Soundtrack To My Week

When Saints Go Machine - Pinned

Grizzly Bear - Too Little Too Late (Jojo Cover)

Miike Snow - Silvia

White Lies - Nothing To Give (M83 Remix)

NewVillager - Rich Doors

Beirut featuring Final Fantasy - Cliquot

Little Boots - New In Town (Goldielocks Remix)

[Image: Colophotoman37]

Natasha Vs. Pearl

There appears to be a dearth of decent music videos this week and the lovely Bat For Lashes has decided to muscle in on the action. The video for latest single 'Pearl's Dream' features Natasha embroiled in a showdown of sorts with her alter-ego, Pearl.



Wolves, witchery and a chair-hopping blonde bombshell anti-hero. Brilliant.

"That Won't Be Shown on MTV..."

Quite.

Lady Gaga's 'Paparazzi' video, discovered via Catherine's blog.

Back To Black

Dan Black has reworked his track 'HYPNTZ', a fantastic version of Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Hypnotize', into a decidedly less plagiaristic track, 'Symphonies'. The video is up to his usual standards of brilliance, referencing various movies in wonderfully creative ways. Check it out:

The Brains Behind Britney

A couple of weeks, Lou Bru drew my attention to British poptart Neon Hitch. Her issue-laden tracks reminded me of some of Jamelia's better stuff but I wasn't completely sold on her.

Yesterday however, Lou Bru sent me a link to a remix of a Miike Snow track, 'Burial', that featured a guest spot by Neon. Although my thoughts on La Hitch were largely unchanged, by drawing my attention to Miike Snow, Lou Bru introduced me to a new obsession.

The group is made up of Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg. Wyatt is currently working on material with star-in-the-making Amanda Blank and although Swedish pair Karlsson and Winnberg might not be household names, their alter-egos Bloodshy & Avant might be more familiar. The pair are best known for their work with Britney Spears and have co-written and produced what are, in my view, some of her best tracks (including 'Circus', 'Piece of Me', 'Toxic', 'Radar' 'Phonography' & 'Trouble').

Miike Snow's eclectic alt-pop is nothing like the body of work the band's members have produced for Ms. Spears or Amanda Blank. However, the project certainly highlights the kind of talent and musical ingenuity required to produce a perfect pop track.

The band release their self-titled album in a couple of weeks and, after previewing the tracks on their Myspace, I suspect the record will join When Saints Go Machine's 'Ten Makes A Face' among my favourites of 2009.

Check out Sylvia:


[Image: Pitchfork]

Friends Of Dorothy

A few days ago, I e-mailed my friend Nuala Soc to draw her attention to Run Toto Run, who I thought were very much her 'bag'. However, it would appear that checking her e-mail account is not Ms. Soc's 'bag' because, when I asked her what she thought of the band, she didn't have a spherical notion what I was talking about.

Hopefully, when she does get around to checking the Manchester-based four piece, she'll discover that they're quite lovely. Their music is very 'cutesy' but manages to avoid being overly saccharine or twee.

I'm particularly enamoured with their interesting take on Passion Pit's 'Sleepyhead':


One of the band members appears to be missing. Let's hope they've noticed.

[Image: Myspace]

Like a Rolling Head

Believe it or not, the man pictured above was responsible for directing this brilliant new Yeah Yeah Yeahs video for 'Heads Will Roll'. It all gets very 'L.E.S. Artistes' towards the end. More videos should.


[Image: Digital Spy]

Choir of Saints

Yesterday I had a flick through Nialler9's Twitter Mixtape, made up of suggestions from his Twitter followers and stumbled across a gem of a track, which had been suggested by @coillfhada.

The track in question is 'Fail Forever' by Danish alt-pop group When Saints Go Machine. The track can be downloaded for free via Niall's post.

As it happens, last week saw the the Copenhagen-based four piece release their début album, 'Ten Has A Face'. The record was a collaboration with producer Christoffer Berg, who has previously worked with some of my favourite Nordic acts, including Robyn, The Knife and Fever Ray.

After hearing the snippets on When Saints Go Machine's Myspace, I have reason to believe that this album might be one of my favourites of the year. I particularly love their track 'Pinned', which sounds like the lovechild of Hercules & Love Affair and Gnarls Barkley. I've more or less had it on loop for the past 24 hours.

Each track is markedly different from the previous one and yet there is a 'signature sound' that permeates their material. I hope this band get the attention they deserve.

[Image: 7Inch]

Private Eyes

I was interviewed last week about my views on online privacy as part of the ongoing 'Privacy For Sale' campaign.

I'm not sure how worthy I am of the tag 'blogger' but this is the label I've been given in the clip. Check it out:



More clips can be found on Privacy For Sale's Youtube channel.

"One's Got Alopecia. One's Pregnant. Only In Ireland."

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but I thoroughly enjoyed the RTE series 'The Model Agent', which wrapped up last night. Honestly, I didn't realise our national broadcaster was capable of such standards of reality television. Of course a show like this is never going to appeal to everybody but few could dispute that it was a very well-produced programme.

I particularly liked the music used throughout the series and thought the format of the show was a refreshing alternative to the 'Next Top Model' set-up. Erin O' Connor and Fiona Ellis were great anchors and both came across as grounded, likeable despite both having carved out careers in a notoriously vapid, bitchy industry.

Despite the fact Ellis' insistence that she wanted to find modelling talent in a way that would avoid "all the drama" that forms the basis of the 'Next Top Model' series, the show threw up some brilliantly bizarre sequences of events.

I don't wanna say too much in case people fancy watching the series on the RTE Player or on this here Youtube channel but the drama of the last episode, in particular, made for some of the most entertaining homegrown 'reality TV' since Nadine Coyle's now legendary revelation in 'Irish Popstars'.

Incidentally, I recently learned Sinéad Sheppard from the now defunct Irish pop-group Six that was formed as a result of 'Irish Popstars' is attempting to launch a career in politics. The Cobh native is vying for a place on Cork County Council as a representative for Fine Gael.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

[Images: RTE and Last.FM]

But Wait, There's More

Remember Alice? Well, despite the fact that the video is almost two years old, its recent surge in popularity appear to have spurred its creator, Pogo, into resuming his craft.

In the past two months, he's posted three new clips to his youtube channel. Neither of the first two of these quite lived up to 'Alice' but his latest attempt comes close.

Behold 'Expialidocious':



[via Devin Castro]

What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?

Patrick Wolf's new album, 'The Bachelor', can currently be previewed in full on his Myspace.

I've always been a big fan of Wolf and his previous three records are firm favourites of mine. However, lead single 'Vulture', with its grotesque lyrics and equally grotesque video, nearly killed my enthusiasm for this release. After hearing the album right through, I'm pleased to report that it's not as bad as I feared.

Even if 'Battle' comes perilously close, there's nothing else quite as bad as 'Vulture' on the record and my theory that Patrick is slowly morphing into Boy George is most likely unfounded. 'The Bachelor' is unlikely to receive as high rotation on my Itunes as previous efforts but it does have its moments.

My personal favourite of the new tracks is 'Oblivion', one of three tracks to features English actress Tilda Swinton in a spoken word role as 'The Voice of Hope'. As prententious as this might sound, it actually works quite nicely.

Forthcoming single, 'Hard Times', is another highlight although the fact that it sounds like a remnant from 'The Magic Position' makes me hanker for a whole album matching the calibre of that record.

'The Bachelor' has flashes of brilliance but, ultimately, falls short of the standard I've come to expect from Wolf. Let's hope that companion record 'The Conqueror', due next year, doesn't fall victim to the same peaks and troughs.

[Image: Myspace]

Who Likes Short Shorts?

This evening, I finally got around to watching 'Paris, Je T'Aime', eighteen short films by different directors under the theme 'Stories of Love, from the City of Love'. The quality inevitably varies from one short to the next but, more often than not, the directors get it right. If you haven't already seen this, I'd recommend getting your mits on a copy.

In the meantime, it's worthwhile checking out homegrown short film 'Skint', written by Brendan O' Rourke.

The screenplay was originally submitted for RTE's Storyland Competition but wasn't among the selected finalists. A group of final year Communications students from DCU decided to use the screenplay however.

Having seen the finished product, I reckon it's better than some of the screenplays that RTE plumped for:


"I'd just be pushing the foam about my face, but in a sore way." Amazing.

Full list of cast and crew on the Youtube page.

Eyes On The Skies

How fantastic are these?





"SKYplay depicts a composition dominated by use of the sky & real clouds at that moment with another object."

Click here for more.

[via Blog Del Hombre Perplejo]

This Year's Rent...

I stumbled across this piece in today's Independent, singing the praises of the DCU troupe that are set to perform 'Rent' in The Olympia next month.

I have found myself taking on responsibility for the production's wardrobe once more. Darning needles at the ready...

