Tag Archives: Ireland

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Tristan Cahalane

Ireland’s Colarado-bound diaspora.

Not all looking to get high.

Maureen Meehan, in High Times, writes:

Another Irish immigration to the US is taking place, but this time it is not because of the potato famine or the economic deprivation it caused in Ireland for decades.

This is the story of Irish people who regard themselves as the first “international medical cannabis refugees” seeking treatment in Colorado.

Yvonne Cahalane left her small community in Cork, southern Ireland, for Colorado with her 2-year-old son Tristan who suffers from Dravet syndrome and has up to 20 seizures every day.

Growing desperate, Yvonne launched a crowdfunding page and raised enough money for herself and Tristan to travel to Colorado last December. Tristan is being treated with CBD oil and THCA, and has regained the ability to speak and his seizures have subsided.

Since that time, another Cork mother, Vera Twomey, has thought of doing the same with her 6-year-old daughter who also has Dravet syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy that begins during infancy.

With around five cases of Dravet syndrome in Ireland and 8,000 Multiple Sclerosis patients, it is becoming more and more common for families to be forced to decide between their home and their health.

Irish Are Emigrating in Search of Medical Marijuana (High Times)

Related: Cannabis drug would help my daughter (Joe Leogue, Irish Examiner, March 7, 2016)

Thanks The Hemp Company

Rusangano

Rusangano Family – launching album Let the Dead Bury the Dead throughout April

What you may need to know…

1. From an intersection of cultures, to the forefront of Irish hip-hop, Limerick/Zimbabwean outfit Rusangano Family have come into their own since assuming the name for their collaborative efforts in late 2014.

2. In keeping with themes of society, identity, belonging, and the celebration of difference and diversity, the trio specialises in a fusion of hip-hop and electronic sounds/sub-genres.

3. Comprised of DJ mynameisj0hn, and MCs GodKnows and Murli, the project came about from their collaborative work in 2013, which resulted in that year’s EP with producer Graeme S, and their first album (and namesake) Rusangano/Family in May 2014.

4. The resultant critical acclaim for their records and riotous live excursions led to supports for Snoop Dogg, Run the Jewels, Young Fathers and BadBadNotGood, as well as festival appearances all over the country. Most recently, they went Stateside to play this month’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

5. Second LP Let the Dead Bury the Dead releases this month, preceded by single Heathrow (streaming above, featuring Windings/Givemanakick man Steve Ryan on guitar), unveiled late last year.

6. The band explains the long-player’s somewhat cryptic title: “Let the Dead Bury the Dead can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. A phrase that conjures ideas of regret, remorse, hope, change, letting go and the resolve to follow one’s own path. To move forward, we must also leave things behind.”

7. The trio are launching the record with a string of dates around Ireland throughout April. Friday the 8th sees them hit The Kino in Cork with Lakerama in support, while on Saturday the 9th, they head for Dublin’s Sugar Club with support from Ben Bix and Feather. Friday the 22nd, they’ll be at Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick, before playing DeBarra’s in Clonakilty on Saturday the 23rd.

Verdict: One of the country’s most exciting live acts, and one of our most vital and forward-thinking propositions, full stop. Get involved.

Rusangano Family

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The Frank and Walters – We Are The Young Men

Here’s what you may need to know…

01. As synonymous with the real capital’s culture as Tanora, Roy Keane, and music journalists reaching for lazy, obvious cultural touchstones in articles about the city the English Market, The Frank and Walters are one of the quintessential Cork bands, formed in 1990 and named after two local eccentrics of the day.

02. Success found the indie-pop outfit quickly, signing for Setanta in 1991 and releasing EP1. EP2, featuring the enduring Fashion Crisis Hits New York, shortly followed. Following EP Happy Busman, debut album Trains, Boats and Planes hit the UK album chart, with single After All hitting number 11 on the UK singles chart and number 5 in the Irish singles chart.

03. Taking a sabbatical after a busy few years, the band returned in the mid-nineties and have been gigging and releasing records at a steady clip ever since. Having celebrated their 25th anniversary last year with a sellout performance at Cork Opera House (pictured above), the band is currently readying new album Songs for the Walking Wounded for release via drummer Ashley Keating’s FIFA Records.

04. Streaming above is the band’s new single, We Are the Young Men, released ahead of the album’s launch at the Cork Opera House on April 15th. In support are reunited Cork indie group Rubyhorse and The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on DJ duties.

Verdict: A seemingly jaunty, jangly tune, layered with subtle sarcasm (a Franks specialty) and casting a somewhat cold eye on youthful exuberance. Great stuff from a band that’s stood the test of time.

The Frank and Walters

Photo: Kieran Frost. Thanks to Peter Dempsey for corrections.

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Various Artists – Le Chéile (compilation in aid of mental health awareness)

What you may need to know…

01. Yeah Meng Records is the one-man operation of Drogheda man Ryan Carroll. Indie label, local shows, etc. based out of the Wee County’s capital.

