So Liss Ard makes a comeback to the festival circuit, landing on Aug 4+5, just outside Skibbereen.

There are several tasty names on the music bill already (we’ll leave the literary and food elements to a different blog), but two have caught my eye straight away.

Bob Mould Band play Copper Blue
The ex-Husker Du legend has kinda reinvented himself in recent years (surprisingly, dabbling in club djing for a time) but the thought of the man returning to his 90′s output with Sugar genuinely makes us weak at the knees around here.

It brings us back to the balmy summer of 1993 (summers were balmy back then) and Dalymount Park in Dublin which that year hosted the inaugural (if memory serves) Sunstroke festival. As well as The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Belly, The Golden Horde and others were the incomparable Sugar, touring the recently released Copper Blue. I was emotional that day when they played this furious power-pop masterpiece – you’ll excuse me if I have a private mosh now…

Roy Harper
It’s great to see this English folk genius on an “outdoor” bill like this. As far as we know, he is still resident in west Cork, so presumably he won’t have far to travel. The last we heard of Roy in a live setting was a residency at the wonderful De Barra’s in Clonakilty a few years back, which was practically his local (geographically, I have no idea if the man is a drinker).

In the days (you’ll pardon me another trip down memory lane) when he was a regular visitor to The Lobby, I always managed to be somewhere else. Stories abounded then of the man’s intellect, almost as much as his strange and wonderful blend of psychedelic whimsy and downhome-ness. (“I took off my cap in a fit of peak…”)

Full details here – https://www.facebook.com/LissArdFestival

Just recently I had the pleasure of speaking with a man who is keeping the music scene alight in the west of Ireland, his name is Finbar Hoban. Ask any band who have cut their teeth on the Irish scene in the past couple of years about Finbar and most if not all will greet you with a thumbs up. Finbar has had a huge hand in putting Castlebar on the map for many touring bands in Ireland. His passion and commitment are second to none and his policies are to be admired. Castlebar has become a regular lay over for many bands who are touring in support of new releases or for bands who want to pay their dues. The Castlebar audience is a million miles away from the cliques and chin strokers that spend more time sussing out their fellow attendees than the band they’ve paid to see. Maybe that is why it has become such a success. From experience, all barriers are broken down and if anything respect is payed to any act that graces Finbar’s stage. Be it an established act like The Beat or a bunch of 16 year olds opening for Delorentos. Either way the Castlebar crowd aren’t interested in judging and labelling, if anything they want you (much like them) to have a good time. Isn’t that what music is really about? Enjoyment? I took some time out from eating a slapdash burger (it’s all over my hands) to speak to Finbar about being the booker.

How do you find the Irish scene, healthy?
Yeah I think it’s very healthy at the moment, even considering where the country is at with its financial situation but I think there are some fantastic acts coming out of the country right now with the likes of Adebisi Shank, Cast of Cheers and Bouts. It’s a good time to be in the music business I think. It’s a very interesting time.

Tell me a little bit about your involvement with the scene in Castlebar?
I’m based in Castlebar Co Mayo. Basically we run shows once every five or six weeks here in a venue called The Clubhouse.

Is there much of a comparison between the scene there now and the scene there 10-15 years ago?
It mainly consisted of cover bands as far as I could see. When I was growing up it was just those acts, covering the likes of Thin Lizzy, Metallica, Nirvana, that kind of thing. Over the past five or six years I’ve noticed a lot kids, we’ll say between the age of 16 and 20, are writing their own material and picking up the guitar again. It’s great to see it evolving again.

Would you agree the bands you’ve put on have inspired the kids in Castlebar?
Yeah, I think so. I mean there’s always been one or two original acts that hung around the Mayo scene but now I’ve seen it more over the past 5 or 6 years. There is a lot more original music coming out of Mayo. It’s fantastic to see kids picking up a guitar and throwing down their Xbox or Playstation (and so say all of us – ed.).

The booking side of the business, did you fall into that from being in a band or otherwise?
I had never played in a band ever. Basically what I had done for 10 years previous to booking bands was DJ. I always pushed and supported an alternative scene in Castlebar and Mayo. I always believed in it and that there was room for it. I more or less started running the shows in a venue called Bar Ritz in July of 2008. The reason being, a lot of the pubs and venues around Castlebar that were known for throwing on bands from Thursday to Sunday, were closing down. I just thought something has to be done. I just thought to myself, as a county town we’re much better than this.

