Barry Murphy returns to his The Last Sound project for a fifth album next month, entitled Rainbow Xplode on Osaka on June 8th. ‘Sun Forever’ is typical of the record’s hazy approach to sound; touching on a shoegazing style of electronic music. The lyrics “sun gone forever but we don’t mind” should be an Irish motto.

The album launch is on the same day with support Last Days of 1984 who alongside Kool Thing have also remixed songs from the record.

The post The Last Sound – ‘Sun Forever’ appeared first on Nialler9.

Like the Montreal duo’s intense live show, Impersonator is like being stuck inside the head of a fascinatingly dark-edged soul.

During a Majical Cloudz show, Devon Welsh is under the spotlight, both literally and figuratively. Matthew Otto joins him on stage for the duo’s live shows as musical accompaniment but it’s Welsh’s cathartic delivery that is the focus. Physically aided by a shaved head, an intense set of eyes, a white t-shirt and a static stance, Welsh’s presence is uncomfortable. And then he sings in a enveloping croon that holds the air.

While lacking the visual impact of the live show, Impersonator, the second album from the Canadians is all about that push-and-pull of Welsh. Otto’s electronic productions roam and permeate the air, it’s stripped right back like a film soundtrack. Its gossamer minimalism is a perfect emphasis for Welsh, offering a comforting foundation to what can be agonisingly intimate truths. Sometimes the music has a lullaby feel, sometimes it provides hopeful melodies to counterpoint Welsh’s dark side of the soul. ” It’s not meant to energise and turn you out to the world,” Welsh said in a press release. “It’s meant to do the opposite; it’s more like a cocoon.”

Welsh (whose father is actor Kenneth, Twin Peaks’ Windom Earle and who features in the ‘Childhoods End’ video) establishes the apprehensive mood early on the title, and first track ‘Impersonator’ – “I’m a liar, I say I make music” before expressing desire to “feel like somebody’s darling”. ‘This Is Magic’ finds him grappling with imagined horrors – ” I feel like a kid / I see some monsters standing over my crib / and they fall in…” while Otto’s contemplative church organ offers solace. ‘Bigs Don’t Buzz’ addresses the mood head on: “the cheesiest songs end with a smile / this song won’t end with a smile, my love.”

Throughout Welsh howls helplessly and beautifully at the dark, his deep voice engulfing the empty space creating uncertainty and further questions. The combination of his voice and Otto’s more optimistic arrangements create a relatable line between your self and his self. His personal anxiety has maybe once has been your anxiety. He’s communicating small ideas but they hold big questions when he says “I don’t think about dying” or “hey mister, don’t you want to be right here?”

The album spends 40 minutes inside the introspective head of its author yet it offers comfort through its confessional sincerity and its serene warm arrangements. Impersonator might be a cocoon but there’s still room to breathe.

The post Album of the week: Majical Cloudz – Impersonator appeared first on Nialler9.

Fallulah

Forget Emmelie De Forest’s Eurovision win, Denmark has much more going for it in the pop stakes, like the Florence Welch-esque sound of this Copenhagen cool chick who just released her second album Escapism.

Ejeca

After Belfast duo Bicep’s ascent into house music’s global charts, this nearby Ballyhenry producer isn’t far behind. His vocally-driven tracks tip into garage/ techno sounds. Northern Ireland is having a dance music moment.

Sir Sly

An LA trio with an inclination for making dubstep-bubbling synth pop tracks. Their songs mix commercial sensibilities with more alternative sounds.

Slow Skies

Karen Sheridan and Conal Herron’s second release, the Close EP wallows in love and loss surrounded by gentle slow-burning atmosphere-filled orchestral pop. Beautiful and brittle.

The post New music: Fallulah, Ejeca, Sr Sly & Slow Skies appeared first on Nialler9.

Thunderous drums, Kate Bush high drama, reverberating bass. ‘Vampires’ is a sky-scrapping sit-up-and-take-notice epic pop song from a four-piece band called Letters To Fiesta who are Anna-Louisa Etherington (Vox/synth), Tom Brydon (guitar), Andy Fletcher (bass) and Daniel Houghton (drums). They are from Manchester. Tom and Anna have been playing together for a few years and Andy and Daniel joined six months ago. They “bonded over the love of noisy synth and pedals, making a lot of noise, and probably Tom’s chickpea curry.”

‘Vampires’ is the band’s second single and it’ll be out in July. The next release called Tears Apart, a title suggestive of the drama it will likely contain will be coming in October. Two more tracks below…

The post Intro: Letters To Fiesta – Manchester high drama pop appeared first on Nialler9.

Loud City Song, the new album from Julia Holter comes out on Domino on August 16th. The followup to Ekstasis, will be Holter’s first studio album and the songs actually pre-date her 2011 debut Tragedy. Holter took inspiration from “Collette’s 1944 novella Gigi and using it as a prism through which to explore her relationship with her hometown of Los Angeles and modern life universally, taking cues from the work of Joni Mitchell and the poetry of Frank O’Hara but forging those touch-points into something resolutely unique.” ‘Word’ is the first track on the album, an spacious orchestral track. Holter gave a talk at RBMA a few weeks back.

Tracklisting:

1. World
2. Maxim’s I
3. Horns Surrounding Me
4. In The Green Wild
5. Hello Stranger
6. Maxim’s II
7. He’s Running Through My Eyes
8. This Is a True Heart
9. City Appearing

The post Julia Holter has a new album coming – Loud City Song appeared first on Nialler9.

My first experience of Little Green Cars was of a ragged but talented bunch of musicians participating in a naff battle of the bands competition for teens in 2008. Back then, the lack of focus was obvious, as was the talent.

Five years later, the band are poised to become one of the most loved new bands of 2013, not just locally but worldwide thanks to industry deals and connections in the US and UK. Their ascent has not been sudden, their rise has been meticulous. They took time to hone their songs, writing 70 of them in the lead up to this, the band’s debut album.

Absolute Zero is as accomplished as one could hope for a first big release. It establishes the band’s music as a concoction of the classic sounds of rock, folk, roots and Americana. Anyone who’s seen LGC live in the last few years will have experienced the depth of their powerful harmonies; which can really stun when they perform them in cascading fashion. There’s plenty of all-in harmonies on Absolute Zero, it’s the band’s most recognisable collective asset right now.

Much of the album’s first half ‘Angel Owl’, ‘The Consequence Of Not Sleeping’, ‘Big Red Dragon’ could be described as harmony-driven bright band rock lead by Stevie Appleby’s quivering vocal. Appleby’s voice is young and stretched which has its own charm when delving into themes of identity, love and relationships.

‘Red and Blue’ is the album’s surprise. Appleby’s decision to employ the use of a vocoder on it is a brave one. The song’s hypnotic church organ and otherworldly voice is reminiscent of the Bon Iver’s ‘Beth/Rest’ and all that came before that.

Faye’ O’Rourke voice has a considerable wallop across the album so much so that her presence is the single most pleasing thing about it. She has a voice full of big emotion and high range in which to convey on-the-brink feelings. On ‘My Love Took Me Down To The River To Silence Me’, she is a live-wire vocal performer. On ‘Please’, O’Rourke’s voice is so gorgeously dominant, like all great singers, it’s a magnetising, forget-everything else listen. On ‘The Kitchen Floor’, an album highlight, she leads the hurt procession of chorals to devastating effect on a song that recalls Fleetwood Mac and is one of the album’s transcendent highlights.

