‘Portals’ exudes that idea by repackaging a classic rhythm you can really throw your back into, beat juggling inspired vocals cuts, some light scratching and the flat-out swagger of a “hip-hop will never die” sample. It reads like an homage to hip-hop and turntablism, updated for the bass music generation.

None of the tracks on here are straight-forward and the authors engagement with truths in a melancholic and complex world is evident throughout. Hints of this complexity can be discerned from the R. A. Wilson problem that lends the release its title and the philosophical axioms that are scattered throughout; sometimes offering dystopian imagery, sometimes comfort and clarity. Similarly, a light scratching of the surface of ‘She Always Lets Me Leave’ reveals a scary world where the hope that comes from dusting yourself off and trying again. It’s a highlight.

The thematic density throughout is suitably paralleled by the lush full-bodied nature of the music itself. ‘Sweaty Dreams of Bate Kush’ descends to a dark place, dripping with smokey seduction where the ritualistic ambience and swirling piano loops have an entrancing effect. All this before we are dropped headfirst into what is best described as the greatest ten second montage of ‘Johnny’ themed samples you’re ever likely to hear. Because this release isn’t all doom, far from it. ‘Poppadoms Do Delivery’ places us firmly on an eastern mission for kicks around town at max speed. ‘Ice Cube’s Momma is Doris’ is reminiscent of the fun of ’80s electro-hip-hop and ’00s crunk. Diversity abounds throughout.

It’s a year since the last MyNameIsJohn release and the steps he’s taken in that year have resulted in a fuller and more sonically impressive product. On an artistic level, the ambition of the project as a whole is to be commended. This release points throughout to the surprises that life throws up, whether they are difficult, fun or worrying. The point is perhaps to stop and be ‘the thinker’ that the title points to, an idea with great relevancy in this, the era of system meltdown.

The Thinker and the Prover is out now on Stress, Debt & Chestpains for free or by donation. http://stressdebtchestpains.bandcamp.com/

More than psychedelic, Islet’s music is primal and instinctive, with bursting drums defining the pace of your blood flow (sweaty krautrock on ‘Libra Man’, freaky noisy-pop à la Deerhoof on ‘This Fortune’) and moves in chameleon ways between alcoholic chillout and collective fury. They don’t even take themselves seriously (the gliding and clownish ‘Shores’) and when they do try to sound like more grounded bands, it’s like Vampire Weekend taking acid.

Illuminated People is never what you’d imagine and often what you wished for: adventurous and original. It seems like the free spirits of art-pop (Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, Bear in Heaven) finally have a British brother to hang out with and he’s quite the turbulent sibling.

Sadly, that’s where the interesting element ends, with the few great upbeat R&B tracks drowned out by a lot of ballads. Frustratingly, Sandé has all the raw materials – a proven track record as a songwriter and a beautiful, powerful, soulful voice. All these are evident on songs like ‘Heaven’, a slice of 90’s hip-hop R&B complete with a string section or ‘Daddy’ a catchy big beat production. ‘Clown’ could nearly be a pop at the record company and the direction the album is going in ‘I’ll be your clown/On your favorite channel/My life’s a circus-circus rounding circles/ I’m selling out tonight’.

‘Maybe’, ‘Suitcase’ and ‘Breaking The Law’ are all beautiful songs taken in their own right, but lumped together they bring the tempo right down and it all starts to sound a bit samey. Piercing this darkness is the gospel influenced ‘Next To Me’, even more joyous in these surroundings, but buried underneath a deluge of beige noise. Disappointingly Our Versions Of Events is a safe play from a potentially great talent.

Opening with ‘The Gravedigger’s Song’, the record sets no grand ambition to outpace any of Lanegan’s prior oeuvre. Melding ominous blues to the throbbing pulse of a techno track, it could easily be the sequel to ‘Methamphetamine Blues’ from his last record. Of course, anyone who heard the after-hours majesty of Bubblegum will tell you that’s a hefty compliment. When he does it right, Lanegan conjures up a brooding cinematic darkness that lingers over the listener like a dark cloud, as seen on the resonant, lumbering vocals of ‘St. Louis Elegy’ and the unnerving counterpoint of Lanegan’s sinister vocals with a Beach Boys worthy pop melody on the baroque and roll of ‘Leviathan’.

Yet when he fails to be so inspired, he does so to a mind-numbing extent. The no-brainer rock of ‘Riot in My House’ and ‘Quiver Syndrome’ will find defenders, but it is remarkably one dimensional for an artist who has shown such depth elsewhere. ‘Gray Goes Black’ undermines a cryptic, melancholic set of lyrics with a bland, insistent rhythm and a distinct lack of any consideration of dynamics. And then there’s ‘Ode to Sad Disco’, a wholly unwarranted dance-floor track with Depeche Mode synths and ‘Wicked Game’ guitar leads that juts out like an eyesore on the album’s landscape. It’s even more frustrating when one hears how with a gentler touch he can use electronics to explore new terrain on ‘Harborview Hospital’ or ‘Tiny Grain of Truth’, without being a fraction as gaudy.

His enduring fondness for Southern Gothic misery as a lyrical foundation provides some consistency, but does begin to feel a bit affected after 12 tracks. It makes the case for the existence of a blues-specific law of diminishing returns that states that there is a maximum capacity for references to drugs, booze and God on any record before it feels hackneyed. By the time one reaches the line “If tears were liquor / I’d have drunk myself sick” on ‘St. Louis Elegy’, it’s bluntly obvious that Lanegan is still content to pretend he’s a Cormac McCarthy character for the rest of his career. The problem isn’t that it’s a poor record, but a patchy one of too many troughs and too few peaks. For fans of Lanegan’s style though, they’ll be treated to more of the same for much of the record, by no means an unpleasant offer.

Initially a simple soundtrack, the duo’s original composition only lasted the short duration of the film but they were so engrossed by their work that they decided to expand their efforts into a full scale LP. As with all their previous albums this one is undeniably spacey, only now that element is more relevant than ever. Aside from the usual trippy guitar work and elegant piano loops, Le Voyage… features a heavy amount of timpani drums – giving the record a serious amount of epic boom. Still, considering the nature of the album Air could have adopted a far grander sound. Instead they’ve kept everything accessible and unmistakeably Airy. When it came to the vocals they chose wisely. Beach House’s Victoria Legrand donates her sultry voice for ‘Seven Stars’. She fits so snugly into the track that it’s as if she’s been secretly reared by Air above some disused boulangerie; she knows their ways. ‘Who Am I Now’ is unfortunately the weaker of the two vbut it does have a haunting input from Au Revoir Simone who’s melancholic voices give the impression of an eerie nursery rhyme.

On it’s own, Le Voyage Dans La Lune stands fairly tall, although knowing it’s origins does tend to add a grander weight to the recording. Like most soundtracks, however, to get the full effect you’ll need to see the film that goes along with it and in this case that might be easier said than done.

Who are you and where are you from?
We are Thomas W-P and Darren Bancroft from London. Dede W-P from Manchester. Collectively we are We Have Band.

Who are your favourite artists from your hometown?
Joy Division – Manchester. Blur – London.

What’s it really like touring?
It’s exhilarating, exciting, exhausting, surprising, repetitive. And sometimes all at once! We love it though, its where things feel the most real and you can see the whites of people eyes and they can see yours. We give it everything on stage every single night to make it worth while and we work hard to make the touring space, on the bus and dressing rooms etc, a familiar and homely one where we can, that helps a lot.

What’s your favourite city/town/venue to play?
Our Berlin gigs seem to always be crazy and the after-party is always pretty heavy. Glastonbury is an great place to play. There’s an awesome venue in Zurich called Exil we love which has a basement dressing room with loads of old concert VHS tapes you can watch.

What’s your ideal festival line-up?
Kate Bush
ESG
Radiohead
LCD Soundsystem
Animal Collective
Beach House
Sufjan Stevens
Peaches

Tell us a tour story…
When we played SXSW festival in Austin, Texas we did 10 shows in 4 days and it was mental. We got off the plane and our first show was 3 hours later and then we were just rushing up and down the streets the whole time getting from one show to another, setting up, packing down and moving on. It would have been 11 shows but one was a sort of house party that the police shut down. The last one we did we had Solange Knowles dancing around in the crowd which was nice.

