Category Archives: Music

Every kind of sound imaginable.

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Out of Love, the new single from longtime Irish alternative holdouts Bell X1.

Replete with a very tactile, oddly satisfying video altogether.

Sez co-director Louise Gaffney:

My work has tended to be a little on the abstract side, full of colour and graphic elements. I usually like to play for mixtures of real footage and animation. This video for Out Of Love is a good reflection of that. It’s the first time I have collaborated on a music video. This one was made with Cian Mc Kenna (Come On Live Long), who is a friend and incredible motion graphic designer. We collaborated on all aspects of the video from concept right through to filming and compositing animations. This video is an intense collage piece which is a mash up of live action footage, typographic animation and 3D creations.

So, there you are now.

Bell X1’s new album is available for pre-order now.

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So Cow – new album Lisa Marie Airplane

What you may need to know…

01. So Cow is the nom-de-plume of Galwegian Brian Kelly, who rattles out a pretty nifty line of indie-inflected garage-rock.

02. Coming to life in 2005 as Kelly’s recording project while over in Seoul, South Korea (where in 2009, he briefly gained mainstream attention for naming a song after a local actress/model), the band eventually swelled to a three-piece over the course of four full-lengths and a rake of singles/splits.

03. Streaming above in its entirety is fifth album Lisa Marie Airplane Tour. Recorded solo in Kelly’s new home of Spiddal, Co. Galway, the album reflects heavily on the little malaises of rural life with a warm smirk.

04. It received possibly the best album launch in recent times. The following happened last Friday:

Between the hours of 6 and 9 p.m., I’m going to drive my increasingly dangerous and belovedly shitty ’02 Volkswagen Polo around Galway. I’m going to start at THE SMALL CRANE, right outside the Bell Book and Candle (should point out now that they are not official sponsors and should not be subject to any complaints from what may follow).

I’m gonna welcome 4 people who may wish to purchase the album into my car. SEATBELTS MUST BE WORN. I’ll be playing the album on cassette. I’ll drive ye out to Salthill and back. The drive should take 10 minutes. I’ll answer any questions you have about the album. I’ll drop you back at the Bell Book and Candle. You may purchase the album in whatever format if you are so moved. I shall then bring the next group off.

VERDICT: The sound of someone going not-so gently into that good night, but perhaps not wanting to cause a fuss either. Equal parts hilarious and presciently crafted.

So Cow

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More dirty hurling from anti-choice types?

This time in Cork.

Write ROSA:

A significant number of our lovely posters were taken down over the weekend. Help us fight back against those who are doing their best to silence our voices by sharing, liking and inviting our event entitled Rally for Repeal., and most importantly, to attend this Wednesday……at 8pm, at the Imperial Hotel in Cork cit where Ruth Coppinger TD will speak

ROSA – for Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism and Austerity

Yesterday: Repellant

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Partholón – releasing debut single Hunt

What you may need to know…

01. Leeside progressive/sludge-metal five piece Partholón are named for a semi-fictional character of Irish history and mythos, said to have won the first battle on Irish soil and created a peaceful settlement thereafter, before slaying his wife and her lover after tasting him on his lips. The settlement succumbed to plague a week after this violence. “No God, just life, and then, Death”, as the band says in its bio.

02. While the band’s own story is nowhere near as lofty, they emerged from among the wreckage of local bands, notably the late Five Will Die. Live excursions have been few, numbering among them appearances at the Siege of Limerick festival and several shows in Cork, but expect this to change.

03. Streaming above is debut single Hunt, a heavyweight slab of post-metal weighing in at over the ten-minute mark. Grab a tay.

04. It’s taken from their upcoming E.P., Follow Me Through Body, recorded by Shaun Cadogan at Last Light Recordings in Dublin, and mastered by Marcus Lindberg of Cult of Luna. Physical copies and such are impending.

VERDICT: Maintaining the glacial pace and heft of projects past, and marrying it to atmosphere and dynamics, Partholón have put together something exceptionally promising.

Partholón

REPRO FREE Provision 160916 At the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival (Oct. 28th-31st) programme launch in Cork City Hall : Oliver Elholtz and Clare Sands of the Clare Sands trio with Gemma Bell , Spnsorship Manager Guinness Pic Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

Oliver Elholtz and Clare Sands (Clare Sands Trio), with Gemma Bell (Cork Jazz Manager, middle)

The Cork Jazz Festival had its formal launch last night with a reception at City Hall.

Over a thousand musicians from twenty countries will take to over sixty venues over the course of four days throughout the October Bank Holiday weekend.

Louise Kearney, writes:

This year, American jazz pianist Justin Kauflin will open the festival at The Everyman on Friday,  October 28, in a powerful double bill with contemporary jazz star Jacob Collier.

