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All the world's his stage.
You don't always get all members of a band together in one shot. This is Perneau, from Utrecht. The bass player's an ex-colleague of mine and I went to the show specifically to take pictures. I've got a nice set on Flickr that's currently private as I'd like the band to see them first.
Dragons, from Bristol, are an ok band, they do give it their all. Wearing shades indoors though... I think only really big rock stars can pull it off. The singer looks a little like Jim Kerr and a lot like one of my colleagues, which was a little weird. Musically they're not even pretending not to be utterly worshipping at the altar of Joy Division, with a little Depeche demi-goddery on the side. Despite the dark sounds they managed to create a bit of a hallelujah-vibe. Perhaps it was the singer's reaching out to heaven and falling to his knees that did it.
The support act, Huron, also played the JD/Cure and Xymox field, but their American singer (who looked more than a little bit like Chris Moyles, poor sod), infused some roots elements not unlike The Cult.
'I've had it with all these new bands,' said a friend of mine earlier this week, 'they all sound the same.' She's right, you know. I'm bored. It's time for something new, this 80s revival is getting on my nerves.
"White people cannot get enough of 80s music, partially out of nostalgia, and partially since it was the last time that pop music wasn't infused with hip-hop or R n' B stylings." (from Stuff White People Like)
I didn't bring my 'real' camera, so all I got was a shot with my Ixus. Excuse the grain.
Reading Matthew's 'premature evaluation' of R.E.M.'s upcoming album Accelerate, I realised I'd never posted my thoughts on the two shows I saw the band do in Dublin last summer. I did write about it on my Dutch music blog, but even fewer people probably read that than visit over here. So here's a quick translation.
'This is not a show,' says Mike Mills, addressing the crowd through a megaphone. It's not a gig, it's an 'exercise in terror and music', Stipe explains, 'We are R.E.M. and this is what we do when you're not looking.'
But this time we are looking. Stipe may not be wearing make up and he may be cheating with the lyrics, using printed sheets and a MacBook on an upturned flight case, it's still R.E.M. on stage: the three members of the band, guest guitarist Scott McCaughey and drummer Bill Rieflin.
We are in Dublin's beautiful Olympia Theatre, a small Victorian venue in the middle of the city. This is the location R.E.M. has picked for five nights, trying out the songs they are recording with producer Jacknife Lee in a studio in county West-Meath.
It's not the first time R.E.M. has picked an Irish studio to record in. 'Uncle' Stipe has godchildren in this country, he's part the U2 family in the broadest sense of the word. It's like the mafia, once you're in, you're in for life.
Bono and The Edge are present at the first two shows of the five night run. Stipe thanks them from the stage, for their support and 'for keeping me grounded'. The band's real relatives have flown in too. On the fourth night, Stipe is telling the audience a story and when he uses the word 'blowjob' he suddenly buries his bright red face in his hands. 'I forgot we've got family members in tonight, young ones too... well, if you didn't know that word before...'
He's very talkative in between the songs. They play eleven new tracks every night as well as various oldies from their first couple of albums. They fit in with the new songs the best. For the first time, Stipe explains his obscure lyrics, telling us what the stories are about and shedding light on the art of songwriting. On the third night the old songs are mostly off Fables of the Reconstruction, on the fourth it's even further back to Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckoning.
The tickets to these shows were exclusively sold via R.E.M.s mailing list, so the people in the audience are mostly big fans, hearts ready to burst. No hits. It's the dream of every super fan. 'I hadn't heard this song in 24 years until this afternoon,' Stipe says, holding the lyrics in his hands. We savour obscure tracks like West of the Fields, Wolves Lower, Carnival of Sorts, 1000000, Harborcoat, Second Guessing and These days.
The new songs work well in the live setting, sounding like vintage R.E.M. already, with added power courtesy of Bill Rieflin's power drumming. In 'Horse to water' you feel the fire of Gravity's Pull, and the ballad 'Until the Day is Done' is a gorgeous 'King of Birds'-type ballad. The band was hurt by the slating their last album Around the Sun got in the press and determined to strike back. The songs aren't finished yet, that much is obvious when Stipe changes lyrics on his MacBook in our presence, or when guitarist Peter Buck stops a song to explain the middle eight to bass player Mike Mills. But they're getting there.
