https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgKCrbwGKpA
A trawl through Daft Punk’s sampling history by Daftworld featuring tracks by ELO, Barry Manilow, Bill Withers, Sister Sledge and others alongside their Daft Punk recyclings.
(image: youremd)
Cat Palace – textured pop from Dubland
What you may need to know…
01. Cat Palace is a reverb-laden, poppy, vaguely shambolic front for songwriter/vocalist David Blaney and various collaborators.
02. Emerging in earnest in 2015 with two extended-players, the band, fleshed out by long-term collaborator Christopher Barry and Enemies man Oisín Trench, has been between Dublin and Kentucky getting the last touches in on a debut long-player.
03. Streaming above is the video for new single Peddle It, a tragicomic rumination on routine, sustainability of music and all that attends.
04. Having somehow avoided immediate bankruptcy to pay Myles Manley the going rate for the advance on new stuff, Little L Records are releasing the album, entitled Why Don’t You // Why Don’t You, Go Off, next month.
Thoughts: Melancholy, but not without a sideways smirk, and plenty for fans of the wider indie-rock diaspora aside from reverb heads and shoegazers.
Myles Manley – the world’s greatest popstar returns
What you may need to know…
01. Last time we checked in with Myles Manley, he was back in Ireland after a spell in Arsenal’s starting eleven.
02. He’s since returned his focus to the oddball, Beefheartian pop with which he’s earned his name, signing to Dublin-based Little L Records for a seven-figure advance on a ten-album contract.
03. Streaming above is the high-budget video for new B-side Pasta Solo, accompanying new single Relax, Enjoy Your Night Upon the Town.
04. The following dates line his tour itinerary before the European festival-headliner swing: March 23: Buncrana, Ned’s Point; March 24: Derry, Bennigans; March 25: Dublin, The Workman’s Club; Apr 8: Limerick, Dolan’s Warehouse; Apr 9: Dundalk, The Spirit Store.
Thoughts: Smart-aleckry aside, some genuine ingenue on display here, as is typical for someone that seemingly inhabits a creative bubble all his own.
It’s that time of the week.
Last Friday, we asked you, our witty, urbane commentariat, to outline your favourite song, of any genre, of Irish extraction, to play on Paddy’s Day several days after Paddy’s Day.
In fact, we asked you to complete the following sentence.
“If I could hear only one song
on March 17any point early next week, please make it_________________________because______________________”
At stake was a handsome, well-lit and gentlemanly voucher to the tune of twenty-five beans, redeemable at any of 14 Golden Discs locations around the country.
There could only be one winner, though, as ever…
Smith, with a classic from the People’s Republic of Cork:
If I could hear only one song on March 17, please make it Where’s Me Jumper by The Sultans of Ping FC. An anarchic tune with brilliant and sometimes nonsensical lyrics, and a class guitar riff. Nothing to do with Paddy’s Day but more Irish.
Other hoolies from the running:
Shane: “It has to be Thousands are Sailing by The Pogues. The lines “We stepped hand in hand on Broadway/like the first man on the moon”; and “When I got back to my empty room/I suppose I must have cried” just capture the Irish experience! All irony and innocence intended.”
Pat Walsh: “If I could hear only one song on March 17th, please make it Microdisney’s Town To Town. It’s got a great vocal from Cathal Coughlan as well as a simple but imaginative music video.”
RealPolithicks: “If I could hear only one song on March 17 please make it Raggle Taggle Gypsy Oh, because it’s a quintessentially Irish song by one of the greatest Irish bands of all time. I give you, Planxty.”
Johnny Keenan: “If I could listen to only one song on Paddy’s night it would have to be
RíRá’s Front Bar. I saw him live in Barcelona 2011 on Paddy’s Night. He was supporting Method Man. Just watch the video and you will feel so proud to be Irish. Once you realise and feel, that someone with so much passion, doesn’t need to be known by anyone or anywhere, in order to have maximum impact, on first hearing seeing and meeting… that’s true Irish!”
Scottser: “If I could only hear one song on March 17, please make it Come Out Ye Black and Tans because it has everything – pointless nationalism, a killer chorus and and a ‘come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough’ attitude that would make a Millwall fan jealous. I always fancy that come the revolution, Come out Ye Black and Tans will be the soundtrack.”
Liam Deliverance: “Oh, the halcyon days of the summer of 1990 and a World Cup in Italy. A simpler time when Irishmen and Irishwomen were justifiably proud of our little country and the long strange trip that we had traveled together. Put ‘Em Under Pressure. Produced by Larry Mullen, Moya Brennan of Clannad does the intro, timeless Jack Charlton vocals and a melody from a tune called O’Neills March, itself a tribute to the great Hugh O’Neill.
Steph Pinker: “If I could hear only one song on March 17, please make it The Waterboys’ version of William Butler Yeats’ poem, The Stolen Child, because as a Faery Queen in a former life I had to relinquish my crown due to my Earthly fondness of a music God called Bowie, and Dana didn’t like it; henceforth, in the twinkling, but myopic eyes of my Tuatha brethren, I will forever be known as a chchchchangeling.”
Thanks all
Buffalo Woman – Dublin funky synthiness
What you may need to know…
01. Elements of synthpop, funk, and indie are in evidence throughout the work of Dublin duo Buffalo Woman.
02. Comprised of former Neosupervital controller Tim O’Donovan and actor/dramatist/former Alternative Miss Ireland winner Neil Watkins.
