FOR A band capable of composing such cockle-warming ballads as 'The Universal' and 'To The End', there's always been something innately stand-offish about Blur. At worst, this quality manifested itself in the smug observations of British Lotto culture that made up the bulk of 1995's The Great Escape, a work largely flawed by champagne-fatigue and a lack of compassion for its subjects.
She's the red-haired electro-pop debutante of the year. La Roux frontwoman Elly Jackson talks about her love of the 80s and tells us why Blur were the only decent rock band of the past 20 years.
As the final countdown to Blur’s Oxegen comeback gets underway, Alex James talks about falling in and out with his bandmates, collaborating with New Order’s Bernard Sumner – and why Clonakilty Black Pudding will definitely be on the band’s Punchestown rider.
Whether feeding dubious cups of coffee to celebrity chefs or coercing Joe Strummer to dress up as an Indian on Top Of The Pops, Alex James is a man who knows how to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of life.
On top of scoring a Top 5 hit with Elbow's latest album, singer Guy Garvey recently absconded to Nashville to record with Richard Hawley and Frank Black.
While the arrangements, production and execution of ideas are as excellent as you’d expect the songwriting is surprisingly lightweight and indistinctive.
There must be some mistake, surely? A new British band that don’t stick needles in their arm, live in an East London squat or sound like a really, really bad Franz Ferdinand demo. Not that Kaiser Chiefs are going to win any prizes for originality. Named after one of South Africa’s most famous footie teams, the Leeds quintet have a big thing for The Jam, XTC, Blur and any other band to whom the term “quintessentially English” applies.
Maybe we’ve been just a little too exposed to the Chiefs of late, but this third single from Employment lacks a certain something, possibly the element of surprise that underpinned ‘I Predict A Riot’. We know that they love Britpop era Blur more than their mothers, we just don’t need the point rammed home so unequivocally.
More jaunty, happy go lucky, hummable noughties Brit-pop that in truth is nothing more than a clever blend of The Kinks/Hollies/Squeeze/Blur/La’s. So derivative is it in fact that it sounds like it was knocked together in half an hour before everyone went off to the pub. Still, it’ll probably score well.
Midas… I mean, Damon Albarn’s back with his second side project, though one has to give up on the idea of a Blur reformation when this new bunch of mavericks steal their niche in the market: having Albarn pay homage to his hometown of London.
Clocking in at 2.42, ‘Kingdom Of Doom’ is a simple affair which is over before you know it. Save your pennies and just buy the album.
Graham’s Sonic Youth/Pavement fantasies may have marked him out as the exception within Blur, but appreciated in any other context, he’s defiantly traditional. Far from sounding oddball or avant-garde, Coxon now peddles gnarled indie-punk almost entirely devoid of quirks and innovation.
Like, whatever about the track – it’s an honourable stab by 12-year-old Dubliner Kirstie McCarthy at emulating Eminem and all – but when Kriss Kross were falling over trying to get themselves into their dungarees backwards to appear on TOTP singing ‘Jump’, she was minus three. Minus three! Imagine being born in 1994, the very year that Blur released ‘Girls and Boys’. Wow.
Produced by Ben Hillier of Doves and Blur fame, Dave Gahan says, “It’s better being in Depeche Mode now than it has been for 15 years”. If that’s the case, then why set the new material in a 15-year-old atmosphere with that same old bassline? Quintessential Depeche Mode it is, but we’ll keep an ear out for the rest of the album.
Third time’s a charm for raggle-taggle Londoners Mystery Jets. Given yet another outing, the furious and infective ‘You Can’t Fool Me Dennis’ is primed to become a festival favourite. All witty one liners amid warm melodies, it sees the Jets mash together the frivolous pop of Blur with some Johnny Marr-derived classic guitar lines. Gloom free – it’s like hearing The Coral on E.
Waterford band The Heard have recently picked up some notable plaudits from the likes of Alison Curtis at Today FM, and at times it's easy to see why. Raw production lends a hint of punk energy to their otherwise straight melodic rock songs. 'Holiday Camp' brings to mind Modern Life Is Rubbish-era Blur whilst 'Shame' has the swagger and punch of The Undertones and the melodies of The Stunning. If there is a criticism, it's that the songs lack imagination. Decent enough nonetheless.
Something of a minor classic, the debut EP from Kilkenny's Blue Ghost is almost unclassifiable. Equal parts Gorillaz and Republic of Loose, Collapse Or Keep Going floats between jazz, electronica, funk, rock, hip-hop and blues. 'The Altitude' builds with a frantic funky bass line pumping through a punk infused jazz odyssey, 'Float Feet First' is a poignant fusion of summery funk and soul, and the frequently brilliant 'Why Good Guys Die' investigates darker, more Blur-y territory. Only the lack of real vocal power dulls an otherwise fine introduction.
Damon Albarn is certainly keeping busy. Not content with helping Michael Nyman score the movie Ravenous, the Blur frontman embarks on his first solo work for Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Martin Cahill biopic:
Michael Eavis and the Mean Fiddler have reached an agreement, and Glastonbury is once again set to proceed. Your Gorillaz, Blur, Coldplay, Pulp, The Strokes, Starsailor, Basement Jaxx and Stereophonics needs will thus be looked after
Sodding everything else, the debut album from Welsh wonders The Automatic is worth buying for the single ‘Recover’ alone, possibly the best indie dancefloor anthem since ‘Song 2’ by Blur shattered eardrums everywhere.
Do not be deceived. The bombastic call-to-arms of the title is magnificently misleading in the same cheeky spirit of Mogwai's 'Blur Are Shite' t-shirts.
In case you haven't already heard, here's the lowdown. Two years ago, former flatmates Damon Albarn of Blur and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett came up with the notion of creating the UK's first virtual band.