Other jazz sensations include Grammy Award winner, Robert Glasper, top American jazz vibist Jason Marsalis, Sheryl Bailey, The Hot Club of Cowtown and Kurt Rosenwinkel…

In addition to the jazz the Irish pop rock band Picture This will open an eclectic series of concerts at Cork Opera House on Friday 28th October, followed by an array of top attractions including Mexican superstars Rodrigo y Gabriela, hit makers BellX1, Cork soul sensation Brian Deady, and folk legend Loudon Wainwright III.

Any excuse

More in the ‘sheet in the coming weeks.

Facebook – Twitter

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Starters – final show tonight in Dublin

What you may need to know…

01. Dublin emo/pop-punk five-piece Starters say farewell tonight, after seven years together.

02. Releasing a demo in 2010, the band quickly followed up with extended-player Reasons to Stay, which received separate vinyl and CD releases. A split with Second to Last preceded a self-titled EP, released last summer.

03. Streaming above is the band’s debut album, A Picture Fading, released online via the band’s Bandcamp two weeks ago as a parting shot, after three years in the making.

04. The band’s final show is tonight at eight bells, at Fibber Magee’s in Dublin. Free in, with support from Over Being Under (reunion show), Hollow Truth, January, and Versive.

VERDICT: Earnest, relatable and heartfelt stuff, sans some of the genre’s usual aesthetic trappings. Get out tonight to see them off if you can.

Starters

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Soulé – video for Love No More, appearing at HWCH

What you may need to know…

01. R’n’B singer Samantha Kay, aka Soulé, has made waves with her first single, as well as a packed house for her debut solo show at the Workman’s in Dublin last month.

02. Love No More, originally penned as a ballad, is a statement of intent for the young vocalist, who spoke recently to District Mag of her desire to work in dichotomies, “to make tracks that people can dance to, but might have the complete opposite theme in the lyrics”

03. Streaming above is the video for Love No More, directed and produced by Diffusion Lab.

04. Appearing next at Hard Working Class Heroes festival, on October 7th at Tengu, as part of the Word Up Collective’s stage. Kickoff at 8.10.

VERDICT: Ambitious, and in possession of serious potential, Soulé is one to keep an eye on.

Soulé

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Another week.

Another delayed Golden Discs voucher giveaway.

Last Friday, we asked you to pick your favourite male/female duet.

You responded in your dozens.

But there could only be one winner.

After much deliberation Sonar wins for for this ‘speedy’ 1980s denim jacketed, duel gender cover of a 1959 classic.

Sonar writes

‘The greatest man/woman pairing in music is Headgirl, featuring Motörhead (all the boys) and Girlschool (all the girls), owing to the sheer brilliance of Please Don’t Touch, and also the multiples of men/women pairings – mega tune for a grey day’

Runners-up:

Scottser: “The greatest man/woman pairing in music is Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris owing to their heart-wrenching, heart-warming. heart-pounding harmonies. Like all beautiful things it lasted all-too short a time and their music is the one thing that reminds me to value the moment now before it disappears forever.”

AnPreachan: “The greatest man/woman pairing in music is Jack and Meg White, owing to the crazy good albums they made, and their commitment to their ideals (well probably Jack White’s) ideals about how music should be made.”

Ouch: “Kirsten Hersh and Michael Stipe – Your Ghost is still as amazing as the first time I heard it on Dave Fanning”

Serval: “The greatest man/woman pairing in music is PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke owing to the fact that they are two of the greatest songwriters and singing voices of all time.”

Badatmemes: “I checked the weather forecast for Monday morning at 10am. So I suggest Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Isn’t This A Lovely Day?”

Thanks all.

Golden Discs

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The Redneck Manifesto – playing new songs at Clonakilty Guitar Fest this weekend

What you may need to know…

01. At last, an excuse to talk about veteran Dubland instrumentalists The Redneck Manifesto.

02. Coming together in 1998 from other bands on the Dublin scene at the time, they self-released numerous singles before dropping their debut full-length, Thirtysixstrings to massive acclaim. Companion piece Cut Your Heart Off From Your Head surfaced the following year. Third full-length I Am Brazil released in 2004, recorded in France’s Black Box Studios.

03. Streaming above in its entirety is the band’s most recent full-length, Friendship, released in March of 2010 via the sadly-missed Richter Collective.

04. Appearing live this Sunday in their only date this year at DeBarra’s in Clonakilty, as part of the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival. New material has been promised. Tickets available NOW.

VERDICT: One of the finest bands in the land, and one that’s stayed DIY all this time, to boot. Word of new stuff is most encouraging also.

The Redneck Manifesto