Jim Carroll

• The Far Side
• February 29, 2012, 13:51

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday February 28. Jonathan Boulet “Trounce” (Modular) Crocodiles “Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)” (Frenchkiss) Dark Times “Distrust” (Sheep Chase) Peace “Follow Baby” (Deadly People) NZCA/Lines “Okinawa Channels” (Loaf) Lone “Crystal Caverns 1991” (R&S) …

• Festivals
• February 29, 2012, 09:08

While many OTR readers will be brushing up on their Catalan (or Portugese) for Primavera Sound in June, there are two damn good festivals happening across the Irish Sea in May which may take your fancy. We’ve written here before …

• Festivals Live music
• February 28, 2012, 08:50

We write here a lot about under-performing shows because they’re the ones which catch the eye, but there are times when you need to acknowledge that promoters sometimes get it right with those big outdoor shows. Just look at Snow …

• Live music Music business
• February 27, 2012, 08:57

It’s always slightly weird to see a very large number of people finally realising that an issue is worth fuming about. There was little in last week’s excellent The Great Ticket Scandal from the Channel 4 Dispatches team about the …

• Clubs
• February 24, 2012, 17:03

I can’t kick this feeling when it hits: the awesome Moodymann plays Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on Sunday March 18. Tickets are €15 in advance (€12 for members) or €16 on the door.

• Plug The Ticket
• February 24, 2012, 08:40

Antonio Banderas: why the star of Black Gold is glad to be grey. The Jezabels: we talk to the Aussie rockers who have built their fanbase and profile with a relentless gigging schedule. Plus a bunch of new Aussie acts …

• Music business U2
• February 24, 2012, 08:40

When it comes to differences between the old music industry and the new music industry, there’s one line which says a lot. It pops up every so often and it always puts a smile on my face. This week, it …

• Now Playing
• February 24, 2012, 08:33

Sharon Van Etten “Tramp” (Jagjaguwar) Time for a best kept secret to become everyone’s favourite as the Brooklyn singer delivers bittersweet odes with panache and aplomb. Playing Dublin’s Whelan’s on May 18. Hackney Colliery Band “Money” (Wah Wah) London brass …

• New music
• February 23, 2012, 13:54

Wild Belle Chicago brother and sister Natalie and Elliot Bergman hit the radar with “Keep You”, a brass-powered, dubby synth-pop nugget with the kind of smarts which hint at much to come. Expect to be seeing Wild Belle’s name popping …

• Clubs
• February 23, 2012, 08:50

For most of this week, Una Mullally’s piece in Saturday’s paper on the current health of Dublin clubland, written on the back of last week’s news about the changing-of-the-guard at the POD complex, has featured in the most-read column in …

• The Far Side
• February 22, 2012, 14:34

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday February 21. Last night featured the now annual Far Side Of New Orleans extravaganza, with an hour of fantastic NOLA carnival tunes and sonic gumbos. You’ll find a stream of the …

• Gigileaks Live music
• February 22, 2012, 10:16

The Jezabels, who made their Irish debut at last year’s Electric Picnic, play Dublin’s Button Factory on May 19. Tickets for this one will be €14 (plus TM gravy). The band’s new album “Prisoner” is released on March 2 and …

• Live music
• February 21, 2012, 15:53

The truly awesome Lee Fields & The Expressions plays Dublin’s Sugar Club on April 7. We’re huge fans of the veteran soulman round these parts and his forthcoming new album “Faithful Man” is a humdinger. Details on tickets to come.