For the members of Blur, success has seemed to be something of a burden over recent years. While he was still a member of the band, Graham Coxon released a series of, ahem, ‘difficult’ solo albums.
From the goodtime vibes of Hot Chip to the full-on sonic assault of Primal Scream, this year's Electric Picnic was even more fab than its predecessors.
Blur axeman, Graham Coxon, releases his second solo LP and, like his 1998 debut, The Sky's Too High, The Golden D is a trip into the speed/trash/hardcore underbelly of America.
There's a bit of a tendency to take The Chieftains for granted. They, and mainman Paddy Moloney in particular, have been so prolific and have been responsible for so many interesting and varied musical experiments that one album can tend to blur into the next. It's a view that does them an injustice, however.
Get your dancing shoes on. Electro newcomers Magistrates are here to rock your blocks off. They talk about hanging out with Damon Albarn, worshipping Michael Jackson and living up to the legacy of heroes like Bowie and Talking Heads
Fresh from his Glasto appearance with Lily Allen, Terry Hall talks about his friendship with Damon Albarn and the enduring influence of his band, The Specials.
Hotly tipped Britrockers Los Campesinos talk about the influence of the '90s riot grrrl scene on their music and explain why the prospect of arena rock success doesn't rev their motors.
The Frank & Walters are the most successful of Cork city’s frequently madcap musical outfits and have recently celebrated ten years together with a 'Best Of' album
They pinched their name from the Old Testament and are quite partial to a bit of Moz. They are The Maccabees and just maybe they’ll rock your world in 2007.
Having broken up Pavement, STEPHEN MALKMUS has had plenty of time to devote to making his eponymous solo album and indulging his obsession with all things Irish from U2 to Thin Lizzy to Planxty. NIALL CRUMLISH cocks an ear and raises an eyebrow
Shakespear s Sister siobhAN FAHEY makes her acting debut in a powerful new short movie that goes to the heart of the Dublin heroin epidemic. Here, she tells craig fitzsimons about the legitimate highs of working in both music and film.
They began as an acid house act doing a disco cover of Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. Then they took a break, discovered big beat and became wine waiters for cult author Douglas Coupland. There's never a dull moment with Saint Etienne
Astronomical record sales, sell-out tours and critical plaudits have not dimmed Coldplay's reputation as the worried men of pop. Bassist Guy Berryman gives us the lowdown.
KIERAN HALPIN's new live album, Glory Dayz, is the perfect vehicle for a man who hardly ever stops gigging. In a rare off-stage interlude, he talks to Colm O'hare.
The college circuit is an important stepping stone in rock music around the world. While the potential remains unfulfilled in Ireland, there’s a new breed of Ents Officer who are aiming higher.
John Walshe chats to verbose Auteurs mainman, Luke Haines, and discovers why it s been three years since their last release, why all pop stars are scum and how he wants to become a famous TV presenter.
He has one or two other things going on at the moment, but if The Edge happens to be free on the first day of the Electric Picnic there’s a good chance you’ll find him and his wooly hat front of stage for reformed post-punks Magazine.
He used to be the ultimate indie no-hoper. But now JACK PEÑATE has discovered Krautrock, nu-rave and world music and released one of the year’s most engaging, and surprisingly accomplished, records. He talks about cultivating his eclectic side and discovering an outsider sensibility he describes as ‘joyous melancholy’.
From piano-plonking crooners to nihilistic electro-pop duos, the UK and US are bursting at the seams with fresh talent in 2007. Could there be a new Arctic Monkeys out there somewhere?
EAMON SWEENEY meets RELISH, a northern band just signed to EMI. Up for discussion: Ash, landing a deal, Van Morrison and ghosts in the (studio) machines.
In an extremely frank interview with EAMON SWEENEY, MIKE HEAD of SHACK talks about his time as a heroin addict, the band s progress and their ambivalent attitude to media attention.
In a highly revealing interview, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke talks about the inspiration behind one of the albums of the year, his current listening and the band's plans for the future.
Life on the road isn't always a blur of parties and groupies. Sometimes it's exhausting, and oftn plain boring, as Irish hopefuls Director found out when they went on tour with Hard-Fi.
English folk singer KATE RUSBY has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. She tells Colm O'Hare about sad songs, her Bon Jovi phase, and attracting praise from Blur s Graham Coxon
His admirers have included Kurt Cobain, Beck and Jack White. But Billy Childish is far from your average cult musician. He’s dabbled in conceptual art, is equally influenced by The Kinks and Joe Strummer and doesn’t listen to music – especially if it has anything to do with Leonard Cohen.
The most exciting merger of rock and dance since the heyday of The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays and Primal Scream – meet The Rapture. Words Paul Nolan
A true-life tale of a once-famous Victorian murder investigation paints a fascinating picture of a society undergoing profound changes – and has eerie parallels with today’s fears about the rise of a surveillance culture, explains author Kate Summerscale.
Disused Mexican banks, Little Britain, Pete Doherty and drunken Sky TV appearances are all on the agenda as Paul Nolan and his temperamental tape machine meet Carl and Didz from Dirty Pretty Things.
Cinematic weirditude! arbus-like photography! theoretical physics! as Paul Nolan discovers, it’s definitely not only rock’n’roll for Hope Of The States, the Chichester band with a certain Westmeath connection.
Cinematic weirditude! arbus-like photography! theoretical physics! as Paul Nolan discovers, it’s definitely not only rock’n’roll for Hope Of The States, the Chichester band with a certain Westmeath connection.
Being described as "the new Keane" might bother some people, but not Grant Nichols who's content in the knowledge that his band have made the first great rock'n'roll record of 2005.l
He s the man behind Reservoir Prods , a load of Premiership goals and a woozy Robbie Williams. But most he s behind pop songs with big fuck-off choruses , a passion PHIL WOOLSEY extends with his new band NINEBAR
Prior to their recent Dublin gig, THE BLUETONES talked to NADINE O REGAN about the fickleness of fame, artistic integrity, America and the dangers of sausage sponsorship!
He’s the hottest thing in boxing and has been tipped as a future world champion. Recently Amir Khan was in King’s Hall Belfast for a lightweight bout with Laszlo Komjathi of Hungary. Francis Jones was in the audience.
As soul-pop heavyweights M People gear up for another assault on the charts and a brief Irish tour, Nick Kelly shoots the breeze with their well-travelled Mancunian music maestro, Mike Pickering.
Although the acclaimed C Mon Kids was conspicuous by its absence from the
Best-Of-96 polls, The Boo Radleys sice and martin carr aren t bitter. As they prepare for an assault on the States, peter murphy gets the lowdown on their hatred of videos, their contempt for producers and their disapproval of outfits such as Dodgy, The Lightning Seeds and Everything But The Girl.
This year’s Heineken Green Energy festival has something for every music lover. Whether anthemic stadium rock (Snow Patrol) is your thing or you enjoy boisterous pop (Kaiser Chiefs), it’s a festival packed with sonic treats.
Roll out the Union Jack and strike up the first verse of Rule Britannia. Al Murray is bringing his pub landlord character back to Dublin. Looking forward to the gig, Murray talks about stripping to his boxers in front of Dita Von Teese and hanging out with Phil Collins and Alex James (while remaining fully clothed).
She claims to wander about in the nude in her spare time. But British model-turned-TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss is fully clothed and respectable when Hot Press pays her a visit.
Six months ago, Kaiser Chiefs were complete unknowns. Now, they’re making appearances on the Ant and Dec show, playing Letterman, being saluted by Damon Albarn and heralded as the spearheads of “the new Britpop” movement. The group here give the lowdown on what’s been a hectic 2005 to Ed Power.
Quantum of Solace director Mark Forester explains how he wanted to rehabilitate the James Bond franchise with a nod towards classic '70s post-Watergate conspiracy thrillers such as The Parallax View and The Conversation
From hayseed starlet to rookie director, Sarah Polley has certainly travelled a great distance, as demonstrated by her wrenching directorial debut Away From Her.
Rumours of Depeche Mode’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, as Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher explain on the eve of the release of their 11th studio album, Playing The Angel.
They’re the hottest thing in British rock, four working class kids done good from the wrong side of the Glasgow tracks. At the start of what is shaping up to be a whirlwind year GLASVEGAS talk fame, football and fisticuffs.
She’s shaping up to be one of the break-out stars of 2009, with a number one album and a Mercury Prize nomination to her name. We catch up with Florence And The Machine’s Florence Welch, who talks about becoming an overnight sensation, reflects on her bizarre childhood and explains why her most controversial song really isn’t as contentious as it’s made out to be.
Despite all appearances, Tamsin Grieg’s Black Books character Fran isn’t an unsympathetic, neurotic freak. “She wears dresses… she makes an effort,” she tells Paul Nolan
Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley impressed a lot of people here last year with the quirky guitar pop of her debut solo album Grey Will Fade. hotpress catches up with her as she wows the masses at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.
This time last year, Mike Skinner of The Streets was a complete unknown. 12 months later, he reflects on being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, shrugging off the attentions of Damon Albarn, turning down a stack of film roles and partying in Dublin. “There’s been a lot of mad moments,” he acknowledges
Moviehouse talks to David Lynch-protegé Eli Roth about his low-budget gore-fest Cabin Fever, and also hears the garrulous director’s views on everything from flesh-eating bacteria to the lamentable absence of nudity in contemporary horror.
You'd have thought that 12 consecutive top 40 hits would have earned them the key to the executive bathroom but, nope, before the ink was even dry on their Guinness Book Of Records entry, THE WEDDING PRESENT were shown the door by their record company. Unperturbed, everyone's favourite indie popsters found a new label, a new bass player and a new studio accomplice who's helped them produce their best album since the classic George Best. A slightly battered and bruised DAVE GEDGE gives a blow-by-blow account of the events to our ringside reporter STUART CLARK.
Adam Duritz of Counting Crows and Kieran Kennedy a mutual appreciation society that went public during the Heineken Green Energy Festival get together to discuss songwriting, critics, genius, mediocrity and what it takes to be a rock n roll outlaw. Referee: PETER MURPHY.
dEUS are winning over more and more fans with their idiosyncratic, guitar-based songs. NICK KELLY met lynchpin TOM BARMAN to talk about love, loss and famous Belgians. Pics: CATHAL DAWSON.
With The Coral’s third album, The Invisible Invasion, set to seal their reputation as one of Britain’s foremost indie bands, guitarist Billy Ryder-Jones here discusses their desire to make a classic album, collaborating with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, and why their reputation as Liverpool chavs is entirely ill-deserved. “We’ve never nicked anyone’s stereo,” he explains.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
His tearful acoustic ballads have become a phenomenon. In a forthright interview José González discusses his terror of writing lyrics and meeting Craig David and tells of his parents’ flight from oppression.
Back in the saddle with their eagerly anticipated second album Demon Days, subversive animated quartet Gorillaz here talk to Paul Nolan about striking out against celebrity culture, what went wrong with the Gorillaz movie, collaborating with Shaun Ryder, Roots Manuva and Dennis Hopper, and why they didn’t vote Labour. Oh, and Mexican brothels.
Editors mainman Tom Smith is pining for his mainsqueeze Edith Bowman. HP advises him on an anniversary gift. Aw, bless. Still, he hasn't gone soft, as is borne out by copious potshots at Keane and Sugababes.
