For this record it seems like Squarepusher is working from the belly of an intergalactic spaceship, frantically turning dials amidst a smorgasbord of LEDs in a desperate attempt to navigate through the perilous hazards of deep space. The start of the journey is innocuous, leaving the earth’s atmosphere with the playful breaks of ‘4001’. As the vessel moves further into unchartered territories however the mood changes drastically. Things take on a more ominous tone with the likes of ‘Drax 2’ and ‘303 Scopem Hard’, a frenetic acid bass onslaught of a track that’s reminiscent of a hero’s narrow escape. Unbeknownst to perhaps even Squarepusher himself, there definitely seems to be some sort of narrative throughout. Listen to it enough times and you begin to vision vast spatial conquests and epic synth powered laser battles. ‘Dark Steering’, for example, calls to mind an underhanded pod race with some villainous cretin from beyond the stars, while ‘Stadium Ice’ comes across like an interplanetary traveling montage. Whether or not Jenkins meant this or not is a mystery but the whole album is definitely open to interpretation, which is really what makes it great, to an extent anyway.

Ok, so there is a spattering of cheesy keys that seem like they’re lifted straight from a Ministry of Sound best of but they’re partnered with such intelligent drum patterns that they wander into the realm of acceptability after a while. At times it does seem like everything is just a bit too glossy for a Squarepusher record. Take ‘Unreal Square’, it sounds like a tacky renegade dubstep militia group led by a sega megadrive. Until it breaks that is, and then you’re reminded that this is definitely Squarepusher. This ruse it’s pretty much ubiquitous throughout the album, you’re lured into a foreign, somewhat questionable land and left desolate and confused until something familiar happens, then you realise where you are.

For many old school pusher fans this will no doubt seem too clinical and polished. The subsonic hyper-bass stylings of his earlier records are left somewhat in the dust here but they’ve been amply replaced by a gamut of ultra-neon sonic endeavors. This simply marks yet another evolutionary step in the musical behemoth that is Squarepusher.

As we enter Temple Lane music studios around 5pm this Wednesday, members from Delorentos and We Cut Corners are already at work in a room where you can barely find a space to watch due to the equipment: drum kits, synthesizers, midi keyboard, countless guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and even a banjo. Conall Ó Breacháin from We Cut Corners is singing a gentle and heartfelt rendition of U2′s classic ballad ‘Stay’ surrounded by the Delorentos concentrated.  Ó Breacháin and another (probably Ronàn Yourel, I can’t see him from my vantage point) are sharing the verses and harmonising in the last seconds, with such natural it’s hard to realize at this moment they are not long-time band buddies. Two other rehearsals of the song just to make sure bassist Niall Conlan can cover the melody with a sweet humming and then we take a short pause.

The Minutes arrive and shake a few hands. We hear jokes about who does the best of the work, who is sleeping in the corner, all in good fun, cause it’s easy to see it’s not three bands discovering each other, it’s just a bunch of friends getting along musically and in real life. Then The Delorentos decide to rehearse one of their own song, ‘Bullet in a gun’, and after two tries, Ó Breacháin (from We cut corners) takes place in front of the second drum set and plays with the energetic style anyone who heard him before can imagine, hitting the toms and improvising a bit to fit the whole. Nobody asks questions about him adding up to the band, Conlan even tells him the parts to accentuate and the ones to play soft, and it’s quickly decided that there’s gonna be two drummers on stage for the song. It’s already time to go and leave the men to work. In a short hour we can already tell JD Roots is going to be a well-prepared gig, a night celebrating Irish music but also Dublin music scene of today, made of friendships, musical connections and respect.

As its title suggests, In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull is a long, dark and visceral album. From opening track ‘Glitters Like Gold’ a certain tone is established. Loud, spacious and awash with self-loathing, it has all the touchstones of its two producers – Steve Albini (In Utero and too many to mention) and Dave Fridmann (Weezer’s whine-fest Pinkerton). Always indebted to the US, but inescapably English, the Wakefield trio now find themselves in grungier territory than their accents (or perhaps Johnny Marr) would allow. Throughout we hear guitars reach paint stripping levels as the band bash through tales of identity crisis, loss and betrayal. The best of these comes in the form of ‘Come On, Be A No-One’ and ‘Back To The Bolthole’. The former is a larynx-shredding paean to the mis-shapes of outsiderdom, while ‘…Bolthole’ is a twisted epic that even finds room for those two-year-old keyboards.

What’s more impressive is the Cribs also come good on that once suspect ‘studio as instrument’ line. An ambitious closing suite of four melded songs sees them oddly tip their hat to the Beatles Abbey Road (coincidentally the location for much of this recording). For this, they rattle through an all together more optimistic and breezy set of songs that finishes with the self-deprecating ‘Arena Rock Encore with Full Cast’. As much writing an apology for the wait between last record Ignore The Ignorant, a chorus of ‘sorry that it’s taken years, we were victims of our own ideals’ is bellowed out with unbridled bombast. It’s alright, we forgive them.

Due to poor ticket sales in a challenging economic climate, it is with great regret and disappointment that we must announce the cancellation of the 2012 Titanic Lockdown summer festival. Despite a huge wave of goodwill, ticket sales have been significantly slower than forecast for an event featuring such high profile acts. As a result, it will not be possible to deliver the event.

We would like to offer our sincere thanks to all who have supported, endorsed and believed in the project. In addition, we offer good wishes to all local festival organisers, promoters and artists currently beating the drum for the Arts in Northern Ireland. They make a wonderful contribution to the cultural life of our city in these bleak economic times.

No one is more disappointed than us that the event will not now be taking place, but unfortunately the circumstances are simply beyond our control.

All tickets will be fully refunded – please contact your ticket provider for details.

Bitches With Wolves recently decamped to London and this week played support to Scissor Sisters and Little Boots.

First there was her appearance on Danger Mouse’s Rome project, alongside Jack White, and now comes her fifth studio album – again produced by Brian Barton. The importance of his contribution is obvious, as Little Broken Hearts sounds utterly gorgeous, if shot through with a melancholic air. That element is unsurprising when you consider Jones’ lyrics, a heart rending account of a crumbling relationship. It’s brutally honest, detailing her partner’s infidelity and the bitterness she feels to the third party.

Those jazz stylings are largely gone, replaced by a Barton backdrop that suits the singer perfectly. It never really shifts into a top gear but the emotion and drama of the lyrics ensure that your attention never wanders. All, you feel, is missing is a truly killer song. That comes in the shape of ‘Miriam’, a spectacularly barbed attack on the other woman – “never been the killing kind but you know I know what you did so don’t put up a fight”. It stops you in your tracks, wondering how that sweet girl of ten years ago could muster such anger. Then you go back to listen to it all again and the answer is clear. Events may have caused her suffering but somewhere along the way Norah Jones has unlocked an artist of serious status. Let’s hope it was worth it.

Opener ‘Once and For All’ is soaring, building track, with Guy Connelly’s vocal prowess coming to the fore, emotional and anthemic. It is unapologetically optimistic, a strong way to start. ‘11th Hour’ after a deceptively slow start, is a battle cry, with a nod to the movie Network. A rallying refrain of “we’ve got to get mad as hell, got to go ring that bell, got to tell the others, tell the others” is underpinned by a persistent drumming and bass guitar.

The theme continues throughout, a riot of shiny guitars, layered vocals, blips and bleeps before ‘Fail Better’ – featuring the Samuel Beckett quote ‘no matter, try again, fail again, fail better’ – providing a fitting close. Ways to Forget is a strong and cohesive debut. Comparisons will be made to Elbow, Coldplay and White Lies but Clock Opera have succeeded in creating their own sound and world – a joyful, colourful, textured one at that.

It’s an album of brighter-than-light melancholy, but mostly expressed in cryptic ways, like on ‘Wishes’ where Victoria wonders whether destiny exists, or ‘Other People’ that seems to talk about living on the road and meeting a lot of people who want to be your friend after a few minutes talk. But these misterious lyrics are part of Bloom‘s charm as it fits perfectly with the amazing production, wrapping your ears and lifting you like a rocket to the skies. One listen of the crying guitar lines building momentum on ‘Wild’, or the surnatural vocal harmonies on the intro of ‘New Year’ makes you feel like a tiny bird watching the ocean from above on a summer morning.

The songs of Bloom are longer and less verse-chorus-verse oriented than what the band used to write but they don’t waste time and they are always going somewhere. The best illustration of this is the six minutes long ending track ‘Irene’, which manages to maintain the tension throughout. It’s like the track just opened its petals, and there couldn’t be a better way to show that Teen Dream was only a bud and Bloom is a full grown rose. Let’s say they are both the same beauty, just at different times. If perfection is always a dangerous word to use in the music review sphere, there’s something close to it here.

Ticket details:

Day Tickets: €49:50 / Two Day Tickets: €89.50 / Weekend Tickets: €115
Ticket prices include booking fees, available from usual outlets nationwide.
Ticket Hotline; Ph 0818 719300 / www.ticketmaster.ie

Welsh director Gareth Evans has captured the attentions of cinema-goers and critics alike with The Raid, a high-octane Indonesian action film made for $1m that delivers violence in spades, but little in terms of tangible rewards.

Set in an unnamed location, it tracks an attempt by a police SWAT team to storm a 30-floor apartment tower under the control of crime lord Tama (Ray Sahetapy), who has consolidated his power by taking in gangsters as tenants. With these acting as a security buffer, top dog Tama rules the underworld from his personal fortress.

Rama, played by rising Asian star Iko Uwais, is the central figure of the SWAT team. Compassionate and well-intentioned, we are introduced to him at the very beginning of the film, kissing his pregnant wife goodbye on the morning of the raid. With the mission underway, Rama and the rest of the team arrive at the tower, only for a wave of violence to be unleashed upon them. Spotters quickly alert Tama, who summons the building’s inhabitants into battle and watches the carnage unfold on security monitors from his apartment high up.

All manner of weapons are employed – guns, batons, knives, and anything with a jagged edge lying around. Relentless and unflinching, the action scenes are expertly choreographed, and complimented by the fighting skills of Rama and bad guy Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian). Both actors are exponents of the Pencak Silat brand of martial arts and their hand-to-hand combat scenes are highly compelling. The overall impact is further bolstered by a score that hits all the right notes, composed by Joseph Trapanese (Tron: Legacy) and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda.

Yet so little is made known about the chief protagonists that it’s difficult to care if any of them live or die, it might as well be a video game. This inevitably reduces the tension; for a film that is supposedly all about a mission, it seems to distinctly lack one of  its own. And the fight scenes are so well choreographed that the relationship between combatants often seems collaborative rather than antagonistic. It becomes a spectacle reminiscent of a dance musical.

Well-crafted, fast-paced and consistently brutal, The Raid has plenty of entertainment value. And with an English-language remake and a sequel in the works there’ll be more to come down the tracks. Best not to try and read too much into the film, though – there’s not a whole lot going on between the lines.

This new announcement also includes The Pale, Zombie Computer, Slow Motion Heroes, Last Days of 1984, The Gandhis and The Shoos, joining the line-up. Weekend Tickets are still available on Tickets.ie priced €99 for the three days.

Who are you and where are you from?

The three of us share a common ‘tribal language’. Growing up, we drank the same economy-size Mountain Dew from SuperAmerica, saw the same bad movies on Channel Nine, heard the same great rock radio on KQRS, and learned about jazz from going to the Dakota Jazz Club in St. Paul. This Midwestern heritage is not as obviously deep as that of, say, New Orleans or Senegal, but it has its own twisted charm. The first time TBP played together, we were not called The Bad Plus. We were just teenagers trying to play jazz standards in the living room of Reid Anderson’s family house in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Reid and David King had been best friends since the age of thirteen. I was younger by two years and had met Reid when he went to college in Wisconsin. When Reid put us together in his mother’s house that day in 1990 – well, let’s just say the results were less than magical. We would have been shocked had you told us that fifteen years later we would be a full-time band.

Who are your favourite artists from your hometown?

Prince! Husker Du, the unsung drummer Eric Gravatt.

What’s it really like touring?

You don’t get to see much! Just the airport, the hotel, and the venue. The best thing is when you get to eat local.

What’s your favourite city/town/venue to play?

Minneapolis, New York, London, Paris, Dublin…many more.

What’s your ideal festival line-up?

It’s all about how much the audience digs what’s going on. Hopefully there aren’t too many bands or stages, so that everyone has enough concentration.

What has been your biggest achievement of the last year?

