JIM CARROLLon music
New music
DOTT
Expect sunny garage rock, with dash, sizzle and, on debut zinger Leave Tonight, superfly choruses, from this Galway-based underground supergroup featuring members of Grand Pocket Orchestra, Blasterbra, Rotes and Nevernoodz. They play Galway Arts Centre on January 28th. dottmusic.bandcamp.com
MELÉ
It’s Beamer that has alerted us to the addictive, exciting bangers which 18-year-old Liverpool producer Melé is already throwing out with nonchalant abandon. He’s set to get big rooms stomping with joy with releases to date for the Sound Of Sumo, Mixpak and Grizzly labels.
[ Facebook.com/UKmeleOpens in new window ]
CYMBALS
London-based four-piece making the kind of wobbly indie-pop pitched between Pavement and Talking Heads that sounds so right at any time.
The debut album, Unlearn, is now streaming on their Bandcamp page if you want to investigate further. cymbals.bandcamp.com
It's not dead yet but MySpace badly needs a makeover
The cool kids may have abandoned MySpace, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone the way of Bebo (yet). The once mighty music social networking site has been on deathwatch since the advent of newer, brighter and snazzier sites Twitter and Facebook, which have usurped all its buzz.
Not even a changing of the guard and figureheads from Rupert Murdoch and News Corp (he recently indulged his new-found love of tweeting to remark that they “screwed up in every way possible” with MySpace) to Justin Timberlake and Specific Media has arrested MySpace’s slide.
Yet figures last week indicated that MySpace is still getting clicks. In fact, the site, founded by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWoulfe back in the internet middle-ages (or 2003), is pulling more traffic than Google+ or Tumblr, according to the latest ComScore social media stats.
Even though MySpace still scores highly on Google search results – it’s usually the first or second result for any band, for instance – it’s still a turn-up for the books.
But even if MySpace is getting traffic, what the hell is there to see and do on the site when you get there to make you stick around? MySpace’s problem is that it simply hasn’t evolved. Every single function the site once had to attract users has been bettered elsewhere. Soundcloud and Bandcamp have better media players, Twitter is preferred for chirpy interaction and Facebook is now the go-to site for messing with your privacy options.
At last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Timberlake debuted MySpace TV, which looks as bland and predictable as it sounds. Time for some better, smarter makeovers or the $35 million spent by Specific on acquiring the site will follow News Corp’s $580 million purchase price in 2005 down the plughole.
Now playing
The 2 Bears Be Strong (Southern Fried)Top-ranking old-fashioned house buzz from Joe Goddard and Raf Rundell. Playing Dublin's Button Factory on February 17th.
Marsha Ambrosius Sour Times (J)The US r'n'b diva puts a sultry, bittersweet twist on Portishead's classic. From her Late Nights Early Mornings album.
Tim Hardin Don't Make Promises (Polydor)From 1966, the sound of the ex-Marine turned Greenwich Village troubadour mixing blues, soul and folk.
Schoolboy Q Habits Contradictions (Top Dawg)Second album from the Black Hippy rep featuring turns and collabs from Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Lex Luger, The Alchemist and many more.
Various Voguing (Soul Jazz)Compilation to go with photographer Chantal Regnault's book on New York's late 80s' voguing scene with tracks from MFSB and Malcom MacLaren
For more see irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord