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
Not since The Bothy Band in 1976, has an Irish traditional group signed to a major international label. By linking up with Virgin, ALTAN have confirmed their status as the pr-eminent force on the Irish scene and signalled their readiness to take on the world. Of course, theirs has been no overnight success story and, with the tragic loss of Frankie Kennedy, one that has also involved an immense amount of emotional courage. Interview: BILL GRAHAM. Pics: COLM HENRY
Having battled their way through eight weeks of the Raw Sessions, hip hop collective and noble underdogs THE INFOMATICS were awarded the title of Sony Ericsson Artist Of The Year. We caught up with Bugs, Mr. Dero, Konchus Lingo and BOC (try saying that three times fast!) to hear how appearing on the country’s first ever rockumentary series is going to change them and indeed the face of Irish hip hop.
They may be nothing more than a tribute band but if so, they re a damn good one. JACK L and his BLACK ROMANTICS have been unanimously lauded for their Jacques Brel-inspired Wax album: The idea was to bridge the gap between Brel and Scott Walker. Now Jack L himself talks to JOE JA
Occasionally, music from Derry effects the wider scheme of things with spectacular results. This year, the fun centred on the use of D:Ream?s ?Things Can Only Get Better? as a Labour Party anthem. The touchy-feely, get-off-your-arse-and-participate message of the song was just what Tony Blair wanted for his born-again campaign theme.
It s the morning after the night before and BRET EASTON ELLIS feels like he s got Marilyn Manson playing inside his head. A dinner date with fellow penslinger Irvine Welsh has gone seriously pear-shaped and like his most famous literary creation, the Californian is fit to kill. STUART CLARK offers tea and solpadeine, and in return gets the lowdown on American Psycho, trans-Atlantic stalkers and why both Air Supply and the Teletubbies are evil. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
What does Peter Buck have in his bathroom? What does Justine Frischmann do all day? stephen j. malkmus and spiral stairs of the decidedly non-lo-fi and non-slacker indie rock gods pavement spill the beans to nick kelly.
John Walshe meets Paul and Ashley from The Frank & Walters and hears all about their latest album, Beauty Becomes More Than Life, why they don t want to go to posh parties and how major labels take all the fun out of being in a band.
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 MTV Europe Music Awards 2002 may have been a bit of a damp squib, but an electrifying Foo Fighters, a boards-sweeping Eminem and a nekkid Christina Aguilera prevented it from being a total washout.
And why is young America going overboard about over-weight, over-30 jazzers? john walshe forgoes the pleasures of Dublin versus Kildare to pop across the Atlantic and investigate one of the most unlikely success stories of recent years.
And we ain’t talking turkey. Miles Hunt, lead singer and songwriter with The Wonder Stuff doesn't give a flying, er, saucer what anyone thinks of the band, their image, their videos or even their P/E ratio. Interview: Stuart Clark.
From seven long days journey into nightmare, from a city where the Medjugorge Herald is displayed hard by Big Uns From Fiesta, from a city where the local headline runs Padraic O Conaire s Head Recovered and everyone else wishes theirs would; in short from the Czirt Festival Of Literature in Galway the writers week that makes writers weak what s left of TOM MATHEWS sends this report.
Having their budgets slashed three times in 18 months has made it harder than ever for Irish aid organisations to help the world’s poor and displaced. Despite Mr. Martin’s axe-wielding, Concern worldwide are determined to continue their work in what can be life-threatening circumstances.
From the profound and the insightful to the weird, funny and just plain daft, Paul Nolan rounds up what the famous and infamous had to say for themselves in 2004...
On the eve of the release of the group’s new album Winning Days, The Vines’ bassist Patrick Mathews gives hannah Hamilton the inside story on the tensions that threatened to split the band, hanging with Steve-o and the Jackass crew, and the group’s heretofore undeclared love of the Clancy Brothers.
AGEING PUNK STUART 'CIDER'N'SPIT' CLARK REHEATS THE WHITE HOT CAULDRON OF 1977 IN A DISCUSSION OF TIMES PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE WITH THOSE CHARMING MEN FROM MANCHESTER, BUZZCOCKS. PIC: CATHAL DAWSON
Whether with THE SMITHS, ELECTRONIC, THE PRETENDERS or in brown trouser mode sharing a stage with PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE MICHAEL and NEIL FINN, he remains, by his own admission, the best JOHNNY MARR-style guitar player around. GEORGE BYRNE meets the cat others like to copy.
In Vienna, along with another 99,999 people, LIAM FAY witnesses what may well be the finest rock n roll extravaganza ever mounted and discovers that its got both art and heart in abundance as well.
Albums such as Streetcleaner and Pure have established Brummie noise terrorists godflesh as one of the most exciting alternative bands on the planet. Their latest effort, Love And Hate In Dub, is a radically overhauled remix version of its predecessor, Songs Of Love And Hate. The band s
talkative mainman justin broadrick explains all to jonathan o Brien.
Critical brickbats aside, the success of TRAVIS seems to know no bounds. Here FRAN HEALY and co talk to STUART CLARK about drugs, Oasis, Paul McCartney, Ali G, and drunkenly dancing on computers! The man who took the photos: STEVEN FISHER
From gigs with cider punks in limerick to playing for Fidel in Havana and from the low of Richey’s disappearance to the high of performing before Wales’ victory over Italy – life has never been boring for the Manic Street Preachers. Stuart Clark listens intently as Nicky Wire discusses their defining moments
If there s one cast-iron prediction
to be made for 1997, it s that
THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH will carry on carrying on up the charts.
JOHN WALSHE meets
Dave Hemingway and Jacqui Abbot to learn
more about life inside the mega
band with the low profile.
