Mobilee’s new sub-label gets off to a shaky start with a two-tracker from one half of SmashTV. ‘EnduroDisco’ is an uncomfortable mix of minimal frequencies and droning basslines and FX while ‘Aura’ – a gloopy tribute to ‘Erotic Discourse’ – explores similar territory with marginally more success.
Maria McKee wrote this track for Fergal Sharkey when she was only 19, and 22 years after it was a hit for him (that long ago?), she’s finally claimed it as her own. The two performers have in common sitting-on-a-washing-machine shaky vocals that grate after a while, but if you didn’t like Mr. Sharkey’s version, hers is original enough to surprise, perhaps.
After a shaky start with Volume One, Rod Modell and Steve Hitchell raise the game on this wonderful 12”. ‘Abraxas’ is more quality, crispy dub techno, but the real delight is ‘Empyrean’: a reggae refix, like it’s being viewed through a frosty Berlin window, with unexpected warmth thanks to some classic organ work. Fantastic.
The father of Strokes-man Albert Hammond Jnr has written more hits than almost anyone on the planet, penning hits-to-order for artists like Tina Turner, Celine Dion and Aswad as well as having success in his own right (‘It Never Rains In Southern California’). His first album proper in 23 years has hooks aplenty but the MOR arrangements and his shaky singing make it an acquired taste at best.
So… Blair Witch 2 has hit the big screen and Mr Manson has assumed charge of all things original sound track. Quite fitting really. The musical emulation of hype, eyeliner and distortion pedals meets the cinematic emulation of forests, shaky cameras crews and things that go bump in the night.
Their recent appearance in the top ten with a cover of ‘Hounds Of Love’ has provided The Futureheads with the perfect excuse to tart up and re-release last year’s fine but neglected debut L.P. Of course, this is a shameless example of commercial opportunism (the world really could go on spinning without seeing the ropey videos, mumbled interviews and shaky gig footage contained on the bonus DVD), but such is the energy and likeability of said record, only a churl or Stereophonics fan would deny it a further opportunity to invade as many extra collections as it can.
[open all night DVDJoe D’Urso is a Jersey Shore musician much loved by Springsteen fans and with a similar street-corner sound and approach. As the title states this is a concert video shot during a recent Italian tour. However, the low production values make this barely watchable and does him no favours at all.
It's been five years since Babes In Toyland last shrieked their way around the globe and, to be honest, the world hasn't exactly been a hugely poorer place for their absence. Still, they're back for one last time - this is a combined reunion/farewell tour - and really, they needn't have bothered.
Right now, Prince is caught in the twilight zone between tributary minnow and nostalgia act, unwilling (or unable) to advance, yet refusing to plunder the back catalogue for a classic hits roadshow
Sinéad O’Connor's voice is still capable of enchanting you with its fragility and blowing you away with its power, but maybe we all expected that, because at first it’s the bravely mixed set-list that grabs your attention.
Blotooth’s pretty-boy vocalist Myles O’Reilly certainly casts a presence onstage tonight, all six foot five of him, and it seems as though the band are undergoing a transformation of sorts.
Having been lucky enough to have witnessed Mr. Zimmerman’s legendary gig in Vicar St. a few years back, it seemed almost inevitable that a trip to this East Wall arena would prove anti-climactic. And so it proved to be.
The twin worlds of Pink the pop star and the punk rock princess collided here tonight and made awkward bedfellows. The outcome of which one will win out is still in the balance.
It’s unmistakably The Rolling Stones as we know and love them, down to the last chopped rhythm of Keith Richards’ telecaster, Charlie Watts’ snare crack and the mannered tics of Sir Mick’s white boy blues croak. Like The Ruttles’ clever pastiches of Beatles classics, the Stones appear to have perfected the art of parodying themselves to a point where you wonder if they might be having a laugh.
Country rockers Richmond Fontaine are back with their most accessible LP yet. Frontman Willy Vlautin talks about juggling music and literary careers, and his recent foray into racehorse ownership.
'I feel my quill is broken! The organ of my imagination has withered! The very towers of my genius have crumbled!' Aye, pal, I know that feeling well: it seizes me every fortnight as I sit down to crank out my copy. The difference is that people actually read Shakespeare, even many centuries after his departure.
Or should that be Pub Stars? Either way, their debut album is soaked in the strong spirit - and stronger spirits - of their native city. Nick Kelly meets Dublin's JUBILEE ALLSTARS.
Some people reckon that Bob Dylan has sold out by flogging his music on a lingerie commercial. but our consumer affairs correspondent disagrees and has some even better ideas for Irish rockers
We see the reports on television and hear the voices on the radio but the brutal adrenaline-charged reality of the rioting in North Belfast can only be fully understood if you're in the thick of it. Gerry Ryan Show reporter Brenda O' Donoghue briefly was.
ADMIRING THE beautiful shorn features of Matthew Devereux on the cover of the last issue, mischievous, curiously boyish and teasing, I would like to know whether the skinhead image appeals erotically to women as much as it does to me.
Once again from the north of Ireland, we have The Id. The line up has swelled a little and now comprises Carl Papenfus on drums, Kenneth Papenfus on guitar, Tony Brady on keyboards, Brendan Kelly on vocals and Darren Campbell on bass.
