Having provided background music for a gazillion middle-aged dinner parties the world over, it was always going to be interesting to see how Norah Jones’ particular brand of intimate, sittin’-on-the-dock-of-the-Starbucks music would fare in the vast expanse of the Point.
She’s not the worst singer in the world and this isn’t the worst collection of dance pop tunes ever released but somehow it’s hard to believe in the former Ginger Spice. The jazzy Norah Jones/Katie Melua influenced title track and the Kylie-like ‘Superstar’ are all that remain in the brain after several spins of this entirely unnecessary release
With Come Away With Me, it was a class thing. Not class as defined by birthright or capital gain or social station, but that quaint 1950s Americanism denoting an indefinable aristocracy of character.
Lifted from her acclaimed debut album, ‘Wondering’ is Beth Orton style smooth, jazzy music, perfect for those dinner parties thrown by late-20s urbanites and their perfectly co-ordinated crockery. What saves it from being music for people who don’t listen to music is Sproule’s distinctive voice, which is creamy (yes, creamy) and soaring in equal measure. Looks like Norah Jones has some tough competition.
From studying at the Brit School of Performing Arts and providing backing vocals for Westlife, to her Terry Wogan-facilitated assault on the charts and subsequent elevation to bona-fide star status, former Belfast resident Katie Melua has packed an enormous amount into her 19 years.
Cork singer-songwriter NICOLE MAGUIRE is rapidly making a name for herself with her full-on pop-rock songs, swoonful voice and dogged determination. On the release of her debut album Fight The Score she talks to Jackie Hayden.
The new album from Foo Fighters is an indie-rock tour de force, combining blistering anthems and delicate acoustic tracks (there’s even a cameo from dinner-party doyen Norah Jones). According to drummer Taylor Hawkins, it may just be the band’s masterpiece.
Unable to convince as a purveyor of Norah Jones-like smoky jazz (when it’s obvious that Katie Melua doesn’t smoke) or indeed as a jigging teen idol (when it’s obvious she doesn’t dance), tonight the temptation is to dismiss the weird collision of mood-changes on offer here (from anti-war ballads to skat versions of ‘The Love Cats’ to Georgian folk ballads sung in the mother tongue) as a case of talent being spread way, way too thin.
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.
She’s been hailed in some quarters as the new Norah Jones and the heir to Eva Cassidy’s throne. With sales of her debut going through the roof, things are looking bright indeed for the Russian-born, Belfast-bred daughter of a heart surgeon.
The Thrills blamed for after-match riot, the word 'me' has been banned from songtitles that will be played on RTE, and who'd win a fight between Paddy Casey and Glen Hansard.
Enan warbles her way through this tune with a lilting Irish softness that she may have picked up during support tours with Gemma Hayes, Damien Rice et al. Despite the cliched lyrics of the I'll-be-there-to-pick-you-up-when-you-are-down variety, this is a promising release from a the multi-talented newcomer.
John Walshe previews the new Foo Fighters double-album, In Your Honor, which Dave Grohl describes as "by far the most ambitious project I have ever had anything to do with in my entire life."
Her dad’s got the keys to St. Andrew’s Observatory, her mum’s texting to say she’s just seen Prince William playing hockey, and her new album Eyes To The Telescope is currently bewitching audiences throughout Britain. Things could hardly be better for Scots singer-songwriter KT Tunstall.
Australian singer SIA's song `Breathe Me', was destined to become a great lost classic, until the folks at Six Feet Under gave it a new lease of life. Next stop, duets with Beck.
Not a bad ambition at all. But you have to think of yourself as well. When she did, Anne Sexton realised that she could only come, as it were, if she let herself go – and that meant being prepared to make a lot of noise indeed at critical moments. Everyone say: AAAAAAAAAGH……….
For all we might want to harp on about cutting edge this and radical that, the records which have made the big bucks over the past few years have been by nice, slightly middle-of-the-road, predominantly female singer songwriters.