Occasionally, the album dips into melodic soft rock territory perhaps not helped by Markus Dravs’ pristine and polished production on some of the more straightforward songs on the first half. But there is a lot here to enjoy. Of the 11 songs, ‘Big Red Dragon’ is the only track that I could do without due to its simple vocal/melody lines and waahs but it’s still a pleasant track overall. ‘The John Wayne’ is Little Green Cars at their most anthemic, and when taken together with ‘Red and Blue’, ‘My Love Took Me Down To The River To Silence Me’, ‘The Kitchen Floor’ and the gentle Appalachian guitar lilt of closer ‘Goodbye Blue Monday’ are good markers about where Little Green Cars are at and where they could head to next.

When I talked to the band at SXSW for the Irish Independent, it was clear they are a group with the long-game in mind.“We are a young band and we want to one day be an old band,” Appleby said. Absolute Zero is that young band mining older sounds but creating something vibrant out of that. It’s still very much early days for Little Green Cars but they show they have the potential here for greater expansion, as well as enough great songs to build on to become that old band one day.

The post Little Green Cars – Absolute Zero (review) appeared first on Nialler9.

Stage times for next weekend’s Forbidden Fruit festival on the grounds of IMMA in Dublin City in both image and text form below. Next Friday night, there’ll be a Nialler9 Forbidden Fruit Opening party with Gramme, Ships and a TR One Disco set. On Saturday night I’ll be DJing at the Subject afterparty in Twisted Pepper with DJ Kormac, Green Velvet and more. Stay tuned for an announcement about a special Nialler9-curated on-site Forbidden Fruit tent shortly too…

Saturday 1st

ORIGINAL STAGE

21:15 – 22:45 Kasabian
19:40 – 20:40 Crystal Castles
18:10 – 19:10 James Blake
16:50 – 17:40 Kormac’s Big Band
15:50 – 16:25 Fight Like Apes
14:30 – 15:20 Trinity Orchestra play Queen

UNDERGROWTH STAGE

21:45 – 22:45 Lee Scratch Perry
20:15 – 21:15 Neon Neon
18:45 – 19:45 IAMAMIWHOAMI
17:30 – 18:15 Health
16:15 – 17:00 Swim Deep
15:20 – 15:50 Daithi
14:30 – 15:00 Hot Colossus

LIGHTHOUSE STAGE

21:55 – 22:45 Le Galaxie
20:40 – 21:25 Ghostpoet
19:30 – 20:10 The Hot Sprockets
18:30 – 19:00 Girls Names
17:30 – 18:00 The Mighty Stef
16:30 – 17:00 Halves
15:30 – 16:00 Tieranniesaur
14:30 – 15:00 Ghost Estates

Sunday June 2nd

ORIGINAL STAGE

21:30 – 22:45 Primal Scream
19:30 – 20:45 Chic
18:00 – 19:00 Everything Everything
16:30 – 17:30 Daughter
15:15 – 16:00 Solar Bears
14:30 – 15:00 I am the Cosmos

UNDERGROWTH STAGE

21:45 – 22:45 Woodkid
20:45 – 21:45 Frank B
19:45 – 20:45 Four Tet (live)
18:30 – 19:25 Austra
17:10 – 18:05 Toro Y Moi
16:10 – 16:45 Trust
15:20 – 15:50 Rainy Milo
14.30 – 15.00 Ocho

LIGHTHOUSE STAGE – Hidden Agenda

21:15 – 22:45 Daphni
20:15 – 21:15 Simian Mobile Disco DJ set
19:15 – 20:15 Cyril Hahn
18:15 – 19:15 Flight Facilities
17:15 – 18:15 Bondax
16:15 – 17:15 Koreless
15:25 – 16:10 Mykki Blanco
14:30 – 15:20 New Jackson

The post Forbidden Fruit 2013 stage times appeared first on Nialler9.

The standout track from MMOTHS‘ Diaries EP gets a video by Jamie and Keith. Via Noisey.

The post MMOTHS – ‘All Of These Things’ feat. Holly Miranda (video) appeared first on Nialler9.

This week’s new music roundup contains tracks from the last three weeks due to by recent NYC trip. A roundup of 21 new music tracks, most not previously featured here that have been getting the new music veins pumping of late. The Best New Music Weekly playlist will be posted every Wednesday.

This week’s playlist includes new tracks from Koreless, Thundercat, Kate Boy, Terriers, Frank B, Jacques Greene, Wampire, Tieranniesaur, Joe Goddard, Harriet Brown, Ghosts, Creep and more.

The post Nialler9′s New Music weekly #3 appeared first on Nialler9.

I don’t think I’ve ever went to post a song before and thought to myself “this song should be number one EVERYWHERE” before but that’s how I feel about Daithí’s new single ‘Chameleon Life’ and it feels like the kind of song that could well do just that. The song’s irresistibly sunshine feel and Raye’s beautiful vocals set it into that kind of pop sphere. Add some Calvin Harris-esque synth euphoria and suddenly, the boy with the fiddle and electronics is starting to look like an electronic pop mastermind capable of a crossover hit. There’s an album forthcoming on Sony Music so expect more where this came from. For now though, let’s make this the Irish summer hit of the year? We should be proud of what we produce here and this is as good as anything you’ll hear coming in from abroad. The single is out in the first week in June.

The post Daithí’s ‘Chameleon Life’ should be a pop chart smash hit appeared first on Nialler9.

Jacques Greene’s productions most common trait is an enveloping warmth he injects between the arrangements through his use of carefully chosen synths and percussion. When paired up with Tom Krell How To Dress Well’s falsetto, both works wonders with ‘On Your Side’. This won’t be the last time you’ll hit play on this track.

‘On Your Side’ is on the EP of the same name. Pre-order it on iTunes and get the track as a download or get it via Bleep.

The post Jacques Greene feat. How To Dress Well – ‘On Your Side’ appeared first on Nialler9.

Darragh Nolan’s Sacred Animals remix for House Of Wolves turns the once, some Youth Lagoon

Los Angeles’ Rey Villalobos’ Fold In The Wind is a fine collection of brittle songs I wrote about on Nialler9 in August 2011. ‘Ageless’ featured on that record, and as one of the highlights, Darragh Nolan has remixed it into more of Youth Lagoon/Perfume Genius style ballad with the former’s widescreen vision and the latter’s intimate emotion. Nolan has done some other awesome things lately with Young Wonder (who had a new video today on Stereogum) and Last Days Of 1984.

The post House of Wolves – ‘Ageless’ (Sacred Animals remix) appeared first on Nialler9.

The post Exit: Pursued by a Bear are on the last two days of their Fundit campaign, here’s one reason why you should help appeared first on Nialler9.

Highlights: ASIWYFA, Mac DeMarco, Heathers, Young Wonder & Ham Sandwich in Christchurch,  David Kitt & friends, Suuns,  Space Dimension Controller, Krystal Klear…

Ticket freebies this week:

A pair of passes to Luke-Sital Singh (Wednesday), Sounds Of System Breakdown (Friday), Enemies / Andrew Weatherall & Sean Johnston aka A Love From Outer Space (Saturday). Full details of each show and how to enter below.

