Tips For... Er, 2006

I've got so much time for Last FM. The music website "scrobbles" the music you listen to on your MP3 player or computer and then recommends artists you might like based on what people who share your musical tastes are listening to.

Yesterday, it endorsed UK electropop outfit Temposhark, whose duet with Imogen Heap on 'Not That Big' I quite enjoyed back in 2007. Turns out the whole Temposhark album is pretty decent. Thanks Last FM!

Better yet was the recommendation of Dangerous Muse, a campy New York-based duo whose synthy anthem 'The Rejection' bypassed me completely back in 2006 but still sounds fairly awesome almost three years later:



Their debut album is due out in the next few months and news that the record is being produced by Bloodshy & Avant is very promising indeed.

Great in '08

Please find attached the obligatory end of year 'things I liked' review:

Bangin' Choons of '08:

Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You
Bloc Party - Talons (Phones R.I.P. Remix)
Britney Spears - Womanizer (Teenagers Remix)
FrankMusik - When You're Around (Boys Noize Remix)
La Roux - Quicksand
Lady Gaga - Pokerface
Ladyhawke - Magic
Pin Me Down - Cryptic (left)
Sam Sparro - Sick
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes



Best Albums:

Blood Red Shoes - Box of Secrets (right)
Heathers - Here, Not There
Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Santogold - Santogold

Most Disappointing Album:

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Best Live Performances:

Alphabeat @ Whelans
Camille O' Sullivan @ Queen's Hall
Chromeo @ Electric Picnic (left)
Foals @ The Academy
Lykke Li @ The Button Factory

Best Live Non-Performance:

Santogold @ Tripod

Best Non-Live Performance:

Zeigeist @ Twisted Pepper


Best Movies:

Caramel
In Bruges
No Country For Old Men
Sweeney Todd
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (right)

Worst Movie:

Sex and the City


Best Theatrical Shows:

Circus @ Dublin International Theatre Festival (left)
Clockheart Boy @ Edinburgh Fringe
Eejit of Love @ Dublin Fringe
Scaramouche Jones @ Edinburgh Fringe
The New Electric Ballroom @ Edinburgh Fringe

Worst Theatrical Show:

Those Powerful Machines @ Dublin Fringe

The Digital Nativity

Merry Christmas!


(c) Declan Hurley

I Think I Stole Your Drink

What's That Coming Over The Hill?

Is it a Monster? Is it a Monster?

I think my recovery from Pepsi and Coke addiction is decidedly less impressive when you consider how much of this stuff I've consumed since going "cold turkey".

Regrettably, the the scantily-clad woman whose arse features above has not been involved at any stage of the process.

Inflicting Our 'Art' On The World Since 1986

Ménage à Trois

Eimear discovered this amazing track from the forthcoming N.A.S.A. album that features a collaboration from... wait for it...

Santogold...

Lykke Li...

and Kanye West.

I've no idea how I never heard that this was in the pipelines. What a dream team.

Would You Keep it To Yourself and Not Tell Anyone Else?

Image: bebo.com

Dublin-based sisters, Heathers, have been providing the soundtrack to my News Reporting cramathon and soothing my stressed head. I'd advise anyone who enjoys a bit of Tegan and Sara and "DIY"-type music to get hold of their album, "Here, Not There".

Check out these harmonies:



The girls are Ellie and Louise McNamara. Irony of ironies, the lecturer for whom I have an exam tomorrow shares their surname.

Wish me luck.

"Men’s fashion frightens me. I really find men who are fashionably dressed terribly unsexy. I think fashion is something for women.” – Marc Jacobs

In this age of political correctness, men and women are supposed to be treated as equals. However, in the same way that sport remains predominantly male-orientated, the focus of the fashion industry is still largely angled towards ladykind. Whereas Kate Moss, Gisele, Manolo Blahnik and Vivienne Westwood are essentially household names, most people will struggle to name even a handful of male models or designers of menswear.

And yet, in response to men taking more of an interest in personal grooming and styling in recent times, fashion houses and retailers are beginning to regard male fashion as a more important component of the industry. The emergence of ‘metrosexuals’ may appear to have happened quite suddenly but, in fact, there were trendy men long before the advent of ‘Nivea for Men’ moisturisers and manbags. Here, we pay tribute to those responsible for some of the key moments in the evolution of men’s fashion.