If you haven't seen the show yet, you better pencil it into your diary now. Check out this here video of the show, from its initial run in The Helix, for a taster of what to expect:



Tickets for the bigger, better and even more AIDS-riddled production in The Olympia can be booked here.

Soundtrack To My Week

Dangerous Muse - The Rejection

Mirrors - Look At Me

Marina & The Diamonds - Girls

Man In A Box- 1 2 3

Super Extra Bonus Party featuring Heathers - Comet

Dan Black - Symphonic (Passion Pit Remix)

Frankmusik - Confusion Girl (The Aspirins For My Children Remix)

[Image: Lucky 7]

Fell Asleep Again In Front Of MTV...

The video for Röyksopp's track, 'The Girl and The Robot' has surfaced, starring Swedish songbird Robyn as 'The Girl' and Artemis.82 as 'The Robot'. Watch out for band-members Torbjørn and Svein making their first ever appearance in one of their videos.

Telepathique

For my birthday, the lovely Eimear got me a ticket to see New York scenesters Telepathe at The Academy on Tuesday (greatly appreciated because I can barely afford to eat these days...)

After the Lily Allen debacle, when we arrived three quarters of an hour after doors had opened only to discover that the support act La Roux had come and gone, we turned up at The Academy reasonably early. We needn't have bothered on this occasion, however.

As we arrived, we were ushered downstairs to 'Academy 2', a performance space much smaller than the venue's main stage, where a handful of people were listening to Wallis Bird's album playing over the sound system.

Gah.

Things took a turn for the worse when support act Neosupervital took to the stage, armed with some gobsmackingly clichéd lyrics ('If you want to be real, gotta do what you feel/If you want to be true, gotta do what is you'). Needless to say, the cooler than thou hipster brigade that constitute Telepathe's core fanbase weren't especially appreciative.

Let's go for a cigarette, Eimear. You smoke. I'll watch.

By the time Telepathe's Busy and Melissa began setting up at 9:30, a crowd of no more than fifty had gathered (it's safe to say they won't be troubling The 02 any time soon). Keeping on-stage banter to a minimum, the pair promptly launched into 'Chrome's On It'.

And suddenly, it all came good.

Despite lighting so dim we could barely make out the duo's boyish silhouettes and practically no audience interaction, Telepathe were completely captivating. I was completely in thrall throughout their three quarter hour set as they operated an array of electronic synthsizers and percussive instruments, all the while chanting eerily in synch. By the time they closed on indie anthem 'So Fine', even the most po-faced hipsters were shaking their, er, hips.

On a couple of occasions, the girls' vocals were overwhelmed by their bass-heavy backdrop but, nonetheless, it was abundantly clear that Telepathe's genre-melding tunes are best enjoyed in a live setting. Even if their music isn't 'your bag', if they crop up at any festivals you attend this summer, you'd be well advised to check 'em out.

[Image: Briana Purser]

A Girl's Best Friend

I set my alarm to wake me up bright and early yesterday morning in order to guarantee my place among the hundred people to access an exclusive Marina & The Diamonds download from her blog. The track is called 'Girls' and, true to Marina's Greek heritage, features a bouzouki, which definitely contributes to its brilliance.

Marina's had some interesting things to say on her blog about illegal file-sharing of late so I'm rather curious to see whether 'Girls' turns up on any blogs or file-sharing sites or if people are capable of keeping it to themselves.

Incidentally, the ever brilliant Neon Gold Records are giving away a free download of Marina's track 'Seventeen', taken from her forthcoming 'Crown Jewels EP'. Click here to download it.

Meanwhile, Nialler 9 was fortunate enough to get an interview with Ms. Diamond and has permission to give away free downloads of two of her older tracks, 'Obsessions' and 'The Shampain Sleeper'. Click here if that tickles your fancy.

While you're at it, you might want to check out one of my favourite blogs, The Recommender, who has the excellent 'Mowgli's Road' available for download.

[Image: Mari Sarai]

Said He Had Some Songs To Play...

I'm super psyched that my friend Ian has offered to teach me how to spin the decks so I can try my hand at being a superstar DJ.

All going well, I might even get to play a stint at a (relatively) new club night in Dublin. Watch this space...

[Image: Speed Cuber]

These Are Not The Glory Days?

You could have fooled me.

Last night, I managed to wrangle a ticket to the Absolut Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Closing Gala where my talented pal, Shaun Dunne, managed to pick up two nominations for his play 'Killed By Curriculum'.

