BSITWT #105

Villagers - 'Home'

www.myspace.com/villagers

Villagers - Becoming a Jackal

Prepare for an enjoyable 3 minutes and 56 seconds of your existence. Taken from the brilliant watchlistentell.

BSITWT #103

Declan O'Rourke - 'We Didn't Mean to go to Sea'

If I had a Euro for every time I've listened to this song...*

http://www.declanorourke.com/

*...I'd have several Euro.

Other Voices - Series 8

Temper Trap performing in O'Flaherty's pub

In its eighth year, Other Voices continues to deliver an outstanding array of musical delicacies. The concept started as a means to showcase established artists, alongside promising newcomers, in an original venue located in a treasured part of south west Ireland. St James Church in Dingle has hosted some impressive names since the 'Dingle Concerts' began in 2002. Those making the pilgrimage to date include Damien Dempsey, Lisa Hannigan, Damien Rice, Amy Winehouse, Snow Patrol, Bell x1 and Jape, amongst others. One of my own favourite acts (as you may have guessed by now!), Elbow, featured on the roster last year. The stated aim of the series is to bring together names of the calibre mentioned above to promote an atmosphere of creativity, form diverse collaborations and lasting friendships. Importantly, established artists are known to mentor the fledglings passing on ideas and advice, over a creamy pint in Foxy John's I bet. Filmed over a week or so every December, 80 people auction their Granny for a seat in the intimate surrounds of St James'.

The latest series began its weekly broadcast on 3 February and the first two episodes are available to watch on the RTE Player here. Last week's episode features The xx performing 'Crystalised' in a very small bedroom in a local family house, worth the watch alone.


Full dates and details of the 6 shows are as follows:

Programme 1 – Wednesday 3rd February

Snow Patrol
Speech Debelle
Adrian Crowley
IMRO Other Room – Low Mountain

Programme 2 – Wednesday 10th February

Imelda May
The Lost Brothers
The xx
IMRO Other Room – O Emperor

Programme 3 – Wednesday 17th February

Florence & the Machine
Brett Anderson
The Antlers
IMRO Other Room – Valerie Francis

Programme 4 – Wednesday 24th February

Bell X1
Megafaun
Jesca Hoop
IMRO Other Room – The Chakras

Programme 5 – Wednesday 3rd March

Temper Trap
Magic Numbers
Fionn Reagan
Lisa Hannigan
IMRO Other Room – 202s

Programme 6 – Wednesday 10th March

Richard Hawley
The Brothers Movement
Fionn Reagan
Villagers
IMRO Other Room – James Vincent McMorrow


Other Voices broadcasts at 11.20pm for the next 4 Wednesdays and will be available thereafter on the RTE Player. Worthwhile read on the series from The Ticket 'The Other MTV' dated Friday 29 January.

www.othervoices.ie

Size2shoes

Irish acoustic pop band, Size2shoes is made up of brothers Eoin and Mícheál ó Súilleabháin. Belonging to a family of esteemed musicians, the Limerick natives have received much acclaim for their musical ability and unique approach to their craft. They describe their tracks as "deftly mixing rap, vocal percussion and virtuoso guitars with sharp double vocals and a huge dollop of humour". Accounts of their appearance at Dublin's Sugar Club last November suggest that the duo are more than capable of holding their own in the live arena. Guests joining them on stage on the night included Julie Feeney, nice. Their self-titled debut album described by Hotpress as "a very impressive , musically sophisticated debut…so filled with cheeryliy optimistic good advice that i want to marry them off to relatives”, is available to buy/sample here. Word from their site is that the lads are working on a follow up album so watch this space.

www.size2shoes.com

More Choice Talk...

As mentioned by Ed.Ward below, the Choice shortlist was announced last week - cue streams of incessent bitching and general shiteology that tends to accompany these lists. Anyway, having inexplicably trawled through the guff, three ommissions seemed particularly harsh: Kittser (of course), Hunter-Gatherer, and the amazing Patrick Kelleher. One would have hoped that genuinely innovative records like these would have been picked up by the nation's alternative to the Meteors. Ah well.

If you want see what the fuss is about, pop along to Hunter-Gatherer's hyphen fest with Tune-Yards in Whelan's on Feb 12th. Patrick Kelleher has dates in Galway, Cork and Limerick at the end of Febuary.

Choice Music Prize Shortlist 2010

The nominees for this year's Choice Music Prize have been announced. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 3 March at a special event in Vicar Street. The shortlist has been compiled by a 12 person music industry panel.

The 10 nominees are as follows:

And So I Watch You From Afar And So I Watch You From Afar
Bell X1 Blue Lights on the Runway
CODES TreesDreamInAlgebra
Adrian Crowley Season of the Sparks
Dark Room Notes We Love You Dark Matter
The Duckworth Lewis Method The Duckworth Lewis Method
Julie Feeney Pages
Valerie Francis Slow Dynamo
Laura Izibor Let the Truth Be Told
The Swell Season Strict Joy


Jim Carroll is the overall force behind the prize but the shortlist is compiled by the following:

Martin Burns (News of the World)
Josh Clarke (i105-i107, Galway)
Roisin Dwyer (Hot Press)
Tony Fenton (Today FM)
Cathal Funge (Phantom 105.2, Dublin)
Padraic Halpin (Ragged Words)
Sophie Gorman (Irish Independent)
John McMahon (2fm)
Rob O’Connor (Beat 102-103, Waterford)
Eva Staic (Spin 1038, Dublin)
Chris Wasser (Evening Herald)
Aoife Woodlock (Other Voices Tv Show)

www.choicemusicprize.com

HOMELIGHTS Festival - Whelan's, Dublin. Friday 27 - Monday 30 November 2009

Taken from the HOMELIGHTS MySpace page:

HOMELIGHTS is a weekend of music & visuals co-curated by Irish recording artist Adrian Crowley and independent music promoters Foggy Notions. It is a sister festival to Adem’s HOMEFIRES in London and the Fence Collective’s HOMEGAME in Fife and draws upon the themes of community and artistic kinship.

The line-up features numerous artists who Adrian has forged friendships with on his musical travels during his five album career to date, including some of his Fence Collective compadres, as well as legendary folk artists such as Vashti Bunyan and Andy Irvine for whom he holds great admiration.

This inaugural event will also double as a celebration of Adrian’s freshly consummated relationship with influential Scottish independent record label Chemikal Underground who will release his beautiful conceived fifth album Season of the Sparks in November 2009.

A long the way there’ll be numerous surprises, impromptu collaborations and surprise guests. Tickets are on sale including including the excellent value weekend tickets available from www.tickets.ie

___________________________________

Friday Nov 27th. Upstairs @ Whelan's. 8pm
Adrian Crowley & Friends (solo performances & collaborations)
Tickets €12 incl booking fee
____________________________
Saturday Nov 28th. Whelan’s. 3pm – 10.30pm
Adrian Crowley (full band performance)
James Yorkston
Adem
Alasdair Roberts
& special guests tbc
Tickets €20 incl booking
____________________________
Sunday Nov 29th. Whelan’s. 3pm – 1.30am
Vashti Bunyan (full band performance)
Adrian Crowley (accompanied by Geese)
Andy Irvine (Planxty, Sweeney’s Men)
Minotaur Shock
Lord Cut-Glass (Chemikal Underground)
& full line-up tbc
Tickets €25 incl booking fee
______________________________
Monday Nov 30th. Whelan’s 8pm – 11pm
Dosh (Anticon)
Hulk (Osaka)
& special guests tbc
Tickets €15 incl booking fee
_______________________________
Limited number of weekend tickets available from www.tickets.ie priced €45 (incl booking fee)

http://www.myspace.com/homelightsfestival
http://www.myspace.com/foggynotions
http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley

Filter - Irish Electronic Music Conference

Specifically aimed at Electronic music, Filter will bring together a host of Irelands DJ's, Producers and Music professionals to the Riverbank Arts Centre for a selection of talks and workshops covering topics relevant to Dj's and Producers within the Irish Electronic Music Scene.