• Festivals
• February 21, 2012, 11:18

So here’s the first draft of the Forbidden Fruit bill for y’all. Action takes place in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin 8 over the June Bank Holiday weekend and here’s the day-by-day breakdown as things currently stand: …

• Hip-hop Ireland Irish music TV
• February 21, 2012, 08:38

To judge by the domestic TV schedules, Irish hip-hop is having a bit of a moment. A few weeks ago, the first edition of RTE’s new arts show The Works featured a short report on some of those involved in …

• Media Music business News Society
• February 20, 2012, 08:30

Every time Chris Brown’s name comes up – and it has come up a lot in the last week – I think of the over-priced baseball caps. It’s January 2009 and Brown is in Dublin to play four sold-out Irish …

• Plug The Ticket
• February 17, 2012, 09:32

And So I Watch You From Afar: we head to Russia to hang out with ASIWYFA’s devoted fanbase in the land of Putin. Our woman in Moscow: Una Mullally Django Django: the band behind one of the early contenders for …

• Legal
• February 17, 2012, 09:18

The law giveth and the law taketh away. Record labels worldwide always call their legal eagles when the going gets tough and those pesky kids need to be slapped down. We’ve seen a rash of this carry-on already in 2012, …

• Now Playing
• February 17, 2012, 09:00

Jagwar Ma “Come Save Me” (The Blue Rider) Mesmerising, mighty electro-pop from the Sydney newie which should be blasting out from every radio station in the land. Breton “Other People’s Problems” (Fat Cat) Chalk this down as one of the …

• New music
• February 16, 2012, 13:55

Here are the latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in tomorrow’s edition of The Ticket. Please feel free to share New Music tips below. Siren London-based, Singapore-raised, German-Australian skateboarder Stefan Niedermeyer is getting a ton of …

• Banter
• February 16, 2012, 09:13

It’s all systems go for The Evolution of the Hipster panel tonight at the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1). Our panel – Garry O’Neill (Where Were You?), Mick Heaney (The Irish Times) and Eimear Fitzmaurice (Not Saying Boo/Forward …

• The Far Side
• February 15, 2012, 14:01

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday February 14. Far Side Of NOLA: it’s our annual trip to the Mardi Gras next week which means an hour of primetime sonic po’boys and shake-rattle-and-roll musical gumbos from the steamy …

• RIP Venues
• February 15, 2012, 08:53

You’ll find my piece in today’s paper on the closure of the POD complex here. In the feature, I’ve had a look back at the venue’s nearly 20 year run in the entertainment game, with a focus on how the …

• Media
• February 15, 2012, 08:43

Back in October 2010, I was involved with the Dancing About Architecture course for would-be music journalists. Organised by the indefatigable Una Mullally, it was a whole lot of fun and featured various folks talking about talking about music. Like …

• Ireland Irish music Media Pointyheaded stuff
• February 14, 2012, 09:45

We must be due a bout of fuming really soon about Irish bands and radio play. There’s a grand stretch in the evenings – yes, there really is – so that must mean that we’ll soon get an assortment of …

• Innovation
• February 13, 2012, 09:26

We write a lot about innovation here. At a time when the music industry is chopping and changing like never before, there are a lot of new ideas, plans, schemes and notions around the place. Many of them, naturally, will …

• RIP
• February 12, 2012, 14:19

R’n’b diva, pop star and actress Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. She was 48 years of age. Guardian obituary here, excellent piece by Anne Marie Hourihane here. While her last appearance …

• Hip-hop
• February 10, 2012, 10:12

It’s six years to the day that the producer born James Yancey and known to us as J Dilla died at the age of 32 from a rare blood disease. During his lifetime, he was one of the most prolific …

• Now Playing
• February 10, 2012, 09:36

Krystal Klear “We’re Wrong” (All City) New cut from Declan Lennon sees him heading for the dancefloor with an old-school piano-house head on him. THEEsatisfaction “Queens” (Sub Pop) Dastardly r’n’b and dark funk tinges from Shabazz Palaces’ cohorts THEEsatisfaction’s forthcoming …

• Live music
• February 10, 2012, 08:34

Oh yes. The Black Keys, whose “El Camino” album was one of last year’s big highlights, play Dublin’s O2 on August 22. Tickets go on sale next Thursday at €39.05 (plus TM charges) a pop.

