Having just done her leaving certificate exam, summer came as a great relief to hotpress reader Breda Bourke. and then everyone started to complain! here, she looks back at the season that seems to have pissed everyone off – and takes a somewhat different view.
Local hero Stephen Murphy, Revelino, The Alice Band, Juliet Turner and Glen Hansard all brought something to the Nowlan Park party but it's fair to say that things went into overdrive from the moment The Blind Boys Of Alabama (right) entered with an impossibly soulful and gospel-drenched ‘Danny Boy’.
Myrtleville: the name sounds too good to be true as the setting for an olde time hoe-down. Last weekend, a hoard of guitarslingers, mostly from Dublin, did indeed descend upon the sleepy seaside Pine Lodge pub in way-out-west Cork for the low-key country music festival, High Noon.
Bristol house label Nrk deliver the third chapter of their Nite:Life mix project, with San Fran man Miguel Migs at the helm. Mr Migs has had a pretty good year so far: a plethora of releases on Large, Yoshi Toshi and Nrk and the like.
Steeped in classic sixties West Coast pop styles, albeit with a futuristic edge, this LA trio have a recent history that most like-minded outfits would kill for. They not only appeared on the first Austin Powers movie soundtrack but, far more impressively, they form the core of Brian Wilson's 12- piece backing band on his current stateside tour.
There’s no stairway to heaven for major chords on Belasco’s debut album Simplicity. There are no major chords at all, in fact.
Opener ‘Mask’ and second track ‘Car’ are models of the British trio’s miserablist form. Fantastically gloomy intros stroll across the aural landscape before heightening into unexpected loveliness – albeit of a minor chord kind.
It’s hard to believe that this is Peace Division’s first mix CD. After all, they’ve recently remixed Moby and turned down the same offer from Kylie. Not bad for two acid house survivors. One listen to ‘Peace Process’, and it’s obvious that Henry and Drake have pioneered their own style.
Seelenluft is one person, Swiss producer Beat Soler, who has been putting out music as Seelenluft for the past decade. An album that documents the life and times of Soler’s alter ego, Silvercity Bob, Soler’s ‘concept’ album would be far harder to swallow if it weren’t for the fact that it’s such an atmospheric, enveloping work.
The album title may not leave much to the imagination, but the best of Plus 8 proves that, during its seven-year existence [from 1990 to 1997] Hawtin and Acquaviva’s label pushed the boundaries of techno more than arguably any other imprint.
Like the rest of the Ninja Tune posse, Hexstatic have always been a few steps ahead of the pack. After all, it was the Hex/Hexstatic/Ninja operation that originally explored the synergy between electronic music and digitally generated images, taken to the fullest extreme on tracks like ‘Timber’, included here on the accompanying CD-Rom. However, all this techno wizardry would mean nada if the music was sub-standard.
He’s only twenty-five but German producer Terry Lee Brown Jnr. is about to release his third artist album and has already been dubbed ‘God’ by none other than original house producer Marshall Jefferson.
Responsible for a string of proto funky techno tunes on Soma during the mid nineties, Percy X suddenly disappeared, leaving a big gap in the techno scene. Now he’s returned, with an album that proves he still knows how to make futuristic grooves, while spreading his sound into more diverse styles.
Matt Jam Lamont, previously one half of Tuff Jam puts out his first solo mix, and it’s a representative selection of the development of UK garage in recent years. Comprising two CDs, the first disc consists mainly of slick, sanitized R’n’B style 2 step that veers into cheesy chart fodder territory.
It's been half a decade since Robert Hood's first Nighttime World installment. In the interim, the minimal sound the former UR member pioneered on benchmark releases like 'Minimal Nation' and 'Internal Empire' has been squeezed dry of all innovation by hordes of copyists, but the jazzy, musical leanings on Nighttime World are still relevant to forward thinking dance music.
If anyone's going to represent the break beat scene in all its various hues and shapes then it's Rennie Pilgrem. After all, the TCR boss has been involved in breakbeat driven dance music since day one, releasing hardcore bombs like 'Comin' On Strong'.
Despite his qualifications, Selected isn't a brand new artist album, but a collection of his finest moments to date.
