So you get the whole idea of a Top Ten of the year right? You don't need me to explain it to you do I? Click on the read more and see how my list differs from Ste and Robs



10. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Mercury Music prize winning and all that malarkey this was the year that Elbow finally took over and while doing so brought out one of the best rock songs of the last year, the last 5 years and perhaps ever, in "Grounds for Divorce". Check it out below if you don't believe me.

Elbow - Grounds for Divorce


9. Crayonsmith - White Wonder

Proof that listening to Ste can pay off and while it took me a little time to actually bother checking out the first (but not the last) Irish act on this list it was good that I finally did. Lovers of electro type stuff in general will find a lot to dig in this little piece.

Crayonsmith - All the Elders


8. Get Well Soon - Rest Now, Weary Head! You Will Get Well Soon


German one man virtuoso Konstantin Groppe brings his own brand of Nick Cave flavoured miserablism to the world and in the process makes one of the most unsettlingly creepy albums of quite a while. For evidence of this check out the track below "If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting" with the creepiest female voices used in a rock song since The Ohio Players "Love Rollercoaster" (go here for more on that)

Get Well Soon - If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting


7. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

So finally despite about ten years and numerous albums Death Cab for Cutie finally make something that inspires me to sit up and take notice. There's a good chance that this is largely down to the amazing video for opening single "I Will Possess Your Heart" which also happens to be a great song but whatever, Number 7 with a bullet. Although why it needs a bullet I don't know.

Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight


6. Ham Sandwich - Carry the Meek

Second Irish act on the list but (spoiler alert) not the last. Ham Sandwich's first album mixes perfectly the female vocals of surprise preggers Niamh Farrell and fucking mentaller Podge McNamee to make some great pop-rock tunes. Great stuff all round

Ham Sandwich - Click...Click...Boom!!!


5. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

Trent Reznor takes another step towards proving that he's the greatest musical innovator that ever existed by literally GIVING us The Slip (still not sure if that pun was intentional or not). For his SECOND release THIS YEAR and his FOURTH release in EIGHTEEN MONTHS Trent literally gave away for free the entire album. What was even more surprising is that it retained the same quality that all previous releases had delivered. Plus did I mention it was free??? When it came out for a physical release 4 months later it still sold by the bucket-load. Top man.

Nine Inch Nails - Echoplex


4. The Dandy Warhols - Earth to the Dandy Warhols

A band that will unfortunately always remain as a novelty band in peoples minds thanks to that fucking Vodafone ad of 2001 and a damn shame it is too as the Dandy Warhols prove once again that they write some seriously catchy pop/rock/psychedlic ditties.

The Dandy Warhols - MisAmigos


3. Fight Like Apes - Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion

Love em or hate em they write a fucking catchy song and they're damn good live despite being hairy bastards the lot of them. Irelands bright new shining hopes finally deliver their long awaited debut album and with a running time of roughly 30-35 minutes it does what its meant to. Comes in. Beats the shit out of you and leaves you wanting more.

Fight Like Apes - Digifucker


2. Does it offend you yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into

Having a silly name (a David Brent quote from the Office) didn't help endear these guys to a lot of people (Rob) and some wouldn't listen to them as a result (Rob). Foolishly seeing as they proved with this album that they're this years Daft Punk/Justice Electo-Funk types and still have a savage cool live show which anybody who saw their mid-afternoon set at Oxegen can attest to.

Does it Offend you yeah? - We are Rockstars


1. Jape - Ritual

I hate having to put the same number 1 down as Rob but he's right. This album is fucking brilliant. Go and get it now.

Jape - I Was a man






Almost made it:
Breaks my heart to not include these albums as they are savage but Pivot - O Soundtrack my Heart; Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaus; Why? - Alopecia; MGMT - Oracular Spectacular.

Better luck next time chaps

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Its indicative of how few venues there are really in this country that a band like Ham Sandwich have to play two gigs in a day in one place in order to just get out there and play. Its indicative of how indifferent the country is to its own music scene that fuck all people turn up to the afternoon show. This could be down to a couple of reasons not least of which is the fact that most people are probably hungover to fuck still or more likely they might as well wait until the evening show because then they can stay out drinking afterwards. Come to think of it I probably should have done the same thing.

Emergency in Transit look like the type of band who either saved up all their pocket money very hard to pay for their equipment or have rich daddy's. Their sound is very tight but perhaps a little suspiciously tight for their age, which is about 16 (pun intended). Most of their songs have an opening riff that completely rips of "Helicopters" by Bloc Party which baffles me completely how nobodies pointed that out to them yet. Still they're not the worst thing I've ever seen and once they gain a few years and realise that their haircuts look fucking retarded then they might have something.

