Jim Carroll on music
There are some things the public just won't buy
IT WOULD APPEAR that the Irish public have made their mind up about Chris Brown, and they’re not buying him.
Back in January 2009, Brown played four sell-out shows to more than 50,000 Irish fans at Dublin’s O2 and Belfast’s Odyssey. There was also much chatter about an open-air show that summer for the r’n’b star.
However, Brown didn’t hit Ireland last summer and will return to the country next month for the first time since that outbreak of Chrismania, to play shows at Dublin’s Vicar Street and Cork’s Marquee.
Tickets for both shows, which have a combined capacity of around 6,500 (about half an O2), are still on sale. The Irish public look like they’re passing on Brown.
Brown’s career became a bit of a no-go zone when he assaulted his then girlfriend Rihanna in Los Angeles on February 7th last year. Since that incident gave him a press profile which money couldn’t buy (or fix), Brown has done the predictable rounds of public atonement.
But appearances on US TV shows such as Larry King Liveand 20/20haven't done him any good. The proof is in the sales figures: his latest album Graffiti, the one that Brown boasted would see him joining the ranks of Prince, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, turned out to be a commercial flop.
Despite all Brown’s apologies, protests (naturally, he blamed the media for his woes) and retractions (he claimed he “misspoke” when he said he didn’t remember the incident), the public has decided it’s not buying it.
No amount of PR spin or contrite TV appearances with his mother (and attorney) by his side will wash this one away. There are still some aspects of bad-boy behaviour which the public is not prepared to condone.
New Music
THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION
New Zealand readers of OTR will already know this band who've released a couple of fine albums at home already. Latest release Buffalomakes a grand statement with dreamy pop , perfect harmonies and über-hummable choruses.
myspace.com/ thephoenixfoundationnz
THE KNOCKS
Manhattan-based production duo who've remixed Katy Perry, Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding and Marina & the Diamonds strike out on their own. New single Blackoutis a beautiful, post-everything funky pop banger.
myspace.com/itstheknocks
HT HEARTACHE
Perfect working name for the Los Angeles singer with a treasure trove of spooked, slow-motion, old-country and West Coast blues. Check her sweet debut album Swing Lowfor more.
myspace.com/htheartache
#Nowplaying
Baths Maximalist (Anticon) Ahead-of-the-Baths Maximalist (Anticon)
Ahead-of-the-curve, woozy, fuzzy boom-bap from Californian producer Will Wiesenfeld. Sonar bookers, sign him up.
Beastie BoysHey Ladies (Capitol)
While we wait for Hot Sauce Committee to drop (delayed since last September due to Adam “MCA” Yauch’s cancer diagnosis), a trip back to Paul’s Boutique, in the meantime, for some old-school hollering.
Mountain ManMade the Harbor (Bella Union)
The album of the summer from three Vermont-based singers with a fine line in folky, ethereal tunes. They play Dublin’s Crawdaddy on July 2nd.
LCD SoundsystemDrunk Girls (Holy Ghost! remix) (DFA)
Holy Ghost! have yet to put a foot wrong in the remix game and here, they soak James Murphy’s snarl with much swish and swoon.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark (DinDisc)
“I’ve been listening to a lot of the music I listened to when I was 13 for some reason, lots of OMD and Japan. This really hits me every time.”
– Selected by James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem
