Always the optimist, Malcolm Middleton is releasing a Christmas single called 'We're All Going To Die'.

It's delightful!

Check it out here.

continue reading>>

Trip-hop legends Portishead are getting back in gigging form with a Bristol show on December 15th. A long awaited new album is due to finally arrive soon, and the band's profile is being firmly re-raised with their curating the All Tomorrows Parties 'Nightmare Before Christmas' event next weekend in Butlins, Minehead (in Wales, as googlemaps helpfully informed me).

The band have handpicked the lineup & will perform live themselves in what's just another example of why the ATP crew are probably the best promoters in the world. Here's a sample of the lineup: Portishead, Aphex Twin, Sparklehorse, Malcolm Middleton, Black Mountain, Thurston Moore. This list goes on. And on. Check it out here.

Other ATP gigs lined up are pant-crappingly exciting. Here's their 'ATP vs Pitchfork' lineup, featuring Sebadoh!! Click.

Here's the Explosions In The Sky curated event. Click.

And here's one of their 'Don't Look Back' shows, where artists play classic albums in their entirety. The first one for 08 is a band I not three sentences ago awarded a double exclamation mark. Yes, Sebadoh performing 1993's 'Bubble & Scrape'. Here's hoping Lou Barlow & Co will grant us an audience over on this side of the Irish sea before long.

Here's Portishead performing 'Roads' amazingly, from their live in New York DVD:

continue reading>>

So the Meteor Award nominees for 2007 have been announced, so we all have our annual chance to gripe at how shit they are.

Granted there are some worthy noms in there, but as usual the folk in charge would prefer to fill up a category with the same old 'established acts' from every other year rather than do a bit of digging for worthwhile entrants. So we see the usual suspects on the list- Andrea Corr, Glen Hansard, Aslan, Dolores O’Riordan, Paddy Casey, Bell X1 etc. Not a Phantom DJ to be seen, which is just ridiculous. The inclusion of Brian McFadden makes me snigger. Tee Hee.

On the other hand- good to see Fight Like Apes up there, hopefully the best band category will be fought out between themselves and Delorentos. And nice to see Cathy Davey getting a few nods too, I'd imagine she'll pick up something.

Didn't there used to be a 'best new band' category, or something of the sort?

Gripes aside, at least there's no U2 in there this year.

Apparently you can vote here, but I can't get it to work.

Here are the noms in full:

Best National DJ
Ray D’Arcy - Todayfm
Ian Dempsey - Todayfm
Tom Dunne – Todayfm
Dave Fanning – RTE Radio 1
Ray Foley - Todayfm
Rick O’Shea – 2fm

Best Regional DJ
Pete Casey - Shannonside
Keith Cunningham - Red FM
Leigh Doyle – Beat FM
Joe & Keith – Spin 103.8
Mark Noble - FM104
Jon Richards – Galway Bay FM

Best Irish Band
Ash
Aslan
Fight Like Apes
Delorentos
The Flaws
Future Kings of Spain

Best Irish Male
Paddy Casey
Damien Dempsey
Duke Special
Glen Hansard
Dave Geraghty
Declan O’Rourke

Best Irish Female
Andrea Corr
Cathy Davey
Maria Doyle Kennedy
Roisin Murphy
Sinead O’Connor
Dolores O’Riordan

Best Irish Pop Act
Bell X1
The Blizzards
The Coronas
Brian McFadden
Roisin Murphy
Westlife

Best Irish Album
Paddy Casey - Addicted to Company
Cathy Davey - Tales of Silversleeve
Delorentos – In Love with Detail
The Flaws – Achieving Vagueness
Future Kings of Spain Nervousystem
David Geraghty – Kill Your Darlings

Best Irish Live Performance
Bell X1 - Malahide Castle
The Blizzards - Oxegen
Duke Special - Vicar Street
Fight Like Apes – Whelans
Future Kings of Spain - Village
Damien Rice - Marlay Park

continue reading>>

The slick electro-rap duo are giving their X-Mas single away for free on their myspace. Apparently it features some serious Radiohead sampling. I'm intrigued...

Click me for story

Click me for Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip's myspace page

Here's the video for their love-it-or-hate-it 'Thou Shalt Always Kill':

continue reading>>

...and it's really quite good..... BUT-and I'm sure this is a common complaint- us greedy folk want more new material, not four versions of 'Floating'! As amazing as 'Floating' is, Richie has teased us with nuggets online such as 'I Was A Man', and live gems such as 'Phil Lynott', and now I'm gagging to be able to play them on my stereo.

