LIVE: Foals, Ambassador, 27th Nov

Foals' album Antidotes is going to feature heavily when we get around to those annoying inevitable end-of-year reminisces. In my opinion it is among the defining albums, along with Hot Chip's The Warning and LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver in the genre crossing of indie, electro and pop which has proliferated in the past few years. Unforunately it seems that success has got to leadman Yannis' head a bit. To be honest, he seems a bit of a tosser, lost playing the role in some sort of real-life Spinal Tap parody*. He also climbed up onto the speakers at one stage, which were churning out the typically crap sound the Ambassador offers, and also threw a drum around the stage. The bizarre thing is the other four members of Foals seem much more grounded, bouncing and moving along to their fantastically energetic and addictive sound. They gave a sterling show, rattling off the album with much aplomb. But I must admit Yannis' tossery** will be my abiding memory, coupled with the staggeringly young age of the crowd, with no alcohol on sale downstairs. Literally a teen disco.
In summary, Foals rule. But the night didn't really.


* He actually asked the crowd if they believed in the devil at one stage.

** Just made up that word there. I knew Eoin would like it

Donal Dineen - Lowerstate @ DeBurgho's, 19/12/2008

To celebrate Christmas the Lowerstate crew have invited Donal Dineen to DeBurgho's for what will be an intimate chance to connect with the maestro himself. Dineen's set are a joy to behold as he takes those in attendance on a musical tour, usually down some unexplored alleys but always emerging better for the journey. Notably, he focuses on the music and track selection without getting too caught up in peripheral issues such as beat matching and it never detracts from the experience. I remember someone observing after one of his previous performances that such an approach allows those in attendance to appreciate the particular track to the full without it being manipulated by the dj. It's also great to see that the lads have given him the freedom to play a 4 hour set, an opportunity no doubt relished by Dineen himself. This will be a special gig and it a very fitting way to celebrate the festive season.

Taken from Lowerstate.ie:

"Possessing two of the finest ears on this fair isle, Donal is a master craftsman at setting a mood and evolving it into a musical story, putting smiles on faces and broadening tastes along the way."

Tickets are available from the Lowerstate lads and from DeBurgho's.


www.lowerstate.ie

Marcel Dettmann - Podcast, Mix & Video

The boys at Bodytonic have served up another quality podcast, this month from Marcel Dettmann. Famed for his residency at Berlin's Berghain, Dettmann has been credited with influencing much of the shift to the deeper sound prevalent in electronica at the moment. His Berghain 02 mix released on the Berghain's own Ostgut Ton label was noted by Resident Advisor's Chris Hobson as being the defining moment when techno made that shift and began to evolve.

Download Podcast (right click & save as)


The folks at Djsounds.com have posted a recent interview with Herr Dettmann and features some exclusive footage of the hallowed Berlin club's interior.

The following is their introduction to the video:

It is nearly impossible to get cameras into Berghain/Panorama Bar, as they have a strict no-camera policy, reported DJsounds’ German division. So kudos to the crew for managing to come up with this clip: an interview with Berghain resident DJ Marcel Dettmann and a rare peak inside Berlin’s uber-cool techno club!

Stalwart of the Berghain sound, select selector Marcel has been spinning at the venue (formerly known as Ostgut) since 1999.

Here he talks about DJing, the Berghain/Panorama Bar combo, and Berghain 02, his debut mix compilation, which was released earlier this year on Ostgut Ton, Berghain’s label arm.

Production-wise, Marcel has previously released material on his own Marcel Dettmann Records imprint and remixed for the likes of Rekids, and in this interview he chats openly about his recent production work, including ‘Plain’ on Berlin label Beatstreet.

www.myspace.com/marceldettmann
www.berghain.de

Berghain 02 by Marcel Dettmann is available to purchase/sample here.

BSITWT #46

Young Hebdon is in fierce danger of taking this BSITWT thing for good. Fierce. This one's taken from his own Ringer EP, released last summer on Domino. It's a return to the bleepy, pre-folktronic (sorry) material associated with some of his more recent - and much lauded - remixes. Cue ten minutes of deep, progressive and, of course, wildly indulgent clicks, bleeps, beats and treats. Tome.

