The heavy metal tour to end all heavy metal tours hits Ireland next year when Feast Priest arrives on our shores, featuring Judas Priest, Megadeth and Testament.
JACKIE HAYDEN meets a man who claims that the Lost Ark of the Covenant is buried on the Hill of Tara. Oh yes, JOHN HILL also says that he s the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah
It’s testament to these two that both can be releasing the zillionth single off their respective albums and still manage to come up with affecting, engaging records.
The news that the Kaiser Chiefs were to deliver a second album angrier and more politicised than the first was greeted with some scepticism in this quarter. It doesn’t seem to have worked out too badly in practice, though, and ‘The Angry Mob’ is testament to that. A chunky, infectious slice of guitar-pop, it provides everything you would want from a Kaiser Chiefs record, and more. A hit.
For the last decade, Germany’s Tresor has been the most consistent supporter of US influenced techno, and, as many independent record labels continue to fold, it’s testament to Tresor’s lasting power that they’ve managed to reach their eighth compilation in as many years.
The incredible visuals give each accompanying track a unique persona, and the number of mobile phones held high to capture the images onscreen are a testament to that.
It's a little disconcerting reviewing the new album by an artist who died over six months previously, but this album stands as the last will and testament of Mark Sandman, Morphine's singer, songwriter and bassist, who collapsed and died on stage last summer.
Of the dozen or so Springsteen shows I’ve witnessed over the years, this was without doubt the most memorable, and certainly the most emotionally intense of them all. Shorn of the formidable might of the E-Street Band, the man-they-still-call-The-Boss arguably had to work harder than ever. That he pulled it off so successfully in the acoustically-unfriendly environs of The Point was a testament not only to his talent and experience but to his willingness to experiment.
Skoda Mluvit has patches of incoherency and over-ambition, but it’s a testament to Dresslehaus’ musical dexterity that he manages to stitch together such a rich and varied sonic tapestry.
It’s a testament to both the passion and prowess of Robert Forster and Grant McLennan that Oceans Apart sounds as immediate and important as anything they’ve released during their two-decades plus as The Go-Betweens.
A fitting tribute to the late John Peel, showcasing an impressive collection of diverse bands, all of whom featured on the legendary broadcaster’s show at some stage – a testament to the Radio 1 DJ’s tireless promotion of new music.
The songwriter’s oldest friends – Don Henley, Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Jackson Browne – occasionally seem hamstrung by too much respect for the material, although Bob Dylan does essay a decent ‘Mutineer’, and you can hear Bruce Springsteen’s mouth water as he gets his chops around the East Texas testament of ‘My Ride’s Here’.
This album operates under its own internal logic, happens in its own dreamtime, the basic tracks being augmented with all the care and lightness of touch one would expect from musicians preparing their friend’s last will and testament
Four years is a hell of a long time in pop music – the fact that The Corrs could afford to lay low for such an extended period is a testament to the band’s confidence in their audience...
Jesus Christ And The Church Of Gnostic Rock. Peter Murphy on the good, clean, but mostly dirty, fight for the soul of the Devil s Music. Part One: The Old Testament.
Guitar heroes Rodrigo Y Gabriela have gone from busking on Grafton Street to jamming with Metallica. The acoustic duo talk about their long, strange journey, their fantastic new album – and their debt to the metal world
Denounced by the Christian right in America and the Catholic church in Italy but championed by rockers as diverse as Marilyn Manson and Led Zep’s John Paul Jones, Diamanda Galas is unlikely to be hollywood’s flavour of the month as she rips into the oscar-winning Monster
I can still hear their taunts – “Clark’s talking through his arse again!”... “It’s not the ’70s anymore, Granddad!”... “I had my suspicions but now I know you’re a wanker!”
As it was my mother saying it, that last one was particularly hurtful.
Belfast-based novelist Jo Baker has once again become the subject of much attention in literary circles with the publication of her powerful and compelling second novel The Mermaid’s Child.
Their music may incorporate snatches of jazz, folk and classical music. But whatever you do, make sure you don’t call Albrecht's Pencil a ‘fusion’ act.
John Walshe talks to Doves Andy Williams about their past life as Sub Sub, their debut album Lost Souls, and what it s like being heralded as the saviours of British rock music.
Meet Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Mexican guitar virtuosos and planet-hopping adventure-seekers who, as Kim Porcelli discovers, are partners in more ways than one
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.
Donegal fiddle player john doherty died relatively unheralded in 1980 at the age of 86. Now, a new CD bears ample testament to his almost supernatural skill with a bow and strings.
By peter murphy.
For a city so often celebrated in song, it was inevitable that the horrific events in new york would be felt as keenly in the music world as in any other section of society. STUART CLARK reports on the industry response and compiles a broad selection of individual reactions to the attack
Freed from corporate and commercial concerns, student media can provide a valuable conduit for independent voices, as well as serve as a breeding ground for young journalists and broadcasters.
He is widely regarded one of Ireland's finest singers. Now, by way of confirmation, Brian Kennedy has released a superb album, entitled Interpretations.
Even without a record deal, industrious Northern Irish reprobates watercress have a back catalogue to be proud of. jackie hayden meets band linchpin dan donnelly.
Even without a record deal, industrious Northern Irish reprobates watercress have a back catalogue to be proud of. jackie hayden meets band linchpin dan donnelly.
Visionary singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has built up a loyal cult following for his epic tales of love, lost and unrequited. But as he admits himself, that’s only half the story. “Usually interviewers are obsessed with one thing or the other – whether it’s the gay thing or the drugs or the politics,” he tells an intrigued Phil Udell.
Having scored huge critical acclaim and won the Mercury Music Prize for his debut album Boy In Da Corner, Dizzee Rascal has pushed urban music another rung up the evolutionary ladder with his stunning new record, Showtime.
Three years ago this month, MICHAEL HUTCHENCE s body was found in a Sydney hotel room. Now, his mother PATRICIA GLASSOP and half-sister TINA HUTCHENCE have written a book about their memories of the singer s life and the bitter legal battles which followed his death. They spoke to NIALL STANAGE
Sinister psychological experimnets and political subterfuge are at the centre of Jonathan Demme’s intriguing new remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Luckily for us however, the film’s star Liev Schreiber happens to be an amiable, erudite ex-New Yorker with a degree in semiotics. Oh, and some nice cheekbones.
They were one of the great hopes of the early '90s Northern scene. Now The Minnows have patched up their differences and started making music together again.
With their Adventura Majestica album currently enjoying critical and commercial success, Sack explain what a long, strange trip it s been. Stephen Robinson holds the tape recorder
Having survived invasion, war and the repressive taliban regime, Fatana Gailani is continuting her courageous fight for equality for women in Afghanistan. Phil Udell hears her story.
Never mind the Champions League, if it’s fierce competition you’re after look no further than the National Student Music Awards. Doing his third level best to pick the winner: Neil Brennan.
As Gemma Hayes steps back into the fray with her long-awaited third album, Hot Press arranges for her to have a tete-a-tete with long-time collaborator Dave Odlum.
I’d always have said that Irish people were good at huddling. Our history and our climate, not to mention the controlling influence of the Roman Catholic Church, had tended to give us an inward-looking aspect. We had a thing about bars, matter a damn how dark or gloomy they might be. What we wanted, it seemed, was good place to whisper and to hide.
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.
From his holiday hideaway in southern France, the hairier half of Mexican-Irish guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela talks about the rigours of life on the road, busking on the mean streets of Dublin and the duo's growing heavy-metal following.
At a time when the British hip-hop scene is again witnessing extreme violence, COLM WALSH meets MC HARVEY of SO SOLID CREW and discovers how the problem is affecting the UK garage scene
Civil rights activists, and a small handful of political supporters in Dail Eireann, are campaigning for marriage rights for gay couples in Ireland – at precisely the moment that Rome has upped the ante in its condemnation of homosexuality. once again, old style battle lines are being drawn between church and state. Imogen Murphy reports
His good humour apparently unblunted by years of drug addiction, Aslan’s Christy Dignam talks about heroin, sexual abuse and his belief in the redemptive power of music.