The second Sessions mix from Svek bod Dahlback proves that deep house isn't exclusively made for boring, obsessive spotty blokes in record company t-shirts.
DJ Morpheus, Belgian across the board spinner and compiler of the acclaimed Freezone series, drops a very tasteful collection of musical, predominantly down tempo gems that'll do his reputation no harm.
Older jazz sources may have been incorporated into techno, house, hip-hop and drum'n'bass in recent years, but this phenomenon hasn't stopped the sound itself from progressing independently, on its own terms.
Irrespective of the prevailing musical climate, you can always rely on Cristian Vogel to release music that's in a completely different dimension to everything else.
The second album from London tech-house rude boys Get Fucked, and, despite their penchant for dirty track titles – the highlights here are ‘Love Balls’ and ‘Dirty Birds’ – their sound has progressed and erm, even matured from 1999’s debut album, Dot To Dot. While its predecessor was almost cartoon like in its delivery, Wet Dreams is a wider ranging and more polished set of floor grooves.
For the last decade, Germany’s Tresor has been the most consistent supporter of US influenced techno, and, as many independent record labels continue to fold, it’s testament to Tresor’s lasting power that they’ve managed to reach their eighth compilation in as many years.
Sad Rockets is actually one man, the not-very-sad-at-all-really Andrew Peckler, an American who resides in Germany. What Sad Rockets is about is more difficult to tell you, since the music here sways gently from trance to jazz to hip-hop and just when you think you’ve got a handle on it a Hammond organ drifts by and whoosh, it’s gone.
What a filthy record! I’m gonna be honest with ya, chopped-up hip-hop with a funked-up groove ain’t really my thang, but this is beautifully big and dark with clever usage of some unusual spoken-word samples.
After subjecting train spotters worldwide to years and years of frustration, Planet E boss Carl Craig finally relents and releases his impossible to track down, limited edition Designer Music 12s on one CD.
It’s been six years since Full Cycle’s last compilation, Music Box, and in the interim things have changed radically. Reprazent winning the Mercury Prize may have helped the label gain more exposure, while Through The Eyes shows that the tightly linked roster are content to plough on with scant regard for their public image.
They may not have released an album in over fifteen years, but seminal electronic funkers 23 Skidoo were never too far removed from developments in contemporary electronic music.
Plaid have been responsible for the most forward thinking electronic music ever, and this double CD collection of early hard to find bits and forgotten gems serves as a timely reminder of how far ahead of everyone else they were and still are.
Former Throbbing Gristle man John Gosling’s logical and mature progression from his Welcome To Tackletown debut is brimming with guests and obvious hits.
Subterranean house music has a new hero, and he’s doing more than enough to break out of Sasha and Digweed’s shadow. His residency at Twilo (alongside Vasquez) is no surprise to those who’ve seen him in action, and if you haven’t yet done so, then Nubreed is your chance to see what all the fuss is about.
Former jazzy drum’n’bass bod James Hardway embarks on a world music voyage and immediately the alarm bells start ringing. Cynics that we are, such adventurous projects are usually a sign of a creative dearth or a serious coke habit.
Derrick Carter and Luke Solomon’s Classic stamp reaches its third compilation, and there’s no let up in the quality control department. In a period when so many house producers are still looking to the disco filter as a device to gain attention, it’s revealing that the Classic stable looks to funk sources and employs more subtle, minimal house grooves.
Hell’s piss-ripping Munich-based Deejay Gigolo’s label has always looked to sources more diverse than most of the body popping stamps, and their fourth collection proves that they’re still way ahead of the competition.
Most big beat producers and DJs have changed their direction during the last few years, dropping the cartoon samples and breaks for twisted house grooves.
A timely release from the world’s most influential hard house club, ahead of its tenth birthday in October, celebrating its role at the centre of the extraordinary day that was the UK’s first Love Parade, at Roundhay Park in Leeds in July. Mixed by two of its most respected residents.
The dance media may be calling 2000 ‘the year of hard house’, but for those of us who aren’t obsessed with inventing new fads, this will always be remembered as the year when UK garage and r’n’b broke out from the underground and stamped its Gucci loafers all over the charts, driving its BMW convertible through the clubbing mainstream and pouring its Dom Perignon all over the charts.
