The Magic Numbers, hailing from New York (via Trinidad), trade in classic West Coast vibes, and it’s precisely this springy, spirited outlook that will probably see them denounced by misery gut purists as low-calorie, happy-clappy fluff. For those in the know however, The Magic Numbers bears all the hallmarks of a soon-to-be-classic.
The Magic Numbers converse in the summer sun - for hotpress.com members only.
Music Review | Single
68% | 13 Oct 2005
Steve Cummins
God help us. We need The Magic Numbers like a heart attack. ‘Love’s A Game’ is a terrible, terrible song reminiscent of Michael Bolton or, worse, a Mariah Carey duet. Its polished vocal productions and sickly-sweet harmonised chorus make for one of the most vomit-inducing tracks you’re likely to hear all year. Hell is hearing this sung live, with groups of couples in the audience swinging from side to side and Romeo Stodart edging them on. Believe me. I’ve been there.
An accomplished but uncontroversial second album that sticks rigidly to the template established by its predecessor. Not that adhering to form and formula is necessarily a bad thing. Shakespeare did it. So did Chuck Berry.
From the goodtime vibes of Hot Chip to the full-on sonic assault of Primal Scream, this year's Electric Picnic was even more fab than its predecessors.
Christy Moore follows in Duke Special and Damien Rice’s footsteps by performing on the new series of Later With Jools Holland, which airs every Friday at 11.35pm on BBC 2.
Those in Dublin and the vicinity (plus diehard fans who are willing to travel of course) will be thrilled to learn that the big Moz himself has announced an outdoor date for the summer.
The Camden Crawl: 40 buzz bands play across 10 venues on one night, in indie’s capital of cool. In the green corner are The Chalets, who pit their musical talent in a predominately London-led line-up.
Colm O’Sullivan lives for music, and through his work as a presenter with Red FM is one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Irish music in town. Just as soon as he moved into a new apartment in Cork there was a knock at the door. It was Jackie Hayden.
With their fifth album Push The Button, the Chemical Brothers have replaced big beats and star names with subtlety and even the odd anti-war protest tune.
He's the godfather of English whimsy, the spiritual successor to Syd Barrett. So why the hell is Robyn Hitchcock sharing a pokey tour bus with three fifths of REM?
Music fans are now spoilt for choice with today's announcement that the mobile network 3 has now over 1 million tracks available for download from their online mobile music store.
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?
Jape and Lisa Hannigan may inhabit opposite ends of the musical spectrum but their careers have followed remarkably similar paths. On the road together in the UK, he talks about bagging the Choice Music Prize and she discusses her dramatic split from Damien Rice
Having graced the Closer soundtrack and made the cut for the OC’s illustrious collection, