News and gossip from the domestic front with Roisin Dwyer.
As the season of goodwill is nearly upon us let us start this issue with news of a charitable nature.
Firstly, Pugwash release a festive ditty ‘Tinsel And Marzipan’ on December 5 on 1969 Records. All proceeds will go to BRAINWAVE (www.epilepsy.ie). The single features an impressive list of helpers in the form of Neil Hannon, Mundy, Dave Gregory (XTC), Eric Matthews (Cardinal) and Boss Volenti’s Graham Hopkins. The single also includes ‘Lullaby #1’ from the the wonderful long-player Jollity.
Dublin’s Reemo are gearing up for another Christmas Charity Gig following on from last year’s success which raised over €1000. This year’s venue has still to be confirmed as has the charity but the boys are open to suggestions. Get in touch by emailing [email protected] or contacting Alan Connolly at 087 916 0070. More details to come next issue.
The Guggenheim Grotto have been very busy of late finishing their US tour. Their track ‘Vertigo’ featured on the episode of ABC’ s Six Degrees (from the producers of Lost and Alias) which was screened on November 5. Also, ‘A Lifetime In Heat’ is nominated for best song in the Independent Music Awards’ singer/songwriter category. This years judges include Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Fat Boy Slim, McCoy Tyner and Ozzy Ozbourne. Best of luck!
Whilst touring the States recently the band recorded an in-studio session at New York’s WFUV http://www.wfuv.org for The Whole Wide World with Rita Houston. The programme aired will be rebroadcast on November 21 at 9pm. You can also log on to http://www.ufomusic.com/downloads/TGG_WFUV_10.16.06.mp3 to listen to the session.
Belfast’s Leya play two London shows at The Water Rats in this month, on November 21 and 27. The first date is a support slot to Clocks and the second is a headline show. In January 2007 they go into the studio with producer Chris Potter (credits include The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, Blur, Rolling Stones, The Feeling and Keane) to record the bands’ next two singles.
Meath’s Linda Coogan has been going from strength to strength of late, she was recently awarded Demo Of The Fortnight by our own Jackie Hayden and stayed at the number one spot on Roddy Cleere’s WLRFM chart for four weeks in a row! Over the next few weeks she will be busy writing three soundtracks for a UK production company. Linda is set to play a slew of live dates over the next few weeks including a spot in the Emergenza festival on the November 25. Her album Holding Back is due for release in March 2007 after a Valentines day single release.
And finally some news from Derry-based trio Spectator who have been extremely busy in their short lifespan. Following a few months of intensive gigging they are due to go back into the studio to record their second EP. The new opus is said to be a “natural progression” sonically from their acclaimed debut ‘3 Track’. The band hope to release the offering in the next few weeks and will showcase their new material at a gig in Sandino’s on November 16 with Derry grunge outfit Shortlist.
Pugwash and Something Happens will perform at the Dublin venue...
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Thomas Walsh was the underappreciated genius of Irish rock until his Duckworth Lewis Method hook-up with Neil Hannon put him on the map. One Ivor Novello nomination later, his band Pugwash are signed to a major and he’s receiving fan mail from ELO’s Jeff Lynne. As he gears up for his date at the inaugural Homegrown festival at INEC Killarney, the songwriting wizard talks to Olaf Tyaransen.
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Just a few days before the release of their much anticipated fifth studio album, Pugwash play Whelan's this Thursday, August 11.
Read More The Irish pop rocker has been added as the support act to the IT Crowd’s Berry and The Bluetones lead singer Morriss tomorrow night.
Read More The Olympus Sound will be with us in August.
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Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh is like a dog with numerous tails this week after signing a five-year UK deal with APE, the label run by XTC legend Andy Partridge who the Pugs have collaborated with in the past.
Read More Pugwash and Liam Ó Maonlaí are both set to play this year’s Ranelagh Arts Festival, which takes place in the Dublin suburb from September 23.
Read More In the run up to the July release of Pugwash’s new single the band will play two acoustic sets in Whelan’s.
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Life has never been so sweet for Pugwash's Thomas Walsh with a cracking new album, a song on an A-List Hollywood movie, and a cricket-loving pal to play with.
Read More An all-star cast graced the Whelan’s stage last night for the Pugwash Eleven Modern Antiquities album launch.
Read More Thomas Walsh forges chamber pop beauty. Journalist runs out of superlatives.
Read More The mighty Pugwash will make a rare live appearance on March 27 in Whelan’s
Read More An acoustic set from Pugwash's Thomas Walsh (pictured) features among the acts for this month's 'Shoestring Collective' arts & music night in Dublin.
Read More Pugwash are justifiably chuffed this week after hearing that one of the songs from their Almanac album, ‘Anyone Who Asks’, has made it on to the soundtrack of the new Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight movie, Pride & Glory.
Read More Thomas “Pugwash” Walsh has put together a supergroup of sorts (Neil Hannon, someone from XTC). Writing a decent Christmas single isn’t the easiest of tasks and, while this probably won’t end up as one of the standards, the cheeriness behind it all shines through. A suitably uplifting ditty that showcases the breezy approach to songwriting that Walsh makes his own all year round.
Read More Dublin favourites Pugwash are to release their second single from the critically acclaimed album Jollity.
Read More Jollity, Pugwash’s third album, is easily Walsh’s most accomplished to date, his compositions fleshed out by some sterling strings and boisterous brass, the latter courtesy of the hugely talented Eric Matthews.
Read More Accolades don’t come much higher than being asked to meet your idols, but that’s what happened to Dublin pop-festish band Pugwash when Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson got a load of their new single.
Read More Tales of Thomas Walsh’s exquisite, Beatles-esque songwriting bent have already been well-documented on these pages, and this latest single comes up trumps. Walsh is about two degrees of separation (literally) from the likes of Air, Beck, Paul McCartney and Aimee Mann, and boy does it show. Laden with summery strings and plodding with an endearing strain of psychedelia, this single brings to mind the cheerful, sanguine likes of the Beach Boys. It’s nice to be nice alright, but it’s even better to be brilliant.
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While the word pop currently raises the hackles of anyone who considers themselves a music fan, Pugwash’s Thomas Walsh, whose music is influenced by the move, XTC and the Kinks, is attempting to set the record straight
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Beatles-fixated guitar bands may not be exactly what the world is waiting for right now but local lads, Pugwash, carry it off with such aplomb that it’s hard not to succumb to their charms.
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