We premiered our arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. That was a real accomplishment, and we will be touring it in Ireland.

What do you do to relax?

Watch movies and TV; exercise.

What are you reading?

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

How about TV, anything good on the box?

Buffy, The Wire, Breaking Bad. Sometimes old Columbo episodes!

What’s the last thing you bought online?

Gear, CDs, books…

Who would you most like to collaborate with if you got the chance?

We’ve talked about trying to wrangle in Ornette Coleman…

What is the worst cover your band has ever performed?

‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’.

What website do you visit most?

Do The Math, the blog of pianist Ethan Iverson

What is your favourite…

…album of the last year?

Blue Soliloquy by Sam Newsome.

…song?

‘The Long Goodbye’ by John Williams

….lost classic song?

‘Nothing to Lose’ by Henri Mancini

… record label?

Blue Note

…current artist?

TBP loves Portishead, their last album was great.

…YouTube video?

Jeez, not sure about a new video — is it ok to say we watched this recently?

A new artist that you are most excited about?

James Blake

What was the last great gig you went to?

Bill McHenry with Orrin Evans, Eric Revis, and Andrew Cyrille.

What should we expect from your Irish shows?

The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

The Bad Plus play Mandela Hall, Belfast (25th May), National Concert Hall, Dublin (26th), Hawkswell, Sligo (27th), Riverbank, Kildare (29th), Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick (30th), Triskel Christchurch, Cork (31st)

As the album and song titles like ‘Born to Cry’ ‘You’re Mine’ and ‘In My Solitude’ suggest, this is a journey through the time-honoured themes of love, loss, and heartache. Apart from this, what strikes you as soon as you set Romancing loose on your speakers, is the raw energy and spirit that drives the album. From the thundering, lightening fast opener ‘Masochist’ to ‘Run’ and ‘Forever Is Only a Moment’ the flamboyant energy never dies.

This flamboyance transposes an effortless, carefree sense of fun and a remarkable danceable quality to his songs, an admirable quality. The hip-swinging ‘New Horrors’, ‘I Don’t Think I’ and ‘Too Soon’ hit the heady heights of Supergrass at the top of their game. It may be a predominantly hyperactive mesh of lively pumped up punk and garage riffs but despite the gritty production, Devin’s soulful blues-tinged vocals inject a touching sense of emotion to proceedings. Originality is obviously not his forte and you will probably feel you have heard these songs before but Romancing offers Devin’s take on a genre and style he loves, doing it justice with an album which sounds passionate, edgy and genuine. A worthy addition to any record collection.

Record labels and bands can submit their music to selectirish@utvradio.ie . Chosen songs will receive at least 250 plays during the month. First band to be part of ‘Select Irish’ starting June 1st is The Shoos with ‘Say Something’.

And So I Watch You From Afar – Button Factory, Friday

Few bands seem to get better and better every time you see them live, but ASIWYFA are made of special stuff. New guitarist Niall Kennedy has filled the very big shoes of Tony Wright with aplomb, splicing a bit of his own DNA into the Belfast group’s catalogue. “We’ve had a fucked-up year, so thanks for sticking with us,” puffs Rory Friers towards the end of this typically replete set. Before him, the crowd heaves with amazement and perspiration while the ‘The Voiceless’ chimes out. As if their loyalty was ever in doubt. (Hilary White)

Bantum – The Mercantile, Saturday

Cork-born, Dublin-based producer Bantum has been steadily building up momentum over the last couple of years while displaying a knack for smooth stylistic shifts over the course of four EPs. His set in the Mercantile draws on those styles in invigorating fashion, backed up by some great visuals from film-maker/artist Paul Mahon. There’s the chopped up vocal samples and hyperactive, layered compositions of his most recent Lay Lay EP, the infectious, swirling rhythms of ‘Weak Weak Week’, and the throbbing electro-funk groove of ‘Slide’; while his Come On Live Long remix shows the spin he can put on other people’s material. That album can’t come soon enough. (Daniel Harrison)

Blacklisters – The Mercantile, Friday

Blacklisters come to Dublin with a reputation for being both great live performers and very, very loud and, as the crowd in The Mercantile will attest, both of these things are true. This show won’t be forgotten in a hurry, as the band moved their equipment from the stage to the floor and played a furious set of aggressive rock in the midst of the crowd. The very definition of ‘in your face’. (John Balfe)