Line-up /
DJ/Producer Mark Kavanagh,
DJ/Producer Orla Feeney
David Timpson - RTE Pulse Station Controller,
DJ Christian Homan (Twilight on Pulse),
Jack Fox – Press officer for RTE Pulse,
DJ/Producer Kid Handsome,
DJ/Producer Reuben Keeney
Label Boss Desy Balmer - Nice&Nasty / DXR
Label Boss Paul Newhouse - Redboxrecordz

11am
1 Hour Logic Audio Workshop with Jeff Timony AKA Kid Handsome

12pm
1 Hour Ableton Live performance workshop with Enda Rochford AKA Captain Random

1pm Lunch

2pm
Forum of Peers – Discussion of relevant topics for DJ's and Producers.
Featuring:
Mark Kavanagh, Desy Balmer, Orla Feeney, Paul Newhouse, David Timpson, Christian Homan, Jack Fox, Jeff Timony, Reuben Keeney,

3.30pm
Technical/Hardware Demonstrations from FUTURESOUNDS.IE, Barry Dempsey (Monad/Virtue Studios)
ITF Scratch mixing champion DJ Flip who will give a demonstration on various turntable techniques

THIS IS A FREE EVENT - HOWEVER , TICKETS MUST MUST BE ORDERED IN ADVANCE FROM THE RIVERBANK BOX OFFICE

EMAIL: boxoffice@riverbank.ie
Email your details and the details of any additional guests

http://www.riverbank.ie/

Train from Dublin to Newbridge departs Heuston at 10.15 arriving at 10.52 - €13*

*We go the extra mile for you here at BTBW.

Late Night Get Go

Late Night Get Go is a new music and comedy show on RTE. The first show was filmed live in The Good Bits (formerly Radiocity) on Store Street this evening. The revamped venue is a perfect location to show off some of the country best up-and-coming live acts. We will endeavour to let you know when the next filming is taking place and free tickets can be obtained by composing a simple email...details to follow when at hand.

On the bill this evening:

Cheap Freaks














Padraig Rushe

General Fiasco















Identity Parade

Bitches With Wolves







“Late Night Get Go is all about variety, giving viewers the chance to see the hottest new acts in music and comedy in a format that is fresh, energetic and original.”

Finally

Hurrah! Channel One are finally releasing their debut album, Sound to Light, in a fortnight. The release is accompanied by a free gig in The Button Factory on Friday Nov 6th, where presumably the record will be available to buy.

We're giddy about this one - the Accelerate : Brake EP brought Irish electronic music to another level with its layers of wavey shoegaze, moody vocals and punchy beats. The new stuff sounded pretty brilliant at the DEAF fundraiser gig last month too; this could be one of the better Irish records this year.

Sideproject

Sideproject is a Cork based 5 piece. The band formed in early 2006 and have been producing high-quality experimental/post rock ever since. To date they have released two well received EPs Take Shelter From The Stars and Not Waving But Drowning. Having played on the bill with acts such as Fight Like Apes, Delorentos and, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, the lads have garnered a deserved loyal following. They also featured as part of the Hard Working Class Heroes festival 2008 alongside the likes of Super Extra Bonus Party and the truly superb Chequerboard. The excellent 'Each Flame Concealed a Sinner' is amongst a number of tracks to sample on their MySpace page. With influences such as Efterklang, Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, the lads could hardly go wrong. Best of all, I have the absolute pleasure of being a colleague of Alan and Mike. Treat yourself to a listen.

Sideproject - 'Outpatients'

An Troubadour

While i'm at it, here's the first part of RTE's Leargas tribute to Mic - Troubadour - screened around the time of the Skylarking release in 2003.

Exciting. Here's the blurb:

Paintings by Mick Turner and photographs by Donal Dineen
Opening Thursday 20th August, runs until August 25th (Daily from 12 – 6pm)

Mick Turner is best known as a musician with Australian instrumental combo the Dirty Three, but he also has a longstanding practice as a painter. Collected by people around the world, his art is recognisable from Dirty Three album cover art and from his own solo releases. His work deals with the embedded psychology and emotion of Australian and European landscapes. His paintings include an array of human and animal characters and a lyrical use of colour and gesture.

A musical pioneer since his early days as the presenter of No Disco (RTE) in the nineties, through to his current late night radio show The Small Hours on Today FM, Donal Dineen has used his discerning ear to seek out, listen to and encourage experimental music in all genres. Throughout this period Dineen has also displayed an equally discerning and experimental eye when it comes to his own photographic and visual work. This visual work, be it through still photography or super8 film, charts a personal journey to the present day, a continuous journey that is influenced by music, people, landscape and a sense of place. A selection of this work will be presented as part of this exhibition.

