State Magazine

Marlena Shaw for Dublin show in March

Niall Byrne — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:21:38 +0000

The lady most famous for ‘California Soul’ and a host of other soul and R&B numbers, Marlena Shaw is to play Crawdaddy, Dublin on Tuesday March 16th.

In recent years, she’s been sampled by DJ Shadow and Jay Rock and remixed by Diplo.

Tickets €24.50/28.50 available from Ticketmaster, City Discs, Road Records and usual outlets. www.ticketmaster.ie

The Low Anthem – Vicar Street, Dublin

Damien McGlynn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:09:32 +0000

Almost precisely two months has passed since the last time I visited Vicar Street so I can only assume that a decision was made in the interim to make regular, booming announcements around the building urging the public to step right up, step right up and see the incredible musical talents of Brown Bird and the infamous Low Anthem, but don’t forget to stop at the bar and drink, drink, drink! The overwhelming feeling that we were riding the bumper cars at Funderland was in the starkest of contrasts with the respectfully quiet atmosphere in the venue. Though the show was moved from Whelan’s due to demand, the larger venue was only about two-thirds full (with the balcony closed off) but this contributed to the reverential silence during the performance during which I believe you could hear someone in the crowd shifting their weight from one leg to the other such was the stillness in the air.

The band, complete with recent addition Dan Lefkowitz, began their set with the kind of songs that warranted such appreciation with tracks like “To The Ghosts Who Write History Books” and the majestic “Charlie Darwin” from their 2009 album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. The much-lauded album is an exercise in diversity with the band swinging from the aforementioned tracks of slow, sweet, folk tunes to the raucous blues rock of the roadside-bar band that occasionally threatens to burst out of the onstage. Front man Ben Knox Miller explains early on that they will be playing three types of songs – ones from their most recent album, old American folk songs and new songs they’ve been working on. The reality is that the show is all about the three different voices that Miller possesses and utilizes to perfection at times.

Versatility is the cornerstone of the night’s performance as Miller jumps from incredible, high-pitched sweet tones to a monstrous growl while each member of the quartet tries their hand at an unending array of instruments. Even the seasoned gig-goers in the crowd that thought they had seen enough multi-instrumentalist bands in their time will have been impressed by the delicate use of clarinets, horns and trumpets not to mention the bowed musical saw and crotales. The audience were even invited to use their phones to call the person beside them and place the handsets against each other while set on speakerphone, helping to create an impressive backing track of robotic-sounding cricket chirps. With the aid of support act, Brown Bird, the whole band bellowed out a few more songs reminiscent of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack to help close out a set that was as rapturously received as it was attentively enjoyed.

Photos by Damien McGlynn.

Rain Machine (Kyp Malone of TVOTR) for The Academy

Niall Byrne — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:20:10 +0000

TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone brings his solo side-project (with live band) Rain Machine on Thursday 15th April for a show at The Academy. Tickets are on sale tomorrow priced €18.50 inclusive of booking fee.

Marina & The Diamonds albums

Phil Udell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:40:32 +0000

Next Friday sees the much anticipated release of the debut album from Marina & The Diamonds, entitled The Family Jewels. Featuring the singles ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Mowgli’s Road’ plus re-recordings of old tracks ‘I Am Not A Robot’ and ‘Obsessions’, it’s already garnering an enthusiastic reaction. You’ll have to wait a little longer to see what State’s James Hendicott makes of it but for now we have five copies to give away, with thanks to those lovely people at Warners. To win just tell us Marina’s surname and email your answer and address to giveaway@state.ie by 5pm on Friday 19th February, the album’s release date.

Love Music Hate Racism ‘Plugged’ session this Thursday

Patrick Conboy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:12:32 +0000

Love Music Hate Racism continue their series of gigs with a monthly ‘Plugged’ session at Dublin bar Le Cirk. For the inaugral night this Thursday, acts will include Ka Tet, Radical Picnic and an acoustic performance from Dave Clark. The live performances will be followed by a DJ set from iStandConnected.