• How to enter - Email freebies@nialler9.com with the gig above in the Subject line you’re entering for along with your full name and phone number in the body before 5pm the day before the gig to enter.

If you’re looking for tickets to sold out gigs try #ticketfairy on Twitter.

Skip to day: Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon

Tuesday May 21st

•  John Smith @  Tower Records (free, 5:30pm)
  [Instore]  Singer/guitarist and Lisa Hannigan band member plays songs like ‘Salty And Sweet’
•  The Ruby Sessions: John Smith @  Doyle’s (€6, 9pm)
  [Acoustic]  Long-running acoustic weekly night with sometimes surprise special guests.

Wednesday May 22nd

• Alicia Keys, Miguel @ The O2 (€)
  [R&B] Blackberry’s creative director and the new Lionel Richie in the house.
• Luke Sital-Singh @ The Little Museum of Dublin  (€11.50, WIN TICKETS)
  [Folk] Promising young Londoner.

Thursday May 23rd

•  No Means No @ Whelan’s (€16)
  [Punk] An existential punk rock party.
• Pieta House Afterparty @ The Pygmalion (€6, €8 after midnight)
  [DJs] Johnny Moy, Kelly Anne Byrne, Ivan Varian, Gavin White, Colin Perkins.
• Spies @ Button Factory (€10 with CD, €8 without)
  [indie/rock] Launch of Distant Shorelines single with Myles Manley on support. 
• Junior Spesh: Beach, Terriers, MeltyBrains?, Peaks @ Twisted Pepper (€7,10:30pm)
  [Eclectic] Interesting lineup of Irish bands and electronic producers. 

Friday May 24th

Festivals

• Life Festival @ Belvedere House (€138 for weekend, Sunday €70)
  [Dance/Electronic] Features Leftfield, Modeselektor, Amon Tobin, Floating Points, Mmoths. Funkineven, Boddika and more. Lineup.
• Choice Cuts: Mixtapes From The Underground, Niwel Tsumbu, Leafzang, The Animators @ The Sugar Club ( €10)
  [Soul/rap] Part of the Dublin Soul Festival.

• Heineken Live Project: A$AP Rocky @ The Academy  (Sold out)
  [Rap] Dublin debut for Rocky.
• Moscow Metro @ The Workman’s Club  (€8)
  [Indie/rock] Limerick four-piece with The National-esque sound.
• Neighbourhood Wash: Jennifer Evans, Richie Jape @ The Joinery  (€8)
  [Folk] Presented by Donal Dineen.
• Teatronik, Ickis Mirolo, Zoid, Dorota Konczewska @ The Cobalt Cafe  (€6)
  [Electronic] Launch of ambient electronic duo’s debut album Teatronica.
• Gardiner Street Gospel Choir @ O’Reilly Theatre, Dublin (€15)
  [Modern choir] Launch of new Lift Your Voice EP covering contemporary songs.
• Sounds Of System Breakdown, Pikachunes, Liza Flume @ The Grand Social (€10, WIN TICKETS)
  [Indie/electronic] Launch of second album Nomad.
• The Riptide Movement @ Olympia  (€16.85)
  [Rock] I don’t get the appeal but there are enough of you who do to fill the next two nights in the Olympia.
• Craig Charles, DJ Kormac @ Twisted Pepper (€12, 10:30pm)
  [DJ] BBC6 Music DJ and Corrie actor plays Funk & Soul. He’s very good apparently.

Saturday May 25th

Festivals

• Life Festival @ Belvedere House (€138 for weekend, Sunday €70)
  [Dance/Electronic] Features Leftfield, Modeselektor, Amon Tobin, Floating Points, Mmoths. Funkineven, Boddika and more. Lineup.
• Dublin City Soul Festival @ Merrion Square Park  (Free, Noon – 6pm)
  [Festival] The Eskies, The Barley Mob, Fox E & The Good Hands, Hallelula Choir and more.

• Colours Afrobeat Orchestra feat. Tony Allen @ The Sugar Club  (€20)
  [Afrobeat] Part of the Dublin City Soul Festival. Live clips.
• HAIM  @ Whelan’s (Sold Out)
  [Pop] Three rock/pop sisters make Dublin debut.
• Widowspeak, His Clancyness @ The Workman’s Club (€12)
  [Rock] Dreamy rock’n'roll all-round.  ‘Locusts’ / ‘Machines’ 
• Enemies @ Button Factory (€10, WIN TICKETS)
  [Rock] Launch of Embark, Embrace album that was debuted right here.
• Andrew Weatherall, Sean Johnson @ Twisted Pepper (€15, 10.30pm, WIN TICKETS)
  [Electronic] Playing music as A Love From Outer Space.
• Hidden Agenda: Todd Terje @ Button Factory (€15, 11pm)
  [Dance] Inspector Norse man is definitely sick of that song. He has others though.

Sunday May 26th

Festivals

• Life Festival @ Belvedere House (€138 for weekend, Sunday €70)
  [Dance/Electronic] Features Leftfield, Modeselektor, Amon Tobin, Floating Points, Mmoths. Funkineven, Boddika and more. Lineup.
• Dublin City Soul Festival @ Merrion Square Park  (Free, Noon – 6pm)
  [Festival] Blood Red Mountain Band, Gardiner Street Festival, Bionic Rats, St. John the Gambler.

• Africa Day @ Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park (Free, 11am -5pm)
  Live] 2 stages of live music including Colours Afrobeat Foundation, Madu, Niwel Tsumbu’s The Multiverse, The Amazing Few, Gypsy Rebel Rabble, Stone & Jezreeol and a rap stage.
• Lana Del Rey @ Vicar Street (€44)
  [Melodramatic pop] LDR’s first Irish show. About time.
• Listen At Lilliput @ Lilliput Press (€8, BYOB)
  [Acoustic] Jennifer Evans, Charles Marshall, Annie-Marie O’Farrell.
• Biggles Flys Again @ The Stag’s Head (€6/€8)
  [Indie/pop] Listen to to Remember Saturday album.

Monday May 27th

• Lana Del Rey @ Vicar Street (€44)
  [Melodramatic pop] Lana added another show.

The post The Nialler9 Dublin Gig Guide // May 21st – 27th appeared first on Nialler9.

Electric Picnic:

Robert Plant Presents The Sensational Space Shifters (Zeppelin and new songs), Ellie Goulding, Little Green Cars, The Beat, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Terri Hooley, John Grant, Miles Kane, Matthew E. White, Crystal Fighters, Gavin James, Dawes, Factory Floor, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, Charli XCX, Cayucas, Lulu James, Night Beds, Space Dimension Controller, Valerie June, Chrome Sparks, Big Black Delta.

Meanwhile Castlepalooza added:

CSS, Tieranniesaur; Come On Live Long, Mr Whippy Soundsystem & Lex Woo, Born Cheating, Bentley Riddims, Overhead The Albatross, Watsonace And Tiny Vinyls All Now Confirmed With Meltybrains?, Benni Smiles And J Roots

The post Electric Picnic & Castlepalooza add to their lineups appeared first on Nialler9.