The seventh volume in the chilled-out series hailed by Madonna as her favourite listening material, from the twenty year-old club with the international reputation as the place to watch the sun set over the Mediterranean.
Rolando and Stacey Pullen are often considered Detroit’s best young DJs, but DJ Bone beat both spinners, winning Outstanding Electronic DJ at the Detroit Music Awards. If there were any lingering doubts as to Bone’s abilities, then this CD should dispel them all.
The award-winning Sheffield superclub’s fifth album celebrates its millennium march towards global clubland domination with its continent-hopping GSS events.
Two years into Seb’s renowned Merseyside residency, Cream unleashes a twin CD full of Fontaine’s trademark juggernaut tech-funk and jackhammer tech-trance.
The third in maverick Howie B’s conceptual compilations (following spy-funker Pussy Galore and porn-shocker Suck It And See) where Pussy artists from around the globe interpret the theme… in this instance, cartoons.
Hey, have you seen this new Dreamworks Pictures film, The Road To El Dorado? It’s actually really really fun, even if it is just a cartoon. I had to take my nephews to see it last week, and I think I actually enjoyed it more than they did!
Last year, Isole, aka German recluse Rajko Muller, released Beau Mot Plage, one of the greatest house records ever. A bizarre combination of minimal house groove, spacey electronic bleeps and Latino percussion, Beau won support from DJs of every persuasion.
The Concert – Running Order:
James 1.00pm
The Seahorses 2.15pm
Finley Quaye 3.30pm
Robbie Williams 5.00pm
Manic Street Preachers 6.30pm
The Verve 8.30pm
Cuckoo could be heard all over Ireland and Britain during June and July as the northern band toured the two countries. They’ve just released their new album, Breathing Lessons, but aren’t stopping to catch their breath.
THERE WERE two Irish records in the UK club charts simultaneously for the first time ever recently. As Belfast boy Wand’s remix of Dubliner Kerri Ann’s ‘Do You Love Me Boy’ slipped from number 27 to number 29, Northern duo Agnelli & Nelson crashed straight in at number five.
The summer months are seeing a whole host of festivals taking place, with the August Bank Holiday Weekend being the signal for en masse mayhem and madness. Music features largely in all festivals, with diverse tastes catered for, so there is something for everyone.
GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVALThe hot new Dublin-born, New-York-based director Jimmy Smallhorn, Desert Hearts and ER director Donna Deitch, and zany NY comedienne Reno will all be on hand to introduce their films at the 6th Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, which runs at the IFC in Dubin from July 30th to August 3rd.
The dance revolution, and the strong DIY ethic that it has engendered, have largely been fuelled by advances in digital technology and easier access to home recording equipment. Many successful artists operating in the dance arena today started out experimenting with basic keyboard/drum machine and home computer set-ups, before upgrading to more advanced equipment.
It’s that time of the year again when you can stay up way past your bedtime (and even get to watch the Christmas edition of Kojak!) and indulge the senses in a bout of merry-making of a kind not seen since . . . well, last Christmas.
PROFESSOR POE lay in his bed recovering from the worst flu he had ever experienced. He was sure that the germs that had invaded his body had been working out full-time in some biological gym for the last six months before they decided to hitch a lift to Ireland.
The 19th century American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was fond of his breakfast. Indeed he went so far as to say, “Life, within doors has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast-table.”
ON YET another wet and brisk February morning, Professor Poe was to be found in his kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand and his definitive books on speakers in the other.
PROFESSOR POE senior sat in the kitchen with his head in a sound magazine, chuckled to himself, took another sip of coffee and read on. It was an article on the latest innovation in speaker design with one party saying that they had a new invention and another party introducing the same idea but with a different name saying it was theirs.
The Pogues’ turbulent history can be traced back into the mists of 1982 when ex-Nipple Erector vocalist and London-Celt Shane McGowan joined ex-Millwall Chainsaw Spider Stacy to play a set of Irish rebel songs at a gig in London. They were pelted off the stage with chips.
You will cheer, You will scowl, You will stare in disbelief - but don't blame us...
'cos it's all your fault! Yep, it's the Hot Press Reader's poll Results.
