Today, a friend of mine introduced me to 'Dance With Me', the latest single from Dublin chamber pop duo Maud in Cahoots, and I've had it on loop for the past couple of hours.
I'm feeling a little silly that this fantastic act has been sitting more or less under my nose for the past couple of years, without me realising. Combining luscious instrumentation, gorgeous harmonies that remind of a softer Heathers and melancholy melodies worthy of the most lovelorn of Scandinavian chanteuses, sisters Zoe and Maud Reardon make music that stands apart from anything else I've encountered on the Dublin music scene.
'Dance With Me' is one part of a double A-side single taken from their new EP, on which they worked with Max Heyes. The other part is 'Make Me Right', which you can hear below.
Last week, Lou Bru came up trumps when she sourced me a last-minute ticket for Florrie's debut Dublin headliner at The Academy.
The as yet unsigned singer, songwriter and drummer is closely associated with Xenomania, the man behind most of Girls Aloud's back-catalogue, and has drummed live and on record for the (former?) girlband.
She released her debut EP, Introduction, last year (which is available as a free download from her website) and in a live setting, minus Xenomania's studio gloss, these songs hold their own remarkably well.
Florrie makes the same kind of lightweight but immaculately crafted pop that saw Pitchfork darling Annie, early incarnations of Sugababes and Girls Aloud salvage the genre's sullied reputation in the mid noughties.
Alternating between belting out high-energy numbers and thrashing on the drum kit, even the most po-faced gig-goers were shimmying and shaking by the time she wrapped up her short but supremely sweet set. Second helping: sought.
Hot on the heels of Strictly Pleasure, comes another pop gem from Dublin pop prince James O' Neill, aka Bitches With Wolves.
Hurricane bears similarly high-end production to its predecessor and, with rumours abound of an even better track called 'Hercules' on the way, dare I speculate that an album might materialise this year?
Last week, I ventured along to The Pint on Dublin's Eden Quay to get my fix of live music. There was a clutch of great bands playing but my primary concern was to see four-piece The Strutts in action and they certainly didn't disappoint.
Delivering a rousing set of sprightly guitar pop, their performance possessed a warmth that goes some way to explaining the ardent breed of supporters they attract, but was also underpinned by a resolve to impress that hangs the right side of ambitious.
I can happily report that The Strutts' energy and verve, which serves them so well in a live setting, is equally present on their eponymous EP. Singers Liam Gardner and Daragh O' Connell's tuneful vocals are wonderfully complementary and it's little surprise to learn that they've performed acoustically as a duo in the past.
However, the addition of bass and drums affords them a fuller sound best felt in the latter half of 'Easy To Forget', which descends into an instrumental jam that's tailormade to set audiences busting moves on the dancefloor.
The Strutts' trump card is perhaps their knack for pegging down a catchy pop hook. Tracks like 'Down', where cascading harmonies are pitched against a backdrop of jangly guitars, remind of The Beatles' early material but more contemporary influences are felt elsewhere.
Gardner's snarling delivery on 'People Talk' is reminsicent of Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, and this track for me is the standout on an accomplished EP by a Dublin band whose star is firmly on the ascent.
The Strutts - People Talk
The Strutts' eponymous EP can be downloaded from iTunes here.
Bitches With Wolves (aka James O' Neill) is someone I've posted about on the site before. As I said previously, James represents a breed of popstar of which we haven't really seen the likes since Samantha Mumba inexplicably 'pulled a Houdini' from the charts and our hearts.
The colourful costumes and high-energy performances are all well and good, but James's trump card is his flair for pegging down a contagious pop melody.
Last year, Broken Hearts became Bitches With Wolves' biggest hit to date and there's every chance that new single, Strictly Pleasure, will achieve similar success.
Although their 2008 debut album, ‘Here, Not There’, made Heathers (Blackrock sisters Ellie and Louise MacNamara) darlings of the Irish music scene, it wasn't until their track 'Remember When' was featured in a Discover Ireland advertisement last year that their music began reaching a mass audience.
For their sophomore release, due later this year, the girls have expanded on the simple but effective formula of tuneful harmonies and guitar accompaniment to more intricate arrangements, adding percussion, electric guitars and cello into the mix.
I was lucky enough to catch the girls debut some new material at a gig before Christmas and can happily report that the new material is pretty special. A live version of one of the tracks, Find A Way, has surfaced online and is every bit as good as I remembered it being:
Here's another couple of tracks of theirs I really love:
Over the next few days, I'm hoping to do a number of posts about Dublin-based bands. The Hype Machine recently revamped their site and applied various labels to each of the blogs they list and it got me thinking about the kind of music I post on the site.