Nialler9 presents

Forbidden Fruit Opening Party

Gramme (DJ Set)
Ships (live)
TR-One (Disco Set)

The Button Factory
Friday May 31st 2013
Doors 11pm – late
Tickets €8/ Cheaplist €6: Comment on Facebook event.

Before Forbidden Fruit gets underway on the June Bank Holiday weekend of June 1st and 2nd, I’m delighted to present a Nialler9 Forbidden Fruit Opening Party on the Friday night where the emphasis is on DISCO.

There’ll be a live set from rising Dublin duo Ships who seriously impressed me with their new songs at Camden Crawl Dublin a few weeks back that I had to ask them back. There’ll also be DJ sets from UK disco punk and DFA Records/Hot Chip influencers Gramme and a special disco set from Carlow’s TR One who recently teamed up with David Kitt as Bande Apartment on a release of disco edits on Apartment Records.
Tickets €8/ Cheaplist €6: Comment on Facebook event.

Listen to the lineup below:

The post Nialler9 presents: Forbidden Fruit Opening Party with Gramme, Ships and TR One appeared first on Nialler9.

A producer from just outside Belfast, Ejeca has been increasing in visibility in recent months thanks to BBC Radio One support and his output of fine house tunes. On this John Newman remix, which comes across as a male companion piece to Frank B’s ‘Chain Of Fools’, he’s at his brightest yet with piano house chords, cutup vocal samples and bass synth notes.

iTunes link.

The post Belfast producer Ejeca remixes John Newman’s ‘Love Me Again’ appeared first on Nialler9.

‘Hoyle Road’ finds Pedestrian emoting with a James Blake-esque timbre before a whopping chime breakdown brings the track into another groove. This is a tune that has been on replay for a while now. It’s a big one.

Get it from Bleep or Beatport. There are also remixes of it by FaltyDL, Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka and Spectra Soul.

The post Pedestrian – ‘Hoyle Road’ appeared first on Nialler9.

Northern Irish producer Unknown has teamed up with White Collar Boy / Frank B vocalist Gemma Dunlovely for ‘I Cry’*, a new track on an EP of the same name on Belfast’s Champion Sound Recordings. ‘I Cry’ is a shuffling atmospheric downbeat garage track. The EP is out on vinyl at the end of June / July for digital and also features two more original tracks and a remix from fast-rising Northern Irish producer Ejeca.

* Track preview is encoded at 96kbps.

The post Unknown featuring Gemma Dunlovely – ‘I Cry’ appeared first on Nialler9.

My name is Niall Byrne. There are two other Niall Byrnes I regularly get confused with. It’s a common name in Ireland. One is a composer of TV and Film soundtracks. Another is Niall Byrne of The Redneck Manifesto, also one half of Visionair with Richie Egan. He is also Bill Blood.

Bill Blood is Byrne’s new project, which is simple compared to the busy post-rock style of the former and the electronic synthesizer focus of the later. Come Softly To My Wake is Byrne with just a voice and a guitar and some small embellishments.

Over the course of its 30 minute running time, Byrne explores a laid-back blues and folk acoustic style and 10 tracks, and most are unadorned from any great energy. Instead, there are light touches of electronics, organ and percussion, never high in the mix. Its mellow atmosphere feels as if it was recorded in a relaxed studio over a day and that’s what happened. It was recorded in a wintery afternoon with the help of Richie Egan while Neil O’Connor (Somadrone / The Rednecks) added some keyboards and light percussion.

It’s a suitable feel for songs exploring intimate universal topics on songs like ‘Being In Love’ (“Love is a beautiful thing that makes the weakest of us feel like a king”), ‘Evil Eye’, ‘Just Got Paid’ and ‘Bring On The Wolves’.

Come Softly To My Wake is released on May 30th 2013 on CD/MP3 on Temporary Secretary Recordings with a release gig on Saturday June 8th in Bewleys Cafe Theatre (Grafton St), with Richard Egan (Jape) and Dylan Phillips (Dinah Brand).

Bandcamp | Tumblr | Twitter

The post Listen to debut album from The Redneck Manifesto’s Niall Byrne as Bill Blood appeared first on Nialler9.

With the old Italo-disco master receiving props and likely becoming known to a whole new audience thanks to his appearance and track ‘Giorgio By Moroder’ on Daft Punk’s new album, Wriggly Scott put together a primer mix for Dazed featuring tracks from Moroder’s discography and the rap tracks by Cannibal Ox, El-P, DOOM and more he has been sampled in.

Tracklisting

Cannibal Ox – Iron Galaxy
Giorgio Moroder – Leopard Dream
Giorgio Moroder – Transformation Seduction
Giorgio Moroder – Irena’s Theme
Fulgeance – Glamoure
El-P – Feel Like A Ghost
Giorgio Moroder – To The Bridge
Giorgio Moroder – The Autopsy
Mobb Deep – G.O.D. Pt.III
DOOM – Gazzillion Ear
Giorgio Moroder – (Theme From) Midnight Express
Donna Summer – Love To Love You Baby
Digital Underground – Freaks Of The Industry
Giorgio Moroder – Paul’s Theme (Jogging Chase)
Giorgio Moroder – I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
Japan – Life In Tokyo (Extended Version)
Munich Machine – Space Warrior
Giorgio Moroder – I Wanna Funk With You Tonight
Giorgio Moroder – Lost Angeles
Giorgio Moroder – Chase
Donna Summer – I Feel Love
Giorgio Moroder – E=MC2
Giorgio Moroder – The Wheel
J-Dilla ft. Common – E=MC2
Giorgio Moroder – Tears
DJ Shadow – Organ Donor
Giorgio Moroder – Cacaphoney
Paul Engemann – Push It To The Limit

The post Listen to a Giorgio Moroder primer mix appeared first on Nialler9.

Mt. Wolf

Unrestrained atmospheric pop with electronic production methods seems to be the trend for upcoming UK bands right now and Mt. Wolf fit that description sounding a bit Florence vocally, a bit chillout musically and a bit James Blake-esque on the production end.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

Not only does this New York singer have a cool moniker but she also rocks a cool real name too – Aly Spaltro. The Brooklyn resident just released Ripley Pine, a collection of straight-arrow modern American folk music lead by Spaltro’s lively voice.

The Altered Hours

This psychedelic garage rock band outta Cork have been nodding heads in abundance down south. Their luscious viscous music harks back to late ’60s wave of psychotropic guitar bands as heard on the Sweet Jelly Roll EP.

Say Lou Lou

Having undergone a slight name change from St. Lou Lou, Australian twins Elektra and Miranda Kilbey teamed up with fellow Oz singer Chet Faker for a deft and dreamy new song Fool Of Me.

The post New music: Mt. Wolf, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, The Altered Hours & Say Lou Lou appeared first on Nialler9.

‘Sacrifice’ is what happens when experienced masters of dance music Simian Mobile Disco collaborate with fast-rising Belfast duo Bicep. The song is a slow-building techno house track which is a perfect assimilation of both duos sound. It’ll be released on 12″ and digital at the start of June backed with two “beatless” versions of the track. The two have played the same bills regularly in the last couple of years. This is a good track for the clubs.

The post Simian Mobile Disco and Bicep collaborate on ‘Sacrifice’ appeared first on Nialler9.