"The Joshua Tree" clarifies how U2's vocation has become the revival and renewal of rock and the recovery of its most romantic values. It also highlights the group's new commitment to the song. Review by Bill Graham
Between recording the theme music for The Saint and fending off accusations of satanism, Orbital mainman PHILIP HARTNOLL barely has time to do the washing up. STUART CLARK stands by with the tea-towel.
With Lights Of The City, underground faves JUBILEE ALLSTARS have finally made the album they ve always talked about. And they re still talking about disappearing Dublin, real Irish pop, love songs, dinner parties and much more. words: EAMON SWEENEY. Star Charts: Declan English
There is no smoke without fire, they say. Well there is a lot of smoke hanging over Hollywood today. A pall of thick, black, lung-choking smoke from the fires engulfing the East Coast.
From that piano-ballad cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to her new-found fascination with Gnostic texts, Tori Amos has remained one of the most compelling and enigmatic solo artists of the past ten years. Here, she fills Peter Murphy in on the intriguing background to her latest album, The Beekeeper, her reasons for relocating to the bucolic splendor of Cornwall, and the difficulties of maintaining artistic integrity in the face of corporate profiteering. Oh, and beekeeping, of course.
With the death of Johnny Cash two weeks ago, music’s Mount Rushmore finally crumbled. From the hell-raising country outlaw of the ’60s to his final incarnation as a patriarchal figure intoning songs of guilt and redemption, Cash’s voice resonated down through the years with undimmed intensity. In this special Hot Press tribute to the Man In Black, Peter Murphy talks to Cash collaborators Sandy Kelly and U2, and recounts the turbulent life and times of one of the most iconic figures in 20th century music
He created great songs out of the good, the bad and the ugly and earned the respect of people as diverse as Bob Dylan and Hunter S. Thompson. In this previously unpublished interview Warren Zevon, who died last week after a long battle with cancer, reflects on his sweet and dirty life and times.
Are we talking about the effect of narcotics? Or the impact of alcohol? Or could we indeed be referring to the metaphorical slings and arrows used by outrageous journalists to do down innocent bands whose only objective in life is to make great records. In the case of the jesus and mary chain, it's probably a bit of all three. Interview: Lorraine Freeney.
During the heady days of Italia ’90, The Stunning provided the unofficial soundtrack to the nation’s summer-long party, playing a series of uproarious shows around the country and treating the top-ten like their local. thirteen years later, having just re-released their classic album, Paradise In The Picturehouse, the group reflect on what a long, strange trip it’s been and why they’re not ready to hang up their guitars just yet.
Shane MacGowan interviews Sinead O’Connor for hotpress, with Olaf Tyaransen acting as referee. On the day, Victoria Clark also sat in. What followed turned into a wide-ranging and often hilarious exchange of almost Beckettian dimensions.
For a man who was working in Galway nightclubs and renting damp rooms in dilapidated hotels at the turn of the decade, PERRY BLAKE hasn t done too badly since. After releasing two acclaimed singles for Polydor, he s now set fair to emerge as one of Ireland s brightest new
songwriting talents.
OLAF TYARANSEN hears his intriguing story.
For a man who was working in Galway nightclubs and renting damp rooms in dilapidated hotels at the turn of the decade, PERRY BLAKE hasn t done too badly since. After releasing two acclaimed singles for Polydor, he s now set fair to emerge as one of Ireland s brightest new
songwriting talents.
OLAF TYARANSEN hears his intriguing story.
Apathy as much as manipulation has allowed the globalisation myth to flourish. Michael D. Higgins explains the urgent need for economic alternatives and stresses the importance of political activism
Intrigued by the ridicule and bad press being generated by London s Millennium Dome, BARRY GLENDENNING pays a visit to Greenwich and discovers why Tony Blair is having trouble sustaining his massive erection.
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.