Having learned her moves on RTE with AA Roadwatch, Drive and Live At 3, LORRAINE KEANE moved to TV3 in the role of Entertainment Correspondent. Here she talks about life, love, the media and what it s like to be the daughter of an Indian!
Interview: NIALL STANAGE. Photos: Colm Henry
In a rare interview, DJ, Sabres Of Paradise mainman and all-round geezer andrew weatherall tells stuart clark about why he won t be working with Primal Scream again, comes clean about his Van Morrison obsession, and does his best not to slag off Kula Shaker and Mansun.
It’s been quite a year for PETE DOHERTY, the former Libertines frontman, and now leader of Babyshambles. 2005 featured a series of drug busts, failed rehab attempts, the tabloid witch hunt of his girlfriend Kate Moss, several non-appearances and live shows that fluctuated between agonising and ecstatic... oh, and the small matter of a debut album. As hotpress went to press, the news broke that Doherty had been busted yet again, barely two days out of an Arizona clinic. hotpress talks to Doherty’s label boss, Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, tour photographer Danny Clifford, and former Babyshambles drummer Gemma Clarke, for the insiders' view on what’s becoming an increasingly sad and fearful saga.
Full profiles on Faithless, Antony & The Johnsons, Slayer, The Who, Bell X1, Status Quo, The Flaming Lips, 50 Cent, Madness, Christy Moore, Elton John and Lionel Richie.
Ireland's most hyped event of the year, the MTV EUROPE AWARDS may have had as many gossip columnists as winners thanking God, but after hours it was IGGY POP and heavy friends who made the real headlines on a night when rock'n'roll bit back. Report: OLAF TYARANSEN and PETER MURPHY. Awards Pics: PETER MATTHEWS. Iggy Pics: Cathal Dawson
STEREOPHONICS are on the up-and-up, their popularity growing without the band making concessions to the London-based music media. GEORGE BYRNE met them to talk about drink, drugs, writer s block and their upcoming Slane support slot.
Mini Pics: MICK QUINN.
Or how a short-term model, aspiring novelist and Indie kitten became a sophisti-cat and lived to twitch her tale. Peter Murphy meets the multi-layered Sophie Ellis Bextor
As the masses prepare to descend on Punchestown, we dispatch Hannah Hamilton to assess the festival fitness of one of this year's Oxegen buzz bands, Franz Ferdinand.
Sharp suits, a global fan base, his own luxury recording studio - David Gray has certainly come a long way. On the eve of the release of his latest album, he talks about the dark side of success and explains why he wants to leave the singer-songwriter tag behind
not to mention a thousand and one instruments to flesh out their exhilarating new wave trad. kMla take to the road, with puns, poetry and party atmosphere to spare. Adrienne Murphy accompanies the merry pranksters.
Stuart Clark – himself a black belt in origami – discovers how The Ramones and kickboxing chinese detectives have helped Ash to overcome their sordid heavy metal past and become Top of the Chops.
Mark Eitzel and American Music Club have had all the critical plaudits and cult status that they ever could've wished for. What they really want now is fame and megabuck success! Patrick Brennan met the Wet Wet Wet wannabees.
It's hard-hats and flak-jackets all round as the new improved Carter usm launch a full frontal attack against John Major, Third World repression and Pizza Hut. Frontline correspondent: Stuart Clark. War photographer Cathal Dawson
Jackie hayden meetsjournalist turned PR guru, Tony O Brien and speaks to him about his rock n roll adventures with the likes of U2, Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen.
It's head-scratching, nail-biting, on-the-tip-of-your-tongue time again, as GEORGE BYRNE presides over our renowned annual music quiz [this is for the year 2000]
The last 18 months have been a hell of a ride for The Thrills, catapulted from the relative obscurity of the south dublin suburbs to the top of the uk charts, rubbing shoulders with Van Dyke Parks and Peter Buck along the way. But are the band suffering from diver’s bends? is that laid-back california-in-my-mind facade starting to crumble? We put on our therapist’s hats and endeavour to find out, if something’s gotta give, what gives?
Five years after the collapse of The Irish Press Group, CON HOULIHAN suffered a fall of his own. Here, he reflects on broken hips, broken dreams and the road to recovery. Interview: SIOBHAN LONG
2007 was another vintage year for Iggy. Here, he finds the time to discuss reforming the Stooges, his relationship with Bowie, the Stones and his trailer park upbringing.
The Kooks' first album was a million-selling sensation. As they unleash the long-awaited sequel, frontman Luke Pritchard talks about the death of his father, his feud with television presenter Simon Amstell and much more...
Hard house is this year s biggest dance craze, and it was born at the most renowned
after-hours gay club in the world, Trade. MARK KAVANAGH talks to LAURENCE MALICE,
the Caligula of clubland , about excess, success and his Irish roots. Photographs: Myles Claffey
After years of pushing the self- destruct button, Pete Doherty has proved his detractors wrong with a solo album that's on a par with anything he did with the Libertines.
Is football hooliganism really the new rock ’n’ roll and should little boys be wearing Boot’s No.7 blusher? Stuart Clark fears for the moral wellbeing of the nation’s youth as Manic Street Preachers wage holy war against MTV, Take That, Kate Moss and poor old Gerry Ryan.
Pix: Cathal Dawson.
He's shot U2 and Madonna and numerous nudes, formulated an "aesthetic of the dick", published the perfect magazine and, most recently, hit the headlines for endeavouring to make the Queen of England look "really fresh". He's Rankin Waddell, co-founder of Dazed And Confused and probably the most renowned fashion, music and pop culture snapper on the planet
When the Be Here Now tour fell apart at the seams in 1997, the end seemed nigh for Britain’s biggest rock’n’roll band. Then Noel Gallagher gave up drugs and moved to the country. With a stunning new album on the way, the Oasis mainman tells Stuart Clark where it all went right.