The post Mount Kimbie – ‘You Took Your Time’ (feat. King Krule) appeared first on Nialler9.

James Murphy, Nicolas Jaar, Kid Karate, Rootical Soundsystem and Doldrums are the latest additions to Body & Soul Festival. The festival takes place on June 21st-23rd, 2013 Ballinlough Castle in Co. Westmeath. Ticket info and poster below: Previous announcements: Main, first additions.

Tickets:

Three Day Camping tickets and Family tickets are available for €139, payable over two instalments with the first due tomorrow, Friday, 17th May and the second payable by Friday, 31st May. A family ticket permits entry for 1 adult and 2 children aged 12 or under (Adults without children are not permitted into Family Campsite).

Combined Event & Bus tickets are available, departing from Dublin (Custom House Quay) for €168. Bus schedules will be made available closer to the time. Visit www.bodyandsoul.ie

Day tickets for the Sunday are available for €55. A Combined Day & Bus ticket is also available for €84)
There are also a small number Campervan tickets still available for €50 but they are now nearly sold out!

The post James Murphy and Nicolas Jaar added to Body & Soul appeared first on Nialler9.

Watching the DFA Records Too Old To Be New, Too New To Be Classic short documentary this week really makes you feel a lot of love for the seminal label and its New York home. One of my favourite DFA bands, Holy Ghost! are back this year with Dynamics in the Autumn.

The band’s new single from the record is a perfect DFA record: hypnotic disco dance music along the lines of The Juan Maclean, Yacht, Shit Robot and Holy Ghost! themselves. The video, by Ben Fries for the track also uses the NYC skyline as an evocative backdrop.

Previously: ‘It Gets Dark’.

Watch the DFA documentary:

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Highlights: ASIWYFA, Mac DeMarco, Heathers, Young Wonder & Ham Sandwich in Christchurch,  David Kitt & friends, Suuns,  Space Dimension Controller, Krystal Klear…

If you’re looking for tickets to sold out gigs try #ticketfairy on Twitter.

Skip to day: Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon |

Tuesday May 14th

•  The Ruby Sessions @  Doyle’s (€6, 9pm)
  [Acoustic]  Long-running acoustic weekly night with sometimes surprise special guests.

Wednesday May 15th

• David Kitt, Bill Blood, Richie Egan @ The Odessa Club (€10, 8:30pm)
  [Acoustic] A rare mid-week show from Kittser with support from Jape and The Redneck’s Niall Byrne new guitar project
• And So I Watch You From Afar, Forrests, Charmers @ Whelan’s  (€14.50)
  [Rock] Album launch of All Hail Bright Futures with good support.
• Bruce Willis: Dark Sky, Cillo @ Lost Society  (€10)
  [Dance] Techno and post-dubstep.

Thursday May 16th

• Seti The First @ The Odessa Club (€10, 8:30pm)
  [Acoustic] Instrumental duo
• And So I Watch You From Afar, Toby Kaar, Simon Bird @ Whelan’s  (€14.50)
  [Rock] Album launch of All Hail Bright Futures with good support.
  
• Suuns @ The Grand Social (€16)
  [Indie] Montreal makers of dark alt music as heard on Images Du Futur. 
• Evening Songs: Ham Sandwich, Young Wonder, Heathers @Christchurch Cathedral (€22.50)
  [Indie] Each band will perform with the UCD Choral Scholars.
• Replete @ The Bernard Shaw (Free)
  [Electronic] Kilkenny electronic producer.
• Junior Spesh: DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad @ Twisted Pepper (€10,10:30pm)
  [Dance] Chicago Footwork & juke. Support Orquesta.

Friday May 17th

• A Lazarus Soul, Hedge Schools, The Instructions @ Whelan’s ( €7)
  [Rock] Lyrically-driven indie-rock.
• Senekah @ The Workman’s Club  (€10)
  [Indie] Melodic guitar pop. Sounds like this.
• Warehouse: Ejeca, Huxley, Colin Perkins & more @ The Hanover  (€15, BYOB)
  [Party] End of exams party.
• DJ Hype, Daddy Earl @ Twisted Pepper (€15, 11pm)
  [D&B] A Drum and Bass OG legend if thats a thing.

Saturday May 18th

• Daft Punk Random Access Memories @ Twisted Pepper  (Free, list, 8:30pm)
  [Playback]  Hear the year’s most audacious and divisive album of the year on proper speakers.
• The Lost Brothers @ Whelan’s  (€12)
  [Folk] Harmony-driven Americana.
• Rebekka Karijord @ The Workman’s Club (€16)
  [Chamber pop] Norwegian flightly songstress returns after last year’s successful show.
• Big Itch Club: Hot Colossus, Cave Ghosts, The Surfin Surfers @ The Thomas House (€4)
  [Rock] Garage rock and ’60s pop.
• The Ghandis, Red Sail, The Alpaca Jamboree, Kings & Cavaliers @ Little Green Cafe (€9)
  [Acoustic] Folk-leaning night with no amplifiers.
• Ulrich Schnauss @ Button Factory (€15)
  [Electronic] Studious electronica. Semi-seated.
• Horse Meat Disco, Space Dimension Controller @ Twisted Pepper (€15, 10.30pm)
  [Electronic] Excellent double header. First Dublin show for SDC since his electro-scifi album Welcome to Mikrosektor 50 was released.
• Hidden Agenda: Krystal Klear @ Button Factory (€7/€5, 10.30pm)
  [Dance] Electro-funk and boogie-influence Manchester-based Irish DJ.
• Ten Past Seven, Family Planning @  Whelan’s Upstairs  (Free before 11:30pm, €10 after)
  [Rock] Cork instrumental rockers lead the charge here.

Sunday May 19th

• 12 Sundays: The Asteroids of Doom @ The Bernard Shaw (Free)
  [Live] plus No Bread (live) and Louis Scully.
• Mac DeMarco @ The Workman’s Club (€12)
  [Indie] Power-pop of the Kurt Vile persuasion. Ode To A Viceroy.

Monday May 20th

• CHILL

The post The Nialler9 Dublin Gig Guide // May 14th – 20th appeared first on Nialler9.

Halves will return with a new album Boa Howl on July 5th the followup to their excellent 2010 album It Goes, It Goes (Forever & Ever). Recorded in Gothenberg by the core trio (Brian Cash, Elis Czerniak & Tim Czerniak.) onto 2″ reel-to-reel tape and mixed on a Neve mixing console (you may have seen it recently in Dave Grohl’s Sound City film). The record will feature Gemma Hayes as a guest as well as contributions from harpist Elaine Kelly-Canning and local Swedish string players.

The title Boa Howl refers to a summit on a mountain in China dubbed ‘White Boa Howl’, which the band felt captured the surreal nature of the songs. Musically, the album was inspired by a wide range of influences – from The Flamingos and Joe Meek, to Clouddead, to traditional Malian music and the 1950s orchestral arrangements of Gordon Jenkins.

‘Drumhunter’ sounds like it takes its cue from The King Of Limbs era Radiohead with its skittering rhythm, unfolding/folding arrangement and experimental jazz-leaning sound.