What has been your biggest achievement of the last year?
Finishing our new album which we’re very proud of. And working with Luke Smith from Clor on it who is a very talented and super nice guy.

What do you do to relax?
Read, watch movies, listen to music, eat, drink.

What are you reading?
Darren – Watership Down by Richard Adams. The best xmas present I got this year.
Dede – Don’t Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford. The last in a trilogy.
Thomas – The Last Tycoon by F Scott Fitzgerald. A definitive (if unfinished) take on 30′s Hollywood.

How about TV, anything good on the box?
We love the BBC iPlayer documentaries but terrestrial TV is pretty lame unless you’re really in the mood for trash.

What’s the last thing you bought online?
Dede – 70mm to 300mm telescopic lens.
Thomas – Wireless iPhone charger as a gift for Dede for touring.
Darren – A secret birthday gift for Dede!

Who would you most like to collaborate with if you got the chance?
James Murphy would be amazing, we respect him a lot. Maybe Dizzie Rascal doing a verse of a track!

What is the worst cover your band has ever performed?
We’ve only ever done a few and we feel we’ve picked pretty carefully so we’re ok here. Although we did once do Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’ in Germany wearing wigs, comedy sunglasses and sailor hats which wasn’t a great look.

Have you ever trashed your equipment? When and why?
The early live days were pretty wild playing club nights on tiny stages in almost total darkness and loads of dry ice smoke. Lots of stuff used to go flying all over the place and slide away from us as we were dancing around. We had to stop a song once because there was so much smoke we couldn’t find our instruments. It was raw.

What website do you visit most?
Thomas – Newsnow aggregator website for Spurs!
Dede – Guardian or Golestaneh Steetstlyle Blog
Darren – Pitchfork

What is your favourite…

…album of the last year?
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost or PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

…Song?
‘Robyn – Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’. Big tour bus favourite driving home after a show.

….Lost classic song?
‘Pointer Sisters – Automatic’ or ‘Desireless – Voyage Voyage’. Although neither are lost for us.

… Record label?
4AD have an incredible output.

…current artist?
Lykke Li is the real deal.

…YouTube video?

A new artist that you are most excited about?
Nicolas Jaar is nailing it at the moment. Azealia Banks is great.

Last great gig you went to?
We did a show with Of Montreal in Paris recently and they were so good. There were costumes changes, dance routines and the guitarist crowd surfing for a whole song while still playing.

What should we expect from your Irish shows?
Dancing. We dance a lot. And we expect you to too.

Playing live, Koone will be dropping eerie jams from is debut record Wander/Wonder and hopefully some remixes too.

We have a pair of passes to giveaway, mail us on giveaway@state.ie with your contact details and we’ll be in touch.

Balam Acab (Live)
The Twisted Pepper
February 11th
8pm / e12/e10

The same night at POGO, Surge present Andy Stott ho will also be taking part in POGO Radio, starting this Saturday at 9pm – more details here.

The duo released their debut album Wine just last week, opening with the throbbing ‘Lover’ and ‘Hater’ singles, on RVNG Intl – full stream below.

12Sundays presents
BLONDES (Rvng Intl, NY – Debut Irish show)
Tayor
Simon Conway

Sunday 12th February
Doors 12pm, Blondes on 9.30 pm
Free in

The Bernard Shaw
11-12 South Richmond St.

Upcoming 12Sundays shows:
Feb 12th – Blondes + Tayor & Simon Conway
Feb 19th – Tom Beary & Conor L
Feb 26th – Amen Brother presents
March 11th – Ships (Live) + Joma
April 1st – Sunday Times DJs

Dropping mixtapes, covers and original cuts since 2009, this Harlem rapper has always promised a well-versed tactic. An accented take on Interpol’s ‘Slow Hands’ paraded listening outside the usual urban references and collaborating with the likes of Machinedrum and Lunice was an early indication of Banks’ ear for advanced production.

Amid Monday-night-gig weirdness (you know how it goes, the very sober mingling with some very drunk and the in-between still shook from the weekend) the spectacle comes to Whelan’s. DJ Cosmo warms the crowd up, but the crowd are already fervent … and watching the side door. Somehow Azealia sneaks on stage and her magnetism is instant; she’s a sweet girl with a potty mouth, fierce but not in the least bit scary. ‘Grand Scam (Lyrical Exercise)’ is exactly that, an exhibition of her militant rhythmic flow with precision syntax. Followed quickly by long weave, lipstick, next thing we’re on that ‘Barbie Shit’; ‘What up, I fucks with all things monetary / My urge for the dub is involuntary’, Banks can give a dressing-down as soon as look at you. She can’t do a capella singing though. Her cover of Groove Theory’s ‘Tell Me’ is like a cheeseball, American idol audition. It’s not what we came for and she knows it, the less said the better. Besides, she makes up for it with slamming on ‘L8R’, ‘I keep it tighter than a gridlock/ open your face and let a bitch squat’ – then, we all get an eatin’.

Intentionally, ‘212’ is the culminating set closer. This might sound strange, but she totally gets it. Sure it’s her song, but a track as massive as ‘212’ quickly becomes public property – put it this way, she’ll never play it to a silent room. Without being a mere channelling prop, Banks embodies ‘212’. Her primal screams match the crowd’s carnal dance and for an animalistic few minutes Monday night weariness is blown away by carnival fever, further battered by a verse of The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’. And that’s that. Job done, 30 minutes flat. Quicker than Jamie can spray-say “bish, bash, bosh.”

A few years ago Amanda Blank hung her apple-wagon onto Spank Rock’s star, only to have the wheels buckle when she tried to stay in the same lane. AZ needs to keep track of her position, she will overtake but should do so caution. She appears to be. Without any visible marks of Karl Lagerfeld’s vampirish bite, Banks thankfully isn’t in it for the fingerless Chanel gloves. As glamorous as all the attention must be, she has work to do … and she’s nailing it. Bookers don’t need to take note, having Azealia Banks on a festival line-up will shift tickets. Simple. Before then she’ll sell out some mid-sized clubs. Banks is that bank worthy.

Photo courtesy of Michael Rickard.

The pair say the album is “funky, it’s hip-hop, it’s disco and it’s classic.” It was produced by French producers Chokolate & Khalid in Paris and with an emphasis on fun and the concept of a hip-hop fable. Check out the polychromatic first video.

Mixtape: http://soundcloud.com/firstserve/first-serve-mix-tape-1
Website: http://wearefirstserve.tumblr.com/

“Start saving your pennies now,” she said. “People spend $300 on crazy things all the time, things like handbags. So work all year, scrape the money together, and come to my show. I’m worth it.”

You can find out for yourself when Madonna hits Dublin on July 24th in the Aviva Stadium. Tickets range from €54.65 to €141 including booking fee on sale 8am on Tuesday February 7th available at Ticketmaster outlets nationwide, by Telephone (24 Hour): ROI – 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55, Book On Line: www.ticketmaster.ie. Tickets limited to eight per transaction. VIP tickets are also available.

The World tour kicks off on May 29th in Tel Aviv. Her new album MDNA is out globally on March 26th.

You can see all tour dates here.

It’s a shaky start with ‘Habit’ and ‘Reuben’, the band hit the ground running but Davey’s vocals aren’t exactly pitch perfect. “It’s great to be back!” she announces following the latter, before launching into a brilliant rendition of ‘Dog’ – and after the false beginning it’s all of sudden crystal clear just why Whelan’s is filled to its absolute max tonight. Behind the banjo lies a seemingly new Cathy Davey – the quality of performance remains top notch, but there’s an extra spark – she just seems a whole lot more comfortable in her own live presence than ever before. She announces that she has dressed for comfort – “I’m wearing a top that I normally sleep in!” – and sure enough following the lively delivery of ‘No Heart Today’ and a declaration that the nerves are gone it’s plain sailing for Davey & band. ‘Little Red’, Davey’s biggest hit to date, is unleashed mid-set, much to delight of the audience who try their best (and fail miserably) to hit that falsetto chorus note along with her.

Subsequently, there’s a surprise in store: “So, I’ve decided I don’t hate my first album as much as I used to…” Surely it can’t be? Is she actually going to acknowledge the existence of her 2004 debut album Something Ilk?! Amidst the confused murmurings around the venue, Davey launches into the duo of ‘Holy Moly’ and ‘Hammerhead’, two of the album’s standout tracks. ‘Clean & Neat’ too follows later on in the set. Although Davey has publicly stated her unhappiness with the overbearing influences which led her to releasing a debut she was dissatisfied with, it’s great to hear the old songs performed with her evolved vocal and musical style, and really it’s a shame that she has largely ignored them in her setlists to date.

The mood is slowed down with most recent single, the beautiful ‘Bad Weather’ – Davey tactfully pleads for a bit of hush for its duration, but she needn’t have worried – it’s too captivating a performance for audience chatter, and the song’s exquisite climax is all the more enthralling with a full live band. A sneak-peak of what’s in store for the forthcoming shows of the residency comes with a cover of Billie Holiday’s ‘Gloomy Sunday’, which will feature in both – a strong advertisement. The rare treat of Tales of Silversleeve album track ‘Rubbish Ocean’ is followed up with a suitably dramatic performance of the almost militant ‘Army of Tears’, before a sexed-up version of ‘Mr. Kill’ and ‘Sing For Your Supper’ close out the main set with a bang. “Thanks for making my comeback so enjoyable – it’s been very nice”, says Davey, and with that all that’s left to do is close out the evening with the dance-along grooves of ‘Moving’. Very nice indeed. Welcome back, Ms. Davey – and thanks for bring Something Ilk along for the occasion.

Photos: Damien McGlynn.

Cathy Davey, Whelans by Damien McGlynn

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 5

The album, widely touted as a belated acknowledgement of the Beatles pre-war influences, features only two McCartney originals. ‘My Valentine’ comes across like a glance at Paul’s past; a nostalgic glint in the eye as a he recalls an old lover in delicate, dulcet tones. The second, ‘Only Our Hearts’, is an album closer that’s in a similar vein to the surrounding material. It’s a calming, downbeat Christmassy number with a swooning, playful melody and a warm vibe; pleasant, but far from outstanding. The remainder of the album is lifted straight from the dancehalls of Paul’s elders, littered with the old standards, both familiar and waif-like in their production.

There are tracks you’d have to be living under a rock not to know: Arlen’s ‘It’s Only A Paper Moon’ is given a light-jazzy backdrop, sped up a touch, and taking on a far more fun-loving angle than the many, often harrowing reproductions its received over the years. It’s not awful, but it does lack the emotion that made the track special in the first place. ‘The Glory Of Love’ is similar, veering less from the established take on the song, but featuring plenty of in-track hum-along moments, and an aged production, complete with static undertones that give a real ‘played on an aging record player’ affect.

It’s often in the tracks that have withstood the erosion of time less well that seem more essential, and even then, we’d generally opt for earlier versions. Still, ‘Get Yourself Another Fool’ – complete with another ye-olde production angle – transports the brain to more innocent times, and has a nice leaning towards free jazz, backed up in withdrawn, conservative vocals. ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’, similarly, belongs sputtering through a gramophone; a fairly straight up cover, but a decent easy-listening effort nonetheless.

The problem here was apparent from the start. In being fairly faithful to the originals, McCartney might be exploring his own roots in a way that offers a little insight into the Beatles less-experimental early material, at the very least, but taken as a work in its own right, it’s not only (inevitably) dated, but – in part due to McCartney’s commitment to reflecting the originals – not particularly outstanding, either. The slightly muffled production style is a nice throwback, but it can also seem a touch patronizing, a step too far in attempts to faithfully recreate the sound, and something that detracts from the musical quality. At its low points – the less said about the playground-like ‘The Inch Worm’, the better – it’s of a hotel cover band standard.

If we were feeling particularly unkind, we might label this outing a vanity project. A fairer call, though, might be that it’s a glance at Paul’s ultra-conservative side. It’s an unnecessary one, sure, in that the McCartney vocal is particularly mellow and, to be brutal, does little to develop the original, but that doesn’t make ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ bad in itself. It just reflects a songwriter in his 70s, who in reaching his 15th solo effort, might just be lacking the creative passion he once fostered. What’s left is a pleasant, listenable but almost entirely superfluous footnote to a patchy recent career.