From my experience there it strikes me as a very vibey town considering it’s size, would I be right in saying a lot of people from the neighbouring towns travel in for shows?
They do, even over the last few shows we’ve actually moved venues from Bar Ritz to a new venue called The Clubhouse. We moved there last October. I was kind of sceptical about moving there as it wasn’t exactly in the middle of town, it was slightly outside of Castlebar, just a little bit ya know? But to a lot of people it’s another town. It’s in their mentality to say “that’s a bit of a trek to go up there”. That kind of worried me at the very beginning when we moved there but I knew by going there I’d have my own independence running shows there. So yeah, we’ve done about five or six shows there since October and actually it’s doing a lot better than I thought it would ya know? It’s really taken off now and I’m very happy with it.

Delorentos Live at the official Launch of The Clubhouse in Castlebar Saturday 10th March 2012 – Photo by Keith McGreal

The pictures of the new venue look great…
Yeah it is, the room itself can hold about 250 people which is a nice size. we got a stage built in there about five or six weeks ago and yeah…it’s really coming together now.

So, I take it this weeks Delorentos show wasn’t the first, you mentioned it had been open since October?
What we actually did was, you know the way you run test runs in a new venue we’ll say? You won’t have an official launch night per se, you just do two or three show to see how things go, I suppose these are kind of known as..ah…..

Dark shows?
Yes, exactly…and they went really, really well. Our first show in the venue was with Adebisi Shank back in October and since then it’s been doing really well.

What lessons did you find yourself learning the hard way in regards to booking?
I suppose the amount of money you put into advertising a show, you learn how much a band should get paid on the night and so on. What’s happened me in the past is that I’ve had to cancel shows the day beforehand, that has happened two or three times. That to me is losing money because you’re putting so much advertising into it. Let’s say you’re doing up posters, putting ads in the papers, I mean if a show is cancelled the day beforehand you still have to pay for your advertising so that’s a lot of money that’s going nowhere.

I remember from experience doing the ‘walk of shame’, that trip to the bank to pull out your last €50 to pay a band, have you been down that street?
It’s happened a few times yeah, ha ha! You have to be prepared in situations like that. You have to say to yourself “right, if I go down tonight, if I lose tonight, how much am I willing to go down? But…ya know, it’s happened a couple of times.

It’s worth taking a gamble on then?
It is, I mean I wouldn’t advise anybody to get involved in the whole process of booking bands unless their heart is in it ya know?

I’ve always found that there is something unique within every good booker, a real passion. Not to just book a great head-liner with some dodgy supports but a star studded line up.
I knew once I got into this, ya know? I thought to myself…let’s do this for a couple of months. If it goes well we’ll keep going. I believed in it from day one. I believed I could make it happen. I pretty much follow the Irish music on a daily basis right now. I always check to see what’s happening around the country. Who’s creating a buzz etc. I’m still very confident that I can do that. If I have a bad night I’ll always pull myself up off the ground and say “right, how can we do things better the next night?”. You learn from those experiences. It’s a learning game all the time. I’m only involved with this for the past four or five years, I mean I know guys who have been involved with this for 20 to 25 years ya know? And I’m still learning, learning all the time.

If you mention Castlebar to most bands on the independent circuit in Ireland, they always have something great to say. Even if they haven’t they are aware of the name and the venue and more importantly you’re going to get looked after right?
Exactly, I mean the likes of anyone who is travelling from let’s say Cork, Waterford, Donegal, Belfast…I mean these people are travelling to play a gig, they have to be treated fairly. It’s a long distance to come to play a gig. It’s costing these bands money to travel to these gigs and at the end of the day everybody has to get looked after. They have to be shown a good night.

Tell me about some of the Irish artists and tracks that have caught your attention as of late.
Well Mia Sparrow, who were originally called ‘Story of Hair’ and although based in Dublin are originally from Castlebar, they just released their self titled album for download on bandcamp a couple of weeks ago. It’s a lovely piece of work, a really great album. They’re gonna go places, even though I know that sounds like some sort of pun.

(Read Barry’s notes on the Mia Sparrow album
here.)

I want to see bands go places, that’s my thing going forward. Looking at the current list of movers and shakers on the Irish scene, they’re on tour in Europe, they’re on tour in the UK, they’re doing the CMJ’s and Canadian Indie Weeks, they’re bashing on doors in an increasingly difficult business.
Isn’t it great that these bands are getting up off their arses and doing it. It’s not an easy task to say “ya know what, we’re gonna go on tour in Europe for a month. You might not get paid every night, ya know? It’s a risk you’re taking but it’s great that these acts are getting involved and doing it. It’s nice to see bands playing so many gigs, getting out there and doing it. That’s my advice to any upcoming band. Get out there and play as many gigs as you can get. There’s not as many venues around Ireland as there was let’s say seven or eight years ago.

A lot of the bands have to pay their dues – although many Dublin bands like to get out and around the country there are plenty who don’t. I don’t see the point in playing the same venue in the same city every second week?
I’ve noticed that. I’ve always tried to get the word out in Dublin by saying “look, there is a place for ye to come and play outside of Dublin”. They should be more aware of that. When they think of the west the first thing that comes to mind is the Roisin Dubh in Galway. It’s a fine venue and Gugai is doing a great job of the booking there but I want to let people know that “hey, there is further west, there are venues there taking on bands and original ones at that.

Off the top of your head, what’s the most memorable show you’ve put on?
Adebisi Shank. I’ve done about three shows with them. I’m doing another one with them this summer. It’s one of only three Irish shows the band will play this year. They’ve always put on a great show no matter what. They work really really hard ya know, for their audience. I’d say the first time I had them in was July of 2009 and they were just incredible.

You can see that the work with them as you say is above and beyond, it’s great to see bands going that extra step to really deliver the goods.
Yeah they do, each night they put on a show they always push it that little bit further. It’s nice to see that.

They don’t take it for granted.
They don’t and more importantly the appreciate their audience. That’s why I’ve worked with them on so many occasions in the past and they’ve always put on a great show. I’m really looking forward to working with them again this summer.

Another thing I admire about your booking is the theme nights. From movie nights to superhero fancy dress nights.
We did the Marvel Comics theme night recently, it’s another theme you can tie in with a show. It adds a little more interest, more so for folks who don’t follow bands and music so much but yet again say why not, let’s go and see some people make fools of themselves. That’s what it’s all about.

Photo – Kate McKeon

You’re laying on as many ingredients as you can for a great night.
Exactly, yeah!

How do you feel about the Irish press/Bloggers. Do you think it’s very much geared towards the Dublin scene?
It can be yeah. Sometimes it’s a little too much geared towards the Dublin scene. I’d like to see certain bloggers making a name for themselves outside of Dublin. Let’s say Limerick or Athlone. There are always one or two Dublin writers that people revert back to. It would be nice to see them space stuff out a little bit.

Although the rest of the country is somewhat represented, it frustrates me to see end of year ‘best of’ lists over saturated with Dublin bands. Even more so now that a lot of them have international audiences made up of taste-makers, bloggers, labels, bookers, etc… Your thoughts?
Yeah, people look at it and go “Dublin, Ireland…that’s where it’s all happening” (side-note, Ireland has been chosen as the ‘Spotlight Country’ for this year’s Eurosonic 2012). There is a lot of great stuff happening in Galway, Waterford, even Donegal, Limerick and Cork. There are a lot of bands that don’t make those lists when it comes to the end of the year. You’re left thinking “well, hold on here a minute, your top 10 bands are all Dublin bands”. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic Dublin bands, it would just be nice to say “hey, these guys down in Limerick or these guys over in Mayo are really taking off, they’ve a great sound, I’ve seen them live once or twice and I’m gonna put these guys in my top ten today. It would be nice to see that ya know? It gets a bit repetitive over time and would be nice to see it freshen up a little bit every once in a while.

You must have plenty of Spinal Tap stories by now?
I know you’re a fan of this question and I was banging my head trying to think of one last night. I don’t have many surprisingly but I suppose one that comes to mind, and I don’t even know if it is a Spinal Tap story but it made me laugh. We had a band down a few years back and they came into Bar Ritz and they said “Hello Westport” even though they were in Castlebar. They had about 30 or 40 people shouting back “you’re in Castlebar”, ha ha!….the old classic. To be honest most bands have been well behaved, I’ve never had much hassle.