Boa Howl Track List

1. Drumhunter
2. The Glass Wreckage
3. Drip Pools
4. Tanager Peak (ft. Gemma Hayes)
5. Best Summer (ft. Carnival Moon)
6. White Boa Howl
7. Bring Your Bad Luck
8. Hug The Blood
9. Slow Drawl Moon (For David)
10. Polynia
11. Let Them Come

Boa Howl is out July 5th 2013 through HATEISTHEENEMY Records on CD, deluxe gatefold vinyl (with mp3 download), and digital.

The post Halves have a new album Boa Howl, hear ‘Drumhunter’ appeared first on Nialler9.

Update: Second date added to Monday June 17th. First gig sold out. Second sale tomorrow.

Danny Brown hits The Sugar Club as part of his Old & Reckless Tour on June 16th/17th. Tickets are €20 plus regular fees.Facebook Event. Poster below. Tickets on sale now.

The post Second Danny Brown Dublin show added appeared first on Nialler9.

Castlepalooza is back in Charleville Castle in Tullamore, Offaly for the eight year and they’ve left it til last to announce their lineup for the festival on August 2nd-4th. From A-Z:

Al Patron; And So I Watch You From Afar; Arman Giorgio; Bolts; Carried by Waves; Ceephax Acid Crew; Clodagh Murphy; CLU; CYMBALS; Daithí; DOGS; DoubleAgent7 DJs; Dunc4n; Ed Zealous; Elaine Mai; Enemies; Fight Like Apes; Frank B; Ghostpoet; Ghosts; Girls Names; Grouse; Halves; High Hat; JB the Deejay; Johnny Dread & Timothy Starr; JonK; Kid Karate; KUTMAH; Lasertom; Le Galaxie; Lil Dave; Little Bear; Liza Flume; Lowlek; Luke Vibert; Miracle Bell; Monto; Myles Manley; Nialler9; Princess; Redwoods; R.S.A.G; Seamus Fogarty; SertOne; Ships; Sisters; SOAK; Sorcha Richardson; Squarehead; The Chapters; The Niall McCabe Band; The Notas; The River Cry; Torann; Tu-Ki; Two Charming Men; VANN MUSIC; Walking on Cars; Well Known; Young Wonder.

The festival happens the same weekend as Oxegen and Indiependence in the relatively intimate surrounds of Charleville Castle and looks like the best lineup of the three for me. Tickets are €79 plus fee for a 3-day camping pass. And yes, I’ll be doing a DJ set on the Saturday night – should be fun.

The post Castlepalooza announce lineup: Ghostpoet, ASIWYFA, Le Galaxie, Cymbals and more appeared first on Nialler9.

The Cast Cheers’ lead singer Conor Adams has a new project with Dave Green called ‘Charmers’ which will get its live debut next week at And So I Watch You From Afar’s Dublin gig in Whelan’s on Wednesday May 15th alongside Forrests.

Listen to ‘All The World’, a not too dissimilar to The Cast Of Cheers track from the duo which has touches of QOTSA.

[ Facebook | Twitter ]

The post Intro: Charmers – The Cast Of Cheers’ Conor Adams new band appeared first on Nialler9.

Chance The Rapper

Hailing from the same city as Kanye, the music this Chicago rapper is releasing also echoes some of West’s early material. His new mixtape Acid Rap is showcases a sound cut from soul, funk and jazz, particularly the “acid jazz” variety.

Wampire

A Portland duo with a penchant for psychedelic pop music made with guitars, Rocky Tinder and Eric Phipps’ debut album Curiosity sounds like a lot of hazy indie fun.

Lauryn Hill

The formerly troubled Fugees singer and solo artist (who was just sentenced to jail time) returned with Neurotic Society, a hyper-fast dizzying rap track that proves Hill still has the considerable fire in her belly.

Salvia Plath

Summery laid back guitar music is the dominant vibe this week with the new awkwardly-titled project from Baltimore musician Michael Collins providing blissful lo-fi pop on new single House Of Leaves.

The post New music: Chance The Rapper, Wampire, Salvia Plath & Lauryn Hill appeared first on Nialler9.

Those familiar with Obaro Ejimiwe’s debut Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam will find much similar comforts on his followup Ghostpoet album; this is still music that draws on abstract sounds, electronics and poetic sentiment.

Some Say I So I Say Light conjures up an atmosphere of late-night desolated urban streets. The music seems to exist in the parts of city landscapes where people seldom tread: crumbling industrial rooms, cracked spaces, landfills of decaying unwanted rubble. In other words, Some Say I So I Say Light is evocative in its unsettled and distressed atmosphere.

It’s not just murky atmospheres it conjures up but murky sentiments of self-pity and despair courtesy of Ejimiwe’s always-relatable phrasing. ‘Cold Win’, the album’s first track uses brooding gentle synths and insistent bleep rhythms as a backdrop for hardship and struggle: “Saving up the pennys cos the city’s too gritty / Cooking French fries ain’t pretty” and “break my back all week for crumbs and abuse.”

An album highlight, ‘Them Waters’ has an urgency and foreboding to the music that is matched by Obaro insisting “Send me down the Thames.” Gwilym Gold provides the comforting assistance on the synth-spiralling ‘Dorsal Morsel’ that sounds like a Darkstar song while ‘MSI MusmiD’ wallows in static and bleeps with a rolling piano chords yet Obaro finding solace in noodles and dim sum.

Ghostpoet is at his most desolate on the final track, ‘Comatose’: “I feel lower than I’ve ever been / I feel the whole world has turned its back on me.” Despite the resigned tones of the first half of the track, the song finishes in a wonderful orchestral refrain that is simply uplifting. It’s an attestation that the album never feels morbid or depressing despite this disposition.

The most affecting parts of the album are the heartfelt songs dealing with a relationship breakup or a breakup of trust. ‘Dialtones’ and ‘Meltdown’ are my favourite track as they holds some really common-felt truths about such things. On ‘Meltdown’, the metallic percussion and ambient disquiet underpin Ghostpoet and Woodpecker Wooliams trading similar sentiments. “Can’t do forever friends cos something in my character grabs a hold of me and throws me out the car,” says Ejimiwe. “I feel it in my bones you know I don’t feel right” sings Wooliams.

Both songs detail the starkness of the deterioration of a relationship and both are effective in its their dual sadness and impending dread, but are not depressing just reality-facing. “It’s my bust up reality /… It’s my my constant calamity / That means I’m hearing dial tones,” sing Ejimie and guest Lucy Rose on ‘Dial Tones’.

The degradation of the relationship is further compounded on ‘ThymeThymeThyme’: “Maybe it’s time / To step outside, I know you sick of me.”

A studio album rather than a bedroom one, Obaro Ejimiwe is resoundingly clear rather than a mumbler here. And that studio adds other benefits. You can hear the effects of live drums courtesy of Charles Hayward on ‘Sloth Trot’ and on the live band track ‘Plastic Bag Brain’ with none other than Tony Allen on drums and The Invisible’s Dave Okumu providing the Afro-tinged rhythm.

While Ghostpoet might employ the piano and broken beats rhythm thing one too many times by the time you get to ’12 Deaf’, one thing is very clear. Ghostpoet is a master of small details and uses equanimity as a strength to paint an unsure but engrossing world of sound and words.