Never mind the naysayers, Dublin 2006 is spilling over with white hot talent. Steve Cummins and Shilpa Ganatra run the rule over the capital's new breed.
Since making it's debut in 1964, Match Of The Day has become a national institution watched by an average six million football addicts a week. Paul O'mahony goes behind the scenes at the BBC's longest running sports programme and discovers that the people piecing it together are every bit as commited to the 'beautiful game' as those on the terraces.
ARDAL O'HANLON is back in anti-hero mode in a new BBC sit-com. But before that, there's more stand-up, a movie, another book and the small matter of football, football. NICK KELLY hears all about a busy life after Ted. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
ARDAL O'HANLON is back in anti-hero mode in a new BBC sit-com. But before that, there's more stand-up, a movie, another book and the small matter of football, football. NICK KELLY hears all about a busy life after Ted. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Opening our U2 special, DERMOD MOORE catches up with ADAM CLAYTON during the UK leg of the Elevation tour, and delves deep into the physics of music celebrity, politics and, er, penises
Following the lukewarm reception accorded Jackie Brown six years ago, Quentin Tarantino reached a crossroads in his career. now, following a prolonged retreat from the media spotlight, a rumoured struggle with writer’s block and his break-up with Mira Sorvino, the most influential film-maker of the nineties has made a stunning return to form with the explosive samurai thriller, Kill Bill. Craig Fitzsimons travelled to london to meet the director and discuss the film he describes as “the movie of my geek boy dreams.”
There are those who believe that the Downing St. Declaration offers the best hope of peace in Northern Ireland for twenty-five years. But as Sinn Féin’s consideration of the fine print drags on, Bill Graham accuses them of theological nitpicking and argues that their negotiating position makes impossible demands on reality.
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they re naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: Colm O Hare.
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain’t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they're naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit, – this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: COLM O’HARE. Pix: MICK QUINN.
When the IRA ceasefire began in the early minutes of September 1st last, nationalists in Belfast and Derry rejoiced in the streets. In the South Armagh village of Crossmaglen, however, there was barely a murmur. Over the past 25 years, the sniper’s bullet and the mortar bomb have claimed the lives of more soldiers and RUC personnel in this small area than anywhere else in Northern Ireland. Anne Connolly visits what has become the most militarised zone in western Europe and takes the post-ceasefire pulse of a stubbornly resilient little town. Pics: Jason Clarke.
Inevitably, The Best Of Nick Cave ... The Bad Seeds can only hint at the scope of the band's back catalogue. But if one listens to the group's ten studio albums chronologically, there are no gear-grinding changes of direction or radical overhaulings of the sound, all the more remarkable considering the amount of personnel that passed through the line-up.
Cork is happening enough at the best of times, but when the annual Guinness Jazz Weekend comes around, it's all too much. Where to go? What to do? What hangover cure to concoct? Let KEVIN BARRY show the way.
The old fashioned virtues of talent and charisma, combined with the latest innovations in media technology, look set to make JACK L Ireland's first superstar of the new millennium. JOHN WALSHE has the inside story on a man who is about to get to The Point.
The old fashioned virtues of talent and charisma, combined with the latest innovations in media technology, look set to make JACK L Ireland s first superstar of the new millennium. JOHN WALSHE has the inside story on a man who is about to get to The Point.
In the making of their third album, Coldplay may have abandoned all hope at one juncture and come within an inch of splitting up, but the record has now finally arrived in the shape of X & Y. Chris Martin and co. here give Peter Murphy the inside story on the fraught creation of perhaps the most anticipated album of the year.
They say he s a Man Of The World it s just that for two decades the world in question happened to be Saturn. andy darlington meets peter green, the man who created fleetwood mac, then wrote the longest suicide note in rock n roll history.
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.
From the early excesses of the Birthday Party through meisterwerks like The Good Son to his new release, Live Seeds, Nick Cave has spent nearly fifteen years probing those crevices of the human psyche that few care, or even dare, to venture into.
Here, in a highly personal, in-depth interview, Gerry McGovern grills the god of Goth about his ambivalence towards and obsession with religion, his love of dysfunctional people, his thoughts on the past and his hope for the future, oh, and how to reconcile life as an internationally renowned icon of doom with being a mummy’s boy! (Only joking, Nick!).
It may be that she will forever be associated with the Zipless Fuck, but if her new book, Of Blessed Memory, takes off like Fear Of Flying, erica jong could yet become synonymous with another hot erotic scenario, The Three Slipperies. Still creating controversy after all these years, the author talks feminism, Judaism, rock n roll, fashion and but, of course sex, with Joe Jackson.
Pix: cathal dawson
As famous for being mates with Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher as for being pop stars in their own right, ocean colour scene take time out from a hectic touring and recording schedule to explain to john walshe just how popular they are. Pix: mick quinn.
It s re-introductions all round, as the Starman embarks on a hazardous solo mission. Stuart Bailie records him taking one giant leap for a man.
The Starman walks into a public bar in Chorlton and looks for a quiet spot. The old regulars at the back are nudging each other. They re sure that they recognise the face
and the style of a traveller who s been all the way up there and back.
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
With the release of The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, it's obvious that someone's been rummaging around in the grim annals of ol' Nick's extraordinary back catalogue. But who?
Interview: Peter Murphy
It's Christmas, 1997 is drawing to a close and Noel Gallagher is in suitably reflective mood. "I can't be bothered writing music anymore", says the Oasis mainman before telling Stuart Clark precisely what he thinks of Liam, Meg, Sinéad O'Connor, that cunt Mick Jagger and England's chances of lifting the World Cup.
Nearly a decade after the release of their debut single, U2 are widely regarded as the No. 1 rock band in the world. But the album and the film "Rattle And Hum" depict another kind of reality entirely. Larry, Adam and The Edge talk to Niall Stokes.
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
The renowned Irish language poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh was the subject of an extraordinary documentary, broadcast on RTÉ last year, entitled Fairytale Of Kathmandu. Accused in it of the sexual exploitation of Nepalese teenage boys, defiantly asserts his innocence in this, his first in-depth interview.
Winning an oscar was a culmination of a life-time's struggle for GLEN HANSARD. But success extracted a heavy toll on the singer, plunging him into self doubt and leaving him feeling confused and adrift. As The Swell Season prepare to release their second album, he talks about the long road back to sanity, his romantic break-up with songwriting partner MARKETA IRGLOVA and why, having derided Ireland in the press, he’s now proud of his home country
again. Plus Irglova talks about the end of their love affair and the challenges that fame and Fortune bring.
They called them the Magdalen Laundries, where fallen women were sent to atone for their sins. There, thousands of Irish women were imprisoned, often for life. They worked for nothing, literally like slaves, and they died. And then one hundred and twenty-three of them were dug up with the approval of the Catholic Church.
Report: Gerry McGovern
So this is Christmas and what have we done... As U2 prepare to enter the final yearof the decade, Bono devotes a long night at his home in Dublin to reflecting on his life, his music and U2's extraordinary career to date. Interview: Liam Mackey
It’s been a tumultuous few years for Josh Ritter. Against the dramatic backdrop of the Swiss Alps, he talks about his number one fan Stephen King, recalls the day he met Bob Dylan and explains why it’s never a good idea to drink before a show
How The White Stripes turned the bare essentials into an essential noise, insisted that three is indeed a magic number and wound up becoming one of the most phenomenally successful rock acts in the world
From dark age to middle age, Nick Cave is such a far cry from the blood-spilling junkie of rock legend that these days you’re likely to encounter him commuting to his 9 to 5. Except of course that his job is writing and making music, his new album is called Nocturama and there are, he admits, some sizeable blow-outs in the memory banks.
They love Ireland and Ireland loves them. As the Arcade Fire ramp up for world domination, the band talk about love, death, war and making music in churches.
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.
IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
When Pat Kenny steps before the cameras every Saturday, he attracts an audience-rating which is increasingly likely to threaten the long-standing supremacy of The Late Late Show in Irish broadcasting. But despite his popularity, the host of Kenny Live remains something of an enigma. In the first part of a wide-ranging interview he talks about everything from his first kiss to, well, the meaning of life. Interview: Niall Stokes
A special report on the arts in Northern Ireland which is alive and rocking with the whole gamut of cultural activity. Here James Elliott and Margaret F. Grundy give the lowdown on the province’s artistic and creative hub.
Cinerama is a somewhat more polished version of frontman Dave Gedge's former band, The Wedding Present. This album was produced by the legendary Steve Albini, and although it has a well-crafted feel to it, the songs never really take off.
The rough warehouse rhythms of ‘Milo’s Groove’, the gurgling 303s of ‘Imperial Star’ and the aching, layered dubby techno of ‘Liquid Titan’ are the highlights.
I’ve always made it a rule in the past never to give a ten out of ten score, but it’s really impossible to rate this album except by saying that it’s a perfect specimen within its class of one.
You probably know the story by now. Ol' Bill was asked to supply the music to a series of Woody Guthrie lyrics a couple of years back; he promptly recruited Wilco into the project;
Word has reached us that our current '100 GREATEST IRISH ALBUMS' issue is flying off the shelves. We've had to restock several newsagents already - and while we'll endeavour to manage supply as best we can, it's clear that it's going to become tough to track down!
With a string of hits for other performers, Gretchen Peters is very much a writers' writer, with Bryan Adams - co-writer of seven songs with her on his On A Day Like Today album - and Trisha Yearwood prominent on her list of admirers.
In theory. But making good your promises isn't always as easy as it might seem. Plus: reflections on success not as a function of what you gain but what you lose.
DJ Morpheus, Belgian across the board spinner and compiler of the acclaimed Freezone series, drops a very tasteful collection of musical, predominantly down tempo gems that'll do his reputation no harm.
Slam certainly don’t believe in rushing into things; releasing just six EPs over the course of a ten-year long recording career, it’s been half a decade since their predominantly down tempo debut album, Headstates.
For those who feel that the music scene of today is in desperate need of both talent and substance, a dose of Patti Smith's own brand of intelligent individualism comes as a welcome relief.
Helmet are considered by many to be one of the seminal underground rock bands of the ‘90s, with albums such as Meantime offering up fierce reductionist rock and enjoying plenty of critical, if not commercial, success. However, on the evidence of this, their first album in seven years, they would have been better off leaving their legacy alone.
Although this 30th anniverary edition of the album doesn't actually add a lot more to the already expanded edition released over ten years ago, it does remind you again of its classic status
Witnessing the Texas trio in full flow one thing becomes crystal clear-they punch well below their weight in musical terms
Music Review | Live
30% | 27 Sep 2004
Lisa Coen
For his second Irish gig in the last year, Matthew Sweet is clearly very comfortable and confident with Irish audiences – and why wouldn’t he be? They’ve been romancing each other for years.
Like The Reader, Fugitive Pieces avoids the messier aspects of that historical tragedy, in favour of cutesy-pie kids, breathtaking scenery, eye-wateringly cheesy sex scenes and completely inauthentic period detail.
Ah, the trusty live album, beloved of contractual obligates the world over as a means of putting out that pesky last record without actually having to come into contact with the wankers from the record company.
heirs is music to savour and enjoy, on several levels. It’s distillation of California free thinking and Mexican sensibilities filtered through the arid desert climate of Tucson, Arizona has produced a bedrock on which their music is built.
The Crimea manage to fashion epic tales from everyday material, intimate scenarios instilled with the heroic bombast of Greek myth, or a sense of tragedy befitting the Bard.
With the best part of a decade of excellence behind them, including four outstanding studio albums and a best-selling compilation, it was inevitable that Crowded House would leave behind a clutch of songs which failed to reach the widest possible audience.
It’s the second night of The Pixies’ three-gig run in the Olympia, and like the other two shows, this date is completely sold out. It’s not hard to fathom the level of interest, as the pitch is pretty irresistible – the legendary quartet performing Doolittle, one of the greatest ever alternative albums, in its entirety.