Even if they didn’t behave, what goes on the road stays on the road right?
Exactly, exactly. It’s like Eminem or The Black Eyed Peas with their “hello Dublin” when they were at the Oxegen Festival in Kildare. I’d rather they said “hello Oxegen” or “hello Kildare”, I’d feel cheated otherwise.

What can we look forward to on the booking sheets into the summer?
Actually Blaze Bailey of Iron Maiden on May 12th should be a good one. He actually did two albums with them in the 90′s so I’m really looking forward to that one. I’m a fan of Iron Maiden and a fan of his work with Wolfsbane and so on, so that should be a good show. Then we have the return of Adebisi Shank and Bats in July, I’m really looking forward to that one too. Then we’re doing a show with The Answer from Belfast. Rock n’ Roll all the way! We’ve also just announced Kerbdog for the end of October.

Where can we find more?
Just Google or Facebook the Clubhouse Castlebar or if you want to contact me directly at finbarhoban@gmail.com. I’ll do my best to respond to you if you do email me. I receive a lot on a daily basis and it’s hard to keep on top of everything but aside from that I’ll be sure to do my best.

It’s great to see Derry/London-based indie Smalltown America still out there nourishing new talent. A label that has been nothing but consistent with their output since 2001.

Branding the stamp this time around is former psychobilly art-rockers Red Organ Serpent Sound-man Chris McConaghy under his new Our Krypton Son moniker. Released as both a limited edition coloured 7″ and download this is the perfect follow up to his début single ‘Catalonian Love Song’ (Conor’s review here). ‘Plutonium’ the title track, is a soft piano ballad that drifts between a hushed Jeff Tweedy-style delivery and a growly Dennis Wilson-esque ode, complete with warped ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’ style studio effects. It’s short and sweet but delivered perfectly.

On ‘Nowhere’ the band are in full effect in a glorious fuzz pop waltz. The major to minor chords are out, while the drums could be pulled from several Ace Records classics. Again the vocals seal the deal, sitting perfectly over the musicianship, never straying from their comfortable register and deservedly so.

Closing track ‘As I Fade Away’ is another gorgeous piano ballad, taking in hints of Americana and showcasing once again McConaghy’s knack for imaginative chord progressions. His low vocal register works perfectly in tandem with his finger positioning, capturing a stunning take, whether live or otherwise. Knowing that this record was recorded in a large industrial warehouse (an asphalt roofing factory to be precise), it’s easy to imagine McConaghy sitting there with his piano, surrounded by this over-intimidating space. If that’s what it takes to capture the mood and set the scene, then producer Sam Williams (Supergrass, Kula Shaker) has done a mighty fine job in doing so.

Let’s hope that Williams took a trip to Krypton to stack up on Krytonite as it seems to be doing wonders for our son.

When Birmingham punk band The Prefects split in 1979 some of the members went on to found The Nightingales. Throughout the eighties, despite an ever changing line-up, the band attracted plenty of positive feedback and reviews – notably from John Peel. They disbanded in the late eighties but still played occasional gigs before a full time reunion in 2004 – still led by original and constant member – singer and lyricist Robert Lloyd. The band now also features original Prefects guitarist Alan Apperley. This old-school punk pedigree is certainly evident on their new album No Love Lost.

Album opener ‘Ace of Hearts’ is a high energy bolt of pure punk rock – complete with plenty of attitude but also with a hint of old fashioned rock and roll on the vocal delivery and the guitar sounds. The track is a driving rocker from start to finish, a perfect opener and certainly one of the top tracks on the album. Track 3 ‘The Done Thing’ opens with a fantastic guitar pick, the feint sound of a mouth organ floating gently in and out over the original guitar piece as new layers of guitar gradually enter and embellish.

Another of the album’s standout tracks – possibly the best – the vocal takes the form of a low spoken commentary about the pitfalls of normality and settling for the average – “Forget your ideals and you can hope for happiness…small bets are a waste of time”.

‘Real Gone Daddy’ is an uptempo rocker again with an old-school vibe – the guitars are produced to give a nice 1950’s sound and the great female backing vocals also add to the retro feel. The unusual second half and outro of the song remind you to expect the unexpected!

Track 5 ‘Best Of British Luck’ is an excellently written jangly number with a rocking chorus – it might very well make a nice single – especially with a major football tournament coming up – “Yeah, I confess, I never had the best of British luck” – just in case the penalty shoot-out goes wrong…again.

Despite the title, ‘Say It With Flowers’ is a depressing little ditty about humankind’s failings. Song 8, ‘The Dishwater Kid’ opens with a buzzing guitar effect that gives way firstly to a nice powerful drum beat and then a tasty guitar riff. A brooding number, the downtempo verse features an almost Ray Winstone-style spoken vocal line – think British gangster movie – that then explodes in to some hard rocking riffs – like early Led Zeppelin – before further experimentation brings the track in another direction altogether, great stuff.

‘Someone For Everyone’ opens with a gentle swell of strings – the track sounds genuinely sweet and some excellent brass sections and vocal harmonies realy add to the feel good vibe – but there is always an underlying current of doubt or cynicism as to the theme apparent. ‘The World of Nothing Really’ is perfect in its simplicity – just vocals and some fine acoustic guitar playing. Closing number ‘Dick The Do-Gooder’ has a nice dose of fuzzy guitars and heads-down riffing. A rocking psychedelic outro makes it the perfect choice of track to close the album with.

Jam packed with lots of clever and colourful lyrics, it would be well worth tracking down a lyric sheet for the new album and there are plenty lyrics on the site for older material. Some tracks occasionally are lacking on melody – especially during verses – ‘Born Yesterday’ and ‘Sentimental Dunce’ being examples – but the lyrics are genuinely so interesting as to keep the listener on board.

More on the band at:

http://thenightingales.org.uk/news.htm

Indiependence 2012 steps up a gear with the addition of “high church amplified” rockers British Sea Power to the bill.

This is a band who’ve largely passed me by but one good friend of mine is a big fan. And last year, he recommended I check out this article about a book written by the band’s former manager. I now recommend you do the same.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/oct/15/dad-manager-brothers-british-sea-power

The author of the book is a brother to two (I think it was) of the band members and the book concerns how his/their father took a belated (at the age of 80) and newfound interest in rock ‘n roll, because of his sons’ band activities.

That article contains the immortal quotes (the father to his son, the band manager) -

“Do it for your mum! Do it for the Butthole Surfers!”

and, on some putative support slots with U2 (the 80-year old father again) –

“U2 are charlatans, everyone knows that. But it’ll be good exposure …”

I’m not sure what all of this has to do with Mitchelstown from Aug 3-5, but hopefully there’ll be some British Sea Power mugs in the merchandise stand (just read the article).

Born and raised in Co Galway, 24 year old Laura Sheeran has been writing, recording and gigging since 2007. In that time she has given birth to various soundtracks for both theatre and film, released a series of videos she has filmed in tandem with her music and become involved in various music projects including Nanu Nanu, RESOUND and Fovea Hex. Nanu Nanu, in particular, have been tagged as ‘ones to watch’ by many involved with the Irish music scene.

Laura’s new solo album What the World Knows occupies a sonic landscape of dark electronica, adventurous and bold yet stunningly successful. A roller-coaster of emotion and originality delivered with a transparent confidence. At first it can be quite a tough listen but the more in-tune you become with what Sheeran is trying to project, the easier it becomes to unwind and digest.

Album opener ‘What the World Knows’ might have thrown me from that start. A particular choice to open proceedings as it’s probably the weakest of the ten tracks. However, from here on in is where the magic starts to show.

‘Redlight’ is the first indication that Sheeran means business. The broken rhythm, the lack of anything that even resembles an instrument all wrapped in a wiry, chant-like delivery. A song about women being violated in the red light district? A song about a relationship that isn’t working / unsuitable? I guess in this case it’s up to the listener to decide as Sheeran doesn’t give away too much. A theme that runs brilliantly through out the album.

‘Forever Love’ highlights the most gorgeous vocal take on the album, proving that Sheeran’s tender side works equally as well. This is the closest we get to anything conventional in both structure and idea, as from there we jump back on the roller-coaster. What follows is Sheeran laying on a fine vocal display in the swirling ‘Until Danger’s Gone’. Here, the string sections are fantastically scored, floating perfect, yet lazy at the verse’s end. ‘Lonesome Soldier’ is a hypnotic ride of two chords and a vocal, and once latched on to, changes when you least expect.
The song climaxes with what could only be described as a broken computer loop, the first indication that anything goes.