The post Album of the week: Ghostpoet – Some Say I So I Say Light appeared first on Nialler9.

The gig takes place in The Village (it’s been a while) on June 13th. Tickets on sale tomorrow. Tickets are €20 plus fees.

The post Chromatics & Glass Candy are playing Dublin appeared first on Nialler9.

Former Alphastates singer returns with an excellent debut solo album.

As former lead singer of Dublin band Alphastates, Cat Dowling has been doing this music thing for a while. On her debut album The Believer she sounds revitalised and focused. Alphastates music was a pleasing blend of electronic-infused pop but it was always a bit easier to admire than to love. Unbound by commitment to other musicians, Dowling’s lone creative vision works much better on The Believer.

Dowling attributes her new creativity to becoming a mother for the first time. “Motherhood is incredibly primal, raw, empowering and beautiful, but it’s also very grounding,” she says. “You no longer mess around with time.”

Dowling’s authorative and expressive voice leads proceedings which generally favour a live band feel employing guitar, piano and violin rather than Alphastates’ style electronica. The band includes producers Karl Odlum and Gerry Horan (formerly of Alphastates).

The Believer has a zip and pep to it. There’s no room for meandering when six tracks on the album are under three minutes. The result is a pleasing collection of songs, that sound like the convicted work of a singer and musician making the kind of music she wants to make.

Tour dates

Thursday 9 May – Bourkes Bar, Limerick
Saturday 11 May – The Grand Social Dublin (Album launch gig)
Tuesday 14 May – The Sky and the Ground Wexford (Candle Light Sessions)

The post Album premiere: Cat Dowling – The Believer appeared first on Nialler9.

Elena Tonra of Daughter in Derry. By Rich Gilligan

Tonight’s show will feature Luara Mvula, Palma Violets, Daughter, The Staves and George Ezra while you should look out for performances from John Grant, Villagers, Savages, Laura Marling, Little Green Cars, SOAK, Local Natives, This Is The Kit and much more.

Here are previous posts on the individual events:

Other Voices London: 5 reasons to watch (Watch the TV Special)
Other Voices Derry: 8 reasons to watch
Other Voices Dingle: Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four

Here are a couple of my highlights from all three location and see the schedule for each week below:

OTHER VOICES 11 – BROADCAST SCHEDULE 2013

Programme 1 (Wednesday 8th May) – 10.55pm
Laura Mvula
Palma Violets
Daughter
The Staves
George Ezra (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 2 (Wednesday 15th May) – 10.55pm

Beth Orton
Matthew E. White
Kodaline
Savages
Ghosts Estates (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 3 (Wednesday 22nd May) – 10.55pm
Imelda May
Owen Pallett
Laura Marling
Little Green Cars
Drenge (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 4 (Wednesday 29th May) – 10.55pm
Paul Buchanan
SOAK
Damien Dempsey
James Yorkston
Walking On Cars (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 5 (Wednesday 5th June) – 11.00pm
Marina & The Diamonds
John Grant
Gavin James
Josephine
Swords (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 6 (Wednesday 12th June) – 11.00pm
Villagers
The Unthanks
Bronagh Gallagher
Little Bear
Forrests (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 7 (Wednesday 26th June) – 11.20pm =
Dexys
Luluc
Jesca Hoop
The Strypes
Bleeding Heart Pigeons (IMRO Other Room)
The Riptide Movement (IMRO Other Room)

Programme 8 (Wednesday 3rd July) – 11.20pm
Neil Hannon
Stornoway
Local Natives
This Is The Kit
Ocho (IMRO Other Room)

The post Other Voices Series 11 starts on RTE 2 tonight – week by week breakdown appeared first on Nialler9.

Tieranniesaur are back with a second album of disco indie jams. Listen to it here.

Having spent the last two years bringing their block-rocking lo-fi disco indie tunes around Ireland, Tieranniesaur have regrouped for another round of “DIYSCO”.

As you would expect, DIYSCO is a collection of 12 upbeat tracks lead by the voice of Annie Tierney which add more of a forceful edge to the band’s sound. The title track and first single is a messy but endearing first representation of an album which reveals subtle expressions on the disco-indie format throughout on the starry-eyed alt-pop of ‘Maro Rides The Wave’, the synth-funk of ‘Chill Bros’, the good-time horn-assisted and brilliantly-titled ‘Looking Up The Skirts Of Giants’, the wavey-synth and strings rabbit-hole of ‘Horses With Melting Eyes’, the loose-rock glitter of ‘No Big Deal’ and the sweetness of ‘The Changeling’.

The outcome is a fine gathering of disco indie, as affecting and enjoyable as album one but with distinct indentity of its own. Come dance at the DIYSCO.

Tieranniesaur launch their album this Saturday May 10th in Whelan’s with support from Cave Ghosts. They are playing shows in Cork and Galway too this week. The album will be out on Popical Island on 12″ vinyl and digital download while a UK release comes out through Soft Power Records. The artwork is by, the awesome, M&E.

Tour dates

The Pavilion, Cork 9 May
Whelans, Dublin 10 May
Róisín Dubh, Galway 30 May
Forbidden Fruit 1 June
Seoda Shows @ Bourkes Bar, Limerick 6 June
Westport Festival, 29 June

The post Album stream premiere: Tieranniesaur – DIYSCO appeared first on Nialler9.

Show Your Teeth is out now on Feel Good Lost Records via iTunes or Bandcamp and the duo have live dates coming up in Christchurch Cathedral for Evening Songs with Heathers and Ham Sandwich (and a choir), Sea Sessions, Indiependence, Latitude, Longitude, Castlepalooza and Strange Brew’s Cruise. More info.

The post Listen to Young Wonder’s Show Your Teeth EP appeared first on Nialler9.

Where Enemies‘ first album, the Richter Collective-released We’ve Been Talking revelled in melodic instrumental rock and was definable by those parameters, Embark, Embrace is notable for the way in which the songs are less predictable than before. The muted melodic vocals from Conor Adams of The Cast Of Cheers on ‘Executive Cut’, the shimmer gauze on ‘Coral Castle’, the ambient bleeps aided by Heathers’ choral vocals on ‘Nighthawks’, the jaunty xylophone-sound of ‘Moesha’, the unfurling gentle build of ‘North West’ with Croupier’s Oisin Murphy on singing duties and the guitar-funk of ‘Indian Summer’ add previously unheard qualities to their music. Yet Embark, Embrace features the things that are recognisable as Enemies: a emphasis on melody regardless of instrumental focus underpinned by distorted and expressive guitars and drum rhythms. The album is a recalibration of the appeal of the band. Listen:

Embark, Embrace is out on May 10th on Heavyweight Records. Buy it at enemies.bigcartel.com/

Album Artwork by Mark O’Brien:

Track List

01. Intro
02. Executive Cut (feat. Conor Adams of The Cast Of Cheers)
03. Unit Shifter
04. Beacher
05. Indian Summer
06. Coral Castle
07. Nighthawks (feat. Heathers)
08. Moesha
09. Love Unlimited
10. Northwest (feat. Oisín Murphy of Croupier)

Tour Dates

May 16th – Roisin Dubh – Galway
(Free show – Free tickets online before may 15th, €10 after)
May 18th – The Paviliion – Cork – €5 on the door
May 23rd – The Speakeasy – Belfast – Free Show
May 25th – The Button Factory – €10

The post Album premiere: Enemies – Embark, Embrace appeared first on Nialler9.

