Mogwai Announce more detail on Mog-Fest, The Academy

MOGWAI ANNOUNCE SUPPORTS AND DJ SET FOR ACADEMY RESIDENCY

Mogwai have announced supports acts for when they take over Dublin’s Academy for a weekend residency next month on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of March.

Glaswegian rockers Desalvo will open for the band on Friday night and Remember Remember will join the band as support for the remaining two nights.

Mogwai’s Stuart and Barry will also be taking to the decks after Fridays gig as special guest DJs at No Disko in The Academy.

Mogwai are live at The Academy on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March. Tickets priced €30 incl. book fee for each night are on sale now at all usual Ticketmaster outlets.

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Drop-D Nominated and shortlisted for the Irish Web Awards 2008 Live Review, 2009 Green 17 Tour, Flogging Molly, with the Aggrolites and the Mighty S

Artist: Flogging Molly, The Aggrolites, The Mighty Stef
Source: Diane Weisheit

A crowd of fans dressed in kilts and newsboy caps flooded the lobby of The House of Blues both Friday and Saturday night for the 2009 Green 17 Tour featuring Flogging Molly, with The Aggrolites and The Mighty Stef.

The Dublin-based The Mighty Stef, kicked off the night featuring songs from their second studio album, 100 Midnights. Lead singer Stefan Murphy opened things up with the first track from their album, Downtown. It was immediately apparent from Murphy’s grungy, almost growling, Irish voice that this was a great choice for an opening band. They set a vibrant mood for the crowd as they casually sipped beers while belting out A Pretend Sailors Goodbye. The great harmonies and melodic beat of Sunshine Serenade brought the audience to life, clapping their hands cheerfully along with the beat. Perhaps the most enjoyable performer on stage was the keyboard player, constantly uprooting himself from the giant couch pillow on which he was seated in order to get a little more into the groove as he pounded the keys. He even surprised us by busting out a trumpet for closing song, Poisonous Love. Murphy wished the crowd goodnight and brought the set to a close as the lengthy strings twirling off the end of his guitar glistened in the stage lights.

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Interview, Jeremy Hickey, Rarely Seen Above Ground

Artist: Rarely Seen Above Ground
Source: Liam Griffin

Rarely Seen Above Ground (RSAG) is a one man band who records all his own material and plays drums live alongside some pretty interesting visuals. His debut album Organic Sampler, was released last year and gained him a nomination for the Choice Music Prize. His sound is energetic, exciting and well worth checking out. Drop-d spoke with the brain of the operation Jeremy Hickey over the phone last week, just before he played at a Jameson Film Festival party in Dublin.

Drop-d: Playing live as a drummer accompanying virtual band mates is a pretty unorthodox approach. How did you come up with this idea?
Jeremy: It came about because I'd played in bands for years and I always wanted to get my own thing going. It was easier to do it all myself, I'm a drummer first and foremost but I also play guitar and other instruments. Back in about '96, I made a demo and it came out pretty well. After that I got involved with a band called Blue Ghost. But it was actually always since about the age of 20/21 that I was going to do a solo thing. There were a lot of people making and performing music on their own at the time, like DJ Shadow, there was a lot of stuff that you didn't need a full band, so it was in the air for me.

Drop-d: How do you get the images for your show?

J: I make the images for the live show myself with help from my friend Paul Mahon. We both film the stuff and then we both sit down and cut it up. Its more or less the same way the music is done, as in its recorded and cut up. Like how the music is done, except it's visuals. That's why I think it works so well.

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Drop-D Nominated and shortlisted for the Irish Web Awards 2008 Stiff Little Fingers for Academy Date

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS

Friday 22nd May 2009

Tickets €25 including booking fee go on-sale 9am Wednesday 25th February
Ticketmaster

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS were formed in Belfast in 1977 and have become one of the best bands to emerge from Ireland. With punk rock classics such as Suspect Device, Wasted Life and of course Alternative Ulster, with their infectious energy and distorted guitar hooks, SLF have been a major influence on bands such as Green Day, Bad Religion, Sugar, Rancid and fellow Ulster band Therapy. Tickets go on sale at 9am Wednesday 25th February through all Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.


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Gomez Announce Academy Date

GOMEZ ANNOUNCE ACADEMY GIG

Almost ten years after the release of their brilliant Mercury Music Prize winning debut album release Bring It On Gomez have announced an intimate date at Dublin’s Academy on Thursday 30 April. Tickets priced €26 incl. booking fee are on sale at all usual Ticketmaster outlets from Wednesday 25th February.