Entry is free, with music starting at 8pm until late.

The Scoop Foundation hosts big gig in The Academy

Niall Byrne — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:29:11 +0000

The Scoop Foundation aids to support and fund primary education and life skills for impoverished children and teenagers in places like India, Uganda and Dublin. To celebrate the launch of their website and raise awareness of the charity, they are holding a two-room gig in The Academy on the 19th of March with a big lineup.

Playing on the night are: Valerie Francis, MC Ophelia & Red Square, Le Galaxie, The Rags, Bare Audio, Adrian Crowley, Ann Scott, The Ambience Affair, The Gandhis, Scribble Orchestra and Jobot with more acts to be announced.

Alison Curtis from Today FM, Jon Averill and 110th Street will be DJing afterwards til late. Tickets are €12 from www.ticketmaster.ie.

ABOUT THE SCOOP FOUNDATION
The SCOOP Foundation (Save Children Out Of Poverty) was founded in June 2008 after founder Andy Sweeney returned from travelling Asia. He had worked at an orphanage in Cambodia and came back determined to raise some much needed funds for them. He wanted to try and have a similar impact on their lives as they had on his.

The primary aim of the SCOOP is to support and fund primary education and life skills for impoverished children and teenagers. We wish to take on schools which donors can interact with, where they can see exactly how their money is being utilised; schools where people with a certain skill or craft can pass on their knowledge in an effective and direct manner; schools where disadvantaged and impoverished children and teenagers get the chance to fulfill their potential whatever that may be.

Another aim is to create a hub and platform for others to get involved and play a part in changing the lives of these children and the schools. We feel it’s time for a new type of charity in Ireland, one that takes on visible and effective projects (schools, workshops etc) at grass roots level, and works hard not to squander funds or trust.

We have worked closely with A-Z Children’s Charity based in Uganda and Basic Human Needs in India. The A-Z focus on the plight of children in Uganda and at present are trying to build a state of the art AIDS clinic for children there. Basic Human Needs are a group of artists from Cork who have set up the School of Life in India- a school for street kids where they learn basic life skills and receive and education. We support the School of Life also.

Funds go to the above mentioned charities and schools, plus towards a DJ workshop for troubled teenagers in Dublin.
The SCOOP Foundation are also looking into a few micro projects in Uganda like a home for a family of 19 kids, a football team, a sewing school for young girls and believe it or not a skate park!

http://www.myspace.com/scoopcharity

The SCOOP Foundation
(Save Children Out Of Poverty)

Sarsparilla – Slave To The Cat Gang

Adam Lacey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:25:18 +0000

Listening to the music of Damien Lynch, AKA Sarsparilla, it’s a pretty quick mental (or aural) journey back to the 1980s where theme songs from M.A.S.K., Miami Vice, The Equalizer, Airwolf and the original TV show of V (which I was never allowed to watch) featured as the soundtrack to a most-certainly-not-forgotten era.

Given our current generations’ propensity to periodically bring the fashion, music and lingo of decades past into our 21st century lives – often with a knowing nod-and-wink – there’s an invigorating lack of irony to Sarsparilla’s work on Slave To The Cat Gang, his third album after Karahee and the web-released Day Rider.

On top of an appreciation for numerous TV shows and films of more than 20 years ago – John Carpenter being an obvious influence – Lynch also clearly loves the sounds, grooves, textures and vibe of classic ’80s synth music by artists like Vangelis and the Human League, as well as hip-hop of the same era.

Tracks like opener ‘Diamond Dagger’ and ‘Pop N Rock’ bring with their vintage synthesised sounds recollections of period US cop shows, where a freeze-frame and name-caption introduced us to the moustached/sideburned (often both) lawmen.

‘Bring Them Then’ is real ‘bad-guy’ music – all marching beat and pummelling synthesised line with a dose of menace, while ‘Once When’ is full of ‘I Got My Mind Set On You’ beginnings that expand brilliantly, and with typically chunky analogue flavours, on what is quite a straightforward melody.

