One track I’ll definitely be playing next week is from S Carey, whose new EP ‘Hoyas’ is due out on Jagjaguwar in May. I loved his debut, and this new track is a confident, electronics-tinged progression on the subtly affecting, gently-creeping feel of his earlier work.
Sweet Oblivion will be on 2FM this Sunday at 11pm. It’s the weekly 2XM on 2FM slot and it’s a great one to be included in! I’ll be playing some tracks from the likes of Little Xs for Eyes, Lower Dens, Balam Acab and Orcas.
In other news, this gig sounds extremely interesting: Resound playing the Button Factory on Thursday April 19, doors 730pm and tickets: €12/10.
The gig features Resound, You Can Call Me Frances, Buzz Aldrin Allstars and Ryan Taylor Doyle, and the visuals will be looked after by Donal Dineen, Hector Castells and Jane Cassidy. If you’re wondering who Resound are, they’re a talented bunch indeed:
Crash Ensemble Cellist and Kaleidoscope co-curator, Kate Ellis. RTE Lyric FM composer in residence, Linda Buckley. Rising star aka Glitterface of NanuNanu, Laura Sheeran. Jazz maestro and world music specialistFrancesco Turrisi. The inimitable John Lambert aka Chequerboard. Old-time and traditional fiddle player (amongst other things), Adrian Hart. Words of wisdom from the award winning poet Billy Ramsell and visuals from the uber talented Jane Cassidy.
You can call me Frances is a band of four dancers, Justine Cooper, Jessica Kennedy, Emma Martin and Áine Stapleton, They formed in Dublin in 2010 and taught themselves to play an instrument.
The Buzz Aldrin Allstars are a collection of like-minded musicians from the following bands – Si Schroeder / 3epkano / Halfset / Strands / United Bible Studies / Beautiful Unit.
Finally, Ryan Taylor Doyle says he is a solo artist “after years of trying to put the perfect band together and failing miserably”.
Finally, I’m currently putting a feature together for The Ticket on Limerick, and if you’re in the Limerick area on Sunday then I highly recommend you head to A Love Supreme in Leddins Bar, where the Cork Shape Note Singers will be performing. It’s a daytime event (4pm – 8pm) that promises to be the perfect place to raise your spirits and invigorate yourself for the week ahead. More info here.
The past two years have seen a huge rise in the amount of young electronic musicians emerging from their bedrooms and plonking themselves onto blogs, radio shows and into the ears of many.
It’s not like Ireland wasn’t a place for great electronic-based music before, but it’s very easy now to get your hands on the software needed to make purely electronic tracks, and even easier to get your music online and into people’s heads. You don’t even have to release a full album – look at Toby Kaar, who is wowing people on the strength of a handful of official tracks, great remixes and awesome live shows.
That all brings me to Feel Good Lost, and the Fundit campaign set up for this Cork-based duo’s new project, The Lightbox Tour.
This tour will involve a number of young Irish producers – here’s what Brendan Canty of Feel Good Lost had to say about it:
We are organising a short Irish tour taking in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Galway, Belfast and Waterford over a week at the end of February. The tour will have 7 acts wich include Bantum,Feel Good Lost, Monto, Reid, Sert One, Simon Bird and Tenaka.
The tour will go under the banner ‘Lightbox’ as each of the acts perform using visual based music hardware such as Monomes, Kaoss Pads, APCs and iPads. Feel Good Lost will be providing live visuals for each of the acts over each of the nights.
Workshops will be staged before each night which will allow people to come and see how each of the acts interacts with the software/hardware so as to provide an even more interactive elements to the nights.
Each night will also host DJ sets in secondary rooms which will include guest DJs such as Nialler9, Jim Carroll, Logicparty and Ian Malaney as well as several of the featured acts.
Two Cork-based bands are teaming up to play in a nicely unusual venue: Rest & Ten Past Seven will play at WRKSHP, which is based in Sample Studios. This in turn is based in the Old FÁS Building in Cork on the second floor and is a great example of an abandoned space being used for a creative purpose.