Charlie Chaplin:

Charlie Chaplin was a celebrated director, composer, musician and screenwriter but his legacy is most likely to be his memorable on-screen character, The Tramp. Considered an icon of the silent film era, The Tramp’s tight coat, oversized trousers and shoes, bowler hat, and bamboo cane are instantly recognisable. Louis Vuitton has cited Chaplin as the main inspiration behind his Spring/Summer ’09 men’s collection so be sure to get working on those toothbrush moustaches, boys.

James Dean:

Legendary actor James Dean epitomised the ‘live fast, die young’ motto, dying in a high-speed road collision, aged 24, after his just three credited film roles. Despite his brief time at the top of the Hollywood roster, Dean delivered one of the most enduring images of the 1950’s when attired in casual red bomber jacket, crisp white T-shirt, light-wash denim jeans and hardwearing boots for his role as Jim Stark in ‘Rebel Without a Cause’.

The Beatles:

The Fab Four’s contribution to popular culture was by no means limited to music. Their experimentation with bright colours, floral patterns, Indian and influences in the latter stages of their career were certainly influential but, in the style stakes, they will probably be best remembered for their fitted collarless suits, ankle-length boots and mop-top hairstyles.

David Bowie:

Enigmatic musician David Bowie has enjoyed a career spanning multiple decades. One of Bowie’s most memorable projects was an album he recorded as alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust. An androgynous rockstar from another planet possessed of unnaturally red hair, effeminate choice of dress and an ambiguous sexuality, the Stardust persona is regarded as a major exponent of the glam-rock style of the 1970’s.

David Beckham:

Victoria Beckham frequently graces the pages of fashion magazines but her husband, David Beckham, is arguably the biggest style icon. Regarded as the patron saint of metrosexuality, the footballer admits to sculpting his eyebrows, occasionally wears nail-varnish and owns a jewellery collection that would put most female fashionistas to shame. The mohawk hairstyle he sported during the 2002 World Cup prompted millions of copycat cuts but his infamous wearing of a sarong back in 1998 will surely be his fashion legacy.

The Klaxons:

Indie hipsters The Klaxons spearheaded the so-called ‘new rave’ explosion of 2007. Centred around recycled 80’s fashion, new rave style often incorporates fluorescent colours, glowsticks, skinny jeans and jagged hairstyles. The Klaxons’ fashion philosophy seems to be “the more ridiculous, the better” and practically any fashion faux pas they make can be justified by claiming they were simply being ironic.

A blog-tailored version of a feature published in DCU's The Look Magazine, December in 2008 (minus the sub-editor's grammatical gaffes.)

I Fell Off The Wagon, Into Your Arms...

Image: myspace.com

Now, I realise that very few people share my enthusiasm for Patrick Wolf but, to me, the news of Mr. Wolf's new album getting a February release is Christmas come early. Better yet is word that the album will be a double-disc extravaganza.

Battle, Wolf's fourth album is being released on his independent label 'Bloody Chamber Muisc' and he is using a novel approach to financing the record by 'selling shares' on the Bandstocks.com website. You can hear a preview of the record here.

This video shows Patrick talking about the new album and explaining the whole Bandstocks concept:



(Hi Patrick.)

You Can't Make Someone Want You

True that.

But enough about my love-life. Here's a new track from Swedish oddities Lo-Fi-Fnk. Their 2006 album 'Boylife' is a favourite of mine but they've been fairly AWOL since then. I happened upon a new track by them on the latest Kitsuné Maison Compilation.



It's called 'Want U'. Not sure if it's part of an upcoming release or just a once-off. It's fairly awesome though.

Nary a 'Roysh' or 'Loike' in Sight

(published in Campus Magazine, December 2008)

In recent years, ‘X Factor’ has made the Christmas Number One a foregone conclusion and taken all of the fun out of the annual race to the top of the festive singles’ chart.

If you’re looking for a more interesting contest this year, the Irish best-sellers’ list could well provide it. In a battle between two of our country’s literary titans, Cecelia Ahern’s new novel looks set to battle it out for the title of favourite stocking-filler with ‘Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box’, the latest instalment in Paul Howard’s Ross O’ Carroll Kelly series.