Their first all-acoustic album since 1990’s Allegria, the excellent Roots sees the Gipsy Kings music return to its Flamenco/Gipsy origins without the studio embellishments of their more recent output.
This eight album from the former Grammy winner is a revelation, a beautifully formed record that on songs like ‘Open The World’ manages to sound both seductive and disturbing as it puts you under its spell.
Scissor Sisters are back, and this time they’re on a mission to channel Elton John, Paul McCartney and the Bee Gees into the first soft rock masterpiece of the 21st Century. In an exclusive interview, the group’s main songwriter, Babydaddy, gives us the lowdown on their second coming.
Court cases! Vintage wines! Smack! Bad craziness! A burst pancreas! And a chart-topping album! It can only be the posthumous but never-ending saga of the defining rock band of the ’80s and ’90s. Stuart Clark gets the latest from Duff McKagan
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Let’s try to imagine for a moment that this was a collection of duets that, somehow, managed to hook Brother Ray up with the guys and gals who benefited most from his example.
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
When considering the Wallflowers, it's almost too easy to refer to the bizarre genetic accident that has befallen Jakob Dylan, son of Bob. Fortunately for him, he appears not to have inherited his father’s crumpled, imperfect looks. Instead, he sports the symmetric, excruciatingly photogenic looks of a latter-day Adonis. On the other hand, it also seems that Jakob has also not inherited his father’s flair for crafting a heart-stopping hit.
She’s been lumped in with the nu jazz movement, but Amy Winehouse has no interest in keeping up with the Norah Jones’ or Jamie Cullum's. Phil Udell gets music lessons from the 19-year-old Londoner.
Hebden (drummer with Martha and The Vandellas, James Brown and Miles Davis among others) and Reid (of Four Tet) have made an album exclusively featuring percussion and electronics, a one-take live recording, with neither overdubs nor edits. A swift glance at the titles (‘Morning Prayer’, ‘Soul Oscillations’ are two out of the three), and the existence of two tracks around fifteen minutes long, might give the impression that this is an album for blissed-out new age meditators. Not so by a mile.
While in college studying film, Grant Lee Philips helped form a moderately successful act called Shiva Burlesque, whose 1990 album Mercury Blues opens with ‘Who is the Mona Lisa?’. After many big releases as Grant Lee Buffalo (most notably 1993’s Fuzzy), and two offerings under this moniker, Philips is back with Virginia Creeper.
A chick-flick with attitude, a delicious comedy that’s become a phenomenon in the States, and a journey into the hellish world of teen girl bullying – there are plenty of good reasons why Mean Girls is one of the movies of the year.
Making her solo debut, Andrea Corr has set about re-casting herself as a vampish singer with a taste for dark beats and sultry wordplay. In a forthright interview, she talks about her unexpected re-invention.
Van Morrison is Los Angeles bound on February 22 for a star-studded Hollywood shindig that’ll see him presented with the US-Ireland Alliance Award by Al Pacino.
The fascinating story of how four Tallaght schoolfriends – and unofficial fifth member Shuggy – made a new home and a career playing music in the USA. All with a little help from their many friends.
Hard to believe it's been ten years since David Grohl first emerged from the ashes of Nirvana, raised his hand, and asked to be selected as the man to drive forward American rock music.
Even the most optimistic listener couldn’t have predicted the former drummer’s batch of demos would contain such anthems as ‘This Is A Call’, or that he’d be able to follow up Nirvana with another hugely successful outfit.
Yet despite all their accomplishments, the Foo Fighters still have great deal to prove. For all their platinum discs, anthemic singles and sold out tours, they’ve yet to release an album of any real consistence. Grohl could have been speaking about any of the Foo’s previous LPs when he recently said of 2002’s One By One that “Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life.”
With her rich velvety vocal style, consummate piano playing and – let’s be honest here – her stunning good looks, she came on like a breath of fresh air in the mid-1990’s