Shaun was recognised in the categories of 'Best New Writing' and 'Intercultural Dialogue' for the script he wrote and first directed when he was just nineteen. The cast performed a snippet of the show on the night and this went down a treat with the audience gathered at The Button Factory for the glitzy ceremony.

A number of other productions performed scenes from their shows on the night. Some of the performances were better than others but I saw enough theatrical talent on display to convince me to make a concerted effort to catch more of the festival next year.

As if writing and directing critically acclaimed plays weren't enough, Shaun will soon be seen flaunting his acting talents in Irish film 'Situation's Vacant'. Check out the trailer and details over on Paula's blog.

Begin To Hope...

...that Regina has a brilliant album on the way.

After being slightly disappointed with 'Laughing With', I had doubts that Regina Spektor's new album 'Far' wasn't going to live up to her previous efforts. These fears have been assuaged however after hearing new track 'Blue Lips', which premiered on Stereogum today.

The track is a beautiful slow-burner with a poignant message.

Click here to see for yourself.

Box Cat

French Fancy

Peep this lovely short film 'Le Sens Propre', directed by Cismo, for Adobe’s Shortcut to Brilliant campaign for CS4.

Très belle.

[via Devin Castro]

Ever Wanted To Know What A Smiley Sounds Like?

Click here to find out.

[via Devin Castro]

Here's Looking at Yooouuu, Kid

I've just discovered YooouuuTuuube and it's proper whopper. It makes Youtube videos infinitely more entertaining by generating a wacky kaleidoscopic effect. I've chosen Dan Black's track 'Yours' but it works for any youtube link.

32 Dan Blacks. Yum.

Soundtrack To My Week

Man In A Box - 1 2 3

Florence & The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

NewIslands - Crosstown Feel

FM Belfast - Synthia

Love Grenades - Tigers in The Fire

Dan Black - Yours

The XX - Crystalised

[Image: Wings of a Hero]

Mary Poppins Moment

This shot from Vincent Frank's forthcoming video for 'Confusion Girl' is great. The track has been re-swizzed for Frank's forthcoming album 'Complete Me'. The new edit is a bit crisper but, personally, I still prefer the original demo:



'Confusion Girl' will be available from July 6th.

Croí an Choinín

I posted some stills from Florence & The Machine's new video for 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' a couple of days ago. The video itself has now materialised and it's suitably ethereal and fantastical. I love it.



There's a certain Mad Hatter's Tea Party vibe to the whole affair, isn't there?

Incidentally, the lovely Dave McGovern drew my attention to this amazing video, which features a dance track made up almost entirely of pieces of dialogue from Disney's Alice in Wonderland.



I can't help but hear Alice say 'Mary said follow it along but I won't grovel'. Amazing.

Guilty Pleasures: Daisy Dares You

Daisy Dares You, real name Daisy Coburn, has been billed as the UK's answer to Sky Ferreira, i.e. an obscenely young electro-pop princess.

Her track 'Number One Enemy' triggered something of a bidding war between record labels eager to sign the fifteen-year-old. She eventually signed to Empire, stable of Estelle, thecocknbullkid and genius producer Paul Epworth.

Two more tracks have surfaced on her Myspace in the past 24 hours and there's definitely reason to ear-mark this lady as one to keep an eye on.

Daisy co-writes her music and her chances of achieving superstardom will no doubt be boosted by her Lolita-esque good looks.

[Image: Myspace]

Crying Croissants And Muffins, Alive Alive Oh...

Nialler9 has kindly drawn my attention to weekly e-bulletin, Le Cool.

Le Cool is a 'free weekly cultural agenda and alternative city guide' and the good news is they've just launched a Dublin edition. Yes, the name is heinous but the bulletin itself, in terms of design and content, is quite brilliant.

Ckick here to view the first issue and, if you like what you see, click here to subscribe to the weekly newsletter.

Tramampoline

[Via: Bluebirds Are So Natural]

Robot Rock

I was really hoping that Norwegian electro duo Röyksopp would be added to the Electric Picnic line-up and today I got my wish. Check out State for the full list of additions.

Röyksopp's 'Junior' is definitely one of my favourites albums from 2009 so far. The album features two duets with Swedish songbird Lykke Li who happens to be performing at Electric Picnic so hopefully we can look forward to Lykke getting on stage with the guys to perform the tracks. I was lucky enough to catch her Dublin gigs last year and she's an incredible live performer.