One thing I really love about this album is that Sheeran has some absolutely bonkers ideas. There is a lot to be said for no drums or percussion, no guitars or piano, the important thing is how to utilize that space and with what? Listening carefully, it’s tough to make out exactly what you’re listening to. Is it a broken computer? Is it distorted xylophone? Whatever most of it is, it doesn’t really matter because yet again, although bravely adventurous, Sheeran makes it all fit flawlessly. I wonder if it’s experimentation? or if the final product is a concoction of brilliantly envisioned sounds and moods that has come to fruition?

The string scoring shines yet again on ‘Live Long’ before we arrive seamlessly with the haunting ‘Death of a Star’. (I was so engulfed by this stage I thought that ‘Live Long’ and ‘Death of a Star’ were the same song.) Again thinking “fucking brilliant” out loud as the strings floated so seamlessly into the church organ. One song or not, it was made up for the placement of the album opener. The folk harp offering of ‘Hurricane’ is another album highlight, bringing to mind the fantastic Natasha Khan and the possibility of witnessing this music live in person.

Maybe a venture to do would answer all of my questions. Who is Laura Sheeran? Why and how did she make such an incredibly unique and refreshing Irish record? Maybe the relocation from Galway to Dublin has awoken the beast? I’ll never know unless I go, and that I will.

The album is a tough one to get your head around at first but once the sheer brilliance of Sheeran’s creativity is uncovered you’ll fall in love.

Believe me, after many a try, I took her album, and I gave her a twirl and I lost my heart to a Galway Girl.

Laura Sheeran plays Whelan’s, Dublin, Sat May 19th

Tim Smyth of country/folk duo Hidden Highways outlines five of his favourite songs

1. Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra – Some Velvet Morning

I’m not sure where the Lee Hazelwood thing started…I think it was on the Movern Caller soundtrack that I first heard this. Psychedelic country? Who’d have thunk it? The change in time is genius too – I seem to remember reading somewhere Lee saying it could be an edit and the musicians just saying “no…we can get this”.

2. Mojave 3 – Love Songs On The Radio

From the ashes of Slowdive came Mojave 3 and this gem. Pretty sure I heard this first on No Disco back in the day. They’re pretty good at kicking up a dust cloud of melancholy aren’t they?

3. Pulp – Something Changed

Jarvis has stood the test of time…and so has this song.

4. The Walker Brothers – Sun Ain’t going To Shine Anymore

An over the top bombastic 60′s pop classic. A very old friend put loads of Scott Walker songs on a tape for me a long time ago which started my obsession…it was from the collection of Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel but I tracked down Scott 1,2,3 and 4 in quick succession.

5. The Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane

Some of my favourite songs are cover versions but I’ll just pick the one here. It’s always amazing to hear what someone else finds in a song. The Cowboy Junkies took this one off in a different direction and made it very much their own…

Hidden Highways’ self-titled debut EP is out now via Out On A Limb Records. A digital copy is available to download from Bandcamp while physical copies can be found in Wingnut Records Galway, Elastic Witch Dublin, Plugd Records Cork, and Tower Records Dublin.

Hidden Highways play The Half Moon Theatre, Cork, Aug 11th, w/ Peter Delaney

http://hiddenhighways.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VertigoSmyth.CarolAnneMcGowan

Some news just in from Note Productions re the Transcendentalists show in Dublin at the weekend. It seems that an extra show has been added on Sunday afternoon due to demand. And it’s all ages people.

Read on.

Sunday 20th May
The Sugar Club, Dublin

3pm Matinee Show
Tickets 20 Euro including booking fee.
A LIMITED number of tickets for young adults 14-18 years are available at 12 Euro including booking fee. All young adults must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.
Tickets from tickets.ie and ticketmaster.ie or 0818 719 300 (Ticketmaster), telephone and internet bookings subject to a maximum 12.5% service charge, agents €2.
Please note: Doors at 2.30pm and show starts promptly at 3.00pm.

Vicky Langan, performance artist and curator of Black Sun, talks us through her upcoming Galway show next weekend

‘Judas Steer’, is a special event, presented by the Galway Arts Centre this Saturday May 19th.

It will feature a live solo performance, film screening (DIRT, the brand new video by myself and Max Le Cain, will premiere as part of the night and Contact, Hereunder, Desk 13 will also be projected), an exhibition of relics and leavings from previous performances, and some record playing to carry us through the night.