The EP does have two non-floating tracks on it, and they are amazing (without a second's doubt it's well worth the 3.99 you'll pay in Tower), but I guess that after traipsing around town tracking down both Jape's previous albums I just can't wait for the new one. Not that I have long to wait- early 08 is the good word. I'll just have to hold my breath until then, and keep listening to Floating (my favourite version of which is presently the D.I.M. Reworking on the EP. It's got echoes of Billie Jean! What more could you want?).

The 'Jape Is Grape EP' Is currently on sale pretty much everywhere you'd imagine it to be, including iTunes. Check it out. And while you're at it, buy tickets to Jape's New Years Eve show in Whelans. It'll be fun.

continue reading>>

To be read in a menacing South African accent:

"Diplomatic Immunity, Mr Riggs.... Who is the dickhead now?"

Brilliant.

Shakespearean.

As if this isn't enough, this masterpiece also contains one of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema (pictured). What a movie...

continue reading>>

Apparently the roof was shedding bits of itself throughout the Kings Of Leon's first RDS show (Tuesday). The band had to cut short the encore as the venue staff decided it'd be a good idea to get everyone out. Reminds me of Pearl Jam's performance in Madison Square Garden on their recent live DVD, at which they were told to turn down cause the stage was looking like it was gonna come apart. How rock n roll.

In tribute to the K Of L, here's the ultra-funky Parliament with 'Tear The Roof Off The Sucker':




Click me for story

continue reading>>

Amy Winehouse has obviously realised that she's a mess, so has cancelled all tour dates & promotional appearances for the foreseeable future.

I can't imagine any Amy Winehouse fans are in any way surprised. Surely they were aware when they bought their tickets that it was a gamble of Pete Doherty proportions.

Well, maybe she's not that bad yet. Yet.

continue reading>>

The band, who play the RDS for the second night in a row tonight topped the Oxegen.ie poll of 'fans most wanted act' for 08. So MCD have been very obliging and booked em.

How nice.

continue reading>>

Friday Dec 7th sees me & Tara heading off to the UK for the weekend, so we won't be able to make this bad-ass show that Skinny Wolves are putting on in the Boom Boom Room. Headlining are Portland Oregon synth-punks 'Fist Fite' who are fresh from supporting Klaxons on their UK tour. Check em out here.

Also on the bill are the excellent Cap Pas Cap (click), and personal favorites BATS. Not too shabby for one show. And for a measly 8 blips! Don't miss it. More details & updates here.

continue reading>>

"-Hello, my name is Mr Burns. I believe you have a letter for me.

-Ok Mr Burns, what's your first name?

-I don't know."

Me, five minutes ago on the phone to BA trying to cancel a flight for my Dad and them insisting on speaking to the Credit Card holder.

"-Is this not the person I was just speaking to?

-Maybe.."

D'oh.

continue reading>>

Here's an interesting article on Chris Weitz firting with jumping ship from the just-around-the-corner-now Northern Lights adaptation.

I still have my doubts about him taking the helm, doubts which were enhanced in this article by reminding me that Weitz directed the Chris Rock vehicle 'Down To Earth', which is easily one of the worst films I've ever seen. And not the good kind of bad film, I mean the so-bad-it's-really-quite-offensive kind of bad film. It's one of the few flicks I've actually walked out of. Granted, it was written by Chris Rock, who in addition to not being funny is also a shameless rascist.

Other bad signs: Weitz previous literary adaptation was of Nick Hornby's 'About A Boy', which dicked around with the material so much that the entire last third of the movie was Weitz's own.

Also, Northern Lights has been dumbed down from the get-go, with the title being changed to 'The Golden Compass'. So immediatley it's more 'Harry Potter' than 'Lord Of The Rings'. Ulp.

Am I still going to go see it though?

Hell yeh.

Click me for article

continue reading>>

Click

continue reading>>

It really irks me when bands do the rounds and we Oirish Yokels get screwed.

Oh well, I guess a trip to London may be on the cards.

The dates are all in March. Click me to view em.

continue reading>>

Nearly forgot to update with the status of Dan Deacon's return to Ireland. It's soon- next sunday, to be precise. That's the 2nd of December, and in Whelans.


Buy tickets for 17.45 here.