The gig will take place in Cork on Saturday, February 4 and admission so far is TBC but I will update as soon as it is confirmed.
This is instrumental rockers Rest and Ten Past Seven first co-headlining bill since 2006 (I feel a bit old reading that!).
They say that the capacity for the show will be very limited, so you can expect to get up close and personal with Corkonians on the night. I expect it will be intense!
Finally, here’s the new tune from Daniel Rossen, he of Grizzly Bear/Department of Eagles fame. It’s sweet, it’s piano-based, and it’s suitably minor-key-mournful for all us Grizzly Bear fans out there.
You’ll find it on his solo debut Silent Hour/Golden Mile, which will be released on 16 March this year.
I did have fears based on the new sponsors, Meteor, given how disconnected the old Meteor Awards were from the Irish independent music scene, but overall the decisions here are down to the judges, a very trustworthy and knowledgeable gang.
That said, it is perhaps inevitable that the music would all come from one corner of the Irish music scene – I wonder how this could be remedied, or should it be up to other awards ceremonies to reward the best albums in Irish hip hop, metal, trad, etc?
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Free music: Out on a Limb Records
Out on a Limb Records have been giving away free downloads of albums from their back catalogue all during the week. So far, Owensie, Windings and Giveamanakick have been featured. Who is on offer today? Check out their website and twitter for more info.
Free music: Orcas
Orcas is the new musical project by duo Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below) and Benoit Pioulard. The first inklings that they were working together came when they released a haunting cover of the Broadcast song Until Then, in tribute to the late Broadcast musician Trish Keenan. Now they’re back with their first original release, which is available for free download (see below). Combining their ambient sensibilities and love for layered, ghostly sounds, Carrion is both stark and beautiful. Expect a full album later this year.
Fancy listening to some incredible old Katie Kim songs? Check out VAULTS Vol 1, which is only available to buy on tape during her forthcoming tour, and is on Bandcamp now for your listening pleasure.
Walpurgis Family
I achieved one of my dreams a few months ago when I got to sing as part of a small ‘choir’ for a song on the Walpurgis Family album. The album, Dawn, is released this month and it has already gotten a rave review from Patrick Freyne in Hotpress, who really knows his stuff. Here’s Let’s Go Camping from the album – listen closely and you might hear me (ha!). Congrats to Jeroen and Popical Island on the release!
Many venues tick the boxes but do not go further than the token requirements. The wheelchair area often has a restricted view or limits you to having one mate with you, even if you’re with a gaggle of mates.
My tips are Nanu Nanu, Depravations, Alarmist, Bouts, and Come On Live Long – but heck, it’s a bloody great list of bands.
Radiolab
I love Radiolab in a big way – it’s like the younger, more rambunctious sibling of This American Life. Its latest show is about the bad things that people do, like, er, commit murder. Expect to feel very informed (and a bit wary of humanity) after listening to this.
Elastic Witch
Gib from the independent record store Elastic Witch had a chat with me for this week’s Sweet Oblivion. You can listen to it by following the link here.
Gig of the Week
My gig of the week next week is definitely going to be A Winged Victory for the Sullen. They play the Sugar Club on Thursday 19 January and it’s going to be a guddun’. Tickets are just €13.50 and you can find out more here.
Montreal-based musician Jon Cohen is playing Ireland next week – Dublin’s Grand Social on Friday 20 January to be exact. If you’re a fan of Brendan Benson, The Dears, and Broken Social Scene, I think you’ll really dig his stuff.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this video from Dirty Beaches. I really love his stuff and so does Cohen – we had a chat about how he really wears his influences on his shirt sleeve, and yet manages to maintain his own originality.
His album Badlands and other releases can be found on Bandcamp.
Does radio really matter? Does it matter to you, to me, to him, to her, to bands, to venues and listeners and dancers and writers?
Of course it does, you might say.