Four Tet - Ringer (mp3)

Fabriclive 36 - James Murphy & Pat Mahoney

Judging by the amount if time I spend writing about Fabric releases you could be excused for thinking that I work for the London imprint. No such luck unfortunately. It can only, therefore, be explained by the diverse and consistently high standard of their regular Fabric & Fabriclive series. With John Tejada set to release Fabric 44 on 12 January 2009 and the recent delivery of Fabric 43 by Metro Area, the respected compilation series continues to command the attention and reverence of all those electronically inclined.

Today, I'm hoping to cast your attention into the series back catalogue, Fabriclive 36 in particular. Compiled by James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, the compilation is not something you would expect to hear on an average night in the London superclub. It is, however, a joy to listen to. The tracks move between disco and house with a very fun, authentic and old-school vibe prominent throughout. It really is a collection of sounds that will transport you to a different world. The at-times rough mixing only seem to add to what has been described as an "off-the-cuff" mix. It evokes similar emotions to those experienced on spending just a tad over three-quarters of an hour listening (running?) to 45:33; peaks, troughs and an over-whelming sense of feel good.

Fabriclive 36 - James Murphy & Pat Mahoney is avaialble to purchase here.


P.S. There were some rumours circulating the interweb this past week that LCD Soundsystem had been put on hold by James Murphy, with some declaring the end of the Murphy-led collective. It was soon clarified as being rubbish with the happy conclusion that new material could be expected in the new year. Delighted.

BSITWT #45

M83 - Couleurs (Sasha Invol2ver Remix)






Anthony Gonzalez's electronic project M83 is named after spiral galaxy "Messier 83". Now you know. Welsh progressive producer & DJ Sasha is named after a popular Irish ladies fashion chain.

Bloc Party - Intimacy

Bloc Party's third album Intimacy was plunged upon the world, in blitzkrieg fashion, as a digital release last August, a whole 2 months before the physical edition was available to buy. The band later revealed that they decided to rush-release the album due to the fact that they had, in the past, grown tired of material by the time the album tours commenced. This reluctance to sit on finished material resulted in the surprise appearance of Intimacy on 21 August. The expected industry buzz failed to materialise and it was not until the full CD release in October that reviews etc began to appear in all the familiar places. The band expressed excitement at the prospect of being able to tour with the new album so soon after it's completion. An unusual, but interesting way, to go about an album release.

Intimacy continues along familiar lines to their previous outputs with electronic influences and tales of modern life. Produced by Jacknife Lee and Paul 'Phones' Epworth, it succeeds to an extent in fulfilling Kele Okereke's ambition to combine the 'rawness' of Silent Alarm with the 'experience' of A Weekend In The City. Album openers 'Ares' and 'Mercury' snatch the listener's attention, with their soaring drum patterns and Kele's trademark vocals. Matt Tong has to be commended for yet-another energetic performance on drums: he surely is one of the finest stick men of the past number of years. Other points of merit on a characteristic, satisfying album include the subtle tones of 'Ion Square' and the head noddingly-good riffs bursting out on 'Trojan Horse' and 'One Month Off'. The softer moments in 'Signs' prove than Bloc Party are still capable of producing emotive tracks along the lines of 'This Modern Love'.

With such a quick turnaround between album release and tour it will be telling to see how the live show has transferred from the studio to the live setting. At this stage the enthusiasm for the material should not have wained so it has the makings of a show to remember. We were quietly surprised by how much we enjoyed their biggest headline show, to that point, in Pheonix Park last November. With many quality tracks in their back catalogue and some gems in the latest effort, I can feel a growing excitment in the lead up to this one.

Bloc Party play Horden Pavilion, Sydney on the 25th & 26th of November. Tickets for both shows are sold out.

The CD version of the album contains additional tracks to the digital release. 'Talons', not included on the digital release, has subsequently been released as a single.