Gomez sixth studio album, A New Tide marks a return to the always-freewheeling British band’s more experimental roots, with songs like Win Park Slope and Airstream Driver evincing a spirit born of boundless imagination and a longstanding collaborative relationship.

With the band members now scattered across two continents, from Brooklyn to Brighton, England, early tracks were written and recorded individually and then merged online. The process allowed for an open and adaptive songwriting approach, the material taking on its ultimate shape when Gomez officially convened in studios in Chicago and Charlottesville, VA, with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine, Counting Crows).

Gomez Site

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Record Review, Without Thought, Get Down and Give me Infinity

Artist: Without Thought
Source: Paul Groome

When situations arise in life where you feel your instincts, opinions or even emotions may not be reliable in finding a conclusion to a situation, science is always the way forward.

For the album, Get Down And Give Me Infinity by Without Thought, I used the “Thirty Second Method". This is the proven scientific rule that prevents infections of the inner ear through frequent, or in some cases small/concentrated, exposure to tripe. The Thirty Second Method adheres to a strict procedure of listening only to the first thirty seconds of each song of a previously unheard album, thus preventing excessive amounts of shit from entering the bloodstream via the ear canal. In situations where further analysis of songs is required, they can be reviewed individually. Here are my results........

Hailing from Guildford in England, Without Thought have an endless list of obvious influences. Any of the current list of "post-punk" bands in the charts should fit the description here, with Green Day and The Offspring probably being quoted as the godfathers of their genre. There are some distinctly metal hooks in their songs though, and some of the breakdowns give glimpses at some heavier idols. But just when you think they've turned a corner, they lapse back into the same rhetoric.

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Live Review, Charlie Parr, Crawdaddy

Artist: Charlie Parr
Source: David Lynch

”What time is it? What’s that? Twenty five to eleven? Twenty five to eleven eh… I don’t even know what twenty five to eleven means! Anyone know what time I started?” quizzes Charlie Parr from the stage during his informal gig in Crawdaddy last Wednesday.

The reason for this question was to figure out how long he had before it was time to pack up. The predominantly male, mature looking crowd scratched their heads and decided he was best off playing until someone told him to stop but it was clear that ideally they wanted him to play all night.

Following a decent set of murder ballads by support act Barry McCormack, Parrs entrance to the stage is very low key. He simply ambles on, picks up his beaten up old National Resonator steel guitar (with a very cool painting of a big red rooster on the back) and starts tuning. Out of the tuning comes opener Far Cry From Fargo from his new album Roustabout followed by a lot more tuning, some good natured mumbling and about two hours of top class blue-grass and blues.

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Record Review, Trap Them, Siezures in Barren Places

Artist: Trap Them
Source: Mike McGrath Bryan

Every so often, a band comes along and grabs your reviewer with such conviction that he's shaken out of his usual state of jadedness and wired awake, awestruck at what unfolds before him sonically. It doesn't happen often these days, but when it does you can be sure this act is of seismic proportions. Trap Them are just such an outfit. Forget everything you know about metal. These guys have just redefined it...

Hailing from Salem, New Hampshire, Trap Them offer a hardcore-inflected grind with an intensity that blows all these perfectly coiffured scene kids right out of the water. Seizures in Barren Praise, the continuation of an ongoing musical concept begun in their 2007 debut, Sleepwell Deconstructor, is their clear declaration of future greatness, and a genuinely menacing piece of malevolence, executed with the precision and purpose of a contract killer.

The minute you hear Day Twenty: Flesh and Below<>Ryan McKenney's vocals come off somewhere between bewildered howl and directly threatening growl, with a vengeance not seen or heard in a long time. Day Twenty Nine: Reincarnation of Lost Lones sounds like Pantera jamming with Napalm Death in the bowels of hell. Blastbeats pepper the soundscape like machinegun bullets while chords the size of the world serve to crush the listener into submission. Day Twenty Eight: Targets lashes at the ears with all the subtlety of a kick in the teeth, beating upon your senses at feral pace.

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Record Review, Kevin Blake, You Are What You Hear

Artist: Kevin Blake
Source: Paul Murphy

The best thing about electronic music is that it never stops expanding, advances in technology and improved accessibility have made it easy for anyone with a musical ability to make records from their bedroom. Kevin Blake is a man who's played in experimental rock bands since he was 15 and Electric Underground's live resident has released a six-track debut gem, an EP called You Are What You Hear.

Electric Underground, purveyors of cutting edge techno, dubstep and electronica live in the southwest have chosen their first release as a record label wisely. Experimental rocker and Warp-influenced Blake has played or toured with and the likes of 65Daysofstatic, Ten Past Seven, Altern-8, Giveamanakick, Max Tundra and Donal Dineen.

The EP opens with an eerily catchy Holy Smoke as Blake's experimental influences take hold as the song moves with snare fills and synth bass riffs with minimalist sensibilities.

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JazZstePpa Tomorrow night, Underground Kennedys

Big Dish Go present JaZZstePpa live.

Underground at Kennedys

Saturday 21st 10.30pm. Tickets available on door priced €14.

It is sure to be a interesting night of fresh music. On the night there will also be Kormac and Tu-Ki cutting and scratching together an eclectic mix of jazz, hip-hop, swing, funk, electro, dubstep, breaks, house, DnB and finally a live performance by JazZstePpa

Jazzsteppa Site

DJ Tuki

DJ Kormac

Dan Deacon, Andrews Lane Date

Foggy Notions presents

Dan Deacon and Ensemble

+ Adventure (Carpark Records) + Future Islands (Wham City)

Andrew’s Lane Theatre, Wed June 3, Doors 10pm

Tickets €17.50 plus booking fee from WAV [lo-call 1890 200 078]/City Discs/ Tickets.ie and Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

“A laptop-clutching oddball who will take you on a reckless joyride…remorselessly entertaining.” – Observer Music Monthly

“Deacon is the Salvador Dali of electro…a refreshing example of someone rewriting rules of music as he goes along.’ – The Guardian

By now you’ll know Baltimore’s Dan Deacon. Dubbed “oddball” by some, “inspiring” by others, he’s just one guy treading many thin lines, confidently straddling between nut-job and genius, downright brilliant and insanely mind-bending, and with a live show from another world inducing more audience participation than a seriously skewed pantomime.

Dan Deacon Site

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SoundTrack: Conor McIntyre - BATS

Artist: BATS
Source: Naomi McArdle

Conor McIntyre plays guitar with BATS, a progressive metal band based in Dublin. Late 2007 saw the release of their Cruel Sea Scientist EP followed by a varied run of live performances across the country. A debut album is scheduled for release later this year. Before they flit off to record, Drop-D collared Conor to find out what he flies to....

Drop-D: Can you pigeonhole your tastes into one particular genre or do your preferences spread through an array of influences?

Conor: My tastes certainly span across all genres. That said I go through phases where I stick to one genre at a time for instance last month I was listening to a lot of Post-Punk and now I’m listening to a lot of Hip-Hop.

Drop-D: What triggered your musical infatuation? Was it a certain band/person/style/age?

Conor: When I was around nine or ten my Dad bought Queen's Greatest Hits on CD when CDs first came out. I think I started listening to it first because I was intrigued by the fact that lasers were used in CD players. After that I acquired a copy of NWA's Straight Outta Compton from my sister. My buddies and I used to walk around the playground taking turns listening to it on a Walkman. It felt pretty badass at the time.

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Live Review, Asobi Seksu, Crawdaddy

Artist: Asobi Seksu
Source: Aoibheann Maguire

The epic soundscapes created by New York’s Asobi Seksu quickly engulfs the cavernous space downstairs in Crawdaddy, but from the minute singer, keyboardist and sometime drummer Yuki Chikudate pitches her high octane voice to the crowd -it’s clear who’s calling the shots. Her haunting vocals doth this band make.

They are back in Dublin, this time, to showcase material from their new album Hush. They do a good job of it. Chikudate is certainly in playful form tonight trancing out on her keyboards as she works her way through most of the multi-layered pop melodies from Hush. While James Hanna, the bands founding member rocks out and moshes about in his own intrinsic guitar playing style. Think Peter Hook-like stage stances – though with a lot more swashing of the head and sounding, of course, nothing like Peter Hook at all. Hanna is more of an avid Kevin Shields fan - it shows, and it pays off wonderfully.

Blue fairy lights twinkle from the corners of the stage while the blissed out crowd nod along to the celestial, stunning melodies of Familiar Light, In The Sky and Sing Tomorrow’s Praise all from their latest album Hush. They proceed to take the crowd off guard by turning it up a notch for the latter part of the gig and for their infectiously catchy new single Me and Mary. Showing us that the captivating dream-pop they create for our bedrooms can quickly transform into a frenetic wall of sound, and a high energy night out. Rest assured none of their songs lush drowned out qualities, were harmed in the process.

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Interview, Mark Cullen, Ponyclub

Artist: Ponyclub
Source: Aoibheann Maguire

There’s nothing quite like a band with a tragic history, and Dublin’s Pony Club are definitely one of those bands. At the height of their career they deserved to be huge indie stars. It didn’t happen. The legendary kiss of death from Morrissey didn’t help matters much either- not that they’re complaining. In fact even though it has taken years to release their current album Post Romantic-they’re still not complaining because as front man Mark Cullen explains to Drop-d that music isn’t everything.

Drop-d: Are you happy with the way things are going with Post Romantic, now that you’re finally getting the chance to promote it?

Mark: Yeah, we have got some really good press. We’re also starting to pick up some decent TV and Radio. In the past you’d always get good press, but you’d never get radio or any of the other things. It can be a difficult place-it’s hard to keep putting records out and getting them ignored all the time, or getting great press and then no one ever buying them.

Drop-d: It took a long time to finally release this album…

Mark: My wife was very ill and it just changed me completely. For a couple of years I couldn’t face doing all the things I had to do with the album. I just wanted to be at home all the time-we have two small kids. When things happen to you like that it gives you some perspective. Music or anything else is for fun, I just want to try and get as much enjoyment out of life as I possibly can. It knocked me sideways, and I just forgot about the record. The label that we were on in England went into liquidation so we had no one to put it out so we just forgot about it.

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Record Review, The Mighty Stef, 100 Midnights

Artist: The Mighty Stef
Source: Paul Murphy

The Mighty Stef's second studio album is the same mixture of folk and folklore that makes Stefan Murphy an artist that really stands out from the crowd. His storytelling techniques which have been likened to Nick Cave have continued developing since his 2006 debut The Sins of Saint Catherine and last year's Death Threats EP which saw appearances from folk legend Ronnie Drew and a couple of punks from Flogging Molly. 100 Midnights continues in the same vein fusing noise, country and folk together with a raw Irish-ness in the delivery that steadily places Stefan Murphy along the same lines as Phil Lynott.

The album, recorded in Dublin and co-produced by Frank Murray (Thin Lizzy, Joe Strummer) with Stefan Murphy, showcases this artists diverse songwriting ability from paranoid duets with Cait O'Riordain to “the most romantic song in the history of romance" to drunken lullabies. The unique thing about Stef is that he really can't be pigeonholed into any particular genre and the combination of influences and dark themes played with a subtle grace makes this more than something you'd expect a booze-hound musician to start banging out after a few jars, down in the local.

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Doves for 2 Irish Dates

DOVES ANNOUNCE IRISH DATES

Doves return to Ireland this April with two Irish dates at The Ulster Hall, Belfast on Sunday 19 April and the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on Monday 20th. Tickets are on sale from 9 am this Friday, 20 February at all usual Ticketmaster outlets for £23.50 and €28.

It has been a long time between drinks for Doves, four years in fact since their last broadcast Some Citiesflew to the top of the charts. Some feared they had flown the nest permanently. Thankfully, that was never going to be the case, and now they’re back to attest all the fans, writers, DJs and pundits that have been restlessly awaiting new material since February 2005. That Album is Kingdom of Rust-- an album that is the Doves most sonically adventurous, intimate, cerebral, propulsive and most eclectic record to date.

Doves Site

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Record Review, Its a Misery Business, Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists
Source: Colm Cullen

Don’t buy this, it’s arse. Right. Now that’s out of the way, on with the rant….

Most of this album will end up in some Lindsay Lohan movie, or a “loser gets a babe coz he’s, like, not really a loser’ piece of crap. This is purely about who they sound like and being radio-friendly. That seems to be Rhino’s(the record company behind it) plan anyway, and fair enough – it is a business after all. And misery is definitely the business they’re in. Bar a handful of tracks, you wonder why the fuck you’re wasting your life listening to this drivel.

There’s not enough quality here, and there’s sure as hell not enough originality. Artists like (and no, they’re not on here) Johnny Cash, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Beatles, or Elvis all took what was there before, and moved it forward. I’m not looking for the new Chuck Berry; just a spark of originality would be nice. Bar the standout tracks, no-one here will invent a whole new sound like Berry did. Too many of them are just plagiarising what is popular on American radio.

For fuck’s sake – be original! I’m not even saying I’ll like their originality, but at least they’d be trying. I’d respect them for that. Some of these bands are complete dross. If I said what I really thought about some of these, I’d probably be in court for the next 5 years.

Don’t get me wrong – good luck to any band that can get a record deal but has it become that fuckin’ easy ?

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Live Review, Wavves, Upstairs Whelan's

Artist: Wavves
Source: Adam Lacey

We’re all upstairs in Whelans: hairy bloggers, bespectacled musos, hacks, hot chicks, headphone-sporters and haircuts…and we all want to see 22-year old San Diego scuzz-prodigy Nathan Williams, AKA, Wavves.

Unfortunately, I manage to miss Weil Rats (apparently a fine performance) but I do catch Dublin Duck Dispensary who deliver a solid display of reluctance, fun, noise, irony, smart-arsedness and fuzz.
Shortly after 10pm, a miniscule, not-as-skinny-as-I-imagined, extremely young-looking Nathan hops onto stage, nearly tripping over his Flock of Seagulls-meets-a mountainman-rapist haircut. It’s just he and his drummer, Ryan Ulsh, and as he nervously plops himself in front of the mic, Nathan mumbles that he has ‘nothing to say’ before introducing 'a new one’ and strumming out the doo-woppy Weed Demon.
The duo proceed to blast noisily through a set that includes California Goth, Beach Demon, , No Hope Kids, Summer Goth, Wavves and crowd-favourite So Bored with many of the tracks bleeding jaggedly into one another but, in a live setting, boasting a far fuller, more definitive sound than comes across in his recorded work.

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Live Review, Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest, The O2

Artist: Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest
Source: Paddy Murphy

When the triple-hearder of Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest was announced many many Irish rockers creamed their jeans at the prospect of seeing two of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time....and then Judas Priest too.

If ya ain't been to the New Point, (I refuse to call it by the sponsors name) and you probably haven't seeing as the selection of bands that have played there thus far have been fuckin piss-poor. But the place is just as good as they've been saying it is. There's a fair few bars around, a few merchandise tables, the food sucks though, only cinema food like popcorn, and ice-cream, who the fuck's gonna eat top-dollar Ben and Jerry's at a metal gig? Anyway none of that really matters, well, except for the bars, the most important is what the place sounds like. The sound in theOld Point was akin to being at a barn-dance in the arsehole of Leitrim, all great craic but you're too pissed to notice how shit the band are. But it's all changed now baby. The place has gone so up-market that, for a change, we were led to our seats by an angel sent from Heaven instead of being asked to leave by some beefcake Eastern European security guard with an attitude.

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Live Review, God Is an Astronaut, The Academy

Artist: God Is An Astronaut
Source: Brendan Morgan

Quietly dominating the post-rock scene internationally without a hint of arrogance or hype, God is an Astronaut have always struggled as something of a enigma is this country. Last time this writer spoke to frontman Torsten Kinsella, after their storming, albeit half-empty, gig in The Button Factory over a year ago, the softly-spoken Glen of the Downs man was less than enthusiastic with the domestic media/scene's bullish rejection of their apocalyptic music.

Compounding this disappointment was a supposed appearance at Electric Picnic, which fell through, and a devastating end to their successful American tour after €20,000 worth of the band's uninsured equipment was stolen from their van in New Jersey. Thankfully, the fiercely independent trio have somehow bounced back, with a cracking new self-titled longplayer and a full-to-the-brim attendance at the Academy tonight.

Warming up tonight are Dublin trio Saints of Decent. Unfortunately,we arrive just in time to completely miss most of their set. Accomplished musicians with GIAA-produced tunes in the pipeline means Drop-d shall be keeping an eye on this lot.

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Interview, James Hanna from Asobi Seksu

Brooklyn-based shoegazers Asobi Seksu (Japanese for playful sex) are back with a brand new album titled Hush. Their musical style harps back to the high vocals of a Couteau Twins record teamed with the grittier pedal preferences of Kevin Shields. In an age where even seemingly clever lyrics wear rapidly thin it’s an added bonus, that front woman Yuki Chikudate sings in a mixture of English and Japanese –sometimes even her bandmates don’t know what she is singing about. Asobi’s guitarist/vocalist James Hanna spoke to drop-d on the eve of their Dublin gig.

Drop-d: You’re playing Manchester tonight? Do you have any affection for the musical history of the city?

James: Yeah there are always a lot of good bands from Manchester, and we always have really good shows there. It’s our third show this tour. We played in London last night and Southampton the night before. They were both pretty good- London was definitely pretty awesome.

Drop-d: Are you happy with the way the songs on your new album Hush are translating into a live setting?

James: It’s cool; it’s really exciting for us to try new stuff. It’s definitely really something to play new shows again. I just take things one day at a time on tour.

Clicky Clicky for the rest of the interview

Live Review, Benjamin Excoriza, Button Factory

2009-02-10
Artist: Benjamin Escoriza
Source: David Lynch

The slippery, icy footpaths and cutting east wind seemed a million miles away as Benjamin Escoriza and his companions took to the stage at the Button Factory last Friday. With the predominantly Spanish audience and the Spanish on-stage banter one could easily imagine that they were watching the gig in a smoky bar in Tarifa- the town in the southernmost region of Spain, and only a few miles from North Africa, where Escorizas' previous band Radio Tarifa formed their musical identity.

The former lead vocalist is ploughing a similar furrow to Radio Tarifa, who sadly parted ways in 2006, except that he places slightly more emphasis on flamenco. In fact some of his old band mates lent a hand to Escoriza on his debut solo album Alevanta and as tonight's performance showed if it aint broke don't fix it.

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Live Review, This Town Needs Guns, And So I Watch You From Afar and Adebisi Shank, Whelan's

The terms Math Rock and Post Rock do come across as being quite scary, you think Math Rock and images of Weezer fans that wear tweed, talk about algebra and wear hats inside, why do people wear hats inside? It's strange. Anyway it's not as bad as it sounds, Math Rock is, in simplier and friendlier terms, loud guitar music which changes time signature from time to time. It's noting new, especially in metal and is a constant in classical music. Same goes for Post Rock, think rock but without the chorus and lyrics and loud, very fuckin loud.

Adebisi Shank get us started early tonight, the bands are under strict orders to be finished by 10.30, which sucks, who wants to go to gigs that start at half eights? Way too early.....Anyway whatever, we're here now so stop giving out. If you ain't seen of heard of The Shank by now then you, my friend, ain't cool nor with it no-more. Adebisi Shank are the greatest Irish band working their asses off at the moment. It's been more than a couple occasions now that they've giving me temporary tinnitus but it's always worth it. But what worries me about the Shanks is will they become a favourite of the critics of the land but others will not follow. Most publications (both physical internet) are in love with them but will they go Kerbdog or Whipping Boy? I pray to holy St Lynott that they will not, this band are far too important to fail. They could well save Irish rock, make it cool again and kill off all singer-songwriters. Adebisi Shank are Ireland's most important band.

Clicky for the rest of the article

Tomorrow Night, God Is An Astronaut, The Academy

Tomorrow Night

GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT

Plus special guests Saints of Descent

The Academy Saturday February 7th 2009

Tickets €19.50 including booking fee available now.

Post-rock instrumental trio GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT have announced a Dublin show as part of their European and U.S. tour in support of their new self-titled album, God Is An Astronaut. Dublin band Saints of Descent have just been added to the bill.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and all outlets nationwide.

GIAA Myspace

GIAA Wiki

SOD Site

MCD

Interview, Tim O’Donovan, Neosupervital

Artist: Neosupervital
Source: Aoibheann Maguire

Tim O’Donovan (aka) Neosupervital is Ireland’s best known purveyor of synth-pop, but his musical outlets don’t end there. Like fellow Irishman David Holmes, he’s lending his musical talents to soundtracks (albeit on a lesser scale).He’s also busy putting the finishing touches to his new album, but he took time out to talk to Drop-d about the complexities of Girls Aloud, 707 drum machines and why synth-pop isn’t all about style.

Drop-d: Hey Tim, I'm excited about hearing the new Neosupervital record; you must be really looking forward to its release? What can we expect?

Tim: Yes, I can't wait to get it out there. I had my first show on Friday, at the Hoot night, at the Sugar club. It was just breaking the ice really- because I haven't been on stage in a year now. It was just an excuse for me to get up on stage and sing. From the album, you can expect songs to make you dance, with lyrics that will hopefully tickle your fancy too. There is less of an emphasis on it just being synth-pop and drum machines. I'm drumming a lot more on it, so there are live drums as well as drum machines and there are a few guitars in the mix as well.

Drop-d: Not to mention all the mad antics you get up to on stage? Are there plans for lots of high-energy Irish dates?

Tim: There have been lots of changes over the past year. I used to drum in Bell X 1 and I don't anymore. Also the two girls who were in Neosupervital have joined up with the two girls from The Chalets, and a guy on drums, to form Talulah does the Hula. I went to their first gig and they have a 50's style rock/pop thing going on. It's back down to me now so I have to be as self-sufficient as possible.

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Tonight This Town Needs Guns, Adebisi Shank, And So I Watch You From Afar

Murmur and Richter Collective presents

This Town Needs Guns

Adebisi Shank

And So I Watch You From A Far

This Town Needs Guns are a math/indie-rock band from Oxford in the United Kingdom. The bands music is technical; but heavily melodic. Kerrang compares them to mathcore men Minus The Bear covering seminal Mancunian miserablists, The Smiths. TTNG have recently signed to Sargent House [Daughters, Russian Circles,Maps & Atlases] Support on the night from Adebisi Shank & And So I Watch You From Afar.

Here are a few videos from each band, this is the years most important gig so far

TTNG Site

TTNG Myspace

Adebisi Shank Myspace

ASIWYFA Myspace

Drop-d Home Page

Drop-d Forum

Live Review, Altern 8, Kennedys Underground

Artist: Altern 8
Source: Brendan Morgan
"I'm still on one', Altern-8's defiant response to the police at the now legendary Shelley's Car Park Rave in Stoke circa 1992. Judging by tonight's DJ performance, they still are.

In the early 90s Altern-8 came to the fore as the court jesters of rave; pranksters in boiler suits and masks with tunes as big and their stunts. While king clowns The KLF fired blanks at audiences and burned unthinkable amounts of cash, Altern-8's myths were never about anarchy or art. Mark Archer and Chris Peat were mascots for the ecstasy generation; cartoon characters who doubled sales of Vicks Vapo Rub (they smeared it on their masks claiming it enhanced ecstasy), ran for general election (and didn't finish last) and held countless unofficial raves across Britain on the back of an articulated lorry- all-the-while manipulating and exploiting the media's misunderstanding of club culture.

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Interview, Max Tundra

Artist: Max Tundra
Source: Liam Griffin

Londoner Ben Jacobs makes computer-structured pop under the name Max Tundra and recently released his third album Parallax Error Beheads You. His songs are cheerful, strange and funny. He combines technical complexity with pop's approachability and ends up with tracks that make you laugh, frown and dance. Drop-d caught up with Max for a chat before he played a wild and engaging show at The Roisin Dubh recently.

Drop-d: When did you first start making music?

Max Tundra: When I was very young, six years old or something at home messing with things banging around. We had a piano as well. I was messing around really and I'm still messing around today.

Drop-d: What influences your music?

Max: I'm quite often motivated by music that I don't really like. I might hear an awful song on the radio and feel that I have got to make something to give people a choice. Then sometimes I hear something that I really love and I decide that I'm not going to be really like them at all.

Drop-d: So your reaction to bad music pushes you on?

Max: Yeah, I know that I can do better. It isn't always a musical thing [that inspires me] it might be the kind of day that I had, food I had, something to do with the girl I'm seeing at the time.

Drop-d: What are the influences on the technical side as opposed to the lyrical side of your music?

Max: Its very important for me to be as original as possible, but if you listen to a Max Tundra track it's always possible to see that I listen to Frank Zappa on the one side and maybe a Destiny's Child song as well; there isn't any conscious sort of influence to be like another act but if people hear certain influences it means that I've been listening to, say, Steely Dan over the previous week etc.

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Record Review, A Futurist Theatre, Cariar to Pigs

Artist: Futurist Theatre
Source: Dave Sheehan

/Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man. /We are on the extreme promontory of the centuries! What use is looking behind at the moment when we must open the mysterious shutters of the impossible?

The previous paragraph is an excerpt from the Futurist Manifesto, sent with the press package from the band. Although the prose can be difficult to digest, it certainly speaks truth about the general attitude towards bands in this country that dare to meander away from the path of perfect radio-friendliness. This Dublin-based band serves to fuse the gaps between Pixies-esque yelping and Thom Yorke-style vocals with the lyrics of a discontented and disillusioned soul, the furious drumming of punk music without the technical limitations of your average punk musician, and the musical stylings of an array of influences ranging from the Smiths and the Manic Street Preachers to Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton.

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Interview, Robotnik

Artist: Robotnik
Source: Paul Murphy

It's been a while since we last heard from Chris Morrin(AKA)RobotniksoDrop-dgot in touch to catch up and see if he enjoyed Blue Balls, his current affection for Pat the Baker and getting to meet the men behind national heros Zig and Zag.We've also got the Pat the Baker video at the bottom of the artcile

Drop-d: How have you been? Did you have a good Christmas and New Year's?

Chris: To be bluntly honest I'm feeling OK, Christmas was jammed packed with personal ups and downs. That's life huh? I love Christmas. It's always good to see the family and spend time with them. On New Year's Eve I was glad to see 2009 pop its head in the door. HELLO!

Drop-d: When we last spoke, back in July, you were packing your bags to head of to Switzerland for the Blue Balls festival. Did you manage to get out into the crowd during the festival shows for part of your performances or bring a catapult for water balloons?

Chris: Yeah I got into the crowd, I always do. Doing the festival in Switzerland was an incredible experience, playing in front of a couple of thousand people, selling CDs, getting paid for it and being put up in a snazy 5-star hotel. It was really surreal and something I'll never forget. Having said that, big hotels are kind of lame and lonely, full of wannabes in my opinion. I'm just not use to it I suppose.

Drop-d: How has the news of the closure of Road Records hit you?

Chris: Did it close down? I had no idea. Oh well, that's business. Two points do come to mind: 1) Recession and; 2) Free torrent downloading.

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Soundtrack Interview, Ronan Carroll, Tenaka

Artist: Tenaka
Source: Naomi McArdle

Tenaka's colourful debut EPonymously Titled hit ears across Ireland in early January and has since gathered steady acclaim from musical camps across the country. Known as Ronan Carroll in the real world and hailing from Limerick but residing in Galway, the mind behind our latest electronica love-affair offered to share his thoughts and passions with a SoundTrack of his own.

Drop-D: Can you pigeonhole your tastes into one particular genre or do your preferences spread through an array of influences?

Tenaka: I think a few years ago I probably could have pigeonholed my tastes in music, being a fan of bands like Oasis, The Beatles and Radiohead. All the obvious choices really. That all changed when I heard Radiohead's Kid A. I vividly remember the day I played it for the first time and thinking "I've no idea what you'd call this style of music but it's exactly what I've been looking for..." I'd always been a huge music fan but had never actively sought new music so the radio was my main and limited source of new bands. Kid A was complemented by Four Tet's Pause shortly afterwards and I was hooked. It opened my eyes to the diversity and originality of new music available and it felt like a darkness had lifted. I finally had ears.

Drop-D: What triggered your musical infatuation? Was it a certain band/person/style/age?

Tenaka: I think it had to be that Kid A moment. It really was defining and certainly shaped me as a person. Finding a deeper love of music and expression frees you from every-day stresses. It opens your eyes to the important things in life.

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Mogwai for Academy Residency

MOGWAI Live at The Academy Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March

Scottish post rockers Mogwai have announced a stellar three night residency in Dublins Academy on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March. Tickets for each night are priced €30 inclusive of booking fee and are on sale from this Wednesday, 4 February at all usual Ticketmaster outlets.

Influenced by musical heavyweights such as Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Jesus and The Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine Mogwai’s music is of epic scope and grand ambition much like the three nights they are to play in the Academy.

Mogwai released their sixth studio album, The Hawk Is Howling, last September receiving favourable reviews from the likes of NME and Q magazine.

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Girl Talk for Andrew's Lane Date

Foggy Notions presents Girl Talk with Spilly Walker and DJ PCP.

March 20, Andrew’s Lane Theatre Doors 10pm.

Tickets €14 plus booking fee from Ticketmaster, WAV, City Discs, and Tickets.ie

Pittsburgh artist Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) has scrupulously created music from samples for over eight years. His fourth album Feed the Animals continues his sonic evolution towards his party-infested live show. While his first album, Secret Diary, was full of purposeful glitches and noise, his subsequent albums, Unstoppable and the groundbreaking Night Ripper, moved closer and closer towards dance-able mixes of varying genres, often including dozens of audio sources in a stream of juxtaposed hooks. With the fourth Girl Talk album on the Illegal Art label, Gillis steps even closer towards a creation that is centered on pop musicality rather than attention-deficit sample splicing.

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Here is a vid with a Smashing Pumpkins Sample and many more besides.

Maximo Park, Academy Date

MAXÏMO PARK ANNOUNCE DUBLIN SHOW .

With a new album due this Spring, Maxïmo Park return to Ireland this April for an intimate show at the Academy on Monday 6th while on their upcoming UK tour. Tickets priced €25 incl. booking fee are on sale now at all usual Ticketmasteroutlets.

Formed in 2000, Maxïmo Park released their debut album, A Certain Trigger in 2005 and quickly rose to indie fame with some critics labelling it as one of the best releases of the year. Produced by Babyshambles and Bloc Party producer Paul Epworth the success of the record lead to a series of large UK yours culminating in a headline slot at the NME Rock & Roll Riot Tour. To top of a fantastic year for the band A Certain Trigger was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Last summer the band returned to touring duties, headlining the Lovebox Festival in Marlay Park. During their set the band tested out new material from their third album. Recording in L.A. with producer Nick Launay who is known for his recent work with Nick Cave and Grinderman, the record is due out this Spring.

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Live Review, Amusement Parks on Fire, Whelan's

Artist: Amusement Parks on Fire
Source: Paul Murphy

Nottingham's masters of sound and re-inventors of rock, Amusement Parks on Fire, delivered an epic set at the Club AC30 gig in Whelan's on Thursday, kicking off their Irish mini-tour. Despite a few early difficulties with sound and broken strings the band continued to inspire with their rule bending manipulation of guitars and sound.

Lights Over Phoenix kicked off the show followed by DC Experiment and the return of Butterfly Explosion to the stage with their new line up. It was here that the sound troubles began, the rhythm section of the Butterfly Explosion was very low and Gazz's vocals were far too loud making the band seem like a very disappointing shadow of their former selves.

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