Euro tonic

It's not all fiscal gloom you know. For Irish acts, Europe offers big opportunities, writes JIM CARROLL, especially if you go Dutch

UNLIKE SOME other countries we could mention, the Irish nation has always exhibited a commendable lack of expansionist tendancies. Yet Groningen experienced something akin to an Irish invasion last weekend with the arrival of 21 acts and their entourages for the Eurosonic festival.

For new European acts seeking a leg-up, the northern Dutch city in early January has been the place to be since 1999. That was the year the European Broadcasting Union decided to park their itinerant Eurorock radio festival in one place and Groningen, with its surplus of brilliant venues located within a few streets of the city centre, was the ideal spot.

One namechange later and Eurosonic became the destination of choice for European festival bookers, radio programmers, journalists, record labels and dedicated new music fans. Each year, one country is selected as the festival’s focus country and it was Ireland’s turn in the spotlight this time around. This ensured Irish-related content in the convention’s programme (including a panel on how Irish acts could increase their gigging profile in Europe) and plenty of networking opportunities, but the real advantage was a bump in the number of Irish acts booked for the showcase gigs.

While there’s always an Irish presence at Eurosonic – the longstanding involvement of RTÉ 2fm means the station sends a number of acts to Groningen every year – the fact that 21 of the 293 acts playing at this year’s festival were Irish was noteworthy.

For once, no-one could grumble about lack of representation and it was up to the acts to make the most of the opportunities.

And those opportunities are significant. Eurosonic is one of the most important curated showcase festivals on the circuit. Unike South By Southwest, acts are not competing with 2,000 of their peers for attention and the results are measurable. If you’re good enough to make a splash in Groningen in January, you could end up with a rake of bookings for the summer festivals around Europe, a lot of European radio love and a bigger continent-wide profile. Look at James Vincent McMorrow. Last year, the Malahide man played a magnificent show in the tiny upstairs room at the Grand Theatre. That directly lead to appearances at five different Eurosonic-affiliated festivals last summer and several successful European tours.

This year, McMorrow is back to collect an European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) for acts who’ve reached audiences outside their homeland with their debut album. He’s also playing a packed-to-the-gills show at the beautiful Stadsschouwburg music hall, a significant upgrade on last year’s venue. Moreover, this Groningen date was just one in the artist’s sold-out Dutch tour last week.

Thanks to that appearance in front of around 100 people in January 2011, McMorrow has seen a bump in his profile and more exposure for his Early in the Morning debut album.

As he said after picking up his EBBA award: “I was here at Eurosonic last year and it was here where it all began. From then on, it led to incredible things.” The other 292 acts in town for the festival will be crossing their fingers and hoping for similar results in 2012. There may have been 33,000 people running and cycling from venue to venue, but it was the reps in town from any of the 60 festivals that the acts and their managers and agents really wanted to see at their shows.

Sure, you might welcome the sight of a dude from a label or a blog watching you with their arms folded, but you’d happily blank them and their opinions if someone from Oya, Primavera, Transmusicales, The Great Escape or Roskilde wants to say hello. Those talent-buyers are the real power-brokers in Groningen. Over the coming months, the acts will find out just how worthwhile their Dutch trip was in terms of bookings. On the evidence of the first tallies from a sample of festival bookers on the morning after Eurosonic ended, it looks like being a busy summer for McMorrow, Lisa Hannigan and God Is An Astronaut.

Let’s hope other Irish acts will also have to check their passports are in date.

A DOZEN EUROSONIC HITS

HONNINGBARNAEasily our favourite band at Eurosonic 2012. Fast, furious and fiery Norwegian punk rock from a bunch of wild-eyed yahoos who had all the right moves and sterling tunes too. Few will forget their demonic frontman in his blue jumper wielding a cello like a machine-gun in a hurry. honningbarna.no

FRÁNÇOIS THE ATLAS MOUNTAINSFrenchman-in-Bristol Fránçois Marry and his bunch of merry pranksters raised the roof with eclectic pop grooves, which had the alluring bang of The Beta Band and Animal Collective, and sweetly demented Afrokraut wig-outs.