02. Le Chéile (“together” as Gaeilge), is a compilation released this past month through the label, comprised of a book of mental health-related quotes & quips (as well as contact info on mental health services in Ireland), and a CD full of Irish and international punk, emo and folk acts (streaming above).

03. Among the many acts on the compilation include Dublin punks Chewing on Tinfoil, post-rock youngsters Megacone, Tipperary emo five-piece The Winter Passing and Limerick singer-songwriter Anna’s Anchor.

04. All proceeds go toward various mental health charities, and Bandcamp orders (€10 + €3 postage in Ireland) come with advance digital download of both audio and text.

Verdict: It’s our generation’s cause: striking up a conversation and national discourse regards mental health. Anybody looking to help facilitate that, and provide a point of focus for anyone that might be struggling in the form of the accompanying book, deserves the support.

Le Chéile (thru Yeah Meng Records)

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Race the Flux – Matty Rusko

What you may need to know…

01. Galway math-rock quartet Race the Flux premiered new single Matty Rusko on their social media yesterday. It’s available for streaming on Spotify and download from iTunes.

02. Having spent the last few years honing their sound, including debut LP Dutch Buffalo and last year’s more experimental Olympians EP, the lads have supported Tame Impala, And So I Watch You From Afar, and The Redneck Manifesto.

03. Rugger buggers may recognise their track Olympus Mons as Munster’s pitch walkout music, also.

04. The video, shot and edited by Limerick media veteran Shane Serrano, sees the band accompany a man who can’t get their them out of his head. Literally.

05. Having played Sweeney’s in Dublin last night, tonight they’re off to slaughter London’s Old Blue Last, a 317-year-old pub, formerly a brothel, now run by VICE Magazine. Grand.

Verdict: The evolution of the Tribesmen from electronicky alt-rockers to the forefront of Ireland’s enviable math-rock scene has taken definite shape. Matty Rusko continues the process in fine form.

Race the Flux

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Come On Live Long – For The Birds

What you may need to know…

01. Luscious, luxuriant electronic-inflected stuff from Dublin four-piece Come On Live Long, in new single For The Birds.

02. Formed in 2011, and having run the gauntlet of Irish festivals as well as releasing a number of EPs and singles, the band’s currently gearing up for their second album Move As One, following on from 2013’s Everything Fall.

03. Over at The Thin Air, the band have been chatsky about the album’s creative and recording processes, which see the band get together in a cottage in Co. Roscommon. They also premiered the vid yesterday, which can also be seen above.

04. The band launches For The Birds Saturday week at Dublin’s Unitarian Church. Tickets available here. Tickets €10, kickoff at 7.30.

Verdict: A tune that’s equally sultry and strident in different places, it sees the band refine its focus on its strong points, and makes the most of them.

Come On Live Long

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Overhead, the Albatross – Big River Man (from new album Learning to Growl)

Here’s what you may need to know…

01. At long bloody last. Dublin instrumental six-piece Overhead, the Albatross have finally announced their debut full-length record, entitled Learning to Growl, for release on May 13.

02. The band have unleashed singles and snippets from live sessions, but single Big River Man, released last November, was the first indication of what the outfit have really had up their sleeve. A lush, eight-minute excursion with a grandiose video to match, streaming above.

03. Another leadoff single is due this day next week, with a teaser for the video here. We’ll keep you posted.

04. Ahead of that will be a big gig in Dublin on Saturday April 9th, at the Workman’s Club, where the band finishes what they started at their last show, before a power cut took out the venue and stopped the band.

Verdict: What we’ve heard from the band over the years, and the rep they’ve developed, has been  a prelude to this record, and Big River Man may well only be the tip of the sonic iceberg. Roll on, May 13.

Overhead, the Albatross

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=pJyWTAVCqe0

Jonen Dekay – Passionate Example mixtape

What you may need to know…

01. Released last Friday, 17-year-old wordsmith Jonen Dekay‘s debut mixtape Passionate Example (streaming above) showcases the Limerick rapper’s scarily accomplished lyrical prowess and maturity.

02. Dekay is the product of the current swathe of Music Generation workshops in Limerick, overseen by Rusangano Family rappers GodKnows and Murli, and Andy Connolly, better known as one-man duo Deviant & Naive Ted.

03. The latter’s fingerprints are subtly identifiable throughout the mixtape, as the masked man stepped out of his box of pro-wrestling VHS to get behind the desk to record and mix the whole affair.

04. The whole mixtape can also be streamed and individual tracks downloaded via Soundcloud here.

Verdict: Dekay’s stream-of-consciousness style, seething observations and unabashedly accented delivery give an indicator of what we can expect from the Limerick rapper in the future. Daycent Irish hip-hop, to say the least.

Jonen Dekay