One of the tags applied to my own blog is 'British' and, when I think of it, it's very true that I tend to post about a lot of UK acts, but rarely about the equally talented musicians I regularly encounter gigging around the fair city of Dublin.
The 'Local Heroes' series, which I hope to intersperse with (more regular) posts about artists from further afield, is my attempt at kickstarting a habit of sharing some of the glittering gems the Emerald Isle has to offer.
Should I fail, well I guess this post is going to look a bit embarrassing in a few weeks' time. If not, who knows, maybe The Gods of Hype Machine will consider bestowing an 'Irish' label upon my plot of cyberspace next time they stop by?
For the third consecutive year, I've managed to land some work at ABSOLUT Fringe in Dublin. This year, I've got slightly more responsibility, meaning that, sadly, I probably won't be able to catch that many shows.
This is made all the more tragic by the outstanding calibre of this year's shows. Granted, I'm obviously a bit biased but take a look for yourself if you're not convinced.
I'll admit to being a fairweather fan of Suzanne Vega. I went through a period of being obsessed with her song 'Luka' when I was in secondary school but, being penniless and having no access to illegal downloads at the time, never got around to investing in her albums.
So, after founding myself surrounded by hardcore devotees in Dublin's The Village, I begin to suspect that my cover will be blown and my 'casual fan' status exposed. To make matters worse, when the incredibly youthful-looking 50-year-old singer takes to the stage, she opens with 'Marlene On The Wall' - one of the three songs in her repertoire that I'm familiar enough with to sing along to.
Thankfully, Ms. Vega proceeds to serve up a set of songs that it's not necessary to be acquainted with to appreciate. For the first half of the night, she plays a selection of songs from her current compilation 'Close Up Vol. 1: Love Songs', which, as the name suggests, is made up of love songs from her back-catalogue.
After the interval (yes, Suzanne Vega comes with an interval), the songstress returns and plays a more varied selection of numbers, including 'New York Is A Woman' (not a lady, she assures us) and 'Pornographer's Dream' (which, apparently is a librarian).
Vega's voice is truly a force to be reckoned with, sounding just as crisp and tuneful in a live setting as it does on record. She seems appreciative of her success, engaging in witty banter throughout the evening and giving some back-information on each song (perhaps for my benefit?)
For the encore, she plays her two signature tunes, 'Luka' and 'Tom's Diner' and allows the audience to choose the closing numbers ('Calypso' is received particularly emphatically). Having arrived a 'fairweather fan', I leave The Village in a haze of good humour, feeling decidedly fanatical.
I stumbled across Australian outfit Teenagersintokyo a few months ago and took quite a shine to their single, 'Peter Pan'. So, when I heard they were playing No Disko at Dublin's Crawdaddy, I figured I might as well head along and investigate further.
I managed to catch the tail-end of support act Spies' set and, having been majorly impressed by what I saw of the Dublin-based five-piece, was left cursing my tardiness.
As seems to be customary at No Disko, the headline act swiftly took to the stage after Spies and began setting up their own equipment. Half an hour later they return and launch into the title track from their new album, 'Sacrifice'.
A sparse slow-burning number, imbued with a slight sense of forboding, it serves as an adequate introduction to the considerable vocal talent frontwoman Samantha Lim. Dresssed in a string top what my limited fashion-related lexicon can only describe as a leather hula skirt, Lim immediately commands the moderate-sized crowd's attention as she prowls the stage and pouts theatrically.
The band then up the pace, playing their two most recognisable tunes 'Peter Pan' and 'End It Tonight' before a spiky cover of Halle and Oates' 'Maneater'. Delivering an intoxicating combination of serrated guitar riffs and murky synths, while Lim alternating between seductive purring and riot grrrl howls, it's soon apparent that Teenagersintokyo are a cut above the dearth of posturing indie outfits trying to catch a break.
From here on in, it's plain sailing as the crowd, presumably largely unfamiliar with the material, lap it up. After a relatively short set, the band bid us goodnight but, moments later, they return to the stage in response to repeated calls for 'one more choon'.
I've recently seen old favourites Marina & the Diamonds and Florence & the Machine play Dublin dates and, although I acknowledge that both acts delivered the slickest performances I've seen from them to date, I couldn't help but mourn the slightly rough-around-the edges quality and humble appreciation of the crowd reaction I'd seen from these artists in their earlier gigs.