The band sounds great, a full rich sound, crystal clear even on the upper balcony of the venue. U2's sound engineer of the last 30 years, Joe O'Herlihy, is manning the soundboard, doing a great job. Whether the band has managed to capture that sound on record, we'll find out in April.
It's hard to believe, but My Bloody Valentine have reformed. The Irish godfathers of the shoe-gazing genre imploded after the success of their album Loveless (1992), spent a fortune on the follow up, but never finished it. They quietly disbanded, although frontman Kevin Shields insisted there would be a new MBV album 'eventually...'
For years things were very quiet around the members of the band. Rumour had it Shields was making a living as a taxi driver, but he was active musically and collaborated with bands like Curbe, Dinosaur Jr. He even went on tour with Primal Scream. A few years back Shields was back in the picture so to say, overseeing the recording of the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's Lost in translation. Rumours of a band reunion surfaced quickly.
In November 2007, three British shows were announced which sold out quickly. And now we have a handful of dates for a European tour: Roskilde, Paris, Madrid and the Oya festival in Norway have been announced. Whether the band will play in the Netherlands, I don't know. I bought a ticket for the Paris show just in case.
No, I'm not a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars, but what else do you do when you arrive in Dublin on the late flight and don't fancy an early night in your grotty hotel?
For the first time in their career the band played two shows on the same night, to accomodate the demand for tickets while dealing with a tight schedule. All of emo-Ireland gathered at The Ambassador, a worn out venue that used to be a cinema and will soon be a library, if I'm not mistaken.
The horde of teenagers was clad in black, pretty features enhanced with thick mascara. Emo kids, comparable to 80s Goths, but somehow sexier. Self assured, more money in the pocket, designer accessories in the bag. I have never seen so many digital cameras at a show. It's fun to watch them have so much fun.
Jared and his band rushed through the first concert on the night. They were late and half their gear was stuck in traffic somewhere. The younger fans had to make do with a 40-minute show, but the grave yard shift sort of got their money's worth. It takes 60 minutes for the band to play their second album Beautiful Lie in its entirety, in sequence, from 'Attack' to the hidden track and Bjork-cover 'Hunter'.
Sparks flew. The band are well rehearsed, professional but not coasting. They seemed to be enjoying themselves too, and though you never know with these L.A. boys, genuinely surprised by the Irish crowd's vocal fervour.
Leto - a good frontman, not a bad actor, I don't really believe his flimsy lyrics - wrapped himself in an Irish flag and donned a hat. For a moment his strutting reminded me of the young Bono, though the music pummelled, never really soared the way the Irish band's would. Playing without their own light show or P.A. has brought the band closer the audience, Leto said: 'Thank you so fucking much.'
Rufus, I love ya and Release the Stars was quite wonderful, but you're not Judy Garland. I don't think your nasal, lethargic voice is suited to these songs at all and listening to you murder these classics is making me lose the will to live. I think it's a little self-indulgent.And that's my damning mini-review of this album, 'Rufus does Judy at Carnegie Hall'.
Even the sleeve photo looks like you're not really into it yourself.
Your sis does a mean Stormy Weather, though.
Marco Derksen was making German and Italian playlists on iMeem today, using input from Twitterati. That set me on a quest to try and make an Irish one. Only I didn't want to pick too obvious songs, but rather unearth some of the late 80s/early 90s bands that nobody really knew or cared about outside of Ireland. Before the internet as we know it. Before bargain flights. Before the Celtic bloody Tiger. Back when every Irish musician was washing up dishes in crappy restaurants and looking for a Green Card. And every Irish drummer played on Larry Mullen's second hand kits.
I couldn't find a whole lot of them on iMeem so I had to make do with what I could find, alternate tracks, etc. My own collection is mostly on vinyl. I really must get a USB record player.
As I searched online I found out a lot of the bands are making 'come backs' on MySpace (An Emotional Fish, Something Happens, The Golden Horde, Into Paradise, Zerra One, The Dixons, Screech Owls, In Tua Nua, Aslan) and I also found this rather marvellous website hosting the Irish punk & new wave discography.
Is it me or is making playlists on iMeem a lot of work? Search a song, click through to a song, click 'playlist', choose profile or group, make playlist... find next song, start over...
You'll just have to imagine that this playlist also contains: I want too much (A House), You ain't lovin' me lately (Aslan), Parachute (Something Happens), Friends in Time (The Golden Horde), The Bridge (Cactus World News), Dog with no tails (The Pale) and my entire obscure Mother Records collection... perhaps I will pick up that USB record player tomorrow.
So, consider this a botched attempt at creating a playlist of the 'best' (read 'available') Irish bands.
My Last.fm top artists chart of 2007 proves that I'm officially an old codger now. Where are the new bands and artists? Do I still care? I do, but my loyalty to and infatuation with older performers gets in the way. Amy Winehouse is the only 'young' act in the top 5 and while her music may be timeless, it's not exactly innovative. Still, reactionary as my chart may be, it's still eclectic as fuck and I love to see Fatima Mansions sitting quite comfortably next to Take That, and Robbie rubbing shoulders with Nick Cave.
The Church stand out in the top spot with a staggering lead on Winehouse. I 'rediscovered' them when I saw them live early in the year and then went a bit obsessive. Their 'oldie' Destination is my most played track, but it was the rather more recent song Block (listen) that I wanted to hear the most and played over and over again on my non-Last.fm-scrobbling Archos mp3-player.
The chart's a little skewed, in that the prominence of some of the acts is mainly due to a somewhat limited, and totally different, selection of music on my work computer. (The old one, I'm not playing a lot of music in my new job. Too busy.) Bowie, Almond and Peter Gabriel benefited from this fact, but I don't really begrudge them their place in this year chart. Gustavo Santaolalla looks the odd one out in the list, but he composed and sequenced the score and soundtrack of the film Babel, easily my favourite film and soundtrack of the year, featuring the sounds of David Sylvian and Sakamoto as well as Santaolalla's own mesmerising ventures into the Arabic soundscape. The medley Bibo no Aozora/Endless Flight/Babel was another track that I put on repeat on my Archos.
Listen:
powered by ODEO
I haven't really been listening to albums as such in a long time, blame the shuffle switch for that. So I hesitate to draw up a 'best album' list. Maria McKee's Late December was one of her stronger releases and Marc Almond's Stardom Road was nothing less than heartwarming. I enjoyed LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, but the shuffle feature mostly ignored its presence.
M.I.A. caught my eye and ears and I need to spend some time with her Kala. Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars was the first album of his I could actually sit through playing in its entirety, while Arcade Fire's Neon Bible had quite the opposite effect and I can't quite get Win Butler's basketballgate out of my head.
I'll have to mention Bruce Springsteen. Yes, I'm ending my reflection on my year in music with another seasoned artist. I've only just heard his new album 'Magic' and while I never have been a fan of the man, it impressed me throughout. Twelve catchy, uplifting tunes that could well all be singles and easily wipe contenders like The Killers think they are off the table. And while we're touching on Americana, I'll have to mention to U2's The Joshua Tree, magnificently re-released this year. Musically never really my favourite album of the band, its Corbijn-shaped imagery haunted my student years. I hope their newest effort, co-written with Lanois and Eno and set for release in 2008 will be equally defining.
The Church stand out in the top spot with a staggering lead on Winehouse. I 'rediscovered' them when I saw them live early in the year and then went a bit obsessive. Their 'oldie' Destination is my most played track, but it was the rather more recent song Block (listen) that I wanted to hear the most and played over and over again on my non-Last.fm-scrobbling Archos mp3-player.
The chart's a little skewed, in that the prominence of some of the acts is mainly due to a somewhat limited, and totally different, selection of music on my work computer. (The old one, I'm not playing a lot of music in my new job. Too busy.) Bowie, Almond and Peter Gabriel benefited from this fact, but I don't really begrudge them their place in this year chart. Gustavo Santaolalla looks the odd one out in the list, but he composed and sequenced the score and soundtrack of the film Babel, easily my favourite film and soundtrack of the year, featuring the sounds of David Sylvian and Sakamoto as well as Santaolalla's own mesmerising ventures into the Arabic soundscape. The medley Bibo no Aozora/Endless Flight/Babel was another track that I put on repeat on my Archos.