Yesterday, I attended a playback of the new Daft Punk album in Dublin. Those in attendance were allowed to listen to it once and once only before it was taken away. First impressions?

Is this album any good? Sadly, no. Those of you hoping for a defining pop album Of Our Times, forget about it. Those of you who think ‘Get Lucky’ is one of the singles of the year (like me) and were hoping for an album chock full of tracks that could unite any crowd? That’s not what Random Access Memories is. In fact, ‘Get Lucky’ is the only single in the traditional sense of the word. Those of you, buoyed by the presence of Nile Rodgers on three tracks who were hoping for a modern disco classic? Nope, not even Rodgers’ midas touch could making that happen. Those of you who were hoping for something similar to Homework or Discovery, keep dreaming and some day it might happen.

“Was there no executive producer present to tell them to “rein it fucking in lads”?

So what are we left with? Random Access Memories is a prog-funk record. I reiterate: it’s not a pop album. It’s not a dance album. It’s not a funk album. It’s a PROG-FUNK album. It mines the music of the uncool past. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter have made a hammy, ridiculous, overlong ’70s-inspired album. There’s a reason we left those sounds behind. Random Access Memories is cheesy as fuck, it’s boring in parts, it’s amazing in others. It yearns to touch your heart but it just ends up tickling your ears with a kitsch feather. Was there no executive producer present to tell them to “rein it fucking in lads”? What the hell happened? Everything on it SOUNDS amazing but it’s hard to imagine who this will appeal to. Ironic lovers of schlock pop? It’s the kind of record you have to hear at least once because you may not believe your ears. In the hours that passed since yesterday, I feel like I experienced some weird fever dream where my brain imagined how wide of the mark the album could get.

Much of the album is mid-tempo which is a big problem for a Daft Punk record. The album features no samples so it’s all live instruments played in a studio. The default setting throughout is prog-funk-lite: the funk provided by Nile Rodgers and Paul Jackson Jr’s guitar licks and the prog is provided by almost omnipresent gentle keys. A lot of the songs feature Daft Punk’s trademark vocodered vocals.

The album’s opening track starts more like a stadium rock band with the awkward refrain of “let the music of your life give life back to music” and all of the above characteristics are present. It’s quite a traditional song that ends with a good time funk jam.

All too often, the album tracks stick to that prog-funk template with little variation. ‘The Game Of Love’ injects ’70s melancholy R&B sounds into its meandering length. ‘Within’ adds the elegant piano by Chilly Gonzales and ends up sounding like a mangled robot fronting a decent wedding band. ‘Beyond’ begins like the sprawling orchestral intro to an MGM film but it gives way to a prog-funk groove. I don’t remember much about “Motherboard” from the one listen other than it is a prog-funk instrumental and I scrawled “WTF?” in big black pen on the page during it.

“All too often, the album tracks stick to that prog-funk template with little variation.”

When that template is broken, in fairness to Daft Punk, they really try to push the boat out. The problem is, it just feels ridiculous rather than audacious. The album’s most successfully audacious track ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ begins with the famous electronic music producer in a monologue for a few minutes underpinned by live band funk before a breakdown happens when he says “my name is Gianni Giorgio, but everyone calls my Giorgio”. Heralded by a click track, these gorgeous Moroder synths arrive in all their retro-edged glory. But then, this horrible jazz piano almost ruins the retro futuristic vibe by dragging it into a shitty hotel bar and having its loungey way with it. Then the orchestral strings begin and it all comes together in one big crashing drum hi-octane ride. At nine minutes, it’s about two minutes too long. How can one song be so ridiculous and amazing all at once? The song needs a DJ edit, that’s for sure.

The album’s other long-running track ‘Touch’ is just ridiculous. Paul Williams has written songs for The Muppets and David Bowie but it’s the former that is more readily a reference with Williams’ dramatic delivery coming across as somewhat laughable (indeed, quite a few people laughed out loud during this song). The song itself is a cosmic space soundtrack interlude that runs and runs with soulful horns and jazzy sounds that conjures up images of Malibu and lounging on the Sunset Strip (or what I associate that to be like). And just when you think it’s over, Williams chimes in AGAIN about “wanting more” and needing “to touch”. Like the end credits of Star Wars, ‘Touch’ just keeps going long after people have stopped paying attention.

Elsewhere on the guest front, Julian Casablancas sings over a hi-tech 8-bit version of a Strokes song with bass and synth that soon becomes ploddingly dull on ‘Instant Crush’. Pharrell’s falsetto doesn’t do much on the funk-lite ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’ which sounds like a song the band fell upon while improvising and didn’t really do anything more with. It’s repetitive but not in a good “dance music” way. By contrast, ‘Get Lucky’ is like a transmission from the world of pop. Tight, succint and universal, everything that the rest of the album is not. There’s a reason it’s the only song heard in the Collaborators video series.

“‘Get Lucky’ is like a transmission from the world of pop. Tight, succint and universal, everything that the rest of the album is not.”

Dance music enthusiasts hoping for a repeat or similar from the Todd Edwards-fronted ‘Fragments Of Time’ to ‘Face To Face’, I’ve got bad news for you. The song is also West Coast prog-funk but at least it’s direct this time rather than rambling in the way that it actually could be played on the radio or be released as a single, not something that can be said for most of these tracks.

The album’s most obvious highlight (other than ‘Get Lucky’) on one listen is ‘Doin’ It Right’. Panda Bear’s appearance highlights what’s wrong with the rest of the album. He’s a vitalic presence among these legends and collaborators; sounding full and alive. He comes correct with a transcendent vocal performance which is the first time vocally, that the album feels like it features human emotion, something that thematically appears in the lyrics throughout. Singing in a beautiful and uncharacteristically clear tone, Panda Bear sings over a robotic hook and the combination is really quite beautiful. And it’s something that is different for Daft Punk too. It’s the only time I really felt connected to the album rather than wondering what the hell was going on.

” Have these perfectionist producers actually polished a turd?”

The album finishes with ‘Contact’ which features the only sample on the album (from the Apollo 17 mission) an aural journey out of the stratosphere that culminates in spiralling synths and an almost Stadium drum and bass rhythm in some kitsch interplanetary liftoff.

Is Random Access Memories what happens when you leave revered technically meticulous dance music producers the key to a vintage studio from another era? Is this what happens when you let those same producers dictate musical legends that they respect too much? Meandering music and a shocking lack of self-editing? A mining of music past that has had its time. They played their instruments throughout. How RADICAL.

Obviously, I have only had one listen and all of the above are first impressions of a very silly-sounding album. It does not sound like a great album on the basis of a single listen. I’d like to think I will be proved wrong but I know people are going to be asking the same questions as myself when they hear it. Maybe these kitsch sounds need more time to appreciate? Have these perfectionist producers actually polished a turd? Random Access Memories won’t unite us like the hints of the disco album. It won’t unite us like great pop music. It won’t unite us like a rush of euphoria at a dance gig. At least we’ll always have ‘Get Lucky’ I guess. :|

The post First Listen: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories appeared first on Nialler9.