03. Streaming above is 2015 single U Make Me High, a headturner for the outfit that brings together low-key synths and subtle grooves.
04. Playing tomorrow night at Future Proof #1 at Bello Bar, curated by Nialler9 and Homebeat. Also on the bill: Come on Live Long and debuting Limerick outfit Proper Micro NV.
Thoughts: Smart, suave and possessed of some serious songwriting.
GROUNDS – Irish blood, English situation
What you may need to know…
01. Loud, Limrocker-fronted noises, based in London. That’s Grounds, properly weighty rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-’00s Brit post-hardcore vein.
02. Having assembled mid-last year, the band has been slowly making their way around their city’s gig scene, garnering adoring eyes from local media and UK rock blogs in the process.
03. Streaming above is the video for debut single Stutter, available for streaming and download over at their Bandcamp.
04. No word on any flights home for live dates, which needs rectifying, but London-based readers can catch them on a stacked punk gig at Luna on April 30th.
THOUGHTS: Noisy and unpretentious, with a fair amount of heft in those tones. Grand.
[r]evolution of a sun – Cork hardcore veterans reuniting for a good cause
What you may need to know…
01. At varying points throughout their over-decade-long run, Cork metal/hardcore band [r]evolution of a sun, anchored by Cork metal mainstays Noel Lynch, Christophe Erpelding, and Eoin Kelleher, had up to seven or eight members in a single live line-up.
02. They were ridiculously heavy, a reputation hammered home by three extended-players, the highlight of which is 2007’s Sacrificehellroutine, and Hell, an album that was a decade in the making.
03. The aforementioned is available for streaming above, and free download from their Bandcamp. The album is an unloved belter also.
04. They return from retirement for a charity show on April 13th at Fred Zeppelin’s in Cork. A benefit gig for the family of much-missed engineer and producer Laurence White, the line-up also includes Bisect and Hope is Noise.
Thoughts: One of the heaviest, sludgiest, most unforgiving bands to ever surface on our island. Should be visceral to see again live.
Pictured above, clockwise: Loah, Bantum, Rusangano Family, ELLL, The Altered Hours, Lankum
If you’re going to sing, sing an Irish song. Preferably a new one, ’cause we’re all past sick of the Paddywhackery at this point, now.
Throw this on if you need a start: twenty-one tracks from the current generation of Irish independent artists, across a multitude of genres and traditions, plus a bonus track with the Bodger seal of approval.
Track list below, click on an artist’s name for more info.
01. The Altered Hours – Way of Sorrow
02. Percolator – Crab Supernova
03. Sissy – Sail and Rail
04. Bitch Falcon – Clutch
05. Chancer – Banger
06. Overhead, the Albatross – Big River Man
07. Ealadha – Hurricanes
08. Talos – Odyssey
09. Loah – Cortege
10. Bantum – Feel Your Rhythm (ft. Rusangano Family & Senita)
11. Jafaris – Love Dies
12. Rusangano Family – Soul Food
13. Naive Ted – Keep the Pace Up
14. ELLLL – Romance
15. RíRá – Still Around
16. Dowth – Wickerface
17. Lankum (f.k.a. Lynched) – Cold Old Fire
18. The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock – Lockout: Movement 1
19. FIXITY – Blue Paint
20. Horse – Dragging
21. Ilenkus – Hunny Bunny
22. Post-Punk Podge & the Technohippies – Post-Punk Election Party (Bonus Track)
New Irish music every weekday on the ‘sheet: You May Like This.
Also in Irish music you may like: the ‘sheet’s best Irish albums of 2016.
Percolator – Dublin shoegaze/indie
What you may need to know…
01. Comprised of former members of Irish outfit Dae Kim, Percolator came together in 2009, with the current lineup solidifying a few years later: founder members Ian Chestnutt and Eleanor Myler were joined by Ilya K/Guerrilla Studios man John Murphy.
02. The band have made with a consistent stream of extended-play releases over the past few years, and their journey into a Venn diagram of shoegaze, psych, kraut and ’80s UK indie has led them to tread stages in support of Michael Rother of NEU!, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Deerhoof.
03. Streaming above is the video for new single CRAB SUPERNOVA, directed by Thom McDermot. Self-produced and mixed by the band at Guerilla, it’s been mastered by veteran engineer Harvey Birrell (Therapy?, among others).
04. It’s taken from the band’s upcoming debut full-length, entitled Sestra, releasing April 14th in Ireland and France via Penske Recordings and Permafrost Records, and April 28th everyplace else. Digital and vinyl pre-orders here.
Thoughts: Precise and pointed, yet layered and gently exploratory. Nerds of the aforementioned genres will find as much as ever to love here, but so too will lapsed indie-rock heads looking for something genuinely new.
The Joshua Trio.
It’s been thirty years since the saviours and messiahs of the world, U2, unleashed The Joshua Tree on the world and took up residence in the world’s stadia. They’ll renew their leases for a tour this year, too.
So, the question occurs: will Bono’s most dedicated disciples follow him onto the road to mark the occasion and preach their gospel to a new generation?
Because that would be great.
Just putting that out there.