Dam Mantle – The Grand Social, Friday

About three songs into a set of acidy electronica, house builds and 808 drum hits, Scottish producer Tom Marshell piped up, “I came the whole way from Glasgow for this.” Totally wrapped in the dense wash of trickling bleeps and sample choppery I thought there was a string of exclamation points at the end of his statement, looking ‘round to a near empty room I realised it leaned with sartalics. For shame. Dam Mantle is an exciting producer and an engaging performer, but the crowd was drawn elsewhere in the city leaving a lifeless room behind that was filled with clockwork beats and swirling arpeggiated synths. A great set, enjoyed by few. (Alan Reilly)

Dott – JJ Smyths, Saturday

Girls in summer dresses with electric guitars, Dott sound just like you’d imagine. It’s not so much the ghost of Belly, rather the new influence of Best Coast, Vivian Girls and more precisely La Sera, Dott and their canon of torrid garage pop shines on an almost windowless pub stage. When nerves subside, singer Nicola explains the romantic cost of life as a TEFL teacher (from the victim’s point of view) with that Galway charm, and her accented vocal on ‘Let’s Do It’ is surf pop from Ireland’s West Coast with the rays from its Californian origins. (Alan Reilly)

D/R/U/G/S – Grand Social, Saturday

One of the highlights of the weekend, this is immersive stuff from Mancunian Callum Wright and his anonymous partner-in-crime, all propulsive rhythms and warmly hypnotic grooves. The crowd – sparse at first – grows steadily throughout, both in terms of numbers and in terms of animation. Some great visuals provide the backdrop to Wright’s set, and it’s clear that he puts a premium on its live, in-the-moment feel. The buoyant ‘One Thousand Faces’ is one standout, but overall it’s a joyful, seamless rush. (Daniel Harrison)

Dutch Uncles – The Mercantile, Friday

Manchesters’s Dutch Uncles’ bracing brand of indie-rock, coupled with singer Duncan Wallis’ spry dance moves, was one of the most enjoyable performances of the whole festival. Their profile is surging in the UK and after shows like this, as wells as Saturday’s repeat performance in the Grand Social, you can expect to hear a lot more from them very soon. (John Balfe)

Hands Up Who Wants To Die – Twisted Pepper, Saturday

Our good friends at AU (get well soon, guys) are being accosted by what looks like an Appalachian black bear when we join them. Hang on, the beast is wielding a microphone! And look, it’s braying confrontationally as it stalks through a grinning audience to a soundtrack of beautifully discordant thrash punk. This, then, is Hands Up Who Want To Die, the Richter Collective darlings who State is hereby dubbing this weekend’s kings of showmanship. (Hilary White)

Jape – The Village, Friday

Welcome home, Richie Egan! Only in the door and the two-time Meteor Choice Prize Winner is raising the tempo in the city, fisting the air and gurning with glee. Live, Jape is now full-on electro, with even older, more guitar-based tunes such as ‘I Was A Man’ and ‘Floating’ now given a slick digital coat of processed sounds. “Judas,” I hear you bleat? Rubbish – in fact, he sounds better than ever, even with technical gremlins popping their heads up. Catch him at a festival near you this summer. (Hilary White)

Jogging – Button Factory, Friday

‘For those of you who read in the brochure that we sounded like Mastodon, this mustn’t be working out so well for you guys’, shrugs Darren Craig, Jogging’s bespectacled, be-bearded guitarist. Not so! In fact, this excellent Richter Collective three-piece are a thrill to watch as they kick off the inaugural Meteor Camden Crawl Dublin, a tightly wound riot of sharp riffing, thrash energy and DC hardcore vocals. Masto- who? (Hilary White)

Kool Thing – Stag’s Head, Saturday

Playing in a sun trap made for a naturally dramatic stage setting up stairs in The Stag’s Head, the blazing glare a beautiful juxtaposition against girls dressed in black singing about nocturnal antics. Kool Thing have attracted their own crowd, it’s a struggle to wedge in the door but it’s worth being rude. Since their last jaunt around the city in December, Jon and Julie have acquired a live drummer and with him a rounder more relaxed form to their performance. With a spread of duties, the girls are free to project the cold harmonies of their keening electro-Goth. ‘Light Games’ is glacial and arcane and ‘The Sign’ are charging anthem. Kool Thing are making all the right moves to greatness. (Alan Reilly)