Teenagersintokyo may follow the same trajectory but, for now, they're at that point in their evolution where they haven't quite of just how good they are and appreciate the whoops and applause that bit more than those artists who've 'made it', which is lovely to behold.
"This is our first ever encore..." Lim tells us, barely containing her glee. First, maybe, but certainly not the last.
I've recently become a little besotted with the work of Dublin-based duo Collidoscope. A DJ/VJ duo sharing a sardonic sense of humour, Collidoscope only been working together for the past few months but have already been making waves in the city's pub/club scene.
Their live shows are well worth catching if you get a chance but, in the meantime, you'll have to make do with these glorious mash-ups, which I have a sneaking suspicion will soon be a source of mild blogospheric hysteria:
M.I.A. vs New Order vs Dizzee Rascal - Hooky Done Gun (Collidoscope Mashup) (free download)
Jason Mraz vs Shaggy vs Jay-Z - It Wasn't Your State Of Mind (Collidoscope Mashup) (free download)
Babar vs Mr. Oizo - Babar Beats (Collidoscope Mashup) (free download)
Beastie Boys vs Alison Krauss - O Brother, Thou Art Intergalactic (Collidoscope Mashup) (free download)
One of the victims of Volcanosaurus Rex last week was the live music circuit, with many touring bands being forced to cancel dates due to flight cancellations and the likes.
After finding herself in Iceland at the same time good old Eyjafjallajokull started blowing chunks, the chances of Amanda Palmer making it to Dublin for her scheduled Evelyn Evelyn gig began looking slim.
To make matters worse, the rest of the Evelyn Evelyn team and the equipment for the show were stranded in New York. The easiest thing to do would have been to cancel the gig, possibly re-schedule it for later in the tour, but Amanda wasn't prepared to throw in the towel that easily.
After making her way to Glasgow, she took the ferry across to Dublin and, using all her savvy (and the counsel of her Twitter 'followers'), pieced together a replacement show.
Evelyn Evelyn, if you're unfamiliar, are three-legged conjoined twins Evelyn and Evelyn Neville, 'discovered' by Palmer and musician Jason Webley over Myspace in 2007. After being coerced into the studio, Evelyn Evelyn recorded an album and, under the auspices of Palmer and Webley, are now hitting the road.
For the tour was that Palmer and Webley would fill in the support slots for Evelyn Evelyn but, in light of the circumstances, Palmer had to draft in a last-minute replacement. Brighton band Bitter Ruin jumped at the offer of supporting Amanda in Glasgow.
Having being so impressed by their performance, she persuaded them to come to Dublin. They jumped at the chance, despite the fact that they had to chug buckets after the gig, purely so they could afford to get home.
It was a good call by Amanda because Bitter Ruin were fantastic. So fantastic, in fact, that they warrant a post all of their own.
Bitter Ruin - Chewing Gum (Dublin)
Shortly after Shane and I nabbed the last two Bitter Ruin EPs, Amanda took to the stage and shed some light on how the gig was going to go. Since her fellow 'conjoined twin' Jason Webley was stranded on the other side of the Atlantic, she decided to bring him to Dublin via the power of the internet and, after calling him on Skype, was able to project a huge image of his head on to a screen.
After hauling a motley crew of audience members up from the audience (as unofficial ambassador for freaks and geeks the world over, Palmer tends to attract an especially devoted fanbase) and bringing Bitter Ruin back on stage, Amanda began to describe what the Evelyn Evelyn show would be like if the various components had made it to Dublin.
With those on stage being used as substitute characters and performing puppet shows, Amanda and Jason worked their way through the Evelyn Evelyn set. Adding to the ridiculousness was the fact that the gig was being broadcast on the internet by a camera Amanda had borrowed from a Dublin fan.
Granted, at times, the performance bordered on shambolic as the performers grappled with the unorthodox set-up but, if anything, this only served to make the whole thing more enjoyable and it was obvious that Amanda and Jason had invested a lot of effort into resuscitating the show. After Amanda performed a clutch of her own songs, including 'Oasis', 'Astronaut', 'Runs In The Family' and 'Girl Anachronism', she brought Georgia from Bitter Ruin back on stage for a duet on 'Delilah'.
The fact that the gig happened at all was both a testament to the power of the internet and a big 'up yours' to the volcano's attempts to prevent it happening. As such, it was sort of fitting that, as her encore, Amanda premiered a song she had written over the course of the previous 24 hours over the web with husband-to-be Neil Gaiman, called 'Fuck The Ash Cloud'.