Howard’s residency in the best-sellers’ list is no doubt a great source of anguish to the various publishers who failed to see the potential in the author’s creation eight years ago when he pitched the idea of a book based on his RO’CK column in the Sunday Tribune.

“I wrote to every publisher in Ireland but nobody thought there was a market for the books,” Howard says. “The consensus was that women buy popular fiction and that women would never buy books about a rugby asshole, the kind of guy they were trying to avoid in pubs and clubs at night.”

Spurred on by mounting positive reaction to his weekly column, Howard decided to self-publish the first two books. With sales figures for the series now totalling 600,000 copies, his perseverence certainly paid off.

Howard’s writing career began after a summer job found him composing the 50-word blurbs on the back of postcards. From here, he moved on to a local newspaper before being recruited by the Sunday Tribune as a sports writer, where he started off reporting from schools’ rugby matches.

“I had quite a working-class background so it was quite a culture shock for me to turn up to somewhere like Belfield or Donnybrook to see these girls wearing two grand’s worth of jewellery throwing themselves at horrifically ugly rugby players.”

“When I was 17 or 18, I had very little self-confidence and I think I was quite a normal adolescent in that regard,” Howard says, “ but these kids had absolutely gargantuan, unshakeable egos. What really interested me was how these guys are heroes within their peer-group and the way they don’t seem to answer to anybody.”

Howard decided to write a serious piece of journalism that would explore the schools’ rugby culture but The Tribune’s legal team took issue with the prospect of an article depicting underage sex and drinking. It was then that the idea for Ross O’ Carroll Kelly occurred to Howard. “I invented this character as a way of venting my spleen about these kids without naming names or libelling anybody,” he says.

Eleven years later, Howard is still writing his weekly RO’CK column (albeit for The Irish Times these days) and has penned a total of nine books based on the character. He credits the success of the brand to Irish society “needing someone to hold a mirror up to their ridiculousness” in the days of The Celtic Tiger and the surge of interest in rugby in recent years.

Howard says the response to the character is “very gratifying” but reckons he will write two more books in the series before moving on to other projects. “I wouldn’t do anything as gratuitous as kill him off,” he says. “Who knows, maybe I’ll come back to Ross in thirty years’ time when he’s old and like his dad.”

Lady in Red

After yesterday's 'Sound of 2009' post, I went to the effort of listening to efforts of the various hotly-tipped artists.

It has to be said that most of them rank quite highly on a scale of one to brilliant. Empire of the Sun, White Lies, Florence and the Machine and Dan Black were all pleasant discoveries and I shall be illegally downloading making legitimate purchases of their music.

Pick of the bunch though is probably La Roux.

Signed to Polydor (although her first single was released by uber-cool indie label Kitsuné), La Roux is 20-year-old Brixtonite Elly Jackson. Popjustice has this to say about her: "File this one under pop music that sounds like dance music/dance music that sounds like pop music, alongside Little Boots, Frankmusik and Lady Ga Ga, although La Roux's own influences include Michael Jackson, The Knife, Human League, Talk Talk and CSS."

Here's the video for her new song, Quicksand. If it wasn't so amazing, Prince would probably sue.

Just like a Circus...

(published in Campus Magazine, December 2008)

If there’s anything the tabloid media like more than documenting the deterioration of a fallen star, it’s championing the cause of a comeback kid.

In early 2008, the relentless hounding of popstar Britney Spears by paparazzi, at a time when her mental health was decidedly questionable, led Los Angeles governors to consider imposing a ‘Britney Law’ to extend protection of the privacy of public figures.

Just months later, many of those who spearheaded the media crucifixion of the American singer are lauding her for her speedy return to health and hailing her new album, ‘Circus’, as the best work of her career.

Even at the height of her personal woes, Spears’ musical output never faltered noticeably, suggesting that her chart success is probably more to the credit of those puppeteering the Britney brand than the performer herself.

A pick’n’mix of some of pop’s best songwriters and producers are credited for their contributions to ‘Circus’. The tracks range from syrupy ballads like ‘Out from Under’ and ‘My Baby’ to big-beat dance-tracks like recent single ‘Womanizer’ and the provocatively titled ‘If You Seek Amy’ (say it fast).