Remind yourself why you should be going here.

continue reading>>

Having missed both of Jape's Dublin shows with this damn sickness that I'm STILL not quite over, I can't adequately express how delightefied I was to hear that Richie & Co will be playing a new years spectacular in Whelans on Dec 31st.

Tickets went on sale today at a totally worth it 23 euro. I'm gonna do the smart thing this time and get my tickets in advance. So should you! You know who I'm talking to...

I'll make it easy for you- just click here.

continue reading>>

Click

Paris is rioting again. Seems as though Parisians have their way of getting things done and aren't about to change it. That said, President Sarkozy didn't help matters when he branded the rioters 'scum'.

Aren't politicians suppossed to be tactful?

continue reading>>

Click

continue reading>>

Just saw an episode of this show for the first time and it's rather good. Judging by the people involved that should have been rather obvious- Chris Morris, Noel Feilding, Grahem Lineham etc etc.

What's really odd is that one of the characters struck me as uncannily reminiscent of my friend Egg, both in looks (except Egg is obviously much better looking...) and in sligo accent. I looked up the actor on imdb and- weird Jungian moment- his name is Chris O'Dowd- which is Egg's name! What the hell? OK the spelling is slightly different, but still... strange. Has Egg got a double life acting in a popular sitcom? Maybe, maybe...

Here's a quick Chris Morris-y taster (thanks to Cathy for the heads up):

continue reading>>

Video of the day is the fantabulously happy '7/4 Shoreline' by Broken Social Scene:

continue reading>>

Two music obituaries in one day, shit. Screamo band Hawthorne Heights' guitarist Casey Calvert died suddenly last night, allegedly from complications to do with asthma. The band have had a few hits, mainly in the 'emo-kid' market, but aren't as bad as that label suggests. I think My Chemical Romance have kinda ruined that 'genre' for everyone. Here's the band's breakthrough single 'Ohio Is For Lovers':

continue reading>>

Kevin DuBrow, frontman of metal legends Quiet Riot was found dead yesterday from as yet undetermined causes. Lets all take a moment to remember the band's 80s heyday with the video for their cover of Slade's 'Cum On Feel The Noize':

continue reading>>

A tribute to the greatest movie star of them all- the moustache. A top ten so good there's thirteen of em.





(I want this image on a t-shirt)



Click me for tashes

continue reading>>

What?? Surely not..

Click

continue reading>>

This is ridiculous. Surely this can't be allowed- Britney, in an apparent acknowledgement to the world that she has completely lost it has tried to fill the void left by her two children by adopting two new ones. I can only assume that having lost custody of her own kids for being a mess no court in the land will allow her adopt.

What a surreal world we live in...

Click me for story

continue reading>>

My brother Mark (that's him there on the right) has started blogging, as one does these days.

Amongst his first few posts is a pretty cool taster of a Ghostbusters game for the Xbox 360, and a more-favourable-than-mine look at Interpol.


Check it out here.

continue reading>>

It seems Oxegen feels it is capable of depriving decent festivals (Elec Pic) of yet more acts that would be more suited to playing the latter. So in order to fit in as many of these acts as possible, this years Oxegen fest will be extended to three days. This does kinda make sense, as most Oxegen goers seem to get down to punchestown on Friday anyways, and are always left arsing around with nothing to do all night. Other than steal things. And set fire to anything they can't steal. But that's Oxegen for ya.

Hopefully the Picnic is gaining enough of a rep that it'll still be able to pull at least some of the acts it wants to, unlike last year's Arcade Fire debacle. Still, it was the small acts that made the picnic for me (and the unique Picnic charm), and I can't see MCD fighting the Picnic organisers over the likes of Final Fantasy.

Lets just hope a mainstream act don't pull a masterpiece out of their asses and leave me forced to come crawling back to MCD, like the infamous Stadium Arcadium year.

Talented bastards.

continue reading>>

Jermaine has been talking it up that the Jackson 5 will be doing a world tour next year, with Michael on board. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen. AND, I'd much prefer a King Of Pop solo tour, because as depressing as that might be considering the state MJ is in these days, 5 old fat and surgically altered dudes trying to emulate their pre-pubescent success is somewhat more pathetic.

That said, if MJ toured again it would dilute one of my claims to greatness, having been jammy enough to attend his last Irish gig- on the 'Dangerous' tour (so when he was still the coolest person on the planet). It still sticks out as one of the best shows I've ever seen, as he not only transformed into a werewolf onstage, but also exited the arena by jet pack. How fucking slick is that?