But does it really? It wasn’t that long ago when the only way you could hear a new track was to tune in to a specific show at a specific time; before Bandcamp and SoundCloud, before blogs and mp3s, you had to wait for music. Now, music is everywhere. Rustle the cyber-branches of the internet and mp3s will fall on your head; two listless clicks and you have a free song in your Downloads folder. With or without the band’s permission.
Radio is an intimate, vital force. The presenter is a curator, handpicking music they love and that they want you to love too. They search and find, paw and poke through shelves and boxes, because they know you like to do that too. They want your feedback; they want to speak to you. With you.
That’s what Donal Dineen does, what all great, talented, special radio presenters do. They invite you in. They open the door, hand you a mug of tea, and sit you down. Or they tuck you in, give you a book, tell you to breathe out. They offer you this chance to escape for an hour, or two, to dive into an aural world with them, to share with them.
It never fails to amaze me how many people are creating beautiful, challenging and eye-opening music in Ireland. And in turn, it never fails to amaze me how many people get up off their arses and put on unusual gigs, or unique events, simply with the aim of bringing new sounds to people and exploring the realms of music and performance.
There’s a real feeling in the air these days when it comes to Irish music events that if you can imagine it, it is possible. And this is being exploited in a wonderful way by those who call Ireland’s expansive music scene home. It’s a joy to witness.
Ed Devane is a man who likes to experiment when it comes to music, and musical instruments, so it is fitting that he is at the helm of the Stop/Run events. I asked him to write a piece for Sweet Oblivion about the series, as I knew he would be able to capture the spirit of the event/s just as intended.
Stop/Run by Ed Devane
Stop/Run is a project that consists of two big ideas, and multiple smaller ideas that tie these two together. The first idea is the instrument ensemble: 9 instruments that can roughly be split into two categories, string and percussion. They can be described loosely as electroacoustic, sculptural, and mechanical.
The percussive instruments are chromatically tuned across two octaves, and two of the stringed instruments are capable of infinite drones. Some can be controlled remotely by computer (via Arduino) or electronics, while others need tactile, human interaction.
I originally started building instruments out of necessity: the use of modified guitars in my music (as Ed Devane and Withering Zithering) eventually led me to design and build custom zithers more suited to my playing style. In making these, I rediscovered my childhood love of making things with my hands, something I had neglected from long years of making intangible electronic music.
I designed and built Stop/Run late last year following an invitation from Severed Head gallery to curate a sound art event. I had some experience of event organisation through Second Square to None, and a couple of the projects I initiated for that helped me develop the collaborative aspect of Stop/Run. The Ten Second Rule and SSTN Noise Series helped me make a lot of new contacts, and got me thinking about macro-scale composition and patterns in creative approach.
This is where the second major idea of Stop/Run comes in: rather than make these instruments and play a concert with them myself, I thought it would be far more interesting to invite other musicians and composers to use them whatever way they wanted. At the first gig in Dublin, in December 2010, the 7 artists involved each took a highly individual approach to the problem of writing for instruments.
Graphic notation, sampling, the addition of external sounds, electronic noise and free improvisation all got a look in. Now that the project is set to continue, this idea is expanding to become a cross-sectional snapshot of Irish music styles, as interpreted through the Stop/Run instruments.
In June this year I was fortunate to receive Arts Council funding to extend the project to other parts of the country, with a new cast of artists in the following places: Galway, Cork, and Belfast. Stop/Run:Galway will feature a very different set of musicians to the first Dublin show.
For the concert itself I’m excited to hear the combination of Irish Traditional music, metal-influenced rhythms, sequenced mechanical percussion and experimental poptones from Triúr, Bitwise+Madek, Tony Higgins and DeclanQKelly. Two of the acts on the bill, Jimmy Penguin and Ventolyn&Becotyde, will use the week of rehearsals prior to the gig to make recordings which will form the basis of EP’s. I will also be performing a piece at the concert, which will take place on Friday 26 August, from 8-10pm, at 33 Dominick St Galway.
Stop/Run is all about challenging people’s creativity. The only rule I impose is that my instruments are used in some way (and not destructively!). The instruments themselves are the rules – their limitations as well as their capabilities dictate to some extent what the musicians can do. What I want to see as the project grows are a wide range of creative approaches, new techniques, collaborations between artists who may not otherwise work together, and new audiences coming to experimental music gigs. Everything will be recorded and archived on www.stop-run-music.com.
In October I’m going to be artist in residence at the Guesthouse in Cork; during this time I hope to work with a wide range of acts, and have weekly concerts. I also plan to take advantage of having the instruments set up for a whole month to record a piece for the Withering Zithering album I’ll be making this autumn for Forwind Records in the UK.
I’m looking forward to working with a wide range of artists, many of whom as yet I have never met, and hearing what they do.
I’d like to develop this project in a variety of ways, through educational workshops, audio-visual embellishment and inter-disciplinary collaboration with dancers, hackers, film makers and The Audience!
I’ve seen Peter Delaney perform twice now in the past two weeks, and by gosh if I haven’t fallen tongue-lollingly in love with his music.
Ukeleles can often be associated with tacky, Hawaiian pop songs or ‘quirky’ tunes, but in the hands of someone like Delaney they become a perfectly miniature way of crafting a heartbreaking melody.
At last night’s Hefty Horse gig, where Delaney played support to Uni and her Ukelele, I bought a copy of his 2007 album, Duck Egg Blue, which was released on the Dead Slack String label.
Listening to it, the difference between the Peter Delaney of four years ago and today is astounding. Though a man who seems like he prefers the shadows to the spotlight, his humbleness is touched by shyness on his debut.
Today, he still has that soft, unimposing demeanour, and keeps his eyes cast down as he performs. But his voice is so much richer now. When he performs them live today, there’s a depth to the songs on his debut album that had barely been struck when they were recorded.
It’s as though he has found new meaning in songs like Pariah Chimes – ‘He’s a hound of the city, but that don’t mean much to you and me’ – and an inner confidence that allows him to communicate that meaning more clearly.
At times, he reminds me of Will Oldham’s younger brother, but whereas Oldham has a frightening darkness simmering away beneath a lot of his work, Delaney manages to make even his murkiest songs feel unthreatening.
The good news is that Delaney is working on his next album, and the songs he played from that sound absolutely incredible. This is a guy who has found his perfect mode and is letting it mature naturally…and the results are goosepimple-inducing.
(Special thanks to the many people in Galway who spoke to me in reverent tones about Peter Delaney’s greatness, especially Declan Q Kelly)
****
Photo by Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh via http://www.ifc.com
One of the gigs I saw Peter perform at was Cian Nugent‘s album launch for Doubles, his latest – epic and very ambitious – record.
Nugent is one of those people who seems like he was born out of his time. He crafts the sort of folk (if I was to limit him to just one genre, which given the scope of his work, feels somewhat cruel) that could be be played on park benches or back porches, while tumbleweed runs past saloons and waistcoat-wearing men chew strands of straw and talk of civil unrest…Or on a cavernous stage in the Guinness-soaked-tourist-swamped heart of Dublin’s city centre.
Doubles has two tracks that are 20 (Peaks and Troughs) and 24 (Sixes and Sevens) minutes long – and they twist and turn, build up and break down, in the most captivating of ways. Nugent and his band give themselves breathing room when they need it and, such as at the beginning of Peaks and Troughs, leave us hanging on every empty beat or picked string.
In yesterday’s Sunday TimesCulture magazine, Nugent was hailed as a genius by Conor O’Brien of Villagers, and described by Eithne Shorthall (whose work I really admire) as ‘largely unknown’.
Nugent may not yet be a household name (though if John Fahey or Jack Rose are well-known names in your abode, he may well be), but his reputation has been steadily building here and especially abroad for quite some time.
And he is so young, and preternaturally talented, that he can’t remain an ‘unknown genius’ for too long. Plus, people adore Nugent’s music, and judging by the hugs, kisses and loving back-slaps that were doled out to him as he sat watching the support acts on the night of his album launch, he is much adored as a person, too.
Doubles is available in all good independent record stores.