Last Days Of 1984 – Button Factory, Friday

The duo of Darren Moloney and Brian Rice are perhaps unfortunate to get an early Friday evening slot. People will continue to talk about the obvious debt they owe to Animal Collective, and rightly so: as well crafted as their tunes are, they still lack a distinctive, unique identity. However, originality is never the be all and end all (cf. Yuck, Echo Lake, etc); what’s more of a concern is that their general sound palette (Washed Out-alike vocals, shimmering textures, afro-beat flourishes) has been so well-trodden of late – it can feel like they’ve arrived to the party while everyone else is already battling the hangover. But that may be harsh: debut album Wake Up To The Waves nods to the dancefloor more than may have been expected, with an appreciation for rhythm that’s more akin to John Talabot at times than the chillwave clones. The duo drop the ball somewhat with their final song, which is drawn-out Instagramed-blandness, but (much like their album) they do enough here to make you do a double-take. (Daniel Harrison)

New additions are Canadian sensation Grimes, Icelandic rockers Of Monsters and Men, Scottish electro-pop band Django Django, London synth-rock artist Clock Opera, Swedish electronic mystery group iamamiwhoami and House duo Dada Life. Festival weekend tickets are available on Berlin Festival website priced  €81,40.

Gibson ES335 Black 2001
Gibson ES339 Light Caramel Burst (New) S/N: CS154461
Gibson Les Paul Standard Gold Top(New) S/N: 109800397
Gibson Les Paul Custom 1993 Cherry Sunburst
Gibson Les Paul Studio 60’s Tribute Gold Top 2011 S/N: 117811456
Gibson Les Paul Traditional Desert Burst(New) S/N: 117110679
Gibson Les Paul Studio Ebony 2003 S/N: 01283681
Gibson SG Standard Cherry (New)
Gibson SG Standard Ebony (New) S/N: 103600551
Gibson 61 SG Cherry (New) S/N: 100921382
Gibson SG Special Worn Cherry (New)
Epiphone Les Paul 2010 Tribute Cherry Sunburst
Fender 1978 Telecaster Antigua S/N: S831051
Fender American Standard Strat Candy Apple Red RW 2005 S/N: Z5143435
Fender American Standard Strat Factory Special 2009 Surf Green RW S/N:Z8224287
Fender American Special Strat Sunburst MN (New) S/N: US11139095
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Fender American Standard Strat Sunburst RW (New)
Fender American Standard Strat Black MN (New) S/N: US10211426
Fender American Standard Strat Candy Cola Red MN (New) S/N: US10218133
Fender American Standard Strat Olympic White MN (New) S/N: US11297350
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Epiphone Les Paul ’56 Gold Top
Tokai Flying V
Gibson Melody Maker Sunburst
Fender Precision Bass Natural RW 1978 S/N: S879242
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Fender American Strat Black with Black pickguard MN 1979 S/N: S929039
Fender American Strat ’62 Re-issue Sherwood Green RW S/N: V115236
Fender Lonestar Strat Pearl RW 1997 S/N: N7252231
Fender American Deluxe Strat Black MN 2001 S/N: DZ2180795
Fender VG Strat Black
Fender Mark Knopfler Strat Hot Red RW
Orange SP210 Isobaric 2×10 Cab (New)
Marshall MG101CFX (New)
Marshall MG102CFX (New)
Fender Rumble 30 (New) S/N: KKI11I0638
Orange Rocker 30 Used
Fender Satellite Extension Cab
Marshall Superbass

Your new album is called Nootropics, known also as ‘smart drugs’, how did you get to be interested in the relations between technology and the human being?

Well actually technology is at a point where the relationship between human and technology influence us as a species. It’s how we survive, it’s how we live. We were interested in the fact that we can use technology to change ourselves on a basic chemical level. It brings up questions like “What do we wanna change? What don’t we wanna change? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?”.

What’s your opinion on these kind of memory and intelligence enhancers? Do you think it’s a reflection of how society works nowadays, challenging our capacities to work harder, better and faster?