I’m really excited about this show as it’s my first time performing solo in Galway and I rarely get to spend any time at home any more. Am already stashing records into bags in anticipation! If you’re in the auld West, grab some beers and join us!

Here’s the full blurb:

Judas Steer
Vicky Langan (Wölflinge) at the Galway Arts Centre, May 19th.

8pm
Admission- 5 euro
BYOB

Vicky Langan is a Galway-born, Cork-based performer and curator whose “vulnerable, emotionally charged performances” (The Wire) have marked her out as one of the most challenging and unsettling presences on the Irish scene today. Her work is multifaceted, embracing not only various types of performance but also filmmaking and organising experimental music events. In this event, she will be bringing these three strands of her practice back home, giving Galway audiences a rare, concentrated one-night blast of the intensity that has made her a force to be reckoned with in Cork.

No account of Langan’s accomplishments is complete without mention of Black Sun, Cork’s legendary weirdo/outer limits music event which she founded in 2009 and has curated ever since. Her DJ set, which closes the evening, will give a powerful taste of the sort of strange sounds that have earned Black Sun its international reputation.

*****

We also spotted the following quote from RTÉ Lyric FM’s Bernard Clarke (well, Vicky sent it to us, but we like it a lot so have a read) –

“There are some musicians who entertain us, fine; some who stimulate us, better; and then some who immerse us in something so powerful that, almost, primal emotions surface instantly; making us ultra-defensive, or, finally open to illumination. One of the latter is Vicky Langan. So if you’re in the West this coming Saturday evening and you feel like really stirring up a storm in yourself, check her out at the Galway Arts Centre at 8pm. You may love her, hate her, be astonished, be repelled – but you will not be unmoved. Promise. In a world of bland s**te we need to treasure artists like this – even if they burn… “

Eoghan was one of two reviewers we sent to the first ever Camden Crawl Dublin last weekend – here he puts his own festival experience into some perspective, with the benefit of a few days’ distance

Eoghan’s review of Day 1 of Camden Crawl Dublin here

Full lineup by Curator here

Photos: Bríd O’Donovan

1. The Dublin Crawl was a success
There were about 100 bands/artists playing the inaugural Camden Crawl Dublin in 13 venues spread around the city. The chances of seeing anywhere near a sizeable portion was not going to be possible. This writer got to see 14 bands, though a few of those were only snippets of sets. Was it a success? From what I could see, yes, it was a brilliant weekend that brought a tingle of festival excitement to the streets of Dublin just for a few hours.

To the uninitiated, the Camden Crawl has taken place in London for the last 11 years and the idea – lots of ‘new’ bands playing in lots of venues around a city with one ticket to get access to all the gigs – was imported to Dublin for 2012. Lisa Paulon writes in the official Dublin Crawl programme: “We were looking to launch a Camden Crawl sibling event in another city for quite a while.”

I haven’t been to the London event so I don’t know what it’s like, but the biggest gripe here seemed to be that the programme was only released an hour before the first band of the weekend started – this is what happens in London, we were told. If this is the biggest gripe that people had then it’s a minuscule one in the grand scheme of things.

(My biggest regret of the festival was that at one of the fringe venues, JJ Smyths – a class, old-man place – two acts switched around but nobody was told. I had been dying to see Tara Masterson Hally, a teenage singer-songwriter who hasn’t played live often yet. She had swapped sets with Dott because they were arriving late from Galway. Though Dott were good in a ‘they’re not Best Coast but they’ll do’ sort of way, I was gutted I missed Hally. It took me a while to get over that one.)

2. In the battle between old and new, old won
Would people be willing to fork out money to go to gigs at 6pm by bands many might not have heard of, and where the biggest ‘headline’ bands are Mystery Jets and We Are Scientists, groups who have hardly been in the ascendency in recent years? Apparently they would and the crowds flocked to the aforementioned groups. The idea of the festival was that you might discover a new band to fall in love with, but you wonder did people actually explore or were they simply waiting for We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets? On at the same time as the crowdsurfing We Are Scientists on the other side of the city was Dam Mantle, an English electronic producer. Not a name I am familiar with, I took the festival’s apparent raison d’être and went in search of something new, mainly due to him headlining Grand Social curator Nialler 9’s night. You wouldn’t have been surprised if tumbleweed was rolling around on the floor in front of Mantle, such was the attendance.