Another Swedish lady, Robyn, handles vocal duties on Röyksopp's upcoming single, 'The Girl and The Robot'. The track is unfathomably brilliant and has the potential to be Röyksopp's biggest hit to date.

This shot from the video looks very promising and there are some excellent remixes doing the rounds, including this wonderful mix by Chateau Marmont.

Would it be too much to ask for Robyn to being her robot-oriented amour to Stradbally?

[Image: Persona Sauna]

Such Great Heights

Florence and the Machine's new single 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' has appeared online in full. At first, I wasn't too sure what to make of it. It's not as instant as some of her other tracks but the chorus has been swimming around in my head all day.

I like that it's quite different to her other tracks because, after having all that praise heaped upon her at the beginning of the year, it'd be very easy to rehash the tracks that garnered her the attention and produce a whole album of variations on 'Kiss With A Fist' and 'Dog Days Are Over'.

Give it a spin. Or a click, as the case may be...



These shots from the video-shoot suggest we're going to be treated to a typically theatrical affair:



The single is taken from the album 'Lungs', due in July.

[Images: Hate Something Beautiful]

Don't You Twitterstand?

You could be a Twitterlebrity.

[via Alana Joy]

Regina's Return

Regina Spektor has premiered the first track from her new album, 'Far', on her Myspace.

The track is called 'Laughing With' and, honestly, I'm a little bit disappointed. Her 'Begin To Hope' '11:11' and 'Soviet Kitsch' albums were the soundtrack to my third year in college and this just seems to be lacking the quirkiness that made those records so captivating. That said, when she trills the 'God can be funny' line, I can't help but melt a little.


Here's hoping this isn't the best the album has to offer.

Lily In The Mix

Click here to download a remixed version of Lily Allen's current album 'It's Not Me, It's You' free of charge.

It's all very lo-fi and the kind of thing that would make it acceptable to play Lily Allen in Urban Outfitters. I particularly like the 'Uncool Mix' of 'Not Fair'. Check 'em out for yourself.

[Image: Washington Post]

I Found You One Day With A Mouth Full Of Attitude...

Thanks to Lyndsay for sorting me out with a ticket to see Ladyhawke perform at the Arnotts Project launch last night.

I was a bit dubious about seeing the New Zealand singer play live because anybody I know that had seen her Dublin gig in February said she was very disappointing. Thankfully, Pip seemed to be on form this time around and, other than a technical glitch during 'Dusk Till Dawn', delivered a flawless set.

Dublin band Dirty Epics provided support on the night and succeeded in warming up the snazzily dressed crowd ahead of Ms. Hawke's arrival on stage.

Full credit to Arnotts for putting on a great night that involved staging a mini Fashion Show and providing free booze and Kit Kat bars for everyone in the audience.

The store itself was pretty impressive; very spacious and modern. Neon mannequins and designs by Irish graffiti artist Maser add splashes of colour and the clothes themselves seem quirky and hipster-friendly. The store is obviously intended as Arnotts' equivalent to BT2, catering to a younger demographic than the flagship store.

If I ever find myself with a disposable income, I might even consider shopping there.

[Image: Electronic Beats]

Soundtrack To My Week

Goldsmith - Starry Eyed (free download)

Esser - Work It Out

NewIslands - Crosstown Feel

Marina & The Diamonds - Mowgli's Road

Yuksek featuring Amanda Blank - Extraball

Ladyhawke - Magic

Patrick Wolf featuring Tilda Swinton - Oblivion

[Image: Alana Joy]

Au Bout De La Roux

Not quite sure what to make of the new La Roux video for 'Bulletproof',

There's certainly been more effort (i.e. money) invested in this than there was for 'In For The Kill', but I can't help but feel it's unnecessarily try-hard. Yes, Elly is quirky and weird-looking. We get it.

The song remains whopper however. Although I prefer 'I'm Not Your Toy', this is probably the best choice of single as Elly's voice is somewhat intelligible for once. Not that it isn't great when she's shrieking like a banshee but it's always good to show a bit of versatility, innit?


[Image: Pretty Much Amazing]

Criminally Good

At exam-time or in the run-up to assignment deadlines, there are two things without which I can't function: junk food and new music.

Spar's 'Real Deals' have provided me with the former and thankfully some reliable sources, like Illegal Tender , have been providing me with the latter.

There's a lot to be said for prioritising quality over quantity. Illegal Tender might not be the most prolific blogger but he has an uncanny knack for ear-marking some real musical gems.