Bloc Party - 'Talons'

http://www.blocparty.com/

BTBW 17.11.08

The last radio show until after Christmas. Aw.
BTBW 17.11.08

Warning - the first few minutes of this MP3 are the last few minutes of the guys' show before us. So ignore that.

Tracklisting

Yppah - Again With the Subtitles
You are Beautiful at all Times (Ninja Tune)

Osborne - 16th Stage
Osborne (Ghostly International)

Erlend Oye & Morgan Geist - Ghost Trains
Unrest (Astralwerks)

Four Tet - Bus

Rice Twins - For Penny and Alexis
Kompakt

SCSI 9 - Ich Kann Nicht Anders
Ich Kann Nicht Anders EP (Kompakt)

Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill (Extended Mix)
The Eraser (XL)

Stuart A. Staples - Say Something Now
Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 (Lucky Dog Recordings)

Coco Rosie - Werewolf
The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Still Born (Touch and Go Records)

Mogwai - I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
Hawk is Howling (Wall of Sound, Play it Again Sam)

Yann Tiersen - Les Jours Tristes
Amelie Soundtrack

Broken Social Scene - Guilty Cubicles
Feel Good Lost (Arts and Crafts)

LIVE: TV on the Radio

We left Tripod on Saturday night feeling empty. TV on the Radio, one of the quirkiest, most interesting, most genre-mashing bands around, have recently released an album, Dear Science, of sublime quality. But whatever went wrong, it just didn't work live. The horns, bells and other subtleties which make their tracks so special were either inaudible or absent, and the layers of each track were indistinguishable. The most enjoyable parts of the gig were the moments I spent filling in the gaps and humming along in my head. Leadman Tunde Adepimbe's voice didn't travel well at all, which is an indictment of him as a performer, but in his defence even when he talked between songs we could hardly hear, suggesting some of the blame lies with Tripod here too. An unfortunate night, which started with huge expectations. Would love to hear if anyone else has experienced this kind of thing in Tripod lately. It seemed a little odd as they really put emphasis on the sound system when it first opened. A video of TVotR from Later.. with Jools Holland would suggest a lot of the blame lies with the band unfortunately...

LIVE: Nightflight

Nightflight, which seems to me to be a sporadically appearing promoter in Dublin, has got its act together in a big way, with a run of great gigs in the Button Factory between now and that day in December beginning with a C. It's a minimal techno fest, indoor sunglasses at the ready:

This Fri, Nov 21: Marc Houle (M_nus)
Fri, Nov 28: Tobi Neumann (Cocoon)
Fri, Dec 12: Steve Bug (Poker Flat)

I've already mouthed off about Tobi Neumann being essential viewing. But I think he is probably the least essential of these three DJs. Houle, a regular on Hawtin's M_nus label, has produced some huge tracks in the last while, including Bay of Figs and On It. As for Steve Bug, anybody that was at Melt! knows what he is about. For anyone that wasn't there, check out the video at the end. Bug is the head of the much-revered Poker Flat record label, with the likes of Jesper Dahlback, Guido Schneider, Josh Wink, Martin Buttrich, Mattias Tanzmann, Sian and Trentmoller signed up. Impressive company to be keeping indeed. Between this and the last post announcing the arrival of Michael Mayer, Apparat, and Modeselektor, there is certainly no cause for complaint for the Dublin masses in the coming weeks.