Listen:
powered by ODEO
I haven't really been listening to albums as such in a long time, blame the shuffle switch for that. So I hesitate to draw up a 'best album' list. Maria McKee's Late December was one of her stronger releases and Marc Almond's Stardom Road was nothing less than heartwarming. I enjoyed LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, but the shuffle feature mostly ignored its presence.
M.I.A. caught my eye and ears and I need to spend some time with her Kala. Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars was the first album of his I could actually sit through playing in its entirety, while Arcade Fire's Neon Bible had quite the opposite effect and I can't quite get Win Butler's basketballgate out of my head.
I'll have to mention Bruce Springsteen. Yes, I'm ending my reflection on my year in music with another seasoned artist. I've only just heard his new album 'Magic' and while I never have been a fan of the man, it impressed me throughout. Twelve catchy, uplifting tunes that could well all be singles and easily wipe contenders like The Killers think they are off the table. And while we're touching on Americana, I'll have to mention to U2's The Joshua Tree, magnificently re-released this year. Musically never really my favourite album of the band, its Corbijn-shaped imagery haunted my student years. I hope their newest effort, co-written with Lanois and Eno and set for release in 2008 will be equally defining.
As the first couple of tickets for shows in 2008 are coming in, it's time to look back and recognise the best of 2007. Where possible, I'll quote from my earlier reviews.
1. Marc Almond - Paradiso, Amsterdam, October 27
"Even before he's sung a note, he's welcomed with a thunderous applause
and the crowd's enthusiasm doesn't wane over the full two hour show.
They sing along, the hands go up, the tears run rings and hearts swell.
We're close to a conga-line here, it's that kind of atmosphere."This show in Amsterdam was nothing less than triumphant, so good in fact, that I've got to see it twice. That's why I've booked to see him in Dublin in February.
2. The Church - Paradiso, Amsterdam, April 20
"I go see bands full of expectations and come away disappointed a lot of
the time. So when I went to see The Church I expected them well past
their heyday, coasting on past glory. Instead I watched four guys
soldiering on with more fire in the belly than a lot of the new
'The'-bands put together. Overcoming ridiculous technical problems,
they played blistering versions of songs from their vast repertoire." When I'm willing to travel to Hengelo to see a band a second time, you know I'm on to something good. The Church quite simply blew me away and they've since climbed to the #1 spot in my Last.fm chart for 2007 with 527 songs scrobbled.
3. Amy Winehouse - Paradiso, Amsterdam, February 8
After The Church, Amy Winehouse was my most played artist this year (342 songs) eventhough I didn't listen to her much in the second half of the year. Amy played a late night show at the Paradiso. I suppose we were 'lucky' for her to show up at all, let alone play a fantastic set. She isn't much of a performer, but with pipes like that, she doesn't need to be. I'm glad I got to see her at her best. And I hope someone, family or friends, will look after her and help her deal with whatever it is needs dealing with.
4. R.E.M. - Vicar Street, Dublin, July 3 and 4
'This is not a show,' we were told plenty of times. R.E.M. used five nights in front of a real audience in Dublin's beautiful Olympia theatre, to 'rehearse' songs for their upcoming album, which, by the sound of the songs played at these shows, will sound a little more like the R.E.M. we knew before they - briefly - went mega. Well, I enjoyed these 'rehearsals' very much. Stipe really doesn't have to do much to entertain, doesn't have to work for it, he is just naturally charismatic. I can never figure out whether he's a nice bloke or not, but I'm told he is. Good for him.
5. Cathal Coughlan - Sugar Club, Dublin, March 25.
There are a couple of artists on my list that don't tour that much or at all, which means I have to travel to go see them. Cathal Coughlan is one of them. I'll happily jump on a flight to see him in London or Dublin. It's an easy choice to make when you know someone's going to deliver. And deliver he did at the intimate Sugar Club, playing a short solo set before a full run through his grand opus, Flannery's Mounted Head, also known as Foburg. I really wish he'd play more often.
