Lyrical virtuoso or whingeing prat? The jury is, as ever, still out on the merits of Californian troubadour mark eitzel. Case for the defence: lorraine freeney.
Out goes Bernard Butler, in comes Richard Oakes and Suede seem to go from strength to strength. LORRAINE FREENEY discovers that Brett Anderson and co. are shiny, happy people again.
Are we talking about the effect of narcotics? Or the impact of alcohol? Or could we indeed be referring to the metaphorical slings and arrows used by outrageous journalists to do down innocent bands whose only objective in life is to make great records. In the case of the jesus and mary chain, it's probably a bit of all three. Interview: Lorraine Freeney.
Grant Lee Buffalo's debut album Fuzzy was the best record of last year - Michael Stipe said so, so it must be true. Its successor, Mighty Joe Moon, has just been released, and while everyone else may expect them to be apprehensive about its reception, the band seem happier and more confident - and in Grant's case, more bonkers - than ever before. Interview: Lorraine Freeney
The tears have stopped falling – because those who bitterly mourned the demise of The Go-Betweens soon discovered that what they got instead was a double-helping of the weird genius which had inspired the band in the shape of solo albums from Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. With both of them releasing new records and working on a film script together, everything seems to be coming up roses. Why Lorraine Freeney even got to see a breathtaking reunion gig . . .
David Gray's debut album A Century Ends signalled the emergence of an innovative singer-songwriter with forthright lyrics, a remarkable voice, and an unusual degree of integrity. Just, one warning: mention the words 'introverted' or 'soul-searching' and you run the risk of being beaten over the head with a guitar... Interview: Lorraine Freeney
Wide Eyed and Ignorant is a pop album; taking into account the fact
that A House are advocates of the distictively off-kilter, shambolic,
hopelessly romantic school of pop founded by The Go Betweens way
back when
Mary Coughlan returns to Midnight At The Olympia on February 4th, but this time it's with an unreserved optimistic outlook, and the determination to put all her troubles behind her. Interview Lorraine Freeney
After five years of hard graft and dedicated shoegazing, The Boo Radleys came up with Giant Steps, an album so ambitious in scope that it’s been perched at the top spot of many end-of-year polls and has seen them heralded as the new Best Band In Britain.
Interview: LORRAINE FREENEY
THE FOUR Marys, Mary Field, Mary Cotter, Mary Simpson and Mary Goebbels, shared a dormitory in St Elmos. Mary Goebbels, new to the fifth form, was sleeping in the bed formally occupied by Mary Radleigh, who had recently been found shot in the back of the head on a piece of wasteland.
MICHAEL STIPE RECKONS THEY'VE PRODUCED THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR, THEIR SINGER HAS BEEN HAILED AS THE ‘NEW BOB DYLAN’ AND THEY HAVE IMPECCABLE TASTE IN COATS. CAN ANYTHING HALT GRANT LEE BUFFALO'S MAD DASH TO STARDOM? LORRAINE FREENEY INVESTIGATES.
After an initial reluctance to tell the outside world about his predicament, author and poet PAT TIERNEY this year went public about his HIV-positive status, and encountered a far more compassionate response than he had anticipated. Interview: LORRAINE FREENEY
With a herd of their fellow Bostonians stampeding the charts and a fine new album Big Red Letter Day to their credit, BUFFALO TOM seem especially primed to cash in on the commercial success that has been dangled teasingly in front of their faces for years. But are they too normal to be
rock 'n' roll stars? LORRAINE FREENEY tracked the band in London with that very question in mind.
Sean Hughes, stand-up comedian, television star, playwright and master of the 'startled bunny' impersonation, is now a published poet and author. SEAN'S BOOK is a wry and poignant collection of short stories, poetry, prose, journalism, travelogues and breakfast recipes... is there no stopping him? Sean's interviewer: LORRAINE FREENEY.
THE POPPIES. Note oblique drug reference.
Subtle as a flying tank, The Poppies write lyrics like "take a letter, you'll feel better" (from 'Love Trippin'', suitably enough) and "OK, we're going to party tonight/Happy faces, happy faces . . .".