BTBW, Mon 10th Nov

Finally, an MP3 of one of the radio shows!!
BTBW-10-11-08
Tracklisting

Wolf Parade - I'll Believe in Anything
Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)

Born Ruffians - I Need a Life (Four Tet Remix)
Warp Records / Domino

Andrew Bird - Imitosis (Four Tet Remix)
Fat Possom / Domino

Arthur and Yu - The Ghost of Old Bull Lee
In Camera (Sub Pop)

The Shins - Caring is Creepy
Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop)

Mad Theory - Numbers
An Taobh Tuathail Vol. 2 (PsychoNavigation)

Sian - Flood (Gui Boratto Remix)
Poker Flat Records/ Kompakt

The MFA - The Difference it Makes (Superpitcher Remix)
Border Coumminity / Kompakt Pop

Broken Social Scene - Capture the Flag
You Forgot it in People (Arts and Crafts)

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks (Warner Bros)

LIVE: Apparat, Dec 13

German Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, comes to Crawdaddy in December. This is very exciting. His latest offering, 2007's Walls, is an absolute joy to behold, featuring tracks such as Fractales and Arcadia, which I imagine is the kind of music good ol' St. Pete welcomes you with. His 2006 dueted album with Ellen Allien, Orchestra of Bubbles, still stands as a showcase for a whole genre of wavy, pretty, bleepy minimal techno espoused by the likes of BPitch Control and Kompakt. Actually, while I'm at it, Kompakt head Michael Mayer is coming to Spy on Friday the 5th of December. AND Modeselektor are coming!! Again!! Wow. Twisted Pepper, 18th December.

The Germans are coming!! And we couldn't be happier!!

Here's Michael Mayer playing a yummy track in Spy last Paddy's weekend





And here's a video of the general madness that is MDSLKTR


Apparat MySpace
Modeselektor MySpace

BSITWT #44

Four Tet at his bleepy best. Listen as he completely obliterates Born Ruffians, stretching I Need A Life into an epic, eight-and-a-half minute opus. Mesmerising stuff.

Born Ruffians - I Need a Life (Four Tet Remix) mp3

Radio Transmission

Tracklisting - BTBW 03/11/08

1) Daso - La Fie Verte
Absinthe Ep (Connoisseur Recordings)

2) Boxcutter - Blosicid
Glyphic (Planet Mu)

3) Halfset - Salmon
Another Way of Being There (Casino Gravity)

4) Beirut - Nantes
The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!, 4AD)

5) Ola Podrida - Jordanna

Ola Podrida (Plug Research)

6) The Cinematic Orchestra - Colours

Ma Fleur  (Ninja Tune)

7) Somadrone - Our Ears Were Like Canyons
Of Pattern and Purpose (Trust Me I'm a Thief)

8) Mogwai - I Know You Are But What Am I?
Happy Songs for Happy People (Play it again Sam, Matador)

9) Helios - Dragonfly Across an Ancient Sky

Eingya (Type Records)

10) Broken Social Scene - Alive in '85

Feel Good Lost (Arts and Crafts)

11) Rice Twins - For Penny and Alexis

Total 7 (Kompakt)

12) Matthew Dear - Deserter
Asa Breed (Ghostly International)

13) Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight

The Blue Notebooks (Fat Cat Records)

Ah lovely.

Psychonavigation Records Showcase, Whelan's, Dec 10

Irish record label Psychonavigation Records have been on top form lately, with Cian O'Ciobhain's An Taobh Tuathail Vol II changing our lives at the moment. Expect to see numerous BSITWTs coming from this compilation in the coming weeks. On top of this, RSAG's Organic Sampler has recently been released on the label. The album, with nods to David Byrne, Ian Curtis and Beirut from lead man and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Hickey, is notable for the impressive and incessant quality of the drumming which drives most tracks, and has been earning rave reviews in the Irish music media. RSAG headlines a showcase night for Psychonavigation in Whelan's on Weds 10th December, with other experimental artists such as Roger Dolyle, Ciaran Byrne, Mick Chillage, and Sean Quinn (presumably not the billionaire). The MySpaces of Byrne and Chillage are behind the links in the previous sentence, and my god, there is some nice stuff in both.


Read the full blurb here

Joy Division- Film & Documentary

Anton Corbijn's 2007 biopic film Control is, without doubt, at the top end of my list of favourite films. I could watch it repeatedly with its mix of music performance and story based on the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. Sam Riley's performance as Curtis garnered wide critical acclaim on its release at the Cannes film festival. The film charts the life of Curtis as he grows up in Manchester, leads the band from 1977-1980, to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first U.S. tour in 1980.