Take for example camera-shy duo NewIslands. Their genre-melding tracks are likely to feature in the soundtrack to my study. I particularly like their track 'Crosstown Feel', which sounds like a more sophisticated Late Of The Pier.

Check out their Myspace to hear this track and have a gander at Illegal Tender's post to download an exclusive NewIslands demo.

[Image: Layout Sparks]

Blankety Blank

I recently took quite a shining to with the track 'Extraball' by French electronic artist Yuksek. One of the things I really like about the song is the way Yuksek's endearingly awkward pronunciation is offset against some sassy contributions from American rap artist Amanda Blank.

After a tip off from the Guardian's music section, I decided to check out some of Amanda's own stuff and was delighted to discover that she's just as impressive in her own right. I wasn't entirely surprised to see that she's been working with M.I.A. and Santigold collaborator, Diplo, because her music does bear certain similarities to both these fearsome female artists.

Indeed, Blank has teamed up with M.I.A. on a track called 'Take It Easy' and also featured on Diplo's incredible remix of Santigold's 'I'm A Lady'. Both of these tracks are well worth a spin, as is her imaginative re-working of Britney's 'Gimme More'.

Her upcoming album, 'I Love You', features saliva-inducing collaborations with Santigold and Lykke Li. The first single from the album is 'Might Like You Better', which The Guardian describes as "sounding like M.I.A. if she was less concerned with social injustice than sexual prowess". Check her out.

I particularly like the line about "moaning like a cat in heat". Reminds me of my flatmate's sexually frustrated moggy.

Love Is No Excuse For Bad Art

Thankfully, London-based popstar Esser's output is anything but bad.

Pop music is in a great place right now. There's a wealth of artists producing quirky, innovative music that's a far cry from the manufactured drivel we'd come to accept as 'pop' ten years ago (not that the likes of S Club 7 or 5ive didn't have their merits.)

One thing I've noticed, however, is that the current pop scene is largely dominated by ladies. For this reason, it's refreshing to see somebody like Esser representing the Y chromosones by producing music that, although incorporating elements of rock, garage, ska and electro, is unashamedly rooted in pop.

Esser first came to my attention almost a year ago because of the genius video for his single 'I Love You' but it wasn't until a couple of days ago, when I stumbled across a track he did with the Mystery Jets, that I paid a return visit to his Myspace.

Low and behold, it seems he's got an arsenal of tracks to make the likes of Frankmusik and Dan Black quiver in their Converse. Pick of the bunch for me is 'Work It Out' but I implore you to check out the tracks and decide for yourself.

Here's 'I Love You':



[Image: Myspace]

In Good Company

I'm beginning to realise that I'm surrounded by people that positively ooze creative talent. I'd already come to accept that, in a few years' time, some of these people will have established themselves as successful playwrights, photographers, directors, artists, graphic designers and actors. Well, looks like we can add novelist to that list.

The Tribune gave my friend Eimear Ryan a lovely write up in today's paper. Eimear was the recipient of the 'First Fiction' prize at the Hennessy X.O. Literary Awards at a glitzy ceremony in The Four Seasons last week.

The piece that deservedly won her this prestigious accolade was 'Caterpillar', which was published in The Tribune last year.

Eimear keeps a literary-themed blog, 12 Stories, that features a selection of her work as well as some other interesting musings. Be sure to check it out.

[Image: John Boyne]

I Want...

..juice boxes with realistic fruit skin textures.

[via Oh Gizmo]

On Behalf Of My Eight Year Old Self...

...this evening, I completed the 1980's computer game, 'Granny's Garden'. The educational game was the basis of our Computer Studies back in third class of primary school.

Mid-way through our last ever session, my teacher Mr. O' Byrne asked us all to look up from the computers and stop playing. Knowing I was only a couple of steps away from completing the game, I couldn't resist pressing one more button. Unfortunately this final click triggered a musical interlude which drew attention to my disobedience. I got kicked out of the class and never got to finish the game. Until now.

Little victories. Little victories.

The Word 'Success' Means 'Cupcakes', Right?

For more mean but lol-inducing sideswipes, check out 'Look At This Fucking Hipster'.

Swine Flu Originator?

[via Cute Overload]

Soundtrack To My Week

Hockey - Too Fake

Patrick Wolf featuring Tilda Swinton - Oblivion

Chiddy Bang - Kids (free download)

Bat For Lashes vs. The Cure - Daniel In A Forest (Hi-Bird Mash-Up)

Erik Hassle - Hurtful

Telepathe - So Fine

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Calvin Harris Remix)