Click me for reunion story

continue reading>>

DJ Shadow is to play the Ambassador with support from Cut Chemist on Friday 14th March. Tickets are priced at €33 and are on sale now.

This isn't really a video, but it's the best version of this song I could find without looking too hard.

From 'Entroducing', here's 'Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt':

continue reading>>

This is him verus Ecuador making the defender wish he'd stayed at home.

Click me

continue reading>>

..and have been sick for the best part of two weeks now. What the hell is going on?!?

continue reading>>

From Phantom.ie:

The Pope is calling for a dramatic overhaul of music in the Vatican, saying he's sick of sub-standard 20th century fare.
The Holy See says he wants to see the end of the Folk Mass and a return to more traditional sacred tunes, and wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and Baroque music.
Pope Benedict also wants his preferences to be taken in across the Catholic Church.
In an address to the bishops and priests of St Peter's Basilica last month, he said there needed to be "continuity with tradition" in their prayers and music.

What a killjoy! Like mass isn't boring enough already. What about bringing the church into the 21st century? What's next: Pope outlaws fun? Pope says Catholics 'not feeling guilty enough'? Or just go all out for heresy and reinstate the Spanish Inquisition? Just for fun. I like the old Pope better. He traveled a lot, played football, had laser eyes...

continue reading>>

Jape have (has?) kindly posted this sweet new song on myspace. It's available to download through the Jape profile, or by clicking here.

For those forgetful folk amongst us, Jape play Crawdaddy this Friday & Saturday (and UCD tomorrow night). I'm hoping to make saturday night as the last Jape show I witnessed was pant-crappingly brilliant. Don't miss it!

continue reading>>

Here's Pinback with the excellent 'Fortress':



Pinback play Whelans this sunday. Tickets are 17.95. Worth checking out..

continue reading>>

That's right, Bon Jovi are coming to Ireland.

The grand event is gonna be at Punchestown, which pretty much dampens my enthusiasm already. It's scheduled for June 7th of next year. Tickets go on sale next thursday, but prices haven't been announced yet. Expect to pay around 50 euro, I guess.

I've had a couple of Bon Jovi run ins in my time, the first being one of my first ever gigs- the Crossroads tour in 95, which was pretty awesome, in that Bon Jovi kinda way. Then I caught em in the RDS for Jon's famous 'God is on the payroll, thunder & lightning shtick', which was pretty damned awesome.

But the awesomest of all had to be when Conor & I got free tickets (i swear) to see 'By Jovi' in the Olympia a couple of years back. It was populated by middle aged women, hen nights & us two schmoes, and was fucking amazing. Needless to say we got heavily inebriated, singing along to every song, standing on our seats and repeatedly bellowing for 'You Give Love A Bad Name' (which as a result they played twice). What a night, what a band...

Thanks to Ruthy (who had texted me about this probably before the whole band knew) for the heads up.

continue reading>>

AHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAAAAAAA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, AHAAHAHAHAA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA, AHAHAHHHHAAAHAHAHAHAAAH, AHAAHAHA, AHAHA, AHAHAHAA, AHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!

ahem.

click me

continue reading>>

I first heard about these guys when artiste & photographer supreme Loreana Rush
pointed out to me how cool the artwork for their final album (right) was. Only this week have I actually got around to listening to their stuff, and it's mighty impressive. It's fitting snuggly into my listening habits right now as I'm still playing Beirut on heavy rotation and I wouldn't at all be suprised if Zach Condon had listened to Neutral Milk Hotel before he formed his band.

NMH, the brainchild of frontman Jeff Magnum, were around from 89 to 98, only releasing two albums, the second of which, 'In The Airplane Over The Sea' is the one I've been listening to. Great lyrics, minimal production and echoes of lots of artists I love can all be found in spades on this record. Well worth listening to.

Here's the beautiful title track:

Click

And here's an odd little alternative anthem, 'Two Headed Boy':

Click

Here's Jeff Magnum performing 'In The Airplane...' live. It's quite nice:

continue reading>>

Who knew?

Click

continue reading>>

Click me



Now I'd feel like a bit of a mug if I'd paid thousands to fly across the world to see them in the o2 arena.

continue reading>>

Click Me For Title

continue reading>>

A study involving the use of gene therapy on Parkinson's sufferers has this week been reported as being hugely successful. It's one of many recent positive signs in the fight to cure Parkinson's Disease, another being the regeneration of damaged neural tissue through the use of stem cells. I'm really starting to believe we're gonna have this disease licked within the next few years. Here's hoping...