LOVING THE ALIENS
•Poe has an out of planet experience
POE JNR. took the last sip of his alien Sunshine Mula, sat back in the chair, contemplated the view of the foaming pool, took a deep sigh and made up his mind.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
ALTHOUGH Poe senior was getting severely inebriated he came to the conclusion that he was having a splendid time. Having just finished a large four-course meal in the company of some charming friends, he had managed to play some Elgar on his guitar, had got involved in some riveting discussions on the state of music today and now, with a lopsided paper hat on his head, swayed off down the dark cobbled streets towards the bay for a bit of fresh night air.
No, it's not the overworked Hot Press subs finally snapping beneath the strain of a hectic production schedule but a finely argued debate by our finest writers on the phenomenon of naff. What is naff? Are you naff and if so how do you go about rectifying matters? Read on and be saved . . .
The Critics Panel who voted for the Top 30 Albums and Singles of the Year are as follows: Bill Graham, Liam Fay, George Byrne, Stuart Clark, Lorraine Freeney, Tara McCarthy, Gerry McGovern, Neil McCormick, Dermot Stokes, Oliver P. Sweeney, Siobhan Long, Steve Averill, Andy Darlington, Colm O’Hare, Joe Jackson, Niall Crumlish, Olaf Tyaransen, Patrick Brennan, Nicholas G. Kelly, Jackie Hayden and Niall Stokes.
Born on 26th February 1932 in Arkansas, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Johnny Cash is one of the true legends of country music, a performer whose popularity transcends the boundaries of that art-form.
Last issue we profiled a selection of Irish acts who released records for the Christmas market. Here JACKIE HAYDEN, GERRY McGOVERN AND COLM O’HARE PROFILE five more who've come up trumps – from Jimmy MacCarthy, one of Ireland's best known songwriters, to young hopefuls, Sunbear.
POE SENIOR sat back in his chair and watched the sun glint on the airplane wing. The clear blue skies brought a new sense of optimism and enthusiasm to his jaded bones. The flight lasted four hours but to Poe, with his favourite book I Claudius by Robert Graves and a cold cup of coffee, it was real quality time.
Musicologists often find it neater to trace the roots of soul, blues and rap back to their African origins. In the process, they can often avoid exploring the far untidier influence of the African-American entertainment tradition in which Cab Calloway was a pivotal player.
The stars come out at the Brandenburg Gate
AS HOT PRESS was being put to bed, the artist formerly known as Prince was confirmed as the latest major star who will perform at MTV’s 1st Annual European Music Awards Show.
POE AWOKE in a large comfy bed. The room was womb-like, with a soft satin finish to the walls. There were no windows, but there were pictures of various see-through people either sitting around in what looked like plastic parks or standing behind membrane-like desks looking important.
Travel back in time, say, to twenty years ago. At that time few people would have believed that at a time not far into the future we would be able to watch virtually every major film that was ever made in the comfort of our own home on our television screens.
THE BALLOT–BOXES HAVE BEEN OPENED, THE VOTES SCRUTINISED UNDER THE STRICTEST OF SECURITY AND NOW THE RETURNING OFFICER STEPS UP ONTO THE STAGE TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 1993 HOT PRESS READERS’ POLL
Metallica have emerged as the most popular metal band in Ireland to judge by their showing in the chart of the one hundred best metal tracks of all time as chosen by the readers of Hot Press and the listeners to 2FM’s increasingly popular Metal Show.
WHENEVER we gather together, as we often do, to celebrate Irish music successes on the international stage, there is a tendency for us to focus almost exclusively on the performers - on U2, Clannad, Van Morrison, Chris de Burgh, and the rest of that litany - invariably to the total exclusion of other equally noteworthy achievers from what some might regard as the more unglamorous wing of the industry.
On Tuesday 23rd November, at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Church & General Insurance Company present The Celebration Concert, featuring an extraordinary array of Ireland's finest contemporary songwriting and composing talents. In this four-page special, Jackie Hayden explores the background to the event and we profile the leading players.
THE THEME of this year’s World AIDS Day, on December 1st, is ‘A Time To ACT’. When I first heard this I wondered if I was dreaming – twelve years into the epidemic, and we’re being told it’s time to act!
Frank Hutchins, a well known connoisseur of hotel chic, checks himself into Dublin's latest home away from home The Horse and Carriage and finds much to his liking . . .