Author Barbara Ehrenreich worked in a variety of low-paid jobs in the USA to research her book Nickel & Dimed - Undercover In Low-Wage USA. The conditions and terms of employment she uncovered make frightening reading
Our correspondent road-tests a rare but legal herb which might offer him an epic, life-affirming religious moment or make him feel like a mere atom in a speck of dirt up some earthworm's arse. How did he fare? Read on...
The Adidas Wellness Centre in Stockport is a state of the art facility, in which your entire physical condition is tested and assessed. So how would Hotpress’ Carol O’Hanlon stand up to the scrutiny – not to mention the endurance test through which she would be put?
Well it’s one for the money Two for the show
US3 GET READY . . .
. . . Now go cats go! When a critic talks about awarding his favourite gig, album and band of the year accolades to the same outfit then we gotta be talking about something special. In this case it’s transatlantic Jazz Rappers US3. And the, er, critic in question: MR. STUART CLARK
MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, with Robert de Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce, John Cleese, Ian Holm, Aidan Quinn)
The last word on accommodation, socialising, study tips and living on a basic budget – Hotpress proudly presents your all-purpose student survival guide.
With their latest album Riot Act, Pearl Jam have recaptured the blistering form of their first three albums. Matt Cameron, once of Seattle comrades Soundgarden, gives an insight into how the band has outlasted and outperformed most of its contemporaries
A STRANGE sound can be heard in L.A. late at night, when the traffic has finally begun to die down, Mickey Rourke has parked his Harley, Bruce Willis has turned off his 1,000 megawatt speakers and the denizens of the Dream Factory are getting ready to embrace the great unconscious.
. . . or overlooking Fountainstown beach in Co. Cork, anyway. METISSE have everyone talking, owing to the sheer unique nature of their music. KEVIN BARRY met them.
From literary wild-child to haunted son, Bret Easton Ellis has travelled some distance since his clinical dissections of the American ID first scandalized the book world. His new novel, Lunar Park, is perhaps his most entertaining and personal yet.
Perhaps the most influential punk band of the ‘70s, The Ramones were nonetheless riven with internal divisions and a variety of personal traumas, both psychological and pharmaceutical. All this and more is covered in an excellent new documentary on the band, End Of The Century – The Story Of The Ramones. Here, Tommy – the last surviving member of the original line-up – looks back on the dark times and discusses the group’s legacy with Tara Brady.
Ian Hunter, the former voice of MOTT THE HOOPLE, is back with a 38-track Greatest Hits & Rarities double-CD, plus an all-new album, From The Knees Of My Heart, to follow later this year. Now, from where past and present collide, he explains how he once broke into Elvis Presley s Gracelands, how he produced hits for Billy Idol and what it was like to tour with Queen as your support act. He even finds time to tell tales about Marc Bolan, Mick Ronson, and, incidentally, Mott The Hoople too Andy Darlington listens in.
The global economic system is out of control and leading humanity on a road to environmental self-destruction. So says visionary economist RICHARD DOUTHWAITE, who argues that Ireland, for all its problems, is well placed to give birth to a new kind of culture that would ultimately safeguard the future of the planet and its inhabitants. Interview: ADRIENNE MURPHY
THE GREAT RADIO DEBATE – 1993’s FINAL INSTALMENT
In strictly commercial terms, 98FM are by far the most successful Irish independent station. But over the past 12 months they have come in for severe criticism for a music policy which has frequently been described as anti-Irish. As a result, says their Australian Controller of Programmes Jeff O’Brien, there have been changes at the station – and there may be more to follow. Interview: Jackie Hayden.
Responsible dad or not, Liam Gallagher is still capable of some serious rock’n’roll hellraising and giving good quote. Roy Keane, Patsy Kensit, Nicole Appleton, Yoko Ono, Bono and magic mushrooms are all on the agenda as the Oasis singer shoots from the hip. Getting the beers in: Olaf Tyaransen
He is one of our highest profile broadcasters and journalists. Now in his new book, Last Word host MATT COOPER looks at the rot and corruption that festered beneath the surface of the Celtic Tiger. He talks about the sense of anger he feels over the mismanagement of the economy, the damage wrought by the Bertie Ahern years and the apparent unwillingness of RTE to give him any publicity
James Dean Bradfield on The Cult of Richey, The Spanish Civil War, Jon Bon Jovi, and the new album This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours. Truth Serum: Peter Murphy. Light Detector Test: Simon Clemenger.
. . . and ready to go. Mercury Rev s recent album Deserter s Songs was met with a rapturous critical reception, even topping the Hot Press critics end-of-year poll. On their recent Dublin visit they spoke to Peter Murphy about the album, The Band and their volatile past. Jonathan Donahue pics: Cathal Dawson
Ciaran Cuffe [right by Mick Quinn] doesn’t look much like a typical Teachta Dala. So little so, in fact, that when the Green Party TD comes out to greet photographer Mick Quinn and myself in a guarded reception area in Leinster House, we simply don’t recognise him. He just doesn’t look the part.
In a remarkable interview, the legendary David Kelly looks back on a long and adventurous career including parts in box office smashes, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Waking Ned.
With a new tribute album to Gram Parsons on release, PETER MURPHY enlists the help of co-executive producer EMMYLOU HARRIS to recreate the tale of Southern Gothic that was the late singer s life.