Click for story.

continue reading>>

continue reading>>

Jimmy Page has been dropping more hints that Zeppelin will tour after their o2 arena show, so it's looking more & more likely that it actually may happen.

Here's hoping...


Click for story

continue reading>>

I've been meaning to watch these for a while, but only got around to it today. For those of you who don't know what they are, when Planet Terror & Death Proof were together for one double bill as Grindhouse, trailers for fake films were sprinkled throughout the presentation. Some are good, some are not so good, some are made by Eli Roth. Whom I hate. Here they are:

Werewolf Women Of The SS (directed by Rob Zombie. Ingenious.)



Thanksgiving (directed by Eli Roth, and is irritatingly not bad for what it is. Although, I guess this is the kind of crap he'd actually be suited for, just without his tongue in cheek.)



Machete (directed by Robert Rodriguez. Apparently now being made into a feature.)



Hobo With A Shotgun (directed by Jason Eisener; winner of grindhouse trailer competition at SXSW festival. Hilarious. Possibly the best of em all.)



Don't (directed by Edgar Wright of 'Sean Of The Dead' fame. Look out for Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Lucius Malfoy himself, Jason Issacs):

continue reading>>

Gregg Gillis AKA Girl Talk is headlining the Foggy Notions X-mas party in Whelans on December 13th so lets check out a sample of his mixing & mashing. This is a mix from his 'Night Ripper' album. It's pretty badass.

Click me to listen.


..and here's Girl Talk on myspace.

continue reading>>

The band aren't too impressed with Showtime's new David Duchovny vehicle. Not that they're discerning drama critics or anything, the show has taken the title 'Californication' from the Chili's 1999 album.

This irks Anthony Kiedis. So in great American tradition, he's taking the network to court seeking damages.

I hope he is successful, as he clearly needs the money to buy shirts.

continue reading>>

Seems the Tool singer is one of many artists that seem intimidated by the great 'In Rainbows' giveaway, and what it might mean for artists trying to earn a buck.

Click me for story.

continue reading>>

Velvet Revolver have been denied entry to Japan for their scheduled tour. Japanese authorities must not approved of their recreational habits. Like this. Or this. Nice wholesome folk though.

Click me for story.

continue reading>>

They come up with ingenious things like this:



Then go one better:

continue reading>>

...and increases your wordpower.

Check it out here.

I can't believe I got mesencephalon. Nerdbag.

continue reading>>

Ste kept playing 'Mirrored' this weekend so now it's all I want to hear. So lets make Battles the band of the week this week. Here are various videos that have been causing a stir online recently by being exceedingly good & the mp3s to go with em.

Tonto:



Wow Fucking wow fuck

Click me for mp3.

Atlas (live on Jools Holland):



Click me for mp3.


Battles' debut album 'Mirrored' is out now and kickass. Check it out.

continue reading>>

This is amoosing, if only for the deadpan punchline:

Click Me.

continue reading>>

Zack Snyder, director of the excellent 'Dawn Of The Dead' remake & the bad-ass-no-matter-what-Eamonn-thinks '300' is currently shooting an adaption of the 'Greatest Comic Book Of All Time'.

Which is Watchmen, in case you didn't know.

The book is amazing (that's probably an understatement) and has long been in the pipeline for a movie version only to fall through for one reason or another. Now it's actually happening, thank jeebus, and the good people at Empire online have been good enough to put together a crash course in the need-to-know for the movie version.

Click here to check it out. And if you haven't yet read Watchmen, click here to find out why comic books can stand their own with any of the literary greats.

continue reading>>

The weekend has come and gone, and with it was the first SugarLips festival. The whole shebang was a great success, with some amazing acts gracing us with their presence and everybody having one hell of a time. My chest infection has mercifully waited until now to unleash the full brunt of its wrath, so I managed to get through the fest without collapsing or coughing up (too much) blood.

Highlights? There were many-Saturday night saw five bands tearing up the stage in the Tube. Glory Glove & The Midwife Crisis were hilarious, starting off the night excellently with a pinch of madness. Forward More blasted out the slickest, most refined set I've seen them play yet. The lads just keep getting better, so they've set themselves a bitch of a task for impressing me the next time I see em! Saints of Descent rocked the crowd with a tight set which saw them push themselves to the edge without putting a foot wrong.