Launch event and gig at The Joinery Gallery, Arbour Hill, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
On Thursday, August 20th

Opening starts 6.30pm,
Gig starts 8pm
Tickets for the gig - €10 a/v at door (byob)

Music and visuals provided by Mick Turner, Donal Dineen and special guests.

Christmas @ Roisin Dubh with Kanyu Tree, Cathy Davey & Adrain Crowley

With the demise of The Warwick as the Stephen's day party venue of choice, the usual festive reunions will likely take place down the west to a feel-good soundtrack provided by local lads, The Kanyu Tree. Entry is free and it is going to be packed, so get down early to avoid disappointment. The Kanyu Tree's impressive brand of upbeat pop tracks can be sampled on their MySpace page.

Doors at 9 / Free entry. Kanyu Tree are followed by Monty until late. Should be a great night.
















The following night Cathy Davey & Adrian Crowley combine to create a lineup that is not to be missed. Both Davey and Crowley received wide critical acclaim for their respective latest output, Tales of Silversleeve & Long Distance Swimmer. I possess a huge amount of respect for both these artists and to have them together in Galway at Christmas time will surely provide for a magical festive night.

Doors at 8 / E26-24 online. Followed by Graham Dolan until late.

www.roisindubh.net

Jape's Christmas No 1

Wouldn't it be great to have a decent Christmas number 1 to add to the records after the tripe that has infected the charts over the past couple of years. The people at Galway's Roisin Dubh had a worthy reminder in this week's email newsletter, instructing people to purchase a copy of Jape's 'Phil Lynott' when it is released on Friday(19 Dec). To see the brilliant Jape atop the singles chart as 2008 draws to a close would be a victory on many fronts. I don't think it has turned into a full on campaign as of yet but here's hoping some momentum is stired up to surpass the pre-teens who dictate who is awarded the coveted Christmas honour. If all this fails, you will still be left with a copy of a top-notch track telling the story of a night at a gig, a lunar eclipse and two bass players from Crumlin.

U2 3D

I finally got the chance to see U2 3D last week. The people at the Imax in Darling Harbour had kept me waiting for nearly 3 months with a vague promise that the film would be returning to its gigantic(biggest in the world no-less) screen soon. I would not claim to be a huge U2 fan, I like them and their music but would not consider myself a die-hard at all. I was, however, blown away by their flirtation with 3D technology. I have to take my hat off to them for experimenting and stating that they were not interested in making a profit but simply trying something new (It did, of course, go on to make a profit). The result looks and sounds amazing. Whatever your opinions on Bono might be, he is a showman and not many others can command a stadium filled to the rafters with as much ease as he manages. He insisted on shooting the footage in Latin America as the fans' passion most resembled that of the Irish fans. I reckon this concert film will live on long to remember an era when the biggest band in the world* hailed from a little island on the verge of western Europe. I felt goosebumps quiet often while watching and also a sense of pride in seeing the crowd bellowing out the Irish quartet's best known tracks. It was a very satisfying music experience and I would have to agree with many critics who feel it is even better than the real thing. Sorry, couldn't resist.

*is that a fair comment?

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

The debut self-titled album from Friendly Fires has really surprised me. At first, I wasn't too keen, but it slowly got the better of me and is currently a daily fixture in my music world. It reminds of Foals with a synthy/disco element à la Hercules & Love Affair and MGMT. I was interested to see that the Hertfordshire group consider German label Kompakt, techno pioneer Carl Craig and Prince to be among their greatest influences.
The influence of electronic music is everywhere on this album. The sound is fresh but also feels distinctly familiar. Stand-out track 'Jump In The Pool' is feel-good funk, layered but not choking and with a very airy feeling througout.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable, catchy pop album that does not take itself too seriously. It is an easy listen with a dance groove to keep the listener involved.

Friendly Fires - 'Jump In The Pool'

As far as I can see there are no up-coming Irish dates schuduled but that is likely to change soon. Friendly Fires are currently on tour with Lykke Li in the U.S. and will tour Europe with Foals starting mid-November.

The brilliant Jape recently toured the U.K. with the St. Alban lads and the track below has been circulating as a result. Well worth a listen.