Whatever your fancy chances are the capital will be able to oblige. Here, the Hot Press team pound the pavement in selfless pursuit of Dublin's hottest - and coolest - nightspots.
JULIANA HATFIELD, best known as (a) Evan Dando's sometime girlfriend (b) bassist on the best Lemonheads' album (c) former Blake Baby (d) anorexic (e) the woman who's earned the questionable accolade 'arch-babe' and (f) coolest of the collection of female musicians dubbed the 'new neurotics', is back!
JANE SIBERRY has a voice so exceptional it could stir absolutely anyone, even those whose idea of romance involves fifteen pints of Guinness and an eleventh hour lunge at the least intimidating person in the vicinity.
Ex-Split Enz member Tim Finn left Crowded House in 1991 with a new-found clarity of purpose and is now making inroads to a successful solo career with 'Persuasion', the first single off his new album. Here, he reflects on his split with Crowded House and discusses why Ireland feels like home. LORRAINE FREENEY lends an ear.
BILLY JOEL: 'The River Of Dreams' (Columbia)
Touches of gospel, an intro that sounds like 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', tinkly piano, lyrics about the promised land, loads and loads of backing vocals and something that sounds like children crying in the background.
A COMPILATION of eight years worth of The Pastels' singles, b-sides, odds, sods, cover versions and fiddly instrumental bits, Truckload Of Trouble proves that The Pastels are, in one sense at least, a remarkable group.
PIGEON-HOLE THEM AS BELFAST HARDCORE MERCHANTS AT YOUR PERIL - IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS THERAPY? HAVE RELEASED TWO CLASSIC PUNK-POP EP'S THAT SHOOK THE BRITISH CHARTS, AND EVEN GOT THEM INTO THE PAGES OF TEEN-BIBLE SMASH HITS. AS THEY BEGIN RECORDING THEIR NEW LP, THEY TAKE TIME OUT TO GET NERVOUS ABOUT FEILE, GET ANGRY ABOUT THE BEATLES, AND EXPLAIN WHY THE DAYS OF THE NINE-MINUTE INSTRUMENTAL EPIC ARE OVER. INTERVIEW: LORRAINE FREENEY
JIMEOIN, ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDIANS WORKING IN AUSTRALIA, WAS BORN AND BRED IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND EMIGRATED SEVERAL YEARS AGO IN SEARCH OF SUNSHINE AND A FAIRER WAY OF LIFE. BACK HOME FOR HIS FIRST EXTENSIVE IRISH TOUR, HE TELLS LORRAINE FREENEY WHY AUSSIES RULE...
Pigeon-hole them as Belfast hardcore merchants at your peril in the past few months Therapy? have released two classic punk-pop EPs that shook the British charts, and even got them into the pages of teen-bible Smash Hits. As they begin recording their new LP, they take time out to get nervous about Fiile, get angry about the Beatles, and explain why the days of the nine-minute instrumental epic are over. Interview: Lorraine Freeney.
WITH THEIR LONG AWAITED SECOND ALBUM *JUNK PUPPETS* ABOUT TO HIT THE STREETS AN EMOTIONAL FISH ARE BACK ON THE ROAD AND READY TO TAKE THE WORLD BY STORM. BUT FIRST, THERE'S THE SMALL MATTER OF A TRIP TO THE WILDS OF WEST CORK, DURING WHICH THE BAND CAN RELAX, REFLECT, INGEST LARGE QUANTITIES OF LIQUID REFRESHMENTS-AND PLAY THE ODD STORMING GIG. A TIRED AND VERY EMOTIONAL LORRAINE FREENEY REPORTS.
You re the frontman with The Stunning, you make an innocent remark about farmers and acid house and you end up creating banner headlines in The Western People. Lorraine Freeney assures Steve Wall that this is the sort of stuff Hot Press never stoop to, and also hears about the new album, Deco in The Commitments and the art of bridging the rural-urban divide.
There's a wise old saying (actually it's the title of a Bruce Willis album but that doesn't have quite the same authoritative ring) that goes *What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger*.
A House have been the recipients of the kind of underwhelming apathy that would lead most bands to go back to their day jobs and while away their evening swilling pints in The Norseman, mulling over what might have been.