The main problem with this scattershot approach to production and writing is that it results in an album lacking in any sense of cohesion or ‘wholeness’. Like many pop albums, ‘Circus’ is a victim of its pursuit of the perfect standalone song.

That said, the album is peppered with some moments of greatness. On ‘Mannequin’, Spears’ distorted vocal is threaded between synths and drum-loops to great effect while her breathy Imogen Heap-esque delivery over a minimalist backing on ‘Unusual You’ marks another highlight.

Spears’ attempts to vamp it up on ‘Lace and Leather’ and ‘Mmm Papi’ are less successful but perhaps it’s just difficult to see her as a sex symbol after all those unflattering up-skirt shots.

Despite its weaker moments, 'Circus’ is hit-heavy enough to suggest that, if the reigning Princess of Pop is to be deposed by younger upstarts like Rihanna or Lady Gaga, she’s at least got a firm grip on the crown for the time being.

Verdict: 65%

Don't Look Back in Anger

published in Flashback Magazine, December 2008

There are few things more irritating than guests that overstay their welcome. Of course, there are things you can do to hint that you’ve grown weary of their company: look at you watch wistfully, repeatedly inquire about the precise details of how they’re getting home or, failing all else, produce all forty-two volumes of your family photo collection.

A recent encounter made it perfectly clear to me that, after five years in DCU, the time has come for me to say goodbye to this red-bricked haven for once and for all. I was trying to describe to a first-year student just how nerdy I had been in secondary school and figured that the character of Screech Powers from Saved by the Bell was a good point of reference.

“Saved by the whaa?” was her response. “Saved by The Bell,” I repeated (louder this time, reasoning that the poor girl must be hard of hearing.) She stared at me blankly. “Oh, come on,” I said. “Zach Morris? Kelly Kapowski? Mr. Belding? Only one of the most influential TV programmes of the early 1990’s?” She just shrugged her shoulders and said: “Sure, I wouldn’t remember that. I was only born in 1991.”

It’s a sad, sad day when you realise that your cultural references are out of synch with the youth of today and that it’s time for you to move on to somewhere populated by people who remember “the good old days” like you do. Perhaps more unsettling than this, however, is the notion that there are students roaming around this fair campus that are essentially ignorant of the remarkable period of human civilisation that was the 1990’s.

I can’t help but feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that these individuals are educated about Pogs, The Nanny Named Fran, Ace of Base and other such wonders of the nineties. As such, I hereby propose a mandate for the year two-thousand-and-nine to be replaced by two-thousand-and-nineties.

In two-thousand-and-nineties, Brian Cowen and Mary McAleese are given their marching orders as Zig and Zag take over the respective positions of Taoiseach and President. The decision as to whether we should rename the country as ‘Zog’ will possibly have to be put to a referendum.

MP3-players will be shunned in favour of tape cassettes and people sit for hours with two fingers poised above the record and play buttons on their ghetto-blasters in the hope of obtaining a home-made recording of the latest Lighthouse Family, M People or DJ Sash! song from Longwave Radio Atlantic 252.

Considering it currently screens Dawson’s Creek, Party of Five, Charmed and Ally McBeal, Channel 6 will overtake all other channels in terms of ratings and set the benchmark to which all other broadcasters aspire. Quality home-grown 1990’s programming such as Upwardly Mobile, Glenroe, Live at 3 and Kenny Live will be given a platform alongside Birds of a Feather, Home Improvement and Mr. Bean.

Counting down the Top 30 Singles and Top 10 Albums on Top 30 Hits each week will become a national event and Dave Fanning will once again grace our tellies on 2TV. A positively geriatric Linda Martin will win the Eurovision for Ireland/Zog after delivering a rousing performance of her Riverdance-inspired ditty, penned by Johnny Logan.

Children will also be catered to with screenings of Echo Island, Bouli and The Works (with Mary “Are you laughing?” Kingston) as well as international offerings like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, California Dreams, Pugwall and the aforementioned Saved by the Bell.

Pet stores will stock huge numbers of Tamagotchis and Furbies and there will be a facility for members of the public to trade-in their cats or dogs against these electronic pets.