Mystery Jets the following night packed out the Button Factory. But were the people in here fans or simply because this was ‘the big one’? The chatter drowned out the sound near the back of the venue, where you could barely move. The band never really got out of first gear, either, simply ploughing through some new tracks (their latest album was released last week) before playing the ones people might know. Yet even then, ‘Young Love’ and ‘Two Doors Down’, which Mystery Jets readily admitted the crowd would know, were barely received with enthusiasm. It was a yawnsome set with a crowd that seemed to be there just because it was an international band. In the battle between finding new music and watching something a little stale, it seemed the latter had won.

3. Venue Curators didn’t really do anything
Apart from Aoife Barry’s Saturday night event in The Workman’s Club and Richter Collective’s Button Factory raucous the previous night, I don’t really know what the point was of the curators for the festival. Aoife has championed Toby Kaar before anybody else (Plugd Records in Cork were also early on the case – Ed.) and it was nice to see him pay tribute to her during his set (more of which later) while And So I Watch You From Afar and Jogging are both Richter Collective bands. Maybe it was so people would say, as I did myself, “Oh, they’re playing Nialler 9’s night so I should go check them out.” But the curators didn’t introduce any of the bands, and some weren’t even at the festival, let alone ‘their’ venue: Jim Carroll/On the Record was at The Great Escape in Brighton over the weekend but he was a curator on the Friday night. Hardly a vote of confidence in the bands playing ‘his’ night…

4. Toby Kaar is going to be massive
Aoife Barry had been bigging him up before everybody else caught on, but on Saturday night at the Workman’s Club, for over an hour, Cork producer Toby Kaar left jaws on the floor along with dancing shoes. He started by saying: “We’ll start with the new one. I fuck this up half the time.”
He didn’t mess it up – he didn’t put one step wrong all night. And he’s become much more confident on stage, too, dancing around to the beats, offering the crowd a drink and even coming back for an encore. Nothing new here you might think, until you realise that Kaar has not released anything physically, bar perhaps one or two songs here and there. He exists only via Soundcloud and Bandcamp but through 18 months of word of mouth he’s already reached the stage where drunken girls are clambering up onstage to dance with him and ask for a shout out. Imagine what the crowd will be like once an album arrives. Though you wonder if he even needs it.

(The band who almost stole the weekend was Come On Live Long, playing the opening slot at Whelan’s on Friday night. It may not have been busy, but the five-piece put on a show full of energy, one they will build on as they release more than just the two EPs they have under their belts to date. If you were in search of a new band to fall in love with, Come On Live Long were it.)

5. The ‘Alternative Music’ landscape continues to deepen and widen
On show over the course of the two days was heavy instrumental music, indie, pop-rock, pop, post-punk, folk, electronica and gospel. There were probably even more, too. It’s difficult to say when you’re listening to to new Irish electronic music on headphones from your laptop, for example, whether it will transfer to the stage. But as Toby Kaar proved, if it’s done right, they will come. Though not on the same stage as Kaar yet, fellow Cork producer Bantum played a blinder at the Mercantile on Saturday night, mesmerising the growing crowd of onlookers for about 45 minutes. Having seen him open for Kaar in The Pavilion in Cork just after Christmas, Bantum seemed a little lightweight in comparison at the time (Kaar pretty much sold the place out), but it was clear he’s already stepped it up. SertOne played the same venue later the same night, also drawing a very busy, very talkative crowd that was eventually won over.

We Are Losers and Girl Band, meanwhile, are on the other end of the scale, playing loud, noisy pop-rock songs. No keyboards are on display but both add something new to the scene. Everybody at the Losers show on Saturday was left wanting more thanks to Gavin Elsted’s easygoing, carefree stage persona that culminated (almost) in a cool throw-your-guitar-away exit. Girl Band wowed simply by virtue that the lead singer didn’t lose his voice such was the screaming. Not the most original sounds in the world but We Are Losers and Girl Band (who played before Toby Kaar) certainly make music fun.

Dublin band The Star Department were in touch about their new single. It’s called ‘Porcelain doll’ and is taken from their upcoming album The pea green boat.

The tune itself is an intriguing slice of shoegazey drift with hushed vocals. It’s over before you know it and would generally make you feel like hearing more.

Get it for free down here.