Taking to Facebook, Breton posted:

Man: Would you like to direct the new Sinead O’Connor video?
BretonLABS: Ok

Sinéad will release her ninth album, How About I Be Me? (And You Be You), on One Little Indian at the end of this month.

But it all came to a head. Infighting led to Lee Roth leaving the band. After all, when it came down to it, it wasn’t his name on the side of the jet, and with a burgeoning solo career in the offing off he went. Van Halen drafted in Sammy Hagar, whose hair wasn’t nearly as big, and, inevitably fell out with him. Then the guy from soft rock warblers Extreme. Then he left. They fell out with bassist Michael Anthony, and he left too (they have replaced him on this album with Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, and the boy, it seems, can play. He was born in 1991. Dave Lee Roth has codpieces that are older).

But they couldn’t stay mad at Diamond Dave Lee Roth for ever. He’s a cool guy. And those stage antics, the running and jumping and doing the splits that apparently so enraged Eddie Van Halen sometime last century must be a thing of the past, what with Dave entering his 150th year on this earth. Now it’s just about the music man. And the music is the way it used to be. Honest to goodness, toe and head tapping Heavy Rawk. The years roll back, which works both ways. Hasn’t the world moved on?

A lot has happened in the world in those intervening years. Governments come and go, buildings collapse, wars are waged, bubbles have burst. In Van Halen’s world things are pretty much as they left it when Dave stormed off in a huff. ‘Tattoo’ , the opening track, is a song that very well might be about a tattoo. That’s the level we’re at here, stomping, solo-encumbered blues rock, about tattoos, rather than fiduciary concerns or socio-political problems. Tattoos and of course women, or “girls” as they’re known in California, and having a rare ould time despite having a new hip put in. No subject is too trivial to rock to, after all.

“We came through blood and fire” sings Lee Roth, on ‘Blood and Fire’. Perhaps it’s a euphemism for “drugs and ego clashes”. “Told ya I was coming back”, he says, although I don’t recall this conversation. The album never relents on this pace and rockingness. What it doesn’t have is any keyboards, and is more reminiscent of pre 1984 Van Halen, with not a lot of overdubs, save for a few extra solos shoehorned in here and there. There’s no lame attempts at drum and bass, no dubstep version of ‘Jump’, nothing remotely modern, thank god. It’s as if time has stood still, the stonewashed denim preserved in aspic. But why would they change, this is the music that made them gazillionaires and afforded them the luxury of owning their own continent, Vanhalen’s land, just off Australia. The scary thing is, what with batwings and shoulder pads, emigration and synthpop being all the current rage among those with their original hips, perhaps the ’80s’ other great gift to popular culture, the crotch-stuffed, tight-strided, swagger-infused Hair Rock of Ratt and Poison and those lot is due a comeback. Perhaps Van Halen are the Van Guard of the new perm-rock. Someone let Mama’s Boys know.

All hail the new truth, same as the old truth. Amen.

The video directed by Megaforce is an old-fashioned big budget affair with Madge co-opting Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. to be actual cheerleaders. There are some nice touches with the live Anime faces and Minaj shines as ever while M.I.A. seems destined to be stuck with that ‘Paper Planes’ gunshot sound and looking a bit out of place on other people’s songs.

Oh yeh, what’s up with the breastfeeding at 1:45?

Meanwhile, State’s Jennifer Gannon disagrees with the ‘fluffy’ accusation:

@Nialler9 The last thing I’d describe Madonna as is ‘fluffy’. It’s as fluffy as candyfloss filled with razorblades!

