The Redneck Manifesto – back catalogue reissues for Dublin post-rockers
What you may need to know…
01. Last we checked in with Dublin instrumentalists The Redneck Manifesto, they’d taken to stage at Clonakilty Guitar Fest ahead of getting in shape for a new record.
02. While there’s no further announcement on that front as of yet, the band have released their complete discography to date on streaming services as of this week, as announced through a post (and with a special playlist) on Nialler9.
03. Streaming above is the title track from 2005 long-player I Am Brazil. The band’s music is available now across Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify, Google Music and Tidal.
04. Live dates are happening next month. February 15th and 16th at Whelan’s, the latter being sold out; the 17th at the Roisín Dubh in Galway, and the 18th, at Dolan’s in Limerick.
Thoughts: A distinguished body of work that helped set the precedent for a generation of instrumental music from this island. Well worth the revisit ahead of new tunes.
Irish music hero Ray Wingnut interviews Cork/Malmo jazz outfit Fixity, in the second of his Guerrilla Sessions, also being taped for his weekly radio show on Spin Southwest.
Nomadic Rituals – gravestone-heavy doom metal from Belfast
What you may need to know…
01. Purveyors of downtrodden, doomy, slow-crawling filth are Belfast trio Nomadic Rituals.
02. Second full-length album Marking the Day releases next month, on handmade CD (with art-cards) and digital download. An ambitious piece, the LP is a concept record taking on the birth, life and death of the Cosmos, as well as the purpose of humanity. Perfect for summer barbecues.
03. The album is streaming in its entirety in the widget above, and available for digital and physical pre-order via their Bandcamp.
04. The record launches on the day of release, February 17th, with a gig at the Voodoo in Belfast, with support from Cork’s Soothsayer, War Iron, and MAW.
Thoughts: An hour-long odyssey whose heaviness and heft is matched by its scale.
Pictured above: Scullion, My Bloody Valentine, Therapy?, James Vincent McMorrow, Rusangano Family… and the Joshua Trio
Last week, in our weekly, week-ending €25 Golden Discs voucher bonanza, we asked YOU to pinpoint your all-time favourite live Irish music moments. The specific format for the answer went along these lines…
‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was_________________________at_____________________because____________’
It was a serious struggle this time around to pin down a winner, which just goes to display the breadth and depth of our little island’s talent over the years (so support it where you can, please).
But there can only be one winner…
Wait for It… is the poster’s name. Talking My Bloody Valentine at SFX (unfortunately, no bootlegs of the event are in embeddable format online, so we’ve included Only Shallow from their Vancouver gig that year above).
“The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was My Bloody Valentine at the SFX in May, 1992 because to this day, I have never had a more visceral experience of live music. Including seeing the band themselves again twice, indoors, since they came back in 2008, I have never heard anything so loud. Ticketholders left the venue to listen from the footpath outside. Even wearing earplugs, people still had to cover their ears, especially during ‘You Made Me Realise’.
Added to this was a light show that seemed specifically designed to disorient and confuse (such as the blindingly bright lights turned on the audience during YMMR’s ‘holocaust’ section). I stood by the sound desk and saw staff from the SFX begging for the volume to be lowered, met with firm headshakes. I can’t say it was an entirely pleasant experience, but it was one I’ll never forget, which is what makes it the best.”
That’s what you want, in fairness.
Other runners from the shortlist, in (near-)chronological order…
Fiach: ‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was: Scullion, at O’Flaherty Theatre UCG 1981, because of the sheer passion, talent and pleasure in performance that was so obvious from each of the members of the group. They had just released ‘Balance and Control’, so some of the songs were new to me, and each one blew my young mind. Sitting in the front row, I was agog at the veins in Philip King’s neck pulsating through the tragedy of ’18’, the energy of ‘Tension’ and the fun of ‘Can I Have My Money Back’ by Gerry Rafferty. The sheer range of emotions from the whole group was enthralling. Greg Bolan’s fingers flying all over the frets, and Sonny Condell’s quirky comments all helped to make this my favourite gig by any group ever.’
Frilly Keane:‘Hot Press Battle of the Bands thing in Henrys. 88’ish. A Nordie Crowd called Trenchtown (no streaming audio to link to – Mike). That lead singer would have given Thatcher an orgasm. I know they came second in their heat so didn’t progress. If anyone has a clue, please let me know what happened to them. Anyway around the same time, like that same year, An Emotional Fish, Trinity Ball – Arts Block. Incredible, and probably one of their very early gigs. Also the support that night, Cypress Mine, who had a great track : ‘Sugar Beet God’. Zig and Zag used ta’ sing it. Anyway, all long forgotten. Pity about Trenchtown, we missed out.’
Lorcan Nagle: ‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was Therapy? at Sunstroke ’94, because they didn’t let up from the moment they hit the stage, and blew every band there out of the water – including the Chili Peppers at their height. I saw some guy wander out of the moshpit holding one of his shoes with a big cut on his head, telling everyone who asked if he was alright that it was all just good fun.’
Liam Deliverance: ‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was The Jimmy Cake at the Tivoli, around 1996 because it was a smallish gig and it was easy to get up front. The band consisted of around 12 members playing a wonderful variety of instruments including accordion and clarinet. They were described as experimental rock which didn’t mean a whole lot to me at the time plus I had no expectations as to what a band called the “Jimmy Cake” would be like, I thought it was a silly name but was to quickly learn not to judge a book by it’s cover. They played a set with each member giving their all and producing a wonderful experience, your head would be going from one musician to another, songs were 7/8 or minutes long and the audience was left feeling they had seen something special and unique. Have a Jimmy Cake CD somewhere, must have a look for it.’