I guess human always used technology to improve the situation they’re in, their capacities. It goes back to agriculture or even before that. I think now is an extension of that. It’s interesting that what we have on our plate is the power to redesign ourselves, that’s kind of new.

On Nootropics, you take a step back from guitar-driven melodies and concentrate on keyboards with a more experimental approach and even ambient tracks. Was it something you were aiming for or did it come naturally?

It is something we have planned for, to use keyboards in addition to guitars. We wanted to record the album somewhere where we had a lot of in-house synths.

Your singer Jenna said in an interview last year for Soundblab you were good friends with your hometown’s dream-pop band Beach House, have they influenced you on this album, especially for the atmospheric synth melodies and soft reverberating guitar parts in the background?

I guess to an extent we end up being influenced with anybody we’ve toured with. For Beach House, we were more influenced by their work ethics than the way they write songs. They are extremely hard working. I’ve known Alex (Beach House’s guitarist) since we were both 18, I’ve been good friends with him for a long time, I figured out a lot about how to work from him.

The sound of Nootropics seems colder than on your debut album Twin hand movement, with binary rhythms and obsessive bass lines, close to 80’s Kraut-rock music. What was your state of mind when you wrote these songs?

Maybe some people would say it sounds cold and mechanical. I don’t think that the songs come off that way, when you sit down and you listen to the whole album there’s a lot happening on top and beneath this “cold” impression. It’s an interplay between the deliberately static. It’s a duality we have between what’s human, what’s organic, what’s corporal, and the technology that is cold and dehumanizes us. Technology is built through human experiences, it’s how we survived, in the early days of humanity we figured out how to make tools to keep ourselves alive. We have to realize what helps us and the things that are destructive for us from the atomic bomb to this information age where things are virtual all the time. But at the same time, to be a human you do have to love technology on a basic level. If you try to live without a home, without a house, it would be really difficult. There are things we have to celebrate about it. The question is not “Is technology bad?” but more “How much technology is good for us?” There’s a way to give it life. So on the album there’s this mechanical film but also we try to engage, to dance with this concept of technology, give it life, love cause it’s an extension of who we are.

What were you listening to during the recording of the album?

We were listening to a lot of different things in the band. But we were on the same page for kraut-rock and some things that we tried to refer to intentionally like Kraftwerk and Neu! .

One could say Nootropics is a more cerebral and challenging for the listener than your debut album, did you change the way you play the songs for your live performances?

We started playing them pretty much the same but they’ve evolved with live character. You can try to recreate what happens on an album live but to an extent it’s going to evolve. There are some elements that happen during live shows, there’s a certain vibe different than on the album.

Is your new direction going to influence the way you play your old tracks, and do you intend to keep a balance between the first and second album in the set-list?

Now we have five people on the band so when we play old songs we’re able to bring new elements, Carter (keyboardist) has brought some really cool ideas to the old songs that we play, there’s some new synths and guitars. They are a little bit different, for the better. We play mostly the new album.

You’re on a European tour at the moment, have you got a city you’re really looking forward to playing? What are your best memories from your last trip?

There are a lot of places that were exited to play, we’ve never played in Prague that would be exciting. To go as far east as the Czech Republic is really new for us. We played a gig in small town Saintes we arrived late we hurried. They said “stop unloading it’s more important that you eat”. Someone from the neighborhood cooked for us, gave us champagne, some of the best food we’ve eaten anywhere. No one in town seemed to mind, it was very nice, we ended up having a really good night. That level of hospitality is incredible. You don’t get treated like that on USA tour it’s always “hurry up and play”!

Lower Dens are set to play Forbidden Fruit Festival in Dublin June 3rd along with headlining acts New Order, Death Cab For Cutie and Death In Vegas. Tickets are available on Forbidden Fruit website.

Admiral General Aladeen is the comical dictator of the fictional African nation Wadiya. He dreams of a world without Israel, and nuclear weapons with pointed ends rather than rounded ones. But when a U.N. meeting demands his presence he must travel to the evil West, where a sinister plot unravels to liberate his oppressed people with democracy.