— Jenn Gannon (@Jennzo) February 3, 2012

@Nialler9 I like its innocent disco drill. It’s ‘friendly’ Madonna made for breezy holiday funtimes. The album will be full of grit methinks

— Jenn Gannon (@Jennzo) February 3, 2012

One of the record’s main disappointments, the completely aimless ‘Shapeless and Gone’ also comes early though, and it paints a blueprint for the other missteps. Bogged down in simple, plodding form on ‘The End of Silence’ and even the aforementioned ‘Unless You…’ Remiddi – who has had a varied musical education that takes in working with bands in London, New York, Berlin and apparently carrying out piano duties for a tap dance troupe – sometimes takes initially great ideas and sugar coats them in all the wrong ways. If he’s not adding yet more loops, he’s causing ugly clashes between ill-fitting echoed vocals. Listen to Strange Weekend in its entirety and it’s hard to get away from how these lesser moments ultimately detract from the genuine excellence elsewhere. Then again surviving the rough times makes you appreciate the graceful romance of the finale, ‘The Way In’, all the more.

There’s always been a problem with watching a movie based on a play. It’s glaringly obvious you’re watching a play. You can dress it with elaborate sets and locations, garnish it with evocative orchestral scores or contemporary pop tunes and frame your shots seven ways from Sunday. It’s still a play. Not that that is something to be criticised, and with Carnage, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play God Of Carnage, we see exactly why.

Set with in one single New York apartment and spun around a simple premise, it sees two couples; neurotic art snob Penelope (Jodie Foster) and her gregarious oaf of a husband Michael (John C.Reilly), along with sheltered Nancy (Kate Winslet) and nihilistic lawyer Alan (Christoph Waltz) meeting to discuss a playground spat between their two eleven-year-old sons. A simple discussion on rights and wrongs soon evolves into a manic meditation on Darfur, unethical pharmaceuticals practices, hamster homicide, misogyny, rare art books and splendid shit-talking.

Polanski executes the whole proceeding with a nod to the WWE. What starts as continuous goading pushes to snide one-upmanship before 18-year-old scotch pushes it from a tag-team bout into a Royal Rumble of a scenery-devouring proportions. You know they should know better, yet you can’t help yourself from egging on their infantile potshots. Like wrestling, it’s evident you’re what you’re watching is scripted and hyper-realistic but Christ, is it ever fun to watch.

It’s hard to pick a winner in it all. Waltz brings some of the smarm that made Hans Landa such a deplorable villain to the fore, his constant torturing of Foster’s highly strung do-gooder gets played for a high proportion of the laughs. Kate Winslet gets to flex a rarely seen comedic muscle, as her mild mannered nature soon gives way to a bile spewing, literally, foul mouthed monstrosity. As Michael, John C.Reilly first plays the diplomatic mediator whose conflict resolution lies in more servings of apple cobbler before torching a cigar and watching the magma erupt from his co-stars.

A checkered and well documented history has left a lot of Polanski’s films cold and removed, and while Carnage isn’t exactly feel good territory, it’s nice to see him massage his funny bone for once. At 78 minutes too, it knows exactly when to stop – just before it’s fatal four-way of foils chomps it’s way through the Brooklyn high-rise apartment leaving only Dogville styled chalk outlines.

The only surprise is how well it actually works. It’s a mile away from the gentle, sweetly melodic fuzz of their debut. The skeletal, piano-led opener ‘No Future No Past’ soon boils over into Baldi cathartically screaming over blunt force drumming and tinny, wailing guitar leads. On ‘Wasted Days’, they happily spend four minutes noisily jamming over a driving two note bassline. Where this could have been monotonous, it is instead enthralling, the project’s clearly benefitting from its evolution from a bedroom hobby to a full group with stellar chemistry.

‘Stay Useless’, the album’s rambunctiousness anthemic centrepiece, recalls the grimy, youthful power-pop of The Replacements not only in its rollicking pace, but as much in its angst-ridden lyrics. When he yells lines like “I thought I would be more than this!” or “Give me time to stay useless” on the record, there’s a passion in his voice that earnestly captures that post-adolescent frustration that will either endear itself to listeners, or send them running. But that’s what makes the record so great; whether the sound is abrasive or excitable, there’s no arguing they don’t mean every word and note of it.

The group’s second album Glowing Mouth attempts to immerse the band further into tension-packed melancholia and often end up reminiscent of Arcade Fire’s obsessions (‘Here to Stay’, ‘Gentle Beast’, ‘Fright of Thee’). Stadium-sized synthesizers and over-the-top drum sounds sometimes aren’t enough and the lazy hopping in night-wonders of ‘Lost In The Dark’, the throbbing slenders on ‘Gone’ and other self contemplating moments tends to make the band look like they really crave for the top of the charts rather than for coherence and concision.

