What’s most striking about Tour De Flock is how unpopulist Bell X1 are. This is not a live album filled with huge, chest-beating anthems, but it works instead on a more intimate scale.
Its real beauty comes when the effort is made to tunnel further down. The songs you were tempted to skip first become familiar, then recognisable, then at a point only hindsight will reveal, become shining examples of subtle magnificence, however much you’re loath to admit a change of heart.
This is one of the finer moments from Bell X1’s patchy and somewhat overrated Flock LP. Anyone with even half an ear cocked to radio will be well aware of this infectious sing-a-long from the X1 boys. A proven favourite on the airwaves, the group’s collective ears will be firmly tuned to see if UK disc jocks show a similar penchant for ‘Flame’s shouty chorus and chiming guitar lines.
Irish fans however will be more interested in a live version of the track, due to be made available on the group’s website in the coming weeks.
Well at least they don’t look or sound like Flock Of Seagulls. Yes, we can actually report that there is a new guitar band around who don’t hark back to a particular period in time about twenty years ago. No, New York’s Ambulance Ltd look both further back to the ‘60s and ‘70s and forward to the ‘90s and, good God no, shoegazing. The problem is that they don’t seem to quite know which era or what band they want to borrow from, opting instead to chuck everything in and hope for the best.
Alex Lloyd is a bit of a songwriting hero in his native Australia. Apparently, people choose to get married to his massive hit single ‘Amazing’ and flock to his gigs in their thousands. Knowing this, the album comes as a bit of a surprise, and not in a good way.
With Michael Eavis letting the grass grow at Glastonbury this year, Scandinavia’s long-running equivalent was bound to be a huge draw for international music fans. Those seeking a people-friendly atmosphere and a musically-varied experience were always likely to flock to Roskilde, a festival structured along similar lines to its English counterpart
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.
BellX1 fans unable to lay their hands on tickets for their current dates will be mighty pleased to learn that they'll soon be returning to the live scene for a one-off date at the RDS Arena in Dublin.
The long-awaited follow-up to the phenomenal Music In Mouth is nearly upon us, and just to build up the tension a little more, you can get a sneaky peek at the cover right here...
In addition to Seasick Steve, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham will also be playing host to The Human League, Heaven 17 and ABC, and Aimee Mann and The Sharon Shannon Big Band.
Only the most blinkered rap aficionados could claim themselves immune to yet another record padded out with the same old routines about homicidal life on the street.
Recently I’ve become hooked on Bands Reunited, a show whereby VH1 track down members of defunct ’80s bands who split in acrimonious circumstances and doorstep them into reforming for one night with mixed results.
A polished little diamond, if a little on the sugar-heavy side, The Trial Of The Century (the FK’s third) showcases a band who’ve stumbled across a distinctive and engaging sound of their own, although they seem no more inclined to take chances with it than The Charlatans ever were: it’s all uptempo, lush, lilting, sweeping aural confectionery which frequently sounds extremely pretty.
Expectations for new material are, understandably, quite high, both from long term fans of the band and the ever-broadening circle of new admirers, Indeed, the days of Bell X1 filling medium size stages could well be numbered – as it is, tonight’s stage can barely hold the band’s enthusiasm and confidence.
The flamboyant torch songs of Rufus Wainwright feel like jetsam from a dazzling alternative reality.
In Wainwright’s rococo otherworld, Busby Berkeley and Tin Pan Alley cast a languorous and lingering shadow. Overwrought emotion is respected artistic currency. And the Golden Age of Hollywood – the era of high-camp and brash musicals – abides in perpetuity.
A WORK of such complete and utter meaninglessness as to border on the profound, Million Dollar Hotel is by some measure Wim Wenders' most pretentious, most self-indulgent and least affecting work to date, although we'd probably accept it from just about anyone else.
From indie shy-boys to multi-platinum chart toppers, it’s certainly been a long, strange journey for The Shins. By now, we all know that Natalie Portman played a part in their success – but what’s Elliot Smith go to do with it?
Irish labels, bands and artists often face an uphill struggle to garner recognition, even on their home turf. Which is why hotpress and HMV have undertaken their own combined initiative, to coincide with the announcement of the shortlist for the first Choice Irish music prize. As a product of this initiative, all ten albums will be specially stocked and displayed in HMV stores all over Ireland on the run-in to the announcement of the winning album later this month. Here, we take a look at the list – and reflect on those that have been omitted.
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.
In the end, his passing was a dignified one, and, in many ways, a joyous occasion.
Fr. Liam Cosgrave now joins the roll of honour of Catholic priests who have aspired to the Snortian ideal: to die in coitus . . .
A FREE and unsolicited tee-shirt came through the post for me from a company which is advertising a campaign for something or other – the slogan emblazoned on the garment is totally meaningless. Above the saintly face of a bearded man are written the words “Do something good this year.”
Bell X1 have announced that Brian Crosby will be leaving the band following their October 19 Flock tour finale at the Panorama Festival in the Lebanon.
On the eve of the release of Tour De Flock, BellX1’s live album and DVD from Dublin’s Point Theatre, Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby and Dominic Phillips answer the weird and wonderful questions of hotpress readers, from the swimming habits of monkeys to ripping the gusset of your pants on stage.
BellX1 have given one of the tracks from their Flock album to Oxfam as a free download to publicise the charity’s ‘Generation Why’ arms control initiative.
Poxy fucking Irish weather!
