Simple Kid effortlessly produces the kind of Beck-like sound that stoned hippies, stuck in their musty bedrooms with an acoustic guitar and an ounce, think they’re making.
After an initial botched attempt at cracking the London indie scene, Ciaran McFeely, aka Simple Kid, re-emerged as a dynamic singer/songwriter with an inventive musical approach and a flair for darkly humourous lyrics.
The latest addition to the Electric Picnic line-up is the Nokia Trend Lab stage, featuring Simple Kid, Nouvelle Vague and 65 Days Of Static, among others.
It’s been a long, hot, muggy day, but Galway’s weather still won’t piss or get off the pot. A short, sharp shower would actually be extremely welcome, but the heavily pregnant clouds just tease with the prospect of rain. On the plus side, the evening skies over the Fisheries Field are appropriately shaded for the musical night ahead (sorry, but it’s an unbreakable rule of music journalism that every David Gray live review must contain at least one pun on his surname).
Over the past number of years, Today FM has consistently supported Irish music, playlisting records by local artists and doing in-studio sessions on a regular basis. in the process the station has played an important part in the increasingly impressive chart and sales achievements of irish acts.
You know, Nick Lowe was right when he asked “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” Lately, I try to avoid the news as often as not, because it seems that every day there’s another atrocity: more carnage, more blood, more tears, more misery, more grief.
The Frames and BellX1 stormed the palisades of Groningen recently as part of the Eurosonic Festival. John Walshe was there to see it happen and to revisit the spot where the great Mic Christopher met with his tragic accident. Plus: the latest news and reaction to the Frames’ new record deal
Mark McClelland was a feature and music writer for Cork's Evening Echo for four years. Here, he presents his top ten most significant musical acts to emerge from Cork.
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?
There are no guarantees of success in the music biz, but if you have what it takes there is plenty of expert help available to ensure you give it your best shot.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed* along the way
Ferree takes an unequivocal delight in his freewheeling approach to music, skipping playfully from the jaunty opening ditty ‘In The Countryside’, to the skittish swagger of the garage rock tinged ‘Dog Killers!’.
It took Gray a few songs, but by mid-set the singer-songwriter and his two-man acoustic band had moved into their flow, helped hugely by a pivotally-placed ‘Babylon’, to which the audience gave great song.
The annual Eurosonic Festival kicked off on Thursday, January 8th, in Groningen, Holland. The Northern European university city came alive as acts from all over the continent took to the stages of the city for what has become the finest showcase for new music in Europe, as part of the European Talent Exchange Programme. Think the Eurovision, except with top quality music and without the voting.
It may not be an ornate and highly charming church in Dingle, but something about the truly titanic line-up of the Other Voices launch, reduces the expansive Vicar St. venue to a kind of wonderfully intimate backbar.
Tanya Sweeney gets up early to bring you the best of the Sunday afternoon artists, including Nina Hynes, Kings of Leon, Jerry Fish, Cane 141, The Walls and Automata.
There’s no shortage of showcase events vying for the attention of young acts these days, but IMRO’s tried and trusted model remains refreshingly free of bells and whistles.
Over a hundred acts took part in the annual Hard Working Class Heroes event in Dublin last weekend. While the standard wasn’t uniformly impressive, a number of new contenders emerged who might ultimately be capable of lifting the rock’n’roll crown...