Along with Dale Watson's recent The Truckin' Sessions, this album represents something of a renaissance for that long-neglected but oft loved country and western offshoot - the trucking song.
The absence of a venerable frontman would render most live performances ineffectual, but this rare outing from legendary Irish punks The Radiators disproved that theory.
The Corrs sign up with the planet's leading "sports, entertainment and lifestyle" marketing agency (other clients: the Williams sisters, Man United) - and, in other news, get barked at by Iggy Pop
Currently flavour of the season in the UK, where they are being hailed as the new saviours of British pop music (ie this year’s Coldplay), Keane are the victims of that most despised of four-letter words, hype.
Albums named after the artist often betray a paucity of imagination that bodes ill for the fan, but Martin Stephenson’s latest opus might just be an exception that proves that rule.
It’s easy to see A Certain Ratio as a less remarkable sister band to Joy Division/New Order. Sonically, their careers followed a roughly similar path, arriving at a danceable sound, following more post-punk beginnings.
Of all the mooted heirs to the U.S Garage throne of The Strokes, it would have taken a scarily prescient punter (or a fundamentalist goth) to have put money on the accession of Interpol.
This is a gorgeous collection of Irish and English lullabies, many of them shot through with enough banshees, witches and mountainy hags to put manners on the feistiest of juniors.
American music is rooted in rhythms from Africa and the longing at the soul of Irish music. Don't take my word for it. That's the gospel as quoted by Pete Seeger in Philip King's documentary series Bringing It All Back Home.
Fran King was one of the finalists on You’re A Star, but don’t let that put you off. Beautification, the Terenure native’s debut album, is an assured collection of sun-kissed shimmery pop/rock, equal parts Crowded House and Elvis Costello, with a smattering of Elliott Smith and Brendan Benson thrown in for good measure.
Elliot Smith was nothing if not prolific but it still comes as something of a surprise when, almost four years after his death, a double album’s worth of mostly unheard material is unearthed.
This year’s Hollywood hymn to tainted hippy-era rock’n’roll excess – think Boogie Nights meets Drugstore Cowboy – the overblown but highly engrossing Wonderland provides an unexpectedly riveting memorial to the life and times of legendary ’60s and ’70s porn-star John Holmes.
Few acts can do feelgood, anthemic blue collar rock ‘n’ roll with the aplomb of Bon Jovi. You can slag them off all you like but it’s impossible to truly dislike their catchy, inoffensive pop-rock.
Fans of Texas songwriter Guy Clark’s celebrated Old No I album finally got to hear the true story behind one of its best-loved songs, ‘LA Freeway’, at a packed Temple Bar Music Centre.
50 Cent's skills as an MC are limited, his beats pedestrian, and his show the very definition of low concept. Beneath his veneer of showmanship, there is little to maintain interest.
Nouveau synth-pop and shoegazer drones mightn’t seem like the wisest bedding for Tom Waits’s compositions, but Scarlett and Sitek know exactly what they’re doing.
With last year's Swoon Prefab Sprout managed to divide critical opinion into two distinct camps: those who regarded Paddy McAloon as a modern-day Al Stewart, self-consciously sensitive, a wimp, and others who felt that 'Swoon' was the glittering emergence of a major new songwriter. I'm firmly in the latter category.
Tracing Daniel’s transformation from eccentric outsider teen to prolific lo-fi popsmith and acclaimed visual artist, The Devil And Daniel Johnson frames a bizarre backstory in the wider context of bipolarity and creativity.
There's a wise old saying (actually it's the title of a Bruce Willis album but that doesn't have quite the same authoritative ring) that goes *What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger*.
A House have been the recipients of the kind of underwhelming apathy that would lead most bands to go back to their day jobs and while away their evening swilling pints in The Norseman, mulling over what might have been.