With the release of their acclaimed third album Flock, which went straight to No.1 in Ireland, Bell X1 have staked their claim not just to greatness, but also to potential world domination – a possibility which is reinforced considerably by their powerful showing in the Hot Press Readers’ Poll. Here, in an emotional and revealing interview, the band’s photogenic frontman Paul Noonan discusses life, art, love, death... and music.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Few Irish albums have been as eagerly awaited as THERAPY?’s Troublegum and while the jury has yet to deliver its final verdict, early indications suggest that the band from Larne may be about to fulfil their own prophecy and become multifuckingnationally huge. But does taking on the world mean having to compromise the hardcore principles they’ve fought so hard to protect?
ANDY CAIRNS and MICHAEL McKEEGAN tell Hot Press trouble-shooter GERRY McGOVERN that displaying your gums doesn’t mean having to sacrifice your teeth. Pix.: MICHAEL QUINN.
With The Story Of O, poet and journalist OLAF TYARANSEN has written an Irish memoir like no other before, a remarkable, powerful, controversial and outrageously funny book that s set to catapult him into the literary
limelight and to the top of the best-sellers lists over the coming weeks. If you think that the accompanying pix tell the naked truth, just wait till you read the book. Ireland s first outlaw autobiography, it s an uncompromisingly confessional tale of literature, sex, drugs, rock n roll and rebellion. But it is also a beautifully-written tour-de-force, a love story that will entertain, shock and move readers. In this short extract, the author battered by the rigours of his pro-cannabis election campaign and broken-hearted by the apparent collapse of a long-term relationship goes completely off the rails. Nude portraits: MICK QUINN
The star-spangled story of how Richard Melville Hall learned to relax and love sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. "Don't tell anybody but I'm actually the lead guitarist with Slipknot," he informs Stuart Clark.
With compass in hand and their newly unfurled Map Of The Universe nestling comfortably on their laps, Blink are boldly going where few Irish bands have gone before. But what happens when they get to Cork and Ballybunion? Intrepid explorer LIAM FAY dons his rucksack, climbs aboard the Blinkmobile and survives to tell the tale.
It should have been the biggest indoor rock n roll knees-up of the year but oasis three nights at The Point were as notable for what happened off stage as for what happened on it. Does Liam s partial no show spell the end for the dreadnoughts of Britpop or is it just the latest hiccup in a career that seems to thrive on adversity? Report: siobhAn LONG.
DOLORES O'RIORDAN may have the highest profile but the others are also here to remind you that THE CRANBERRIES are a group. and with the release of their new album wake up and smell the coffee, a happier, wiser, less embattled group than ever before. “all you need is love,” they assure JOE JACKSON
He’s jammed with Bob Dylan, partied with Keith Moon, sued The Byrds, traded spiky tops with Rod Stewart, had close encounters with Presleys Reg and Elvis and played "name that key" with John Lee Hooker, but arguably the best moment in his life was when he was named small breeder of the year. RON WOOD, the man who would be the queen mum of rock 'n' roll, tells a mean tale.
Words: STUART CLARK. Pictures ROGER WOOLMAN
When Pulp released the obsessively carnal This Is Hardcore, it was widely touted that the band's main mover, Jarvis Cocker, had lost the plot entirely. But Pulp are back on the road now and Cocker is in fine form - as eloquent when talking about pornography and sex as he is reflecting on the vagaries of the press and his relationship with his father. Interview: peter Murphy.
When Pulp released the obsessively carnal This Is Hardcore, it was widely touted that the band's main mover, Jarvis Cocker, had lost the plot entirely. But Pulp are back on the road now and Cocker is in fine form - as eloquent when talking about pornography and sex as he is reflecting on the vagaries of the press and his relationship with his father. Interview: peter Murphy.
Underdogs who've clawed their way into the top flight, Setanta Records, like Wimbledon, are a premiership act - with attitude. stuart clark gets the rags to (comparative) riches story from label boss, Dubliner Keith Cullen and also seeks the considered opinions of boys-done-well, Neil Hannon and Edwyn Collins.
Her fantasy is out-qualifying Michael Schumacher, she once drove at 200 miles per hour and she'd "consider" sleeping with a fat, sweaty Italian if it meant getting a drive with Ferrari! She's sarah kavanagh, and her ambition is to take her place on the Forumula One grid by the year 2,000. Interview: barry glendenning.
Pix: clare kavanagh.
Never mind figgy puddings and partridges in pear trees, there’s some serious seasonal business to be done as the annual HP-7 summit gathers in the crucible of cultural discourse that is The Central Hotel’s Library Bar.
Current affairs anchor – and Ireland's leading ‘yummy mummy’ according to the tabloids – MIRIAM O'CALLAGHAN talks about the challenges of raising eight children, her past marital woes and taking a pay cut at RTÉ.
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
Don’t let her steal your heart away!
sheryl crow: Hot Press Readers’ Love Of The Year and Bob Dylan’s favourite singer-songwriter is the hottest new star in rock'n'roll. Helena Mulkerns charts the singular rise of Kennet, Missouri’s most celebrated slacker country queen.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
KIM PORCELLI sees DAVID KITT in Brussels on the eve of the release of his new album The Big Romance. Back in Dublin, the pair settle in at the Long Hall for the long haul…
Photography: MYLES CLAFFEY
He wrote speeches for Bertie and then criticised him in the press using a pseudonym. He turned down an offer to party with Bono. And Richard Boyd Barrett once nicked one of his crass albums. All this plus the importance of economics, the threat posed by the Bush administration and the truth about power are on the agenda, as Paul Nolan meets David McWilliams.