• Plug The Ticket
• February 9, 2012, 13:54

What you’ll find in The Ticket on your newstands, app and online tomorrow: Viggo Mortenson: on playing the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method tale of Freud, his pupil Carl Jung and the woman in …

• New music
• February 9, 2012, 09:20

Here are the latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in tomorrow’s edition of The Ticket. Please feel free to share New Music tips below. Seasfire Bristol four-piece who’ve joined the dots between “Spirit Of Eden”-era Talk …

• The Far Side
• February 8, 2012, 13:55

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday February 7. Last night featured a Far Side of Dilla special to mark what would have been James Yancey’s 38th birthday, which you can listen back to here. Jagwar Ma “Come …

• Retail
• February 8, 2012, 09:31

The Amazon shop may be coming to a street near you. The speculation about the opening of a Seattle store comes on the day when Amazon became the UK’s leading entertainment retailer, knocking the beleagured HMV into second place. Add …

• Live music
• February 7, 2012, 14:39

OTR strikes again. As predicted here three months ago, Madonna plays Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on July 24. Tickets for this one range in price from €54.65 to €141 (plus Ticketmaster gravy) and go on sale next Tuesday. It’s been funny …

• Reviews
• February 7, 2012, 08:47

It will probably take most reviewers longer than Azealia Banks was onstage in Whelan’s last night to write their reviews of her Irish debut. Then again, did anyone who paid their money and took their chances on the next big …

• Randomiser
• February 6, 2012, 08:52

They came, they saw, they kept the strobe lights on: Factory Floor’s Dublin debut on Saturday night at Tripod could well have been mistaken for something else given the amount of beer promos in the venue and especially on the …

• Music business Retail
• February 3, 2012, 09:44

Innovation comes in many different forms. When you’re a record label operating at a time when sales and revenue are on the slide, you have a couple of options. You can do what the big boys are doing: sit on …

• Now Playing
• February 3, 2012, 08:44

Lana Del Rey “Born to Die” (Polydor) Ignore the hysterical debate about authenticity and revel in the dreamiest pop album of the year from the wild at heart Ms Grant. Young Magic “Melt” (Carpark) Aussies residing in Brooklyn come up …

• Plug The Ticket
• February 2, 2012, 13:52

What you’ll find in The Ticket on your newstands, app and online tomorrow: Miss Piggy: “Garbo, Marilyn, Dietrich – I feel that I’m a continuation of that timeless legacy”. The world’s biggest female movie star talks frogs, fame and feminsm. …

• New music
• February 2, 2012, 10:52

Here are the latest New Music selections from the On The Record column in tomorrow’s edition of The Ticket. Please feel free to share New Music tips below. Mary Epworth “Black Doe” is the reason for the wows from the …

• RIP
• February 2, 2012, 08:58

Don Cornelius, the founder and host of the legendary Soul Train TV show, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 75. The show, which first aired in Chicago in 1970, introduced television audiences to a host of r’n’b, …

• Live music
• February 1, 2012, 21:24

Boom! Shabazz Palaces bring one of the best albums of 2011 “Black Up” (streaming in full below) to Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on May 18. I saw them live at Transmusicales in Rennes last December and they were just so damn …

• The Far Side
• February 1, 2012, 13:55

As played on The Far Side, Phantom 105.2, Tuesday January 31. Coolrunings “Spirit of the High” (Dracula Horse) Mary Epworth “Black Doe” (Hand Of Glory) Oberhofer “Heart” (Glassnote) John Talabot “Destiny” (Permanent Vacation) Blondes “Water” (RVNG Intl) The 2 Bears …

• Music business
• February 1, 2012, 10:04

Some interesting bits and pieces from the MIDEM conference, aside from our old friend Paul fuming about stuff, as the folks with the expense accounts head home from the south of France. Saatchi & Saatchi boss Kevin Roberts delivered a …

• Live music
• February 1, 2012, 08:59

One of the best acts I saw at the excellent Transmusicales festival last year was Colin Stetson and he’s coming to Dublin later this year. He plays the Twisted Pepper on November 9 and tickets are now on sale at …