Now that we’ve let the elephant out of the room – or should that be tent? – let’s concentrate on the musical delights that Day Two of the Picnic had to offer.
THIS ISSUE'S missive reaches you from my fever-wracked sick bed. The doctor pleaded, the nurse begged, my lover entreated, but I refused to just lie there, terrible though my sufferings be, when there was a column to be written. There are some things intrinsically more important than mere physical well-being. Duty is one of them.
He was supposed to be the new Tarantino. But Troy Duffy’s rampant ego destroyed his career before it ever really began. To make him feel even better, some friends caught his rise and fall (and fall..) on camera. The result is Overnight one of the most compelling documentaries in year.
Mexican maestro Alejandro González Iñárritu hasn’t wasted any time capitalising on the critical and commercial success of Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, is being hailed as another masterpiece.
It was inflight double entendres all round as Bell X1 donned cabin crew attire for a special Hot Press photoshoot. When not showing an unhealthy interest in women’s clothes and fancy Raybans, they talked about their chart-topping new album Blue Lights On The Runway, their imminent breakthrough in the US and freezing their arses off on The Late Show with Dave Letterman
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.
EDITORS’ new album finds them re-booting their sound with the help of super-producer Flood and the Prussian soldier’s helmet gifted to him by Bono. Also on the agenda when the band meet Stuart Clark are fatherhood, baby poo, Brooklyn block parties and stealing Michael Stipe’s megaphone.
Why they really should have been called Super Feathery Birds, the pleasant job of signing breasts, how Don Henley bought their tank and the worst welsh swear words ever. Hannah Hamilton pops the readers’ questions...
Why they really should have been called Super Feathery Birds, the pleasant job of signing breasts, how Don Henley bought their tank and the worst welsh swear words ever. Hannah Hamilton pops the readers’ questions...
In the wake of the IRA’s complete cessation of violence, the Unionist community must engage in a process of re-defintion – because while they have been clinging to the last vestiges of the British Empire, the world around them has been transformed. By Bill Graham.
Bowling down through the centre of the country on Friday afternoon en route from Derry to fabled Thurles I tune in to 2FM and hear that there are many thousands of folk already foregathered for the Féile. Also I hear the chief of the local gardai saying that so far the behaviour of all concerned has been 'perfect'.
Gerry McGovern writes about his own brief but disturbing experience as the victim of sexual abuse and argues that Church and State stand accused of failing to protect the most vulnerable and powerless in society.
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.
Billed as the publishing event of the century, Crossing The Threshold Of Hope by Pope John Paul has already netted its author an advance of $10 million and is currently topping bestseller lists the world over. LIAM FAY wades through this extra helping of papal bull and comes to the conclusion that His Holiness is now, certifiably, as crazy as a shithouse rat.
Is Ireland really drowning in gargle? Is there no hope for the youth? and is ever more draconian legislation all we can do? Dermot Stokes sidesteps the hysteria to offer some sober reflection on the use and misuse of alcohol
RTE2 have plenty of live music action to keep us placated for the next few weeks - here's the line up of bands and when to catch them. For more about the Other Voices series, click on the link at the very bottom.
The Christy Moore Interview by Bill Graham
Christy Moore is out on his own. He can't be limited as just a folk singer or a popular artist. Rather he's increasingly an Irish national fixture with an influence far beyond the mere entertainer's reach.
PACK YOUR LEMSIP AND NIGHT NURSE AND PREPARE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE BEIJING FLU AS THE SAWDOCTORS TACKLE THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ON THEIR LATEST TOUR. CURRENTLY BETWEEN LABELS THE BAND’S U.K. FANBASE IS INCREASING STEADILY, EVEN IF THE CONCEPT OF ‘DESIGNER BOGMEN’ HAS YET TO PENETRATE THE SHIRES
CHECKING THE TEMPERATURE: BILL GRAHAM.
Olaf Tyaransen sings the reunion city blues as an unhappy DEBBIE HARRY forces him to take the scenic route through the rise, fall and rise of BLONDIE. But, hey, it all ends happily ever after...
Shirley Manson, Tom Waits and Suzanne Vega are among the many heavyweight champions of US cult author JT LEROY, a 21-year-old who survived childhood abuse and a period as a truckstop hustler to become what he calls “an accidental novelist”.
Meet Larry Harvey, the man behind burning man, the world’s most extraordinary festival, in which a whole city, run as a gift economy, springs up in the arid nevada desert to celebrate creativity, non-conformism and the healing power of fire.
It's time to lock up your sons, daughters, pet poodle and drinks cabinet, as eight of Ireland's top bands descend on the venue, london, for the first major Hot Press-sponsored musical event of the year.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the dissection of the rock ‘n’ roll year that is the Hot Press Summit. Gathering round the table are the good and great of Irish music, but who let Podge & Rodge in?
As escape acts go, it ranked up there with the very best of Harry Houdini. Bishop Brendan Comiskey, in theory at least, was back to face the music and undergo a gruelling, exhaustive interrogation at the hands of the assembled press corps. Instead, his press conference turned into a stage-managed anti-climax, and the media watched helplessly as he slipped from their grasp.
Fr Shay Cullen, an Irish Columban Missionary priest, tells Jason O’Toole about falling in love, the battle against corruption in the Philipines, the scourge of western sex tourism – and why the Irish government isn’t doing enough to protect children from paedophiles.
All Write Now, we said. And boy did you follow instructions! The entries poured in from all over Ireland, and further afield, in their thousands. We were snowed under – but, as the song says: That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it…