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
In his first major interview, Aengus Fanning, editor of the Sunday Independent, discusses how he manages the most successful paper in Ireland and the death of Veronica Guerin.
From “Outspan” to Glen Hansard, from Grafton Street to Hollywood – and onwards to Lisdoonvarna 2003. A portrait of The Frames as a most unusual band. Part one of a two-part special feature by Peter Murphy. [Main Photos: Mick Quinn]
Since their debut single ‘Wired To The Moon’ went gold here The Revs have established themselves as Ireland’s hungriest and most energetic rock combo, with an appetite for gigging and an eye for publicity that has seen them embroiled in a number of amusing controversies. But behind the brash exterior is the fascinating story of three dedicated young musicians who have overcome their status as outsiders to build one of the biggest and most loyal grass roots following of any local act. Now with the release of their debut studio album, Suck, they are ready to go international.
The Manson Family at work, rest and play, in sickness and in health. Peter Murphy travels to britain and the US to bring back the full, intimate story of a band on the run
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.
See him after midnight in the trailer-park: beside his fire with its strange aromas, the withered man with the parched voice and the piercing eyes with even stranger talismans on his jacket.
Westlife's Brian McFadden never meant to start something with So Solid Crew - it was just "one drunken night and it could have happened to anyone". "If another band had been sitting there instead," he explains, "I'd have had a go at them"
Certain artists are blessed with the ability to say something poignant and meaningful with their music. On the evidence of this eopnymous record, Gavin DeGraw is not one of them.
A new name to me, Neil Myles has, it appears, been travelling to foreign parts these last few years, but is now back in Drogheda, from where his gameplan for world domination is being launched...
The MTV Brand Spanking New Tour is a big ask. On a night when temperatures outside are soaring, it requires something pretty special to entice us indoors.
As openings go, Kissin' Time really could not have a worse beginning than 'Sex With Strangers', the first of the much vaunted Beck collaborations
After such travesties, Kissin' Time does rally somewhat in its closing moments
Having graced the Closer soundtrack and made the cut for the OC’s illustrious collection, Damien Rice is doing very nicely out of compilations these days.
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.
It may have bucketed rain, but both bands and fans kept the faith for a full-on day of muddy rock mayhem! Check out our selection of the best shots from Saturday.
As social phenomena – teenage pregnancy, counterfeit designer clothes, weekend binge-drinking – rip through small towns like a cultural wildfire, it’s only fitting that there’s some comeback to the suburban suffocation.
If youth was once wasted on the young, what about record contracts? My Vitriol are yet another set of early twenty-somethings touting guitars and being thrust into the limelight at a ridiculously early stage - their tenth ever gig was part of the NME awards- week at London-s Astoria.
A new Danny Boyle flick is never complete without a hyped to the hilt, in yer face compilation of the current cream of trendies, and The Beach is no exception.
It’s all pretty brave – the faithful may scratch their heads and the detractors probably won’t even listen but just maybe they’ll find themselves reaching a whole new audience.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, or at least till it comes back. Saint Etienne are one of those bands who, like Teenage Fanclub, were hardly the subject of extensive search parties when missing in action yet now that they are back with us, are being greeted like long lost (rich) relatives.
As social phenomena – teenage pregnancy, counterfeit designer clothes, weekend binge-drinking – rip through small towns like a cultural wildfire, it’s only fitting that there’s some comeback to the suburban suffocation.
Renowned Irish recording engineer and producer Brian Masterson has been added to the line-up for Music Ireland 07, which takes place in the RDS from October 5 to 7.
Gorillaz are, in many ways, the pub conversation that went too far. On the back of a beer-mat, it’s certainly a perky conceit: a comic-strip band whose songs muddle genres with cartoonish chutzpah.
In execution however, Damon Albarn’s pet endeavour has too often tended towards debilitating smugness. Toxically pleased with itself, Gorillaz’s self-titled 2001 debut felt like an open-top tour of Albarn’s ego.
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.
Kaiser Chiefs’ teenage fanbase is unlikely to be disappointed by Yours Truly…, which is packed to the brim with the sort of singalong anthems that made their first album such a resounding commercial success.
Jesus, what does Green Gartside have to do to make Virgin drop his band? Since 1988's Provision, he's produced precisely five minutes of music - a 1991 duet with Shabba Ranks - yet he and Scritti Politti are still signed to the same label they were with 17 years ago. Either he's an extraordinarily persuasive boardroom negotiator, or Virgin's A&R people are keeping him on for a bet.
Although Trent Reznor has been tried and been found guilty for taste crimes in the international court of pop-cultural opinion (his semi-legendary and frighteningly authentic pseudo snuff-movie, the Peter Christopherson-directed Broken, remains banned on this side of the Atlantic) personally speaking, I have generally found the singer’s fascination with extreme horror imagery, S&M and general underground depravity to be the least startling aspect of his estimable oeuvre.
It's been five whole years to the month since Elastica released their eponymous, million-selling debut so I guess you could say they've been away for a long stretch (sorry, couldn't resist!).
Discuss: The Libertines – one of the most exciting personality clashes since Mick & Keef/Strummer & Jones/Morrissey & Marr, or Jam-my dodgers in matching emperor’s new Sgt. Pepper suits who struck lucky with a couple of decent tunes?
Aw, who cares.
It may well be their fate to end up on some future compilation entitled The Classic Sounds of January 2007, but, for tonight at least, The Automatic are indie rock’s (ahem) undisputed heavyweight champions.
The suspicion that The White Stripes are a conceptual prank masquerading as a rock group intensifies with each outing.
For their fifth dispatch, Jack and Meg contort their beaten up, gut-bucket blues into wrenching, subversive shapes. A feral heckle as much as a pop record, it flaunts its weirdness gleefully and capriciously.