Based on Jason and Amanda's description, The Evelyn Evelyn show sounds wonderfully theatrical and I was a bit miffed not to see it as it was intended but, in a way, the show we saw in its place was probably far more memorable.
A prime example of somebody taking volcanic particles and making 'volcanade', this was a truly singular experience and has only served to deepen my appreciation for Ms. Palmer as an artist and, lame as it sounds, as a person.
I've been putting my poor credit card under a fair amount of strain of late, but I'm placing the blame on the number of great gigs coming up in Dublin over the next few weeks...
Next week, goth-pop princess Amanda Palmer's latest venture Evelyn Evelyn rolls into town. I first saw Amanda play with The Dresden Dolls in The Spiegeltent in Edinburgh a few years ago and it remains one of my all-time favourite gigs. Evelyn Evelyn is a collaboration between Amanda and a number of other artists, including musician Jason Webley. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to listen to the album properly but I fully intend to sink my teeth into it before the gig at The Academy on the 19th.
On the 2nd of May, The Hundred In The Hands play Crawdaddy, shortly before the release of their debut EP. Their track 'Dressed In Dresden' is one of my staple playlist inclusions so I've high hopes for their new material.
A little further off, but probably the most likely to sell out, is Tegan & Sara on 15th of June. The Canadian sisters' album 'The Con' is one of my favourite records and they've a pretty solid reputation as a live act, so expect to find me screeching away to 'Back In Your Head' in The Olympia.
But, in fact, since long before we started swapping clothes and hosting chat roulette parties, Come As Soon As You Hear have been making plays. There have been plays at Electric Picnic, plays in the Project Arts Centre, plays in nightclubs and now there are going to be plays in The Basement.
The Basement is an underground performance and rehearsal space that has been our base of operations for the past year or so and the organisers of a series of 'Scriptscribe' workshops felt it was about time we included it in our plays.
Six writers (including yours truly) have drawn inspiration from The Basement and come up with an original 20 minute script. Some of these will eventually be performed in The Basement but, for now, we're hoping you'll come along and check out the scripts-in-progress.
This evening and tomorrow evening there will be rehearsed readings of the 20 min scripts in The Basement (Clarendon House, Clarendon Street, Dublin 2).
Come. Listen. Discuss. Wine. Whine.
[Tueday 23d @ 8pm] Readings of work by: John Singleton Tim Smyth Meadhbh Haiceid
[Wednesday 24th @8pm] Readings of work by: Jennifer Carroll Louise Melinn Joey Kavanagh
Entry: €3 (suggested)
P.S. I suspect my own script is slightly more 'in progress' than the others, so if you encounter me over the next 48 hours, expect to find me either frantically typing or trying to compose a song for deceased beauty pageant contestants....
Yes, it's the time of the month, where I plug the latest Come As Soon As You Hear party. Chat As Soon As You Roulette is a clothes-swapping extravaganza that's gonna be broadcast live on Chat Roulette. It kicks off at 11pm this Saturday, the 20th of March. The survival manual is as follows:
1. Come. 2. Do a sexy dance for the benefit of those watching you on their computer screens. 3. When the klaxon sounds, 'next' your clothes by swapping 'em with someone nearby. 4. Repeat steps 2 - 3 until you... 5. Come. 6. Exeunt.
Dress code: Clothes you might never see again.
Choons: Of the bangin' variety. Served up by electro fiend Shane Kelly and pop purveyor Conor Behan.
In the aftermath of Paddy's Day celebrations, it's a pretty safe bet that many of us will be needing a recovery period.
If you fancy indulging in a bit of comfort eating, then I suggest you check out the launch of the 'Sugar Coated' exhibition this evening at 6pm in The Back Loft on Augustine Street. The exhibition is being organised by my friend Dylan and his classmates from Dun Laoghaire IADT and will kick off with a ‘sweet and drinks’ reception before the unveiling of selected work inspired by the theme 'Suger Coated'.
The event will be judged and curated by a group of artists and professionals, including Michelle Browne and Paul Lynam, who will decided the winner of €400 and the inaugural 'Sugar Coated Award for Visual Arts'.
“I am very very clever and first wrote about Ellie Goulding in the year 150BC, here.”
“Due to recently being named the BBC Sound of 2010 and winning a Brit Award, there was always going to be a lot of hype surrounding Ellie Goulding. The question is, though, has she lived up to the hype?!?!?!?!?!”. Cue disappointing review in which they will probably conclude that, no, she has not.