Jape - 'Strike Me Down'(Friendly Fires Remix)

Friendly Fires by the Friendly Fires is availalbe to purchase here.

www.myspace.com/friendlyfires

Bodytonic Podcast 022: Chymera

Bodytonic bring us the latest in their podcast series featuring Cork's Chymera. This is a lesson in melodic techno. Chymera, who played at LowerState's first party almost a year ago, is gaining a huge following worldwide. Now based in Barcelona, his productions have featured on a number of high profile releases recently. Of particular note is the inclusion of 'Arabesque' as Luciano's closing track on Fabric 41.


Tracklist


1. John Beltran - 10 Days of Blue [Peacefrog Records] 1996
2. UPZ - Noiz (Abicah Soul Jah Vocal Mix) [Objektivity] 2007
3. Pedro cali - The Way (The Duplex Way) [FineArt 2008]
4. 2000 and One - Work [Podium] 2007
5. Franco Cangelli - Wee Funk [Mowar] 2008
6. Santiago Salazar - Plastic People [Ican Productions] 2007
7. Gerald Mitchell - Out the Boat [Reincarnation] 2008
8. Rolando - Where Were You? [Delsin] 2008
9. Donnacha Costello - Rubine Red [Minimise] 2004
10. Chymera - Ellipsis [Figure] 2008
11. Patrice Scott - Azteck [Yore] 2008
12. Planetary Assault Systems - Booster [Peacefrog] 1995
13. Kenny Larkin - You Are [Planet E] 2008
14. Mark Broom - Black Russian [20:20 Vision] 2008
15. Radioslave - Incognito [R&S] 2008
16. Third Nation - First Reason [Highland Beats] 2004
17. Santiago Salazar - Sucio Beat#2 [Ican Productions] 2008
18. Booger - Is it Still the Future? [Front End Synthetics] 2004
19. As One - Germanium (Revival Mix By Los Hermanos) [Archive] 2007
20. DJ Bone - Thursday Night [Subject Detroit] 2007
21. Percy x - Track 2 [Soma] 1998
22. Steve Rachmad - Surdosong [EC Recordings] 2008
23. John Beltran - A Mind Blows Everyday [Milan Records] 2006

Direct download via the Bodytonic website.

An Taobh Tuathail Volume II - Cian Ó Cíobhain

"Much like the first volume", says compiler Cian Ó Cíobháin, "I decided to go down the quieter laneways of modern music. Therefore, once more it's tunes for the head & heart more than the feet, drawing on electronica, modern folk, a touch of Balearic & tunes influenced by classical music. Ó Cíobháin is encouraging listeners to play the album in it's entirety from start to finish rather than dip in and out of tracks. The way albums are meant to be.

Cian has presented An Taobh Tuathail (The Other Side) on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta/Anocht FM since May 1999. The west Kerry native is also one half of the Galway based dj/production/promoting machine that is SiSi.

This release follows on from the succesful inaugural installment in the series which featured Galway based artist Beatpoet amongst others.

Tracklisting:

1. Susanna & The Magical Orchestra – Believer
2. Colleen – Sun Against My Eyes
3. Ranger 3 – Sense Of Direction
4. Chequerboard - Skating Couple
5. Mad Theory - Numbers
6. Mice Parade – Double Dophins On The Nickel
7. Cane 141 – Disco Toys (Heftord Remix)
8. Somadrone – Our Ears Were Like Canyons
9. Boxcutter – Bloscid
10. Sarsparsilla – Gigi Go Deas
11. Murcof – Rios
12. Hannu – Sumu
13. L. Pierre – Weirs Way
14. Songs Of Green Pheasant – Fires PGR
15. Enrico Coniglio & Elisa Marzorati - Foliage

Available to stream at: Psychonavigation Records

An Taobh Tuathail Volume II can be ordered directly from Psychonavigation Records here.

If you would prefer to get some exercise, you can pick up a copy at the following record shops: Dublin (Road, City Discs, Spin Dizzy, HMV, Tower), Galway (HMV) & Cork (Plug'd).

It is also available widely on the internet in digital format at the following:

Road Records

Juno

Play


Past An Taobh Tuathail radio shows are available to stream with tracklistings here.

http://www.rte.ie/rnag/antaobhtuathail.html
http://www.myspace.com/antaobhtuathail
www.sisi.tv