This year a documentary entitled Joy Division, based on the Manchester band, has been released. Directed by Grant Gee and featuring archive footage of the band in their prime, Joy Division recalls how the band was formed, their musical progression, the tragedy that ended it all and the legacy that survived. It also contains present-day interviews with the band looking back over the critical moments in the Joy Division story. The revelation by the other members of the band that they did not attend Curtis' funeral came as a shock to me but shows the mixed emotions at the time and how young they all were at their peak. The documentary also explores the almost instant formation of New Order and their rise.

Both of these releases are compulsive viewing. If you are not already a Joy Division fan you will be on watching these. Just try and stop yourself listening to their music afterwards. It's not possible. As the annual month of abstinence continues you could do worse then spend a Saturday night in, exploring the rise and fall of Curtis & co.

Joy Division - 'Dead Souls'

Tasty Weekender

Anybody laying off the booze or taking it handy for November can be forgiven if they break their pledge a few days early, as the last weekend of the month is a feast for Dublin's techno scene. On Friday night, Berlin's Tobi Neumann comes to the Button Factory. Neumann is well known for his minimal mastery, is a regular at Fabric, Watergate and all the major haunts, and comes highly recommended. As his MySpace says, "if they aren't yelling, it ain't Tobi". How German is that?

The following night, after no doubt a bottle in the Bernie, we will be off to Twisted Pepper to see Ben Klock AND Carl Craig. An outrageous pairing for such a small venue, this is a big one. Tickets are on sale on tickets.ie and I can't imagine there being any on the door by the time this one comes around. We don't need to say too much about either of these, we have already sang Klock's praises in our EP preview. By all accounts his set there was a mesmerising, deep, dark roller, very in the style of the Berghain crew of which he is a part. Carl Craig is one of the grand daddys of Detroit techno. Not quite as causal in the origination of the genre in the late 80s as the likes of Juan Atkins, Mike Banks, Kevin Saunderson et al, Craig was influential in keeping the ball rolling in the 1990s. As the Berlin and Detroit techno scenes started to merge, Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills and Craig were very much the chief characters in the fusion. Expect soulful, funky yet heavy-hitting drums to be the order of the day for his set.
A big weekend for Dublin, don't miss out!!!

Here's a video from Carl Craig's visit to Dublin in 2006, it takes about a minute to get going but you can hear the crowd's reaction, phenomenal!!

More Radiohead covers

This is Eoin's pet project, I know, but I thought I'd steal a little of his thunder. The Guardian have asked 5 modern Jazz composers to record their own take on In Rainbows' Nude, with interesting results. Worth a nice relaxing listen.
Link to audio

Richie Hawtin - Sounds From Can Elles

For those going to see Richie Hawtin in Tripod next Friday, here is his latest output. Entitled Sounds From Can Elles, this mix, complied for DJ magazine, is noticeably darker than Hawtin's RA podcast. It will be interesting to see what he serves up in Dublin. This is a very enjoyable mix in the meantime.

Download here.

Unmixed tracks: Part I, Part II, Part III.

Release date: Oct 29

Tracks:

1. Larrson - Ability To Jump (Original Mix) 8:45
2. Marco Dassi - Varese Ist Leer (MiniCoolBoyz Remix) 8:35
3. Octave - Past Flash (Original Mix) 7:39
4. Gary Beck - Consumed (Original Mix) 6:32
5. Joel Alter - Spektrolit (Original Mix) 10:04
6. Jobody - Spades For Hands (Original Mix) 7:28
7. Ken Kenichiro - 4AM (Original Mix) 6:26
8. Oliver Dodd - Nervous (Part 2) 6:35
9. Psyk - Clown (Original Mix) 7:12
10. Jorge Savoretti - You Taste Better Than Danger (Original Mix) 9:09
11. Gernot Lange - Resistance (Original Mix) 5:51
12. Exequiel Brandan, Luciano Le Bihan - Flying (Original Mix) 8:35
13. Sebastian Russell - You Freak (Original Mix) 7:22
14. Antonio Pocai - 14-12 (Original Mix) 6:02
15. Ryoh Mitomi - Watch Your Step (Original Mix) 6:24

BSITWT #43

Mogwai - I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead


See album review below. I'm hooked.

TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio's seminal Return to Cookie Mountain has to go down as one of the best albums of the last few years, really putting them at the top of any self-respecting hipster's iphone playlist. After such a monumental achievement, the task of living up to expectations with the recently released Dear Science was always going to be tough. Yet somehow I think they have managed it. The quality, talent and range of TVotR is on full show again in what is likely to be leading the really annoying "album of the year" lists on blogs the world over come December*. From the subtle violin and piano touches of Family Tree (which sounds like some sort of Bloc Party-Sigur Ros hybrid), to the gorgeous Shoegaze of Halfway Home, onto the driving energy of Dancing Choose (which will sound familiar to anyone who only knows TVotR for their classic Wolf Like Me) via a wide spectrum of what lies in between, this album never disappoints. The vocals of frontman Tunde Adebimpe, which draw heavily on gospel influences as far as I can see, and at times even remind one of the great MJ, along with the heavily Afro-Drum influenced percussion, are a highlight for me throughout.
TVotR play in Tripod next Sat 15th Nov as part of the Heineken Green Synergy festival. Should be a stormer. The line up is pretty impressive for the week, with Cut Copy, Adrian Crowley, Presets, Florence and the Machine and the legendary Herbie Hancock, one of the greatest living jazzmen, all making an appearance in Dublin. After the DEAF weekender so recently, it seems that Dublin is the city that just keeps on giving.

TVotR MySpace
*Of course we're gonna do one.

BSITWT #42

The Fix - Misty





Dark, deep, rolling techno. Closer from Steffi's RA podcast.

http://www.myspace.com/thefix01

http://www.myspace.com/yeahnorecordings

4/11/2008 Part II

04/11/08

BSITWT #41

RSAG - Good Times (Don't Be a Fake)

Laurent Garnier: D.E.A.F. Closing Party @ Whelan's

[YNTV] Laurent Garnier @ D.E.A.F 08 closing party - Whelans

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling

Mogwai have been called plenty of things over the years: Post-Rock, Psychedelic, Instrumentalist, Experimental. I'm not really sure what any of these things mean but it seems to me that they are some combination of all of the above. Their newest offering, The Hawk is Howling, is certainly evidence that they have lost none of the magic that has led to the huge cult following that Glasgow outfit enjoy. This fully instrumental album (see above genre-dropping) starts off in subtle and colourful mood with the inappropriately named I'm Jim Morrisson, I'm Dead, which invokes memories of Apparat and Ulrich Schnauss. Things take a darker twist, in a direction I would associate more with Mogwai, as the epic, full and angry sound of Batcat takes over, only for us to be taken back to earth as the subtle xylophones and slow drums of Daphne and The Brain, Local Authority and Kings Meadow bring the pace right down. The upbeat elements of the album are on full show in The Sun Smells too Loud, which dissects the aforementioned triplet. Potentially the highlight (apart from the opener) for me is the long drawn-out build up, and in-character sinister dark chords of "I Love You, I'm Going to Blow up Your School", which does literally blow up 6 and a half minutes in, to give us that epic My Bloody Valentine-esque room-filling loudness that threatened to take over in Batcat. From this crescendo the album finishes out in a much more lamenting, introspective style with the funereal Scotland's Shame, Thank You Space Expert, and The Precipice.

This intensely personal album does take the listener on a journey of sorts. The dark overtones, surely inspired by the inner-city Glaswegian landscape from which Mogwai are known to take inspiration, are interspersed with genuinely bright pepperings of positivity and some awe-inspiring epic climaxes which really does make this a tour-de-force of what Mogwai are all about. Highly recommended.


Here's a video of them performing I'm Jim Morrisson, I'm dead. Unbelievable track.