A poster named Amy commented on my ABAM spotlight last week, and having seen the guys play on Saturday I completely agree with her. They rocked the shit out of the place, skeleton stylee, with 'Big Apple, 3AM' being one of my highlights of the entire weekend. Skuzzi Port finished off the night expertly, turning the emphasis from moshing to dancing. Their set was trippily kickin, and despite some technical difficulties they kept the momentum up flawlessly, setting the perfect scene for some more dancing & a whole lot more boozing. The aftershow party fulfilled this need 100%, with DJ John de Hat spinning tunes that had me physically unable to leave the dancefloor for prolonged periods of time & left me with a burning desire to download as much electro as my hard drive can take.

So SugarLips was a success- thanks to all the bands that played, all the people who came along and everyone who helped out along the way. SugarLips will return... keep your eyes open & your ear to the ground. Or alternatively just keep reading.

continue reading>>

The gigs just keep on coming. Black Francis is to play Vicar St on February 9th. Tickets are on sale now for 28 euro.

I guess now that the Pixies have finally reunited we can expect Black to be able to focus on his solo material without the crowd baying for 'Where Is My Mind?' every two minutes...

..yeh, right.

continue reading>>

The Big Top show scheduled for the 7th of December has been cancelled for undisclosed reasons.

continue reading>>

Next year's tour schedules are looking promising already. Bjork isn't quite playing here, but Belfast isn't really all that far away...

Here are her UK dates so far (fingers crossed Dublin will follow):


April 11 Manchester, Apollo
April 14 London, Hammersmith Apollo
April 17 London, Hammersmith Apollo
April 22 Plymouth
April 25 Wolverhampton
April 28 Belfast, Waterfront
May 01 Blackpool, Empress Ballroom
May 04 Sheffield, City Hall

I caught Radiohead in Blackpool's Empress Ballroom last year and it's a great venue. I might be tempted into trying to get tickets to that show if a Dublin one fails to materialize. It has the benefit of being in a town famed for its rollercoasters, which as we all know, are the coolest thing in the world.

continue reading>>

Looks like I may finally get to see the Pumpkins live, as they've announced a series of European dates in support of 'Zeitgeist' for next spring, including one at Dublin's RDS on February 9th. Now the only obstacle to pass are those damn touting bastards that have a tendency to snatch up all the tickets for any gig there's anything of a demand for.

Here's the European Tour dates in full:


Sun 1/27 - Belgrade, Serbia - Arena
Tue 1/29 - Budapest, Hungary - Arena
Wed 1/30 - Prague, Czech Republic - T-Mobile
Thu 1/31 - Vienna, Austria - Stadthalle
Sat 2/2 - Milan, Italy - Forum
Sun 2/3 - Bologna, Italy - PalaMalaguti
Tue 2/5 - Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
Wed 2/6 - Paris, France - Bercy
Sat 2/9 - Dublin, Ireland - Royal Dublin Society (RDS)
Sun 2/10 - Belfast, N. Ireland - Kings Hall
Tue 2/12 - Glasgow, Scotland - SECC Hall
Thu 2/14 - Nottingham, England - Nottingham Arena
Tues 2/15 - Manchester, England - MEN Arena
Wed 2/16 - London, England - O2 Arena
Mon 2/18 - Den Bosch, Netherlands - Brabenthalle
Tue 2/19 - Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
Thu 2/21 - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
Tue 2/22 - Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderthalle
Wed 2/23 - Berlin, Germany - Arena
Thu 2/24 - Oberhausen, Germany - Koenig-Pilsener Arena
Sat 2/26 - Hamburg, Germany - Colorline Arena
Wed 2/27 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Valbyhallen
Fri 2/29 - Oslo, Norway - Spektrum
Sat 3/1 - Stockholm , Sweden - Hovet
Mon 3/3 - Helsinki, Finland - Ice Hall


The band have coyly hinted on their website that they'll be further pillaging their back catalogue for fan favourites to play on the European Tour. Here's hoping we'll be hearing something from Adore. Like this:

continue reading>>

Platform shoes are cool and you know it.

continue reading>>

The first night of the SugarLips fest went excellently last night, with some jaw-dropping performances from everyone involved. My legs are presently in agony from the excessive dancing that's clearly a byproduct of being at a Kill City Defectors show.

The KCD's were amazing, showcasing their new album, and their uncanny aptitude for funkiness. Vimanas tore the place up like maniacs, blowing away the crowd in the process. Enemies were fantastic, and flew the flag for rock and roll, with drummer Oisin fighting through the flu & playing until the last possible moment before he had to run off and throw up. Clockwork Noise's set went satisfyingly well considering we'd only had a handful of rehearsals.