Honestly, few things annoy me more than bloggers repeatedly reminding you that they discovered an artist first but I don't think I could do justice to my experience at Ellie's debut Irish headliner without acknowledging the fact that I've been looking forward to seeing her for quite a long time.
And yes, I'll admit to being disappointed by her album, Lights, but as kDamo rightly points out, we've been listening to some of the album's better tracks for months and, if it had emerged fully-formed before the hype machine went into overdrive, we'd probably all be hailing it as a masterpiece.
So, after positioning myself up the front of The Academy well before Kildare band Planet Parade take to the stage and deliver a decidedly impressive set, I wait for Ms. Goulding to appear.
Armed with a guitar and cutting a slinky figure in a fitted black outfit, the singer takes to the stage with her bandmates and, with minimum fanfare, launches into 'Lights', an iTunes only bonus track I didn't realise existed until recently.
Ellie's vocal prowess is instantly apparent as she delivers a rousing, pitch-perfect rendition of the song, immediately following with sprightly numbers 'Everytime You Go' and 'Your Biggest Mistake'.
Although she's visibly overwhelmed by the emphatic reception she is greeted with and doesn't engage in much chit chat between songs, the singer barely puts a foot wrong musically as she works her way through the setlist.
A few songs in, she sets aside her guitar for 'This Love' and 'The Writer' but, just as it seems the set is beginning to sag under the weight of these slightly MOR numbers, she takes to the drums for 'Salt Skin' and elevates the set to a whole new stratosphere.
If there was any doubt over Ellie's superstar potential, it's obliterated at this moment as Ellie serves up the highlight of the night. Thrashing violently on a drum and cymbal while delivering a vocal performance that reveals the light and shade of her distinctive singing voice, Ellie displays a flair and striking originality that some of the album's weaker material doesn't showcase quite as well. It's plain sailing from here and Ellie sustains the momentum by swiftly launching into breakthrough single 'Under The Sheets'. She then exits the stage only to return moments later for an encore comprising a pared-down version of 'Wish I Stayed', a gorgeous cover of 'Roscoe' by Midlake and current smash 'Starry Eyed', which induces mild hysteria from some of the more 'enthusiastic' audience members.
Already, some have ranted about the gig while others have raved, but I'd be inclined to position myself somewhere in between. Ellie's talent is undeniable but, in terms of her live performances, a little inexperience definitely shows.
She needs to figure out how to engage with the audience a little more, so that people leave feeling more of a connection to her music. Presumably this sort of thing come with practice and I reckon, with a few more killer songs, Ellie Goulding has the potential to graduate to the big league. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets (Live at The Academy, Dublin)
When I first heard electropop outfit Chew Lips' rather brilliant track 'Solo' a few months back, I got the distinct impression that it was a fluke. I'm not sure what it was exactly but, as much as I loved the song, something about it struck me as being a 'happy accident' that the band would struggle to follow up.
As if to mock my initial skepticism, the band have left both 'Solo' and subsequent single 'Salt Air' completely off their debut album, Unicorn. It's a testament to the calibre of the record (and perhaps my poor observational skills) that, only after listening to it a handful times, I realised these tracks were missing.
By teaming all-the-rage elements like spluttering synths and weighty basslines with rock guitars, piano and drums, the London trio have crafted a wonderfully textured album that sounds of its time but also vaguely vintage.
The band's intricate arrangements, range of tempos and knack for pegging down killer hooks serve them well throughout Unicorn's ten tracks but there's no question that Chew Lips' trump card is frontwoman 'Tigs'.
Whether snarling and wailing on the anthemic 'Seven' and 'Slick', or tenderly crooning on 'Piano Song' and 'Too Much Talking', she is commanding throughout and her charisma and energy percolates through the record.
Pick of the bunch for me is recent single 'Play Together' but Unicorn is an album loaded with potential favourites and I'd strongly encourage investigating for yourself.
If you like what you hear, be sure to catch the band when the play Dublin's Crawdaddy on Friday, April 9th. Tickets, priced at just €12, can be booked here.
Last week, I posted about Dublin act Bitches With Wolves' three-night stint at The Academy on April 3rd, 10th and 17th.
Since then, I've managed to get my hands on two tickets to give away for the April 3rd date. To be in with a chance at winning, all you have to do is e-mail thebubbleboyblog@gmail.com and let me know what you would have as your accompanying animals if you were part of a band of bitches.
