Horrific Abuse of Power at Charity

Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish For Unlimited Wishes

Hip-Hop was once great

Grand National for Picnic. Maybe. Ish.

ED reckons Bestival is a pretty good indicator of who is Stradbally-bound this August. As you can see, they're just as mad for the ker-razy we're-so-wavey-and-liberated, not-even-a-country type flags too, so we could be in business.

http://www.bestival.co.uk/

If this is true we may FINALLY witness a much coveted Grand National performance, along with - possibly - Sebastian Tellier, Crystal Castles et al. Worth a look...

Aphex Twin is sadly out of bounds thanks to them MCD fuckers (see Fuck Off Oxegen post below).

BSITWT #3

This song has a lot to answer for:

Grand National - Talk Amongst Yourselves (some kinda remix) - mp3




Why aren't these guys absolutely huge?

Ulrich Schnauss, Button Factory, May 2nd

A gig not to be missed. The (presumably) German electronica maestro Ulrich (or Uli as he is known to his friends) Schnauss is coming to our shores. This is not to be missed by anybody who remembers the warm fuzzy feeling experienced when listening to his early albums Far Away Trains Passing By and A Strangely Isolated Place. After these two majestic wavy efforts 6 years passed until Uli came back with the ominously (for those who wish he would produce in perpetuity) titled 2007 release Goodbye, an album that does justice to and consolidates his earlier achievements. If this is indeed the end of Uli, be sure to be part of what should be an amazing night for Irish electronica fans, with Chequerboard supporting Uli. Just check out the Chequerboard myspace to see for yourself. It bodes well for our nation that we are capable of producing things of such beauty.

http://www.myspace.com/ulrichschnauss
http://www.myspace.com/chequerboardmusic

PS Chequerboard is the guest on Donal Dineen's Small Hours show this Thursday March 13th, midnight-2am - www.todayfm.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Delays, Sugar Club, 09/03/08

ME: Howya. Great gig.

Delays Guy: Cheers Mate. Thanks a lot.

BSITWT #2

Sons and Daughters - Flags

Fuck Off Oxegen

Well hippidy-hoo, here comes the Oxegen bandwagon again.

Before I start, I will at least concede that yes, they have Aphex Twin, Interpol, Seasick Steve and one or two other interesting acts. But seriously, Oxegen can really fuck off this year. Shit organisation, shit queues, shit crowd, shit mud, shit bogs, shit price, shit acts (€250 to see Fratellis? Piss off).

Don't get me wrong, I was a keen follower in my time - there is seemingly no better release for a recently leaving-certified festival debutant - but once or twice is enough, unless you like big queues, knackers, trench foot, mud fights, traffic, getting things stolen, rain, stampedes, Kaiser Chiefs and invariably making a bollox of your leg or something.

Here's a sample of possibly the most powerful argument against this atrocity:

Melt
Exit
Pukkelpop
Eurockeenes
Benicassim
Sonar


Now.

SPEAK YOUR BRAINS: Irish Music Mags

Fascinating debate over on Jim Carroll's blog here


Here were my two centimes:

Those who criticised Mongrel above simply don’t get it. Their reviews (and I’m thinking James Blunt here, which, as it happens, is still blu-takked to our kitchen door) were fucking hilarious, and that was primarily their function. Although some reviews were stunningly concise in their accuracy: on the recent Rilo Kiley record - “If this album was a person I’d want to sleep with it”. Their more ‘abstract’ reviews this week are phenomenally funny - go forth and read, people.
It will be fascinating to see how Eoin Butler’s articles pan out in the Irish Times. It is imperative that he be left with as much autonomy as possible. The very nature of his writing is otherwise at risk. I still enjoyed reading it last Saturday mind.

As for Foggy Notions, it’s sad to hear of its (temorary-ish) end. Someone above mentioned the fact that it constantly endorsed the music it covered. Indeed it did, is it not a good idea to exclusively cover the likes of Beruit, Pantha du Prince et al? It lends itself to wonderfully optimistic and non-authoritative tone, mainly due to the omission of coverage of shit music. I often saw it as Small Hours put to print. On the subject, Donal Dineen’s FN CD last summer was one of the most beautifully atmospheric and coherent compilations I’ve ever heard.

Re: The Hot Press Stuff. I subscribed to it in 2003. The political radicalism of their op-ed was fiery and refreshing. The features, interviews and writing were all of a high standard (Udell, Murphy, Tyaransen, Glendenning, I think), and it generally served as a decent companion to undergrad life.

Then I bought it last week. Jesus.

BSITWT #1

Supermayer - The Art of Letting Go.