So, all in all a success. Some technical & logistical lessons were learned, hopefully to the benefit of tonight's show, which will be starting in a matter of hours. After tonight I plan on drinking like a maniac, and partying well into Sunday (if I have the energy left over). Hopefully see you there.

A full SugarLips review will follow, as soon as I have the energy- promise!

continue reading>>

It's been talked about for eons, but My Bloody Valentine have finally conforemed their return to live duty with the announcement of three UK shows next summer. More dates are sure to be announced in the meantime, and as Kevin Shields has been hinting, a new album is more than likely on the cards too.

Click here for details on the UK dates.

continue reading>>

Damn right.. but will anything come of it?

Click me for story.

For those unaware, the US army 'out-sourced' some of it's Iraq operations to an A-Team style 'commando's for hire' company called Blackwater, who promptly went on a killing spree, executing 14 innocent civilians in September.

Here's a video on Blackwater:



Terrifying...

continue reading>>

I'm well aware that some people are afraid of Bray. Regardless of how odd this may be, we're still understanding folk, so there WILL be transport for town goers from Bray to the City Center after the last bands on both nights.
Busses will run at a cost of 5 euro per person. So don't worry, you will all be able to sleep soundly far away from the 'Braytrix', as it has been dubbed by some silly folk.

continue reading>>

Tis a bit odd to be profiling Clockwork Noise, cause as I'm sure most of you know, I'm in the band, so bear with me and I'll try not to blow our own horn.

Clockwork Noise formed from the ashes of pop-punk-ish Nivola, with the notion of being vaguely experimental, and to mostly record rather than play live. The two Nivola-ites (myself and Dylan Nolan on Bass) recruited Blathnaid Healy on Violin and Aaron Kennedy on drums to record what turned out to be our debut album 'If I Wanted, I Could'. The styles on the album were varied, as we attempted to explore several different directions at once.

We've kept true to our ambitions of not playing many live gigs, having broken it only to support God Is An Astronaut, and play infrequent shows in the Harbor Bar in Bray, but hope to make our SugarLips performance the first of many in the near future as we seek to test new material for our soon to be recorded (long overdue) follow-up EP. Samples of this ever elusive EP have been turning up sporadically on our myspace profile as we take our sweet time with chopping, changing, writing, recording then scrapping everything and starting again.
While you wait for it to finally materialize, you can now purchase 'If I Wanted, I Could' from iTunes. If I knew how to link you to it, I would, but unfortunately have no idea. I'm sure iTunes users won't have a problem finding it..

Clockwork Noise open this Friday night, Nov 16th, at the SugarLips Festival in Bray.

Click me to listen to Clockwork Noise's ambitious genre mixing 'A Number To Make You Cry'.

Check out Clockwork Noise on myspace here.

Keep checking the SugarLips myspace profile for updates.

continue reading>>

The Plug Awards are one of the few worthwhile awards around. You can take part by voting here.
Lots of cool acts have been nominated- check em out.

continue reading>>

The Japanese DJ/Producer dude is embarking on the second leg of his tour in support of new album 'Sensuous'. Hopefully he'll make a stop around these parts before the tour winds up. Click me for the US dates.
In the meantime, here's the video for my favorite Cornelius track, 'Another View Point':

continue reading>>

Glory Glove & The Midwife Crisis are an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Formed from elements of various accomplished Dublin bands, there is only one thing we can say for sure about them: they play 80's hits. With a hard rock edge. Let's repeat that for those in the back:

80's hits.

Hard rock edge.

Kick ass. Don't miss em. They'll be warming up the crowd for the madness of Saturday night at SugarLips. Party.

Click me to check out Glory Glove & The Midwife Crisis on myspace.


Keep checking the SugarLips myspace profile for updates.

continue reading>>

Just watched the first episode, and glad to report it's as good as anything from the previous two seasons.

You can watch new episodes & clips on the BBC3 website here.

continue reading>>

Saints of Descent are undergoing an identity change. The band were formally know as TASC (Tortured Artists Social Club) and under that moniker enjoyed quite a degree of success- including a nomination for 'Best Band' at the Balcony TV awards.