Ham Sandwich have quietly made a totally decent name for themselves over the last three years since the first time I saw them at HWCH in 2005. In fact they've gone and released one of my albums of the year in "Carry the Meek". They're stage banter is loose and their sound is full even when playing to only about 30-40 people like at this gig (most of them well underage including a couple or 2-5 year olds who run around wearing day-glo earmuffs). I start to wish, about 4 songs in that I had gone to the evening show instead as a crowd is clearly what they need although all the underages knacker drinking in the small crowd do get into it.

Their stage dynamic is impressive and now that Niamh has popped out the sprog she's got her frame into a more waif-like physique (with nice boobs). And of course one of the recurring questions that one must ask when attending a Ham Sandwich gig is "What outfit will Podge wear?" Clearly something stolen from his older sisters wardrobe in this case but of course he pulls it off.

Click in the read more for vids n'shit



Keepsake

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The Leccie Piccie line-up grows and grows with the following bands been added to it today: The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan), Stephen Malkmus with The Jicks, Florence and the Machine, Leila, Late of the Pier Black Acid, Laura Izibor, Ham Sandwich, Wallis Bird, Kissy Sellout, A-Trak, La Rocca, New York Fund, These New Puritans, The Flaws, The Dodos, Pivot, Johnny Flynn, Cowboy X, Oppenheimer, The Urges, The Radio, Arno Carstens, Pinky, Liam O’Maonlai and Wolfgang Haffner.

Ireland's best festival gets better and better and makes me start to get worried that I may not get a ticket in time. Please god help me please.
Anyone not going or not trying to go is a fool and should be hung drawn and quartered. Unless you've got other festivals to go to in which case you can get a stay of execution.

Comedy line-up has also been announced and is in the read more.



Friday 29th August
MC: Des Bishop
Carol Tobin
Colm O’Regan
Aidan Bishop
Ian Coppinger
Damien Clark
Andrew Stanley
Andrew Maxwell
David O’Doherty

Saturday 30th August
MCs: Aidan Bishop & Barry Murphy
John Colleary
John Lynn
Gerry Mallon
Colum McDonnell
Jarleth Regan
John Bishop
Kevin Gildea
Bernard O’Shea
David McSavage
Adam Hills
Des Bishop

Sunday 31st August
MCs: Des Bishop & Aidan Bishop
Eleanor Tiernan
Willa White
Tommy Nicholson
Eric Lalor
Paddy Courtney
Maeve Higgins
Karl Spain
Colin Murphy
PJ Gallagher
Joe Rooney
Jason Byrne

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So after months and months of chatter about it, Glastonbury is finally here. All of you who looked at the line-up and said "Jay-z *scoff*" I feel sorry for you. While he'll be peddling his own tiresome brand of Hip-Hop on Saturday night I will be at a completely different stage far from him watching MGMT, Battles and CSS back to back while getting very drunk on pear cider.
Irish acts representing this year include Jape, Ham Sandwich and Warlords of Pez.
Recognise.

See in you in a week

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Congratulations go out to Niamh Farrell of Ham Sandwich who gave birth to a baby boy on June 8th. Congratulations are also in order for the fact that she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labour. Some tough broad. Read the full story here.

Ham Sandwich play numerous gigs around the country this summer and also play Glastonbury next week.

Click on the read more for some Ham sounds

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Katie Gallaghers in Bray may look like the inside of a smokers lung (to quote Withnail and I) and it may contain its fair share of, what is commonly known as, cream crackers but due to the fact that there are three venue size rooms in the building its possible for these elements to co-exist with some awesome tuneage. In fact the line up for the Dead Clubs festival: Mark IV threatens to be just a bit too big for the venue hosting it as the likes of Ham Sandwich, Hybrasil, The Things and our Rob's Clockwork Noise play amongst others.

The fact that they have two stages going with no arsing around in between bands should ensure that all goes according to plan however the best laid plans of mice and men etc etc.

Click on the read more to see what I thought of each act.







Opening act Marvin are a French electro-noisenik-rock act who fell into the gig by default when their own gig in Limerick was cancelled while at the same time another act pulled out of the Bray gig. Clearly they needed somewhere to play fast and this was just the spot. Its unfortunate that the majority of people weren't there while they were on as they're quite awesome. Check out their Myspace to see what I mean. I'm bitterly regretting not buying their album when I had the chance.






The Things are also a band who need a bigger audience than the one they had at the time they took their stage as their raucous rock n'roll ways come off better when there's a crowd to bounce off and it is a bit of a puzzle that they too weren't put closer to the end.






Rob would like me to tell you that the Clockwork Noise played a blinder and that they're worth checking out if you get the chance and I will say just that. Perhaps the success of this performance might encourage them to get off their arses and play more gigs but this remains to be seen. In any way. Their tunes get stronger and stronger and deserve to be heard by a wider audience so lets hope they do just that.