There hasn’t been a debut this ominous and arresting from sleepy Lincolnshire since a radiant young Margaret Thatcher first addressed the Tory conference, and we all know how that one ended up.
The music industry will implode the moment you buy one, but if you don't mind committing grand theft audio www.web.ukonline.co.uk/boomselection will tell you - and the Anti-Piracy Squad - everything you need to know about the current craze for bootlegs
Tim Booth is not a man who has ever been unduly troubled by contemporary notions of cool and un-cool. In the early nineties, when Nirvana were storming the barricades, Primal Scream had the nation under an acid-drenched groove and Kevin Shields was in the process of reinventing guitar music with Loveless, Booth and his cohorts in James were encouraging patrons at Student Union discos all around Britain to literally sit down to the strains of the anthemic stadium rawk number, er, ‘Sit Down’.
Pop must always, always be stupid – stupid as in not understanding the rules, as in running blind, as in stupid with desire, stupid with joy, as in stupefied. That kind of stupid. Supergrass, then, are the most unremittingly stupid band I have ever met.” – Taylor Parkes, Melody Maker
Having debuted at Number One in the UK album charts last week, it would appear that working-class Coventry trio The Enemy are now officially the next big thing.
We may be one bounced cheque short of joining Iceland in the Bankrupt Small Countries Club, but there’s good reason to celebrate our Irishness on March 17 when The Simpsons’ Paddy’s Day special premieres in Ireland on Sky1.
Many of these gorgeous songs, which are steeped in mournful pedal steel (especially the thematically representative ‘Sex, War and Robots’) and couched in intricate arrangements, deal directly with broken relationships and war.
In '96 we talked sex, drugs and murder with Nick Cave, while other cover stars include Lou Reed, Ash, Blur, Bjork and the Cranberries... Plus, we remember the sad passing of HP scribe Bill Graham.
1995 had us gaga about Courtney love, PJ Harvey, Tindersticks, R.E.M., Blur, Whipping Boy and, em... Star Trek. Plus, our Rory Gallagher memorial issue.
For the average expat Irish criminal living in Spain, life is a blur of booze, prostitutes and drug deals with the threat of violence, and even death, never far away.
First we had Blur vs. Oasis and now it’s Oasis vs. U2 as the two go head to head on November 20 with their respective Stop The Clock and U218 Singles Best Of… albums.
Survivors don’t come more grizzled than the New York Dolls’ David Johansen. Here he recalls shooting the breeze with Muddy Waters and explains how Morrissey persuaded the Dolls to get back together over lunch.
Learn from the best with a wide range of workshops and master classes from some of Ireland's finest musicians, and some others from further afield. The workshops on offer this year include 'How To Get A Kick-Ass Recording' by the Bodytonic Crew, and master classes in drumming by Bobby Arechiga (in association with Meinl Cymbals), as well as much, much more...
Separated by years and an ocean, an old lover might have seemed like a far away place. But when she arranged to meet him back where they had shared passionate sex, and a lot more besides, they both knew that they were opening up a sea of possibility.
It's time for the birthday JD Set to celebrate Jack Daniel's birthday, where britrock legends Brett Anderson, Carl Barat and John McClure join forces for a unique collaboration - and talk bout media manipulation, Jade Goody and, aaah, premature deafness!
Pornography, n, explicit description or exhibition of sexual activity in literature, films, etc., intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic feelings; literature containing this.
Oxford English Dictionary
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, HELENA MULKERNS, DAN OGGLY, CATHY DILLON, NIALL CRUMLISH, OLAF TYARANSEN, PATRICK BRENNAN, JACKIE HAYDEN AND NIALL STOKES.
While good manners may have gone out of fashion, it makes a big difference in the sexual arena, if we avoid being boorish or pushy. Behaving gracefully is what it’s all about.
PHIL LYNOTT would have been 50 on 20th August this year. Here, PETER MURPHY profiles the legendary Philo, and talks to other stars about his enduring influence.
"The Foos rock out royally, the reverberations from the kick drum dislodging confetti from the ceiling": Hannah Hamilton - and hotpress.com's three prizewinning guest reviewers - report from the Point's front line
Q: Which top Irish quiz-masters’ pathological obsessions include Something Happens, Shamrock Rovers and the amount of shopping days left to the next Suede gig? A: George “You Started, So I’ll Finish” Byrne
For connoisseurs of indie music, the Hot Press New Band Stage will provide a weekend-long bonanza. Here, Patrick Freyne selects 10 acts who will grace the stage that are essential viewing.
You can very much hear the band gradually piecing together the constituent elements that would make Bleach such a bewitching sonic brew; the gonzo experimentation and guitar pyrotechnics of the ‘80s US underground, married to Cobain’s Beatles-like melodic sensibilities and, of course, that searing, indelible voice.
She had been with him for months now and sex had always been good. So what could it mean when an orgasm eluded her? Was this, perhaps, the end of the affair?
'The Irish Are Coming' was the banner headline for a two-night musical extravaganza held at The Venue in London, organised in conjunction with Hot Press, that showcased some of the most promising Irish bands. Gerry McGovern gives a behind-the-scenes account of the weekend that was...
With the death of Kurt Cobain in April casting a shadow over the following months 1994 will hardly go down as one of the most joyous in Rock history. Your guide to a month-by-month account of the names and events of the past year. Stuart Clark.
Independent Irish acts have been enjoying unparalleled success recently both at home and abroad. We talk to some of the key bands, DJs, bedroom boffins, labels, fanzines, record shops and blogs who've decided to follow the DIY path to glory.
In an operation so closely co-ordinated it’d put a SWAT team to shame, Hot Press deployed a team of crack writers to attend selected temples of worship around the country.