My Bhicycle looked like a car from a Dr. Dre video I was bouncing so much to this tune on the way to UCD.

Gui Boratto - Chromophobia - (Kompakt)

This blog is only taking shape at the moment so I feel no harm can be done by reviewing albums that were released prior to our conception. In particular I have no qualms reviewing this gem as I only listened to it in full for the first time ever yesterday, and my word was I astounded.

Boratto first came to attention in 2005 with Arquipelago, a glorious roaming electronica effort that had that end-of-a-house-party-as-we-all-sit-around-and-tell-each-other-how-much-we-love-each-other kind of vibe. A truly beautiful piece of production, Chromophobia is his first full length album as far as I can make out. If the intention of the name is to suggest that the array of colours should prepare us for the impending trip across a wide musical spectrum, then it is ingenious. If it is called that because the colours on the front look pretty, then I read into these things far too much.

Not to worry. Scene is the perfect intro track, leaving us confused and baying for more. Its opening wavy soundscape is followed by a dark overtone which sets the "scene"* for the album as a whole. What follows is far from the Boratto introduced to us by Arquipelago. Mr. Decay, Terminal and Gate 7 is a trio that would leave any nightclub in absolute rapture. Gate 7 is a powerful track, the climax of which, preceded by a minute of Doppelwhipper-esque teasing, has all the qualities any DJ would want in striving for that perfect moment when hands are in the air, sweat, tears and roars fill the room and life is as beautiful as it can get.

After this the journey changes course slightly, with Shebang a clicky, angry offering that would sit more comfortably in a Magda or Villalobos set than here. This is certainly not the Boratto I was expecting but I fucking love it. Chromophobia, The Blessing, Mala Strana, Acrostico, and Xilo bring the pace right back down to a more familiar level, as Boratto allows the album to cruise along with some very pretty efforts indeed. This was how I remembered him. The gorgeous Beautiful Life follows, a firm favourite and likely floor filler. It is possibly a little trancey, but after the trip we have been on nothing seems unexpected. Hera continues the slightly trancey vibe, but features some fantastically dark sounds. The Verdict is the album's final tune, and a fitting one at that. It takes things right down below an Arquipelago-type pace as the colour and variety of the album race in front of my eyes. The verdict: An absolute stormer of an album, showing a range of styles that I certianly was not aware of. The spanning of the PPS** is hugely impressive.

* Wow me and Gui are so on the same level here

** Pretty-Philthy Spectrum


The Verdict - mp3

Summer Loving

We all went to Oxegen last year so we have very little by way of moral high ground on this one. But this year will be different. This year there will be a Ryanair flight (god, very little moral high ground on anything today) at 6am rather than a Dublin Bus full of puking kids to bring us to our first festival destination. While nothing is confirmed and our agents are still negotiating with a whole host of possible sites, the bookies are shortening odds on the Melt Festival, outside of Berlin. Just check out the link and see for yourself. Line up is very electronic at the moment, but that is nothing but a plus these days. Prepare to shake your ass to Supermayer, Matthew Johnson, Tomas Anderssen (of "Washing Up" fame), Ellen Allien, Gui Boratto, Cobblestone Jazz, Booka Shade, and many more of the finest in all things minimal tech and electro. Add into the mix Bjork, Franz Ferdinand, Roisin Murphy and the undoubted tears which will flow when we hear Erlend Oye's sweet sweet voice for the first time live with The Whitest Boy Alive, the efficiency of the German rail network in getting us there, the €5 bottles of Yeltsin vodka and the hangover-curing German beers, and we are talking about one serious festival.

If this doesn't work out, leave the weekends of Exit, Sonar, Bennicassim, Eurockeenes and Pukkelpop free in case we decide to grace one of the above with our distinguished presence.

Life Festival

I don't care if it's February.

http://www.life-festival.com/

The Field (live) - Crawdaddy 15/02/08

We've often wondered about this one. Not least about the type of crowd that The Field would draw; about whether it'd be regular gig-goes or clubbers, or whether you'd be pissing next to a pill-head or a crusty (both, it transpired).

Despite arriving on stage at what seemed like sometime on Sunday, the Swede - firmly camped in the 'tortured recluse' brand of musicians - produced a captivating, upbeat set to a remarkably diverse band of followers. Various loops, effects, and hazy vocals kept the tempo up all evening, ensuring a seamless transition from the intricacies of his astonishingly good recorded material to the urgency of a sweaty Friday night. Here are someone elses's videos:

'This is Soul'

Mike Scott does 'Whole of The Moon' at one of the world's more celebrated gig venues, Clifton Community School (1987):