Slave To The Cat Gang even gives a slight tip of the hat to classic ’80s Jacko and with ‘Silver Horses’ it’s as if dark disco has never been away.

Years ago, this writer worked in a restaurant whose front window view included Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and, on the same street, was a club owned by sockless ’80s Miami Vice lothario, Don Johnson. One day he decided to close down the entire street to throw a massive private party for what must have been his 84th birthday (at least) and it’s likely that, were he to be throwing a similar bash in 2010, it’s to Sarsparilla he would turn to provide the vintage tunes.

Now, where did I put my auto-reverse walkman?

Random Posts

Video: The Who Superbowl performance

Phil Udell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:07:54 +0000

Although there still seems something strange in having a full blown rock gig in the middle of a sporting event, it can’t be argued that The Who didn’t turn in a powerful performance last night…

And for sports fans, here’s the moment the New Orleans Saints took the game…

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Dante’s Inferno – X360, PS3

John Walshe — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:52:43 +0000

OK, we know it’s only February, but we’re already predicting that Dante’s Inferno is going to be one of the games of 2010. This uber-violent hack ‘n’ slash epic is one of the most addictive titles we’ve set thumbs on in months, and after Assassin’s Creed 2, Dragon Age Origins and Modern Warfare 2, that’s really saying something.

EA’s development team obviously spent more than a few hours with Sony’s God Of War series (State’s favourite games ever, by the way), and the result is a game that owes a massive debt to the adventures of Kratos – which in our opinion is a good thing. Based very loosely on the Inferno part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, the game sees the player descending through the nine circles of Hell in a bid to free his love, Beatrice, from Lucifer and his minions.

The Dante of the game, however, is very different from the Florentine poet of antiquity: he’s a pretty buff holy warrior, who returns from Richard the Lionheart’s crusades to find his family massacred and the love of his life trapped in Hell, and all because our hero couldn’t keep his sins in his pants. Vowing to save his soulmate from the depths of the afterlife, Dante cheats Death and thus begins his descent through a nightmarish Hell, which is rendered in deliciously grotesque detail – those of a gentle disposition would be advised to steer well clear of these rivers of blood, truly horrific beasts and gore-spattered levels.

Equipped with Death’s scythe for close combat and a host of fiery crucifixes for ranged attacks (as well as garnering magical abilities en route), our anti-hero traverses vast cities of the dead, deserts of destruction and caverns of creatures almost too horrible for words. Indeed, the monster design here is second to none, from the grossly obese Gluttons to the truly disturbing blade-wielding Unblessed Infants. Perhaps the most memorable scenes, however, involve Dante taking control of one of the enormous beasties and stamping, crushing and incinerating his foes from the back of the giant demon. There are also some pretty impressive boss fights, some of which involve members of Dante’s own family, en route to the final showdown with Lucifer himself.

Along the way, you also get to meet various former living luminaries like Pontius Pilate, Orpheus and Helen of Troy, who you can choose to punish or absolve of their sins. The choices you make dictate whether you progress in the holy or unholy arts, each of which comes with distinct upgrades, which you can purchase in exchange for the souls you amass by destroying the demonic hordes.

The gameplay is mostly of the hack and slash variety, with a modicum of puzzle solving and platforming thrown in – although more of his would have been welcome. Another minor quibble is the fact that the inability to alter the camera angle does make some of the platforming action a little awkward.

The game looks amazing, with some of the finest locations and character models ever created (like a living, breathing Hieronymous Bosch painting), and the sound quality is suitably disquieting (especially the pleas from those souls trapped inside the various cages you have to use as climbing frames). A little more effort on the puzzle-solving and it would have been near perfect, but as it stands, Dante’s Inferno has more than enough going on to keep you awake at night… for multiple reasons.