What do you get when you lock indie gods Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Dublin's up-and-coming Blink in a room with unlimited booze and a tape machine? Well, you're about to find out as Blink ask their tourmates Carter how many pairs of underpants to bring along, whether or not you can leave stage to prevent wetting them and who washes them if you can't. Pix: Leo Regan
What do you get when you lock indie gods Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Dublin's up-and-coming Blink in a room with unlimited booze and a tape machine? Well, you're about to find out as Blink ask their tourmates Carter how many pairs of underpants to bring along, whether or not you can leave stage to prevent wetting them and who washes them if you can't. Pix: Leo Regan
ROUND TOWER MUSIC, 43 Offington Lawn, Sutton, Dublin 13, Ireland. Tel: 353 1 321393. Fax: 353 1 321394.
ROUND TOWER MUSEC, Stanley Gardens, London W3 7SN, England. Tel: 44 81 746 1234. Fax: 44 81 740 9899
BIG STORM COMIN'!
1993 has been a very good year for Round Tower Music, with the success of Tom Pacheco and Steinar Albrigtsen in Scandinavia. Now, they have a series of new releases lined up for the pre-Christmas period, which should see them consolidating on that success. By a Special Correspondent.
THERE ARE those in contemporary music who ascend suddenly to the heights, their stars burning fiercely bright for a short time before they fall just as spectacularly back down to earth. There are others who build steadily upwards over a period of years, gradually winning new audiences, selling more records and expanding their sphere of influence until they attain the status of superstars, almost by stealth.
There has been nothing showy or ostentatious about Mary Black's progress to date...
Already established as a major star in Ireland, and with a healthy and growing following internationally, it looks increasingly likely that we have a major world star on our hands.
THE WHEATFIELD Feile mightn't have generated quite the same hype as its Thurles counterpart but that doesn't mean it wasn't lapped up with any less enthusiasm but it's, er, select audience.
• If the number of albums being released at a given time is any indication, then Gaelic culture is in its healthiest state for years. It is particularly encouraging that real roots music is still being recorded, and indeed that the Irish language is still finding its place in this context.
THE SUITABLY gushing press release makes great virtue of the fact that 4 Non Blondes hail from San Francisco and follow in the same maverick musical tradition as Jefferson Airplane, Captain Beefheart and those other legendary left-fielders, The Grateful Dead.
...it was a year like any other year at Féile - except that there were dozens of extra acts on show, on not just two but three stages. There was also the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, the Chris de Burgh stripper incident, Michael Hutchence dispensing condoms...and a rather loud Little Red Rooster that nearly got itself strangled. And the crack Hot Press team of reporters who attempted to keep up with it all? Words: Bill Graham, Stuart Clark, Tara McCarthy, Lorraine Freeney and Chris Donovan. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Ireland has long been acknowledged as one of the richest and most exciting sources of musical talent in the world. Against that background, Hot Press has consistently argued that the Music Industry here is potentially a major source of wealth and jobs. As well as creative fulfilment and spiritual sustenance. To realise this potential fully, however, will involve imaginative policy-making by the government, as well as a commitment to creating the kind of climate in which indigenous Irish music, and musicians, can flourish.
MUSIC, COMEDY, THE WORLD - FAMOUS ROSE, THRILLS, SPILLS, AND THE CHANCE TO BE A STAR - IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THIS YEAR'S TRALEE FESTIVAL IN THE CAPITAL OF KERRY
Known for his hyperactive - even threatening - live performances, Iggy Pop is sure to deliver one of Féile '93's most invigorating performances. Here, with an overview of the ex - Stooge's unconventional career, Hot Press prepares you for what's to come.
Upwards of two million people do it in Ireland every Sunday - and yet little or nothing is ever written about it in the media. So we asked ourselves a few questions: Why do so many people attend what is by any standards a very strange ritual? Do they enjoy themselves? Is the performance a good one? What do they get from it? And are the sound and lighting really up to the international standards? That's right, a crack Hot Press team of reporters attended Sunday mass recently - this is what they found.
Imaginative variations on the theme *The Pure Thrill of Living* were the focus of attention at the 9th Smirnoff Young Designer Awards which took place in Trinity College, Dublin recently.