Boasting a truly diverse line-up that united house music in all its various hues, as well as some good old fashioned rave attitude courtesy of Orbital, this was an extravaganza that lived up to the hype.
barry glendenning got a sneak preview of what awaits us at the Big Day Out, when he caught the irrepressible beastie boys live at London's Brixton Academy. All together now: no sleep till Galway!
First of all this issue, we'd like to apologise to our fundamentalist readers for suggesting that they're a humourless bunch of bigots who wouldn't recognise a joke if it walked up to them, administered oral sex and said, "How's that for the second coming!"
ELEANOR MacEVOY has a lot to answer for. Without her that little vessel that goes lub-a-dub-dub every time a stethoscope gets near it would still be languishing in the advertising pages of the Irish Medical Times, all arteries and veins, but no soul.
Clannad have always seemed among the most interesting and endearing of Irish traditional explorers – since Clannad 2 I've dutifully acquired their records (their debut album, made while still at school, unfortunately was a non-event).
Just as demo recordings are showcases of what songs and bands sound like when recorded, live showcases are essentially demos of what artists can deliver to the ticket-paying public
It may not have made the front pages but the news emerged recently that our prison population had exceeded the magic 4,000 for the first time. What a remarkable achievement for such a small country, eh?
The world’s hippest rock crit reviews a year when music rediscovered its power to inspire – and reveals his nomination for Artist of 2005. (You’ll never guess).
JUST when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the jetty collapses. On Friday afternoon last, it was hard to escape an awful, mournful sense of dij` vu, as the word came in on the mojo wire that the new devolved institutions of governance in Northern Ireland had been suspended, and direct rule from Britain reimposed.
Sinéad O'Connor's records don't necessarily reveal themselves speedily. I know that, on the first hearing, 'The Lion and the Cobra' seemed to me an ill-fitting match of various discordant styles. I didn't really crack it 'till its sixth time round my turntable.
On this, the occasion of my last Demo Parade (yes, readers, the sad truth is that by the time you read this I will be back home in the United States) I thought it would be appropriate to look back on my reviews and pick out the ten best demo tracks of my year at Hot Press.
If Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ is to be true to the bible then it has no alternative to be anti-semitic. Plus: why Sir Bob and Bono are on the wrong side.
The world is full of well-meaning people making things worse.
After the murder of the three Quinn children, well-meaners jammed the lines to phone-in programmes with suggestions, for example, that a covered walk-way should be constructed along the length of the Garvaghy Road
While certain elements of the chattering classes decry cocaine as the devil’s dandruff, precious few have got around to pinpointing the real hazard: badly cut merchandise.
"The Joshua Tree" clarifies how U2's vocation has become the revival and renewal of rock and the recovery of its most romantic values. It also highlights the group's new commitment to the song. Review by Bill Graham
Although accusations of anti-semitism and gratuitous ultra-violence are being used to denounce the film in certain quarters, Tara Brady nonetheless contends that Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ is ultimately a poignant and overwhelming experience.
“Bigots obsessed with men’s bums”. That was one commentator’s apt description of the galoots who gathered in the House of Lords at Westminster last month to vote down a proposal to equalise the age of consent for gays.
30th Anniversary Retrospective: From indie flicks to Hollywood classics, Irish gems to world cinema masterpieces, Tara Brady here selects the top 101 films of the past 30 years.
They’ve embraced the big sound of America but The Killers still aren’t fully comfortable with the burdens of stardom, reveals frontman Brandon Flowers.
The Boss is back, and boy is he pissed. Bruce Springsteen uses the language of classic American rock 'n' roll to address the disquiet and despair of the modern-day American nightmare. Hot Press bore witness to a cluster of exclusive warm-up shows in New York and New Jersey.
Now that the Leaving Cert results have been fully digested, people are looking afresh at their options. colm o’hare explores some interesting opportunities for career advancement.
Last issue we profiled a selection of Irish acts who released records for the Christmas market. Here JACKIE HAYDEN, GERRY McGOVERN AND COLM O’HARE PROFILE five more who've come up trumps – from Jimmy MacCarthy, one of Ireland's best known songwriters, to young hopefuls, Sunbear.
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.
