jam .01
Excellent line-up for the all-day Foggy Jam .01 on October 10 at Whelan’s, Dublin. On the bill: No Age (new album “Everything In Between” due in September and they were mighty at Primavera in May), Male Bonding, Mice Parade, Silje Nes (her “Ames’ Room” album from a few years ago was ace and there’s a new one, “Opticks”, due soon), Squarehead (“Fake Blood” out now as a single on Any Other City Records), Hipster Youth and, of course “very special guests”. Doors open at 4pm, tickets are €20 and go on sale on Friday.
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Janelle Monae to play Electric Picnic – now with more names
News just in: Janelle Monae plays the Electric Picnic in September. Yep, that’s Janelle Freaking Monae, the lady behind one of the albums of the year, a striking live performer and the sharpest android on the pop block right now. Is this a tipping point for EP 2010 ticket sales I see before me?
UPDATE: Also added to the bill today:
Mountain Man
Freelance Whales
Duke Special
Neon Indian
Dennis Alcapone & the Dubcats
Hurts
Delta Maid
O Emperor
Joe Echo
Vengeance & the Panther QueenMeanwhile, our old friend “unforeseen circumstances” removes Memory Tapes and Breakestra & Chali 2 NA from the bill.
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The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday August 3
As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday August 3, 10pm-midnight
The Naked & Famous “Young Blood” (Neon Gold)
1,2,3 “Going Away Party” (Chess Club)
Gypsy & The Cat “Time to Wander” (Young & Lost Club)
The Phoenix Foundation “Buffalo” (EMI)
CEO “Come With Me” (Sincerely Yours)
Everything Everything “My KYZ Yr BF (Memory Tapes remix)” (Geffen)
The xx “Shelter (John Talabot remix)” (XL)
Tensnake “Get It Right” (Permanent Vacation)
The Black Keys “Howling for You (Prins Thomas remix)” (V2)
Blondes “You Mean So Much to Me (Ghost Hunter remix)” (Merok)
Keep Shelly In Athens “Fokionos Negri Street” (Self release)
Chief “Nothing’s Wrong” (Domino)
John Grant “Sigourney Weaver” (Bella Union)
Kashmere Stage Band “Boss City” (Now-Again)
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble “Gibbous” (Honest Jons)
J Dilla “Bars & Twists” (Stones Throw)
J Dilla “History” (Stones Throw)
Cosmetics “Sleepwalking” (Captured Tracks)
Oriol “Joy FM” (Planet Mu)
Panda Bear “Tomboy” (Paw Tracks)
Solar Bears “Dolls” (Planet Mu)
Cee-Lo Green “No-One’s Gonna Love You” (Elektra)
Lee Fields & The Expressions “Do You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)” (Truth & Soul)
Seu Jorge & Almaz “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” (Now-Again)
Phosphorescent “We’ll Be Here Soon” (Dead Oceans)
Perfume Genius “Lookout, Lookout” (Organs/Turnstile)
Alina Orlova “Po Tiltu” (Fargo)
Arthur Russell “This Is How We Walk On The Moon” (Orange Mountain) -
The bonnie prince – and the bonnie festival
I gave up on Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie years ago. I remember going to see him a bunch of times in Vicar Street and Whelan’s and getting the sense that there was some sort of in-joke going on which I didn’t particularly want to know about. There was the odd release which piqued my interest – that cover version of “Thunder Road” from the album with Tortoise, “The Brave & the Bold”, is immense – but for the most part, Will Oldham did his thing (an album a year followed by a bunch of shows) and I just ignored it. Nothing more to see here. Other fish to fry, other cats to scald, other shows to see.
Last Thursday, though, I went back to church.
(more…)
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