The synchronised dancing was also a big hit. francoisandtheatlasmountains.com

2:54We could claim 2:54 as the 22nd Irish act on the bill seeing as the Thurlow sisters who front the band are Irish-born and Bristol-bred. Playing at the fabulous Vera venue, their spellbinding, boot-gazing swirlscapes were full of dark, delicious hooks and odd hues of Belly, Ride and The xx. Hypnotic pop that deserves further examination. twofiftyfour.net

GOD IS AN ASTRONAUTAn Irish band who are arguably much bigger and better known (and perhaps more appreciated) "out foreign" than they are at home. The Wicklow-based band have the heft and chops that come from a broad, five-album-strong back-catalogue and an enviable live reputation. The manner in which they played Remembrance Day, for instance, was very much an example of post-rock instrumental maestros at work. superadmusic.com/god/

ICEAGEThere's an air of menace to this Danish teen band's stage presence and not just because frontman Elias Bender Ronnenfelt bears a resemblance to Nick Cave circa The Birthday Party. Musically, Iceage provide a thrilling, vibrant, edgy, superbly realised punk-rock stomp with nods to the Dischord and Factory back catalogues. A show to send you back to debut album New Brigade to dig it all over again. iceagecopenhagen.blogspot.com

HAUSCHKAGerman composer Volker Bertelmann makes piano music which sends you and that instrument on flights of fancy to another dimension. As he has shown on various releases for Fat Cat's 130701 label, Bertelmann has a way of embellishing and extending contemporary classical without noodling – or nodding – off. At Eurosonic, he mesmerised us with prepared piano pieces which came wrapped in the wow factor. One for the more adventurous festival bookers to consider. hauschka-net.de

LEFTIES SOUL CONNECTIONAmsterdam's Lefties Soul Connection have been entertaining funk and soul brothers for an age with Daptone-tastic breaks and beats (check their version of DJ Shadow's Organ Donor). Now with soul belter Michelle David in the ranks, their Hammond organ-led boogie can effortlessly get the good times flowing. leftiessoulconnection.com

SPECTORAnyone in the audience for some crombie-indie? It's a good job the sharply dressed Spector come with bespoke, finely cut tunes to go with the dapper threads or we could have been talking another Menswear incident here. One of 2012's most tipped guitar bands, Fred Macpherson and friends have savvy tunes such as Never Fade Away which sound remarkably right on the radio, while the live show is, for the most part, a cocky, sure-footed tour-de-force. spector.co.uk

NEW BUILDHot Chip may be temporarily taking a break (though there's talk of a 2012 album release), but the offshoots, such as The 2 Bears, About Group and Joe Goddard's solo releases, more than compensate for their absence. The latest is New Build, featuring Al Doyle (also ex-LCD Soundsystem) and Felix Martin. Playing their fourth-ever live show, New Build impressed with spacey, vibey disco jams full of snap, crackle and pop. newbuild.bandcamp.com

LIANNE LA HAVASShe started by taking a photo of the packed hall and the audience were smitten before she even struck a note. The fomer backing singer has taken to the centre of the stage with great panache and confidence. Of course, it helps that she has both the songs (No Room For Doubt is a joy) and the voice (a beautifully easy-going soulful blur) to keep a room rapt and wanting more. liannelahavas.com

PHILCO FICTIONSweet, dreamy fjörd-pop was what was on offer from Oslo-based trio Philco Fiction and there were many takers. Stylistically, there were a couple of degrees of separation between them and Lykke Li or The Knife, but there were also some graceful, striking differences, especially in the off-kilter melodies and soaring, ambitious ideas. philcofiction.com

THE CAST OF CHEERSFrom the get-go, The Cast of Cheers always played like men possessed, but it's just got better and better in the past year. New songs such as the pulsating Animals and Family indicate that the follow-up to their well-received-at- home Chariot album is going to be a key 2012 Irish release. A band now tighter than a mosquito's tweeter. thecastofcheers.com

For more information on Eurosonic see eurosonic.nl