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The Saboteur – X360, PS3

John Walshe — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:49:37 +0000

If, like State, you grew up on a diet of boys’ comics like Warlord, Victor and Commando, then The Saboteur is the game for you. EA’s latest free-roaming action adventure combines two of State’s favourite things: shooting Nazis and driving real fast. Seriously, set in WWII-era Paris, this game looks incredible, has some fairly impressive elements (such as changing from black and white to colour – more of which later), and enjoys a massive playing area enough decent variation in the gameplay to keep you coming back for more.

You play Sean Devlin, an Irish racing driver-cum-thief, who just happens to be in Paris when the Germans blitzkrieg their way into town. Having seen his best friend tortured and gunned down by a merciless Nazi officer, our cod-Oirish hero (with the worst accent this side of Far And Away), descends into whiskey and self-pity, before a French author-turned-resistance fighter co-opts him into standing up to the Nazi war machine.

What this means, in real terms, is that you get to blow things up. Lots of things. Almost too many things. There are literally hundreds of Nazi targets dotted around France for you to attach dynamite to, from propaganda speakers to sniper towers, tanks to petrol stations. Every time you destroy one of these emblems of the Third Reich, you earn contraband points, which you then get to spend on the black market, acquiring guns, ammo, maps and various other upgrades to help you on your not-so-merry trail of destruction.

Of course, as well as the casual mayhem, there are also a host of serious missions to complete, including jobs for the British Secret Service, a rogue priest and France’s various resistance leaders. These vary from destroying major Nazi installations, where you sometimes get to man massive AA guns and take down Zeppelins, to rescuing prisoners, assassinating German top brass and even helping atomic scientists defect to the Allies.

The graphics are absolutely beautiful, with Paris (and a good chunk of France) rendered in pristine period detail – every occupied zone is initially black and white, until you raise French morale to the point where the locals start to stand up to their oppressors, when the colour is restored to the streets. The sound is superb, even if the voice-acting is a little hammy (did we mention Devlin’s appalling accent enough times?), although it does deserve kudos for being the only game we’ve ever played where the hero calls his Aryan nemesis a “motherless arseface knobjockey”.

OK, so the gameplay is taken from the Grand Theft Auto school of free-roaming missions, either in car or on foot, but the look and feel of this game are enough to lift it above being another GTA clone, while the plot, featuring beautiful Nazi vixens, tyrannical sadistic torturers, exotic dancers, fast cars and shady spies, could have come straight from the pages of an Alastair Maclean novel.

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Gig round-up: Idlewild, Flock Of Seagulls, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, The Courteneers

Phil Udell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:19:29 +0000

More gig announcements for the coming months:

* Idlewild – Dublin Academy, Thursday 29th April
* A Flock Of Seagulls – Dublin Tripod, Wednesday 27th October
* Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Cork School Of Music, 1st April; Navan The Palace, 3rd April; Dublin Academy 4th April
* The Courteeners – Dublin Academy, Tuesday 30th March; Belfast Speakeasy, Wednesday 31st March

Band Of Horses to support Snow Patrol

Phil Udell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:01:11 +0000

Band of Horses and General Fiasco have been announced as the first supports for Snow Patrol’s huge outdoor show at Ward Park, Bangor on Saturday 5th June. Tickets £44 including booking fee are on sale now, with more supports due to be announced.

Chic add second May date

Niall Byrne — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:50:18 +0000

The legendary Nile Rodgers-led disco group have added a second date on Saturday 28th of May in addition to their show on the 29th of May. Tickets are €37.50/42.50 (inc. booking fee) available from Ticketmaster, City Discs, Sound Cellar and usual outlets. www.ticketmaster.ie from tomorrow.

Analogue presents Zomby

Niall Byrne — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:27:56 +0000

Analogue Magazine are bringing over dubstep producer / raver presents Zomby on March 19th to the Twisted Pepper.

It’ll be a rare live appearance from the man who has released different types of music on three different labels – Ramp, Hyperdub and Werk. It kicks off at 11pm with tickets €8 in the presale and €10 on the door.