Glowing Mouth is the album of a band trying to go mainstream before they have even conquered the indie crowd, and stealing a bit of both worlds on the way (not as anthemic as Coldplay, not as well-thought and profound as The National). Kyle Wilson doesn’t do much to make things better with his overly stated lyrics, sometimes verging on the ridiculous (‘Gone’: “Little spirit of the parking lot, building, springing up from your heart”. Really ?).

The hope is Milagres turn their back on cheesy lyrics and bombastic melodies but all signs here suggest they won’t so content yourselves with the likes of the aforementioned bands for now, who do this kind of thing so much better.

Best Large Festival: Electric Picnic
Best Medium Festival: Rory Gallagher Tribute Festival
Best Small Festival: Body & Soul
Greenest Festival: Electric Picnic
Best One Day Festival: Arthur’s Day
Best New Festival: Forbidden Fruit
Best Dance Festival: Life
Best Traditional Festival: Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
Best Value: Arthur’s Day
Best Street Spirit: Galway Arts Festival
Best Headline Act: The Chemical Brothers
Best Rock Act: Muse
Best Dance Act: Underworld
Best Alternative Act: Rubber Bandits
Best Irish Act: And So I Watch You From Afar
Best Lineup: Electric Picnic
Family Festival Award: Electric Picnic
Social Responsibility Award: Electric Picnic
Best Service: Electric Picnic
Best Toilets: Electric Picnic

The band play a headline show at the Academy in Dublin on Saturday February 18th and have just announced State favourites little xs for eyes as support. And if that wasn’t enough, a brand new associated club launches tonight Upstairs at Whelans. Put together by HS drummer Ollie, the monthly Thurdaze indie club will kick of with live sets from Sanzkrit and Toy Soldier, plus DJ duties from singer Niamh Farrell.

Based on the novel ‘If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler’, the Jones set is suitably minimalist and well, cold. Relying on a core of chamber size strings and piano, compositions like ‘The Reader’ and ‘Intersect’ sound icy and restrained. Elsewhere, there’s the appearance of hushed, near inaudible vocals on ‘Leaning’ and ‘Give Me A Name’, but this does little to dispel the dour mood.

Of course there is also a frostbitten beauty to these dark orchestral musings. As bleak as If… may sound, it’s not without its charm. The album’s centerpiece ‘Enlace’ manages to move from the stark sound of a haunting piano motif to an improvised electric wig out. For a record otherwise lacking in Hendrix style fender bending, it’s an amusing and enjoyable reminder of Jones’ old day job. Ultimately this track, and indeed this album, shows Bill Ryder Jones stepping out of the shadows. With the briefest of touchstones to his past, he has proved himself an unexpected talent. As If… concludes you can’t help thinking there’s much more to come from the one time guitar slinger. How it’s delivered is anyone’s guess.

Headlining are Mick. E Rawk, who will be launching their new free download Mick’s Tape. A side project by Leigh C (Exxon Valdez, The Gruesome Twosome, Yo Han Garfunkel & The Caribou Kid) and C.F.Meister (Exxon Valdez, Yo Han Garfunkel & The Caribou Kid, Speech Impediment), the project came together when the pair heard the Death Grips Exmilitary release and were inspired to make a mixtape in the same vain.

Mick. E Rawrk – No Comprende from CFMeister on Vimeo.

Support comes from The Notas, who you will probably be aware of from our Faces of 2012 feature last month. A six piece from Skerries, we reckon they are one of the most genuinely exciting prospects for the forthcoming year in Irish music.

Opening the night will be Loud Mouth’s Benny Smiles, a one man band whose eclectic sets include live bass guitar, percussion, vocals, synths and more to span genres from post-rock to “electropica”.

The gig takes place as ever at the Mercantile on Dame Street and is free in. Doors are at 9pm and you’ll not only get three live acts for your (no) money. but also the Loud Mouth crew on the decks till late.