In Late 2004 after the break up of Red Lunacy, Ryan Margolin (Guitar/vocals) and Johnny OBrien (vocals/bass) began passing back and forth different ideas for a new project, and Tortured Artists Social Club was born. The two gents recruited Stephen Whelan on drums and preceded to play a series of well received gigs, recording some great tunes along the way. The lads play their own particular take on classic rock n roll, putting their heart & soul into every performance, as can be clearly heard from their recorded material.

They have generously posted four tracks for digestion on their myspace, a particular highlight being the brand spanking new 313 AM. Which brings us to their reinvention. TASC are in the process of becoming 'Saints Of Descent', and have been preparing a new batch of material to go along with their new incarnation. The band's SugarLips show this weekend will be one of the first opportunities to check out this new material before the band embark on the process of bringing the name 'Saints Of Descent' to the world. So get in on the ground floor, check em out on Saturday night.

Here's the video for their debut single, 'Panda':




Saints Of Descent play this Saturday, Nov 17th at the SugarLips festival in Bray.

Check out Saints Of Descent (as TASC) on myspace here.

Keep checking the SugarLips myspace profile for updates.

continue reading>>

Was just talking to Mark about this one, This is a classic. Guilty laughter, but damned hilarious.

continue reading>>

I realise that most stupid ideas seem like acts of genius when you're really, really drunk... but surely this is taking stupid too far:



Thanks to Mark for the link.

continue reading>>

I missed the 200th post.
And I had such big plans... they'll just have to wait for the 500th one.

continue reading>>

For sheer unpretentious, no fuss, musical candy, everybody loves a guitar-pop band. There have been many over the years that have fine tuned the art of writing a rock song that's up-tempo enough to ensure immediate smiling and jumping around. Forward More follow in that fine tradition.

Bringing an energy to their live show that can only be brought by a band truly in to what they're doing, these guys blast out what should (and might yet be..) pop-hit after pop-hit. Punctuating their set with covers of some of the best examples of the genre Forward More ensure the audience gets their fair share of three-minute bursts of happiness. The band have been honing their talents by gigging furiously and recording the odd demo, and with the momentum they've built up so far it's only a matter of time before they'll be taking their show to a bigger stage.

Forward More play this Saturday, Nov 17th, at the SugarLips festival in Bray.

Click me to check out the excellent 'No Time To Lose'.

Click me to check out Forward More on myspace.

Keep checking the SugarLips myspace profile for updates.

continue reading>>

Kill City Defectors are one of the many reasons why it's so damn good to be into music in Ireland right now. They are one of a handful of acts who have redefined the Irish scene by approaching it in a particular way- with originality, a cracking live show and (above all) bloody great songs.

I came across KCD's during my first foray into the world of myspace, and on listening felt immediately obliged to seek out as much of their stuff as I could buy. So, they were one of the first of the 'new wave' of Irish bands that the internet brought to me... and for that I am grateful.

So what do they sound like? I'll hazard a description: Take one part indie-guitar-rock, add some sharp keyboard playing, throw in some stomping loudness, occasionally a good old fashioned sing-along chorus, a tad more rock, then finish it off with a hefty dose of funk (everybody loves funk..). What more could anyone ask for?

The Defectors have just released their debut album, 'Mutiny Sounds', and it's not to be missed. You can purchase it online here, and if you do so now you'll have just about a day to digest it before their SugarLips performance this weekend.

In fairness, you won't need that much time. You'll be singing along by tomorrow.

Kill City Defectors headline the SugarLips Festival in Bray this Friday, Nov 16th.

Click me to check out 'So Lo'. It Rocks.

Click me to check out Kill City Defectors on myspace.

Keep checking the SugarLips myspace profile for details.


Here's the video for the Defectors latest single, 'Black Sheep':

continue reading>>

I kinda went off QOTSA when Josh Homme kicked Nick Oliveri out of the band- partly because the music got less kickass, but also because it appeared as if Oliveri had been given the sack for having too much fun on tour. This led to my view of Homme as a bit of a sourpuss, and generally not someone who you'd would expect to see having a laugh. This image has been shattered today with this piece of news.

Apparently QOTSA were to kick off their new tour by previewing the new songs in an intimate atmosphere for a group of recovering addicts at a Californian Rehab facility. The show was abandoned during the first song, with plugs being pulled & the band being manhandled out of the building by security. Why? Well, they opened with 'Feel-Good Hit of the Summer', of course.

Still baffled? Click me for lyrics.

Now. Let it never again be doubted.... Josh Homme is a damned legend.

continue reading>>

Just in case you forgot.

Here's that song I mentioned earlier- it's still great.

Click me.

continue reading>>