His chiptune Zelda-esque dub sound

His ravey stuff from album Where were you in 92?

Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here

Conor McCaffrey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:21:12 +0000

I’m New Here’s opening two minutes will stop you dead in your tracks every time you hear it – even if you repeat it over and over again, and you will. The intro ‘On Coming from a Broken Home’ beautifully ushers in the record on a wave of electronic murmurs and submerged synths before Gil Scott-Heron’s voice, that voice, gets a few things off his chest. This is his first record since Spirits in 1994 and the last 16 years haven’t been kind – a nine-circle spiral of jail, addiction and illness that’s just about reduced him to mere Pieces of a Man. I’m New Here is Gil Scott-Heron’s long walk out of the wilderness.

Straight up, he makes no bones about how he got to be Here, 50-odd years since Lillie Scott (“not your room service typecast black grandmother”) raised him after he “moved in with her temporarily/ just until things were patched/ until this was patched until that was patched/ until… I became the patch that held Lillie Scott”. This “special tribute” is worlds away from his hectoring poetry and proto-rap from 1970 when he emerged as A New Black Poet, fist in the air, on his debut Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. A raging furnace, spitting out the bullshit from America’s “toilet bowl”, contrasting the deprivation of the ghetto with the alienating sight of ‘Whitey on the Moon’.

Four decades on, his call to arms ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ has been covered, sampled and referenced thousands of times, and his indelible fingerprints are all over popular culture – from Richard Pryor’s counterculture comedy and Public Enemy’s militant hip-hop, to Saul Williams’ spoken word forays and the rise of poetry slams worldwide. So he’s got a soul and a legacy worth saving, and XL label boss Richard Russell has taken a gamble that’s paid off. In a move echoing Rick Rubin’s guiding hand on Johnny Cash, he visited the beaten poet in jail a few years ago and offered to sign him to XL and produce a record – an offer Scott-Heron couldn’t really afford to refuse. Like he says on the title track (a Smog cover): “No matter how far wrong you’ve gone/ you can always turn around.”

Scott-Heron once described his art as “bluesology – the science of how things feel”. This alchemy is present all over I’m New Here, whether it’s stark electronic string arrangements, simple acoustic strumming or raggedy piano that’s backing Gil’s weather-beaten vocals. ‘I’ll Take Care of You’ is a bar-room lament that could jolt one of Tom Waits’s hobos into digging deep for small change, while ‘Where Did the Night Go’ is a paranoid tick-tock on a single distorted bass note, “as the clock washes midnight away”. ‘Your Soul and Mine’ (a new take on his own poem ‘The Vulture’) and Robert Johnson’s ‘Me and the Devil’ are rebooted as stark dubstep and hip-hop soundcsapes – the blues standards making the switch to digital without causing a crash.

Even though the tracks here, covers included, are explicitly autobiographical, it’s not some sort of phony Oprah couch exorcism for Scott-Heron. In one of the album’s five spoken word interludes he admits: “If I hadn’t been as eccentric, as obnoxious, as arrogant, as aggressive, as introspective, as selfish… I wouldn’t be me.” He’s not fishing for sympathy or shying away from his past: “I always feel like running/ not away, because there’s no such place.” These skits are just snatches of Scott-Heron shooting the breeze while Russell got the words on tape, maybe just in case. They punctuate the poems and songs perfectly and follow the same themes, of the artist holding up his hands and saying: “Hey, this is who I am.”

At 28 minutes, I’m New Here never feels like slim pickings – it’s taut, an emotional sucker punch, and inspired wailing blues like ‘New York Is Killing Me’ is proof that Gil Scott-Heron’s furnace is still stoked. I’m New Here feels like two fingers to Scott-Heron’s own prophecy; hopefully the revolution will be a rerun brothers – this could be another shot at the title.

New Gil Scott-Heron video – Me And The Devil

State Magazine

Marlena Shaw for Dublin show in March

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The Low Anthem – Vicar Street, Dublin

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Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here

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