What ensues is a politically correct nightmare of hilarity. Baron Cohen (Aladeen) has swapped his trademark cocktail of practical jokes and mockumentary stylings for more traditional straight fiction, fourth wall and all. Instead of subverting the public’s preconceptions face to face, director Larry Charles and Baron Cohen attempt to draw the same lines of comedic irony and hypocrisy through a narrative that’s defined by their previous work together. Unfortunately, this is what lets The Dictator down. The duo’s previous offerings successfully balanced a comedic vehicle for plot and narrative, whereas this film’s strained concept seems at times like incidental filler in between the jokes.

That being said, Baron Cohen and his writers have certainly not forgotten how to twist the blade in America’s side. Despite the obvious set piece nature of the scenes, the boundary pushing political and social subversion at work have not lost their impetus for shock and laughter. Aladeen, as a raw facsimile for Gaddafi, innocently delivers cutting bigotry for all to gasp and laugh at – moving seamlessly from extreme anti-Semitism, overt misogyny and a slightly disturbing preoccupation with abortions.

As the protagonist fights to retrieve his country and work through the paces of a fairly standard fish-out-of-water tale, he almost finds an understanding of other people. This is helped by a stereotypical liberal played in many shades of bland by Anna Faris. However, despite all these goings on, it’s difficult to shake the cynical disappointment in the back of your head that none of this is real. When Aladeen loses two American tourists in translation, leading to racial stereotypes being reinforced out of context, it’s hard not to sigh through the laughter. We know that the two tourists are actors and not a genuinely uncomfortable couple.

Despite its flaws, The Dictator retains many of the trappings of an old-school comedy classic, true to form for Sacha Baron Cohen. It easily knocks out a laugh a minute, combining the retro slapstick nature of Laurel and Hardy with the careful wit of an Armando Iannucci comedy. Simultaneously wry and crass, The Dictator only lets itself down on the foundations from whence it came. Sadly, it will never be Borat, but is still hilarious throughout.

It’s been a good decade for French-Canadian cinema. After films like Les Invasions Barbares, Incendies, and last year’s Monsieur Lazhar, there’s talk of a cinematic renaissance. Jean-Marc Vallée’s 2005 film C.R.A.Z.Y garnered almost unanimous critical approval, and with Café de Flore Vallée looks to be aiming to add another film to this growing cannon of quality.

Café de Flore comprises two parallel narratives, one set in late ’60s Paris and the other in contemporary Montreal. In the latter, Kevin Parent plays Antoine Godin, a DJ who has recently left his wife for another woman. Convinced that the couple will reunite, his ex-wife Carole is tortured by strange nightmares. The other plot has Vanessa Paradis as an overprotective single mother who is struggling against both society’s prejudices against her Down’s Syndrome son, Laurent, and his own willful nature. Antoine and Laurent share an obsession with the ‘Café de Flore’ of the title, a Matthew Herbert tune that, by means of this obsession, goes a way towards linking the plots.

The autobiographical C.R.A.Z.Y was an enormous critical success, and Café shares more than a few of its better qualities – once again there’s an effective exploration of the mixed emotions that bind parent and child, and of the collision of the mystical with the grimy everyday. Mid-tempo classic rock accompanies the many fast-paced montage sequences in a manner that’s just as moving as in C.R.A.Z.Y, and a character’s mindset is often communicated to us by means of the same kinds of embarrassing singing-into-the-hairbrush moments that helped make the earlier film so charming.

What’s missing is a decent plot – unlike C.R.A.Z.Y, Café doesn’t have the excuse of autobiography to allow for contrived or dull moments. And both of the film’s narratives are dull; soap-opera-esque in focus and in execution. Sentimentality, unfortunately, rules. Antoine and Laurent’s obsession with the ‘Café de Flore’ tune starts to look forced quite quickly, as does Carole’s preoccupation with her dead marriage – as things progress, the action is only plausible if the emotion is ever-heightened. Sentimentality excuses irrational behaviour in film no more than in life.

It’s clear that Vallée wants his film to be considered as part of the millennial French-Canadian tradition of excellence. Café de Flore, however, is unremarkable and ill-wrought, and doesn’t deserve a place in that pantheon. Monsieur Lazhar is in cinemas soon – go see that first.

It starts at 8pm and there will be a BBQ prior to the event with some music too.

Admission is €10 and there’s no ticket sale for this event, so be sure to arrive early to get in.

Expect songs from Kitt’s The Big Romance.