In terms of fashion, Spice Girl shoes, tearaway tracksuit bottoms, Ben Sherman shirts and Levi 501’s will surge in popularity. Mobile phones will quadruple in size and models with the ‘Snake’ game will be most desirable.

Two-thousand-and-nineties will obvioulsy spell an end to recession as Ireland/Zog finds itself back in the early stages of The Celtic Tiger. Doomsayers and those who enjoy moaning about the economic downturn should not fret however, as issues such as foot-and-mouth disease, BSE and the Y2K bug will supply ample fodder for complainers and scaremongers.

If you’re still unconvinced as to the merits of two-thousand-and-nineties, just take a moment to consider how fun it will be at the end of the year when, as we’re gearing up for our return to the twenty-first century, we all get to party like it’s nineteen-ninety-nine.

Oh, Crystal Ball

Following on from the last post, BBC have unveiled those in the race to be The Next Big Thing in 2009. The good news is that a couple of artists I've been championing have made the cut (Lady Gaga, Frankmusik). There are a couple of others I've heard promising stuff from (Little Boots, La Roux) and plenty I will be checking out over the next few days (er... everyone else.)

Here's the BBC Sound of 2009 list in full and a nice collage of the artists:

The Big Pink
Dan Black
VV Brown
Empire of the Sun
Florence and the Machine
Frankmusik
Kid Cudi
La Roux
Lady Gaga
Little Boots
Master Shortie
Mumford & Sons
Passion Pit
The Temper Trap
White Lies


Courtesy of: Persona Sauna

Even if he doesn't figure in the shortlist when it's announced over the next few weeks, at least Dan Black wins the prize for most boring name.

More info on Sound of 2009 here.

Good Guesswork

This time last year the BBC polled 'music industry experts' and devised a list of 10 acts they reckoned would make an impression on the world of music.

1. Adele
2. Duffy
3. The Ting Tings
4. Glasvegas
5. Foals
6. Vampire Weekend
7. Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
8. Black Kids
9. MGMT
10. Santogold

The order is slightly skewed but, with the exception of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (who scrapped their album a few days prior to its scheduled release), they pretty much nailed it.

The Barometer of Judgement

Love it:

DCU FM - DCU's Media Production Society this week re-launched their radio station thanks to a trojan effort by Chris Clery. Tune in on Tuesday's between 4pm and 6pm to hear me and Leah Doyle presenting 'Pop Years'.

'Ladies' playing in Dublin - Ladyhawke and Lady Gaga are both set to rock the mic in Dublin next February. I will definitely be at Ladyhawke but, in order to see Gaga, one will have to endure the mortification of attending a Pussycat Dolls gig, as she is the support act at their O2 date.

Ice-skating - Even my job at Smithfield on Ice hasn't tainted my love of the rink.

Paul Howard - I had the pleasure of interviewing the Ross O' Carroll Kelly writer recently and, even though it's hard not to feel as though he's flogging a dead horse at this stage, the man is so charismatic and witty that you'd forgive him anything.

TAC - Really cool indie night organised by some NCAD folk. Credit must go to Lyndsay for the discovery. Next one is on December 23rd.


Shove it:

Miming - Performers miming to songs on television is not a crime but I think an effort should be made to make it look convincing. Take note Britney Spears and 'X Factor' producers. Miming whilst performing 'live' at a gig is unforgiveable. Hang yizzer heads in shame, Zeigeist (aka Shitegeist.)

Caffeine addictions - My new year's resolution is to ease off on the Pepsi and Coke intake.

X Factor - Single-handedly ruining the fun of the race to Christmas no. 1.

DCU Meltdown - The bar's no craic and closed all the time. 3 euro Tuesday's are but a hazy memory. Students are banned from The Hub at weekends. Nobody turns up for events like The Carnival Ball or Duke Special (possibly the best DCU gig I've ever attended.) How I pine for my proper DCU crew and the days of old.

Working 'round the clock - As you can tell by the lack of posts on here, it's a busy, busy time indeed for The Bubble Boy. I'm counting down the days until the Xmas holidays...

As We Go On, We Remember...