Also seen:
Jarvis Cocker - not quite as good as hoped for, but he's adorable.
Brett Anderson - better than expected
Camera Obscura - really not my thing
Moke - derivative and calculated
Interpol - not great
Justin Timberlake - shite seats, crap sound
The Bravery - good energy
INXS - J.D. was better on TV.
The Police - I shouldn't have gone.
Luka Bloom - I have seen him do better
Arcade Fire - fantastic show falls flat in large venue.
Sinead O'Connor - can do no wrong
The National - impressive show marred by abrupt end.
And then of course there were the eight Nothing Like The Sun shows, in Stratford, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham and Gent. So totally different from everything else mentioned here I decided to leave them out.
All the photos are copyright © 2007, cvodb.
1. Marc Almond - Paradiso, Amsterdam, October 27
"Even before he's sung a note, he's welcomed with a thunderous applause
and the crowd's enthusiasm doesn't wane over the full two hour show.
They sing along, the hands go up, the tears run rings and hearts swell.
We're close to a conga-line here, it's that kind of atmosphere."This show in Amsterdam was nothing less than triumphant, so good in fact, that I've got to see it twice. That's why I've booked to see him in Dublin in February.2. The Church - Paradiso, Amsterdam, April 20
"I go see bands full of expectations and come away disappointed a lot of
the time. So when I went to see The Church I expected them well past
their heyday, coasting on past glory. Instead I watched four guys
soldiering on with more fire in the belly than a lot of the new
'The'-bands put together. Overcoming ridiculous technical problems,
they played blistering versions of songs from their vast repertoire." When I'm willing to travel to Hengelo to see a band a second time, you know I'm on to something good. The Church quite simply blew me away and they've since climbed to the #1 spot in my Last.fm chart for 2007 with 527 songs scrobbled.3. Amy Winehouse - Paradiso, Amsterdam, February 8
After The Church, Amy Winehouse was my most played artist this year (342 songs) eventhough I didn't listen to her much in the second half of the year. Amy played a late night show at the Paradiso. I suppose we were 'lucky' for her to show up at all, let alone play a fantastic set. She isn't much of a performer, but with pipes like that, she doesn't need to be. I'm glad I got to see her at her best. And I hope someone, family or friends, will look after her and help her deal with whatever it is needs dealing with.4. R.E.M. - Vicar Street, Dublin, July 3 and 4
'This is not a show,' we were told plenty of times. R.E.M. used five nights in front of a real audience in Dublin's beautiful Olympia theatre, to 'rehearse' songs for their upcoming album, which, by the sound of the songs played at these shows, will sound a little more like the R.E.M. we knew before they - briefly - went mega. Well, I enjoyed these 'rehearsals' very much. Stipe really doesn't have to do much to entertain, doesn't have to work for it, he is just naturally charismatic. I can never figure out whether he's a nice bloke or not, but I'm told he is. Good for him. 5. Cathal Coughlan - Sugar Club, Dublin, March 25.
There are a couple of artists on my list that don't tour that much or at all, which means I have to travel to go see them. Cathal Coughlan is one of them. I'll happily jump on a flight to see him in London or Dublin. It's an easy choice to make when you know someone's going to deliver. And deliver he did at the intimate Sugar Club, playing a short solo set before a full run through his grand opus, Flannery's Mounted Head, also known as Foburg. I really wish he'd play more often.Also seen:
Jarvis Cocker - not quite as good as hoped for, but he's adorable.
Brett Anderson - better than expected
Camera Obscura - really not my thing
Moke - derivative and calculated
Interpol - not great
Justin Timberlake - shite seats, crap sound
The Bravery - good energy
INXS - J.D. was better on TV.
The Police - I shouldn't have gone.
Luka Bloom - I have seen him do better
Arcade Fire - fantastic show falls flat in large venue.
Sinead O'Connor - can do no wrong
The National - impressive show marred by abrupt end.
And then of course there were the eight Nothing Like The Sun shows, in Stratford, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham and Gent. So totally different from everything else mentioned here I decided to leave them out.
All the photos are copyright © 2007, cvodb.