It was great to find out more about the hardcore scene, which is very much focused on DIY – so much so that one of the city’s bands have bought a vinyl pressing machine so they can press their own records.
It was really interesting to hear about the changes that have been taking place in the hardcore scene in Galway. (And by extension punk and metal; though the scenes are not the same, they share common members and elements – for the sake of not confusing readers, I’ll use ‘hardcore’ in this piece).
With many of the original members of the hardcore scene from the past two decades now in their thirties and forties, people are moving on in life, and for a lot of people this includes moving away from being a regular part of that scene. With families, jobs and other commitments, it’s not always possible for people to play in bands or get to as many gigs.
But Daniel told me that as some people are moving away from the scene, a younger group is moving into it, including teens who are themselves forming bands and getting gigging. Every ‘scene’ will naturally evolve and this is a particularly crucial time for the hardcore folks in Galway, as the younger members will feed off the guidance and example shown by the older men and women who’ve done it all before them.
Galway needs people like Daniel and Us vs Them, along with the many hardcore bands of all descriptions that play in the city, and the other promoters and gig-goers who help keep the hardcore flames burning.
For part two of my closer look at the Galway music scene, we turn to Citóg, a gig night that proudly proclaims itself the ‘home of Galway music’.
One essential part of a local music scene is having a place for musicians to play gigs – somewhere that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to book, or is free to play, or pays a few quid to the bands involved. Galway has had a number of nights throughout the years – including Stress!!, which was run by Tony Higgins, Jonny White and Garret Collins – and the latest is Citóg.
(For those outside of Ireland, Citóg is an Irish word that was used to refer to left-handed people in quite a derogatory way. It’s since fallen out of use, but I like the fact that the left hand is controlled by the right side of the brain, which’ rules’ creativity. So using the name for a music event, in a positive way, is strangely fitting.)
Like Stress!! Citóg is for local and national bands to play, a night to celebrate local music and introduce new faces to a Galway audience. While researching my article for The Ticket, I sent out some email questions to the guys involved, and here’s what they had to say:
Who are the people behind Citóg and what is its history?
There are two of us in it, really. Jay Burke does the sound and I [David Boland] do the bookings. We’ve been running it for about a year. We started in The Cellar and when that closed down after Christmas we moved to DeBurgos where we’ve been ever since. [Citóg has recently moved back to The Cellar Bar on Friday nights].
What was your main aim when setting Citóg up?
We aim to provide a place where local acts can play regularly and also where people in town can see some new music every week. I think some of the most exciting music in this country right now comes from unsigned bands or small independent labels and the mainstream media seems generally unaware or uninterested in them. For me, the most relevant bands out there aren’t getting signed or being played on daytime radio. They’re unemployed and they’re playing in your local Citog. We’re just part of a larger movement of people taking it in to their own hands and trying to give some exposure to the sweet, sweet underbelly of this nation. In Galway that includes things like the Play Irish initiative, Wingnut Records, Rascal Radio, and independent labels like Rusted Rail.
Every Friday we have three bands play, at least one from Galway, and it’s all for free. The bands get heard, the audience gets drunk, and everyone goes on their way a little more enlightened and happier than before. It’s beautiful.
What have been your favourite moments at the Citóg shows so far?
The best nights in The Cellar were probably our Halloween Party (Rural Savage, The Ralphs & The Deadbeat Collective), which was insane, and our two Christmas shows. We did a quiet, serene pre-Christmas party with a projector and visuals which was very dark and romantic. The Friday before Christmas we had a more traditional festive celebration. We’ve had some great nights in DeBurgos too but it’s definitely more suited to a low key affair.
Most of the best moments just come from hearing something beautiful, especially for the first time. I’ve been knocked dead during soundcheck a few times. Its kind of like when you see the dollar signs light up behind Simon Cowell’s eyes as he discovers a marketable new pop star, but in a slightly less exploitative way.
How would you describe the Galway music scene?
It’s small but varied, and probably quite close. There are a lot of bands on the verge of releasing albums or EPs so it feels like it could take off any time soon.