I'm probably just an old fart or something like that although just how much of an old fart you can be in your mid-20's I dunno but Hassle Merchants leave me a bit cold. Perhaps its the fact that the bands that are surrounding them on the night are ones that are really doing interesting stuff in whatever genre(s) they're embracing but these guys punky-indie-emo-noisy stuff is just a bit too boring for a night like this. Perhaps next time.






Unfortunately a trip to put a lady in the back of a taxi ensured that I only saw the first and last songs of More Tiny Giants however by all accounts they were great and certainly a lot better than they gave themselves credit for after the gig. A point will be made to check them out in greater detail in the future.







R.S.A.G. or Rarely Seen Above Ground were my act of the night (at least of the acts that played in Katie's, more on which later). When I first stuck my head in the door and saw a guy playing the drums to a backing track I said "Fuck that shit" and walked out. For some reason though the strength of the tunes that he was playing along to as well as the strength of the drumming caused me to duck my head back in again a few minutes later and its a good thing I did otherwise I would have looked quite the fool. An April fool if you will. Now it might seem quite gimmicky for a guy to play a solo gig with just himself on a kit and projecting images of himself playing the other instruments onto a backscreen but when you look at the time and effort as well as the innovation that the man has put into his show then you'll be blown away. A good idea of what I'm talking about won't really be found at his Myspace but details of where you can see the chap play again will be and I suggest you get there otherwise you run the risk of looking like a twat like I nearly did (or do depending on your opinion).







If you haven't already seen or heard Ham Sandwich then you've had your head stuck up your arse for the last year and at this stage it probably should remain there because they're one of the up and coming Irish bands that are being played everywhere and with a Whelans gig on next Saturday I was quite surprised to see them playing a little bar in Bray. Still more power to them that they gave it as much wellie as they normally would and more power to lead bloke Podge as he proves he's one of the biggest mentallers in the country as well.



The biggest catastrophe of the evening however was the fate that nearly befell Hybrasil. At ten minutes past two in the morning with Ham Sandwich nearly finishing their set it was becoming increasingly obvious that they weren't going to get to play and then when the Guards showed up it sealed the deal. Despite desperate attempts to play even one song they were stopped and begrudgingly admitted defeat. Luckily the party spirit took over & 'the three non-blondes' stepped in to offer their house as an impromptu venue. Despite it being 4.30 am by the time the band were set up and ready to go they played a blinder and luckily we got some footage of it too. A full report of that will appear in the future but for the time being cheers to the Hybrasil lads & their last-minute hosts for a fucking savage house party.

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As if you had to be reminded, the poster's right there in the sidebar, but tonight sees the Dead Clubs take over Katie Gallaghers in Bray.

Do it...

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The fourth installment of the excellent Dead Clubs Music Festival has been confirmed for this Friday (May 16th) in Katie Gallaghers in Bray.

The festival will feature a huge selection of bands over two stages, and I'm happy to announce that Clockwork Noise will be joining the already excellent lineup- which includes Ham Sandwich, Hybrasil, Rarely Seen Above Ground (R.S.A.G.), The Things and More Tiny Giants.

For a taste of what's to come, check out egoeccentric's review of the Dead Club's last event here.

Tickets are 10 euro at the door, with bands and DJs playing til 2.30 in the morning.

Check out The Dead Clubs on myspace for updates, or stay tuned here.

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Just back from Ham Sandwich's Tower Records show promoting the fact that State Magazine hits the shelves today.

The band were great, performing a set made up of their own material & covers of artists featured in the magazine. Having started off seemingly unsure of their covers (Podge expressed his terror at their approach in the setlist on several occasions), they hit their grove when doing a fantastic rendition of REM's 'At My Most Beautiful'. The performance continued to shine from there, particularly on their excellent album opener 'St Christopher'.

Having finally got the first issue of State in my mitts, I'm pleased to report that, as expected, it's a fantastic read. All the bases are covered- excellent features, nice asides & a hefty review section, taking in not only music, but books, games and DVDs.

I look forward to regularly spending 5.50 on it, as should you!

Don't forget that Ham Sandwich, Story of Hair & Stagger Lee play Crawdaddy TONIGHT.

Do it.

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Woo Hoo!

To tie in with the Off The Cuff posting which you've probably just read, we're gonna run a competition, because everyone likes free stuff.

Story of Hair have been nice enough to hook us up with a few tickets to their performance at the Murphys Live event on Thursday, which also features Ham Sandwich & Stagger Lee.

The show is in Crawdaddy, and rumor has it there'll be free Murphys going, so you'd be crazy to miss it!

To bag some passes, all you have to do is drop us an email with 'Story of Hair' in the subject line to egoeccentric@live.com

We'll pull a few names out of a hat or whatever we can find that resembles a hat, and notify the winners by email.

So good luck, and get emailing!

In other Story of Hair news, the band will be appearing on Edel Coffey's Access All Areas show on Phantom FM this Wednesday. Check em out!

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