HyperGlobalCompuMegaNet:‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was James Vincent McMorrow upstairs in Whelan’s before he was signed circa 2008/09. His songs weren’t as ‘produced’ as they are now, it was just him, his guitar, and a ridiculous voice that kept the small crowd captivated.’
Miriam: ‘The best live performance from an Irish act I have ever witnessed was Rusangano Family at Dolans, Limerick because they are an unbelievable live performance of Irish hip-hop. They do loads for promoting multiculturalism and always support young and upcoming acts. Their energy is top class and frankly they are one of the best live acts I have ever seen.’
James Chimney:‘The Joshua Trio in the Baggot Inn sometime in the late 80’s. They knew what the little scut was up to!’
01. Over gentle waves of textures and reverberations comes the voice of singer/composer and visual artist Brigid Mae Power.
02. Having existed on the fringes of Irish folk for a number of years, she cut her teeth on her first full-length, I Told You The Truth, recorded in St. Nicholas’ Church in Galway. Leaving Ireland and heading to Oregon to record with American folk musician Peter Broderick in his studio proved to be a turning point.
03. Streaming above is the video for single I Left Myself For a While, from her self-titled “proper” debut record, available via Tompkins’ Square Records. Early solo work also available on her Bandcamp.
04. Headlining Quarter Block Party festival, on the weekend February 3rd-5th in Cork City Centre. More info here.
Thoughts: Some lovely moments amid the melancholy, resonating with subtle drone, and the atmosphere of the studio.
01. Indie with a dose of humour and a side-serving of nineties psych-worship is the order of the day for Cork outfit Jonny Rep (named for the Dutch soccer legend).
02. Beginning life as a sideproject of members of Leeside bands Rulers of the Planet, LMNO Pelican, The Shanks and Semi, the band has been active for the bones of the last decade, with intermittent single releases.
03. Streaming above is new single Call Me Soon, taken from upcoming album Cold Sunbeam.
04. Cold Sunbeam is due for release on February 24th, with launch gigs and release formats to be announced.
Thoughts: A self-effacing riff on the Stone Roses’ grandeur masks some fairly prescient social commentary.
01. Jar Jar Jr (or ｊａｒ ｊａｒ ｊｒ, to use the proper nomenclature) is the nom-de-plume of Cork beatmaker Robert O’Halloran.
02. He’s amassed quite the cult following for himself, particularly in the last year, where fan-made videos of his tracks have racked up massive views, including over 300,000 for fan visuals for his track ambitions.
03. The wider music internet has taken notice, with playlist site/aggregator Indie Shuffle placing him in their hip-hop best-of for 2016, alongside DJ Shadow, Chance the Rapper and Jurassic 5. As you do.
04. Streaming above is the video for ah well, released last month via his own Soundcloud, and featuring UK rapper/poet Looms. Visuals directed by Aleks Podhorowska.
Thoughts: Progressing from jazzier beatmaking to lo-fi compositions and collaborations in recent times, Jar Jar Jr.’s 2016 surely serves as a portent for bigger things this year.
The line-up for South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas is taking shape, and today’ saw the announcements for the complement of Irish artists headed over with Music in Ireland.
Artists of note include neo-soul vocalist LOAH (pictured), jazzcore headwreckers Robocobra Quartet, Northern folk artists Ciaran Lavery & Jealous of the Birds, and Dublin outfit Cloud Castle Lake.
The shortlist for the recently-rechristened RTÉ Choice Music Prize is out.
Previous winners in recent years have included SOAK, The Gloaming and Villagers, with former gong-holders including The Divine Comedy, Two Door Cinema Club and Jape.
This year’s shortlist:
All Tvvins – IIVV (Warner Music)
Bantum – Move (Self Released)
Wallis Bird – Home (Mount Silver / Caroline International)
The Divine Comedy – Foreverland (Divine Comedy Records)
Lisa Hannigan – At Swim (Hoop Recordings)
Katie Kim – Salt (Art For Blind Records)
James Vincent McMorrow – We Move (Faction Records)
Overhead, The Albatross – Learning to Growl (Self Released)
Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead (Self Released)
We Cut Corners – The Cadences Of Others (Delphi)
To mark the occasion, RTÉ 2fm is playing all Irish music, all day, until midnight, with a CMP special at 8pm.
Strangefish – Irish hip-hop superteam from the archives
What you may need to know…
01. Strangefish was/is a collaborative effort between Northern emcee Jee4ce, Belfast beatmaker SertOne, and Limrock cutman(s) Deviant & Naive Ted, operational between 2012 and 2013.
02. This self-titled E.P. was assembled inbetween shiftwork and fits of existential crisis in bedrooms in Liverpool, Dublin and Edinburgh, with ideas and bits flung back and forth over the interwebs.
03. It’s streaming and available for download in the widget above, releasing via Liverpudlian label Fly High Society.
04. The blurb/copy accompanying this record states that this is the “first compilation” from the outfit, implying either more archive material or fresh cuts down the road.
Thoughts: With the recognisable sonic fingerprint of each participant evident, this extended-player provides plenty for Irish hip-hop heads to dig into, while the EP’s digs into psychedelia and playfulness ought to appeal to first-timers.