Have you seen the Galway music scene evolve over the last number of years? If yes, how?
Definitely. I think there’s a confidence that maybe wasn’t there a few years ago. Most of the people I’ve met through Citóg are genuinely trying to make interesting music and the scope of what’s being done musically in Galway is huge. A few years ago I don’t think there was the same diversity or the same amount of people making a go of things.
Do you think enough is done to encourage local bands in Galway?
At the minute it’s actually quite good. There are a good few venues doing live music and there are a lot of motivated people doing their own thing. We have a decent outlet in Wingnut, a record label to be proud of in Rusted Rail, the Play Irish initiative is being tried out on Galway Bay FM and bands are generally very supportive of each other.
What are your favourite bands and venues in Galway?
The Roisin is still the best for bigger bands and international acts but I think we’re probably the best in town for atmosphere and general craic. We’ve a great regular crowd and it’s always very relaxed. Plus the standard of music has been very high so far.
I’ve seen about a hundred acts at Citóg over the last while so it’s impossible to list everyone I’ve been impressed by. The music I keep coming back to recently would be The Followers Of Otis, who have a great album out already, and Yawning Chasm who will have one out later this year. You would be remiss not to catch Donal McConnon live, or Rural Savage who are one of the most promising and unique bands in the country. Think Jinx Lennon meets Dead Kennedys, but from Donegal.
What would you like to see happen with the Galway music scene in the future?
I’d like to see it get more notice outside of Galway. There are fantastic and original acts around town at the moment and most of them are planning some sort of release over the summer. It would be great for the whole scene if they were to do well nationally.
What are the plans with Citóg for the future?
We’ve already released a mixtape of bands who’ve played Citóg so the plan is to make that into a series. We’re also looking at ways to involve more people creatively, be that photography, making videos, designing posters or recording some of the newer acts who have played Citóg. Anything original and creative we can help out with we’re happy to. There’s also an idea of taking Citóg on a mini tour to a few cities around the country but that seems far away right now. Basically, we’d like to keep improving the night while keeping the good vibe we have at the moment.
It has been a pretty amazing year for this Dublin-based collective, thanks to a stream of excellent shows and releases and a constant focus on keeping things fun, accessible and smart. The first compilation helped to introduce the collective and now this second one is here to cement its important role in Ireland’s DIY landscape.
Once again the covers for these albums are all handmade – each one featuring a unique painted design courtesy of a group of Popicalists and an ingenious contraption made by Mike Stevens of Groom.
Ah, Galway. I’ve had visions of this little city running through my head for the past few weeks, all because of a series of interviews I did for the Irish Times‘ music supplement The Ticket a few weeks ago. The article came out yesterday – you can read it here – but due to word counts I simply couldn’t include everything I spoke to people about.
Usually that’s not an issue – I’ve worked in this business long enough to know you just have to forget about what you cut to make your word count, like scraps of scribbled-on paper thrown in a bin. It’s just part of the job.
But I enjoyed doing these interviews so much, and felt so welcomed into the fold when I visited Galway, that I’ve decided to put some longer versions of these interviews on the blog. There is so much going on in Galway at the moment; for such a relatively small city there are great little pockets of people working away at their music, putting on gigs in their own homes, setting up nights to bring more Irish music to the city, even buying their own vinyl-pressing machines so they can press their own records.
Yet at the same time, Galway isn’t necessarily the place people flock to for gigs – except for the Roisin Dubh, which has a fantastic reputation in Ireland and abroad, people don’t tend to visit the West for gigs unless for special occasions, like the upcoming Galway Arts Festival. This can be reflected in the audience numbers at the smaller local gigs, where I’d venture they don’t always get full houses.
Will Oldham playing the Roisín Dubh a few years ago
While not having a jammed-to-the-rafters gig doesn’t indicate that your gig is of a low quality, people can get discouraged when they feel that their work is being taken for granted. It’s great to have your work acknowledged and to feel that you are making a contribution to the local ‘scene’ or scenes, even on a very small scale.