My graduation ceremony took place on Monday, followed by the Graduation Ball on Tuesday, and I was quite surprised by the weird cocktail off emotions I experienced over the two days.

In some ways, I kind of didn't expect to be too affected by the whole process because I'm continuing on my studies in DCU and the fact that I'm probably never going to put my degree to good use diminishes the sense of achievement somewhat.

As such, I was surprised to find myself quite overwhelmed after the ceremony on Monday when I posed for photographs with my former-classmates. I just thought back on the past four years and the ups and downs I'd gone through with these people. At various points, some of them bailed me out majorly and I'm fully aware that, without their help, I probably wouldn't have survived the course.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Lennon

The Graduation Ball was also a surprisingly emotional affair. Despite the fact that I won't be leaving the red-bricked haven of DCU behind any time soon, there was a nice sense of finality about the night. It was lovely to have a chance to catch up with people who've played roles of varying significance in my life over the past few years and to wish them well.

Only time will tell how many of the Class of 2008 I'll be able to sustain contact with. It's been one heck of a ride, guys. Here's to you.

Photo courtesy of Allan Dixon

Photo courtesy of Steve Grimes

Photo courtesy of Lyndsay McGregor

Maybe Try Something Less Box Based Next Year...

Behold Cat Face 11:



See also: Episodes 1-10

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me...

...it's probably that wan with the camera in my face.

Here's some photos from the (decidedly underwhelming) Hallowe'en festivities.







photographs stolen from Eimear Fitzmaurice






Photographs stolen from Sarah Cramer

Solitary Brothers

Bloc Party are a great example of a band who don't rest on their laurels. After they struck a winning formula with début album 'Silent Alarm', they could have easily 'pulled a Coldplay' by continuing to churn very similar stuff and sell albums by the bucketload. Instead, they continue to toy around with their sound and, although the resulting material has sometimes fallen short of expectations, their sonic evolution always makes for interesting listening.

In my opinion, their new track 'Talons' is the best thing they've produced since 'The Prayer'. I especially love this keyboard-driven Phones R.I.P. mix, which sounds like the long lost cousin of early-90's pop anthem 'Killer' by Adamski.



Russell's side-project Pin Me Down are worth checking out too. Their song 'Cryptic' is one of my favoruites of the year.

Trilogy of Desserts

This week I wound up going to three gigs. Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting auld but, these days, I'd much rather go see an act I've even a vague interest in perform than head out on a hedonistic night of clubbing and booze.

Tilly and the Wall played on Tuesday in Andrews' Lane Theatre. Their music isn't easy to categorize as it doesn't really fit any specific genre. They masterfully combine elements of folk, pop, rock and electronica in their lovely sing-along ditties and I guess what makes them particularly unique is their use of a tap dancer, Jamie Presnall, for percussion.

The gig was great fun and full of arty, vaguely hippyish types. There wasn't a whole lot of people there (truth be told I've never seen much of a crowd in Andrews' Lane) but it didn't seem to affect the performance, which the band genuinely seemed to enjoy. The support act, Ugly Megan, were pretty impressive too. Their quirky bogger-electro sound reminds somewhat of You're Only Massive and their cover of the theme from 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' was inspired.

This Tilly and the Wall video is fairly awesome if you haven't seen it yet:



Wednesday was the night The Saw Doctors played the DCU Hallowe'en Ball. I wasn't particularly excited to see them but, admittedly, they were better than I expected. All the same, I'm not prepared to post any of their videos on my blog. Instead, here is a picture of an emu:

Finally, on Thursday, my friend Yvette and I went to see Wallis Bird in The Button Fatcory. I've previously enthused about Wallis and I would definitely recommend checking her out if singer-songwriters like Kate Nash or Gemma Hayes 'float your boat'. Bird told us that it was the biggest gig she ever played and her set was over an hour-and-a-half long, guaranteeing us our money's worth.

It was endearing to see a performer so appreciative of an audience although her insistence that the audience partcipate in call and response for every single song and her constant gushing seemed slightly unprofessional. Bird is a major talent and deserves a wider audience. Perhaps this version of the Depeche Mode Clasic 'I Just Can't Get Enough', currently featured in the television advertisements for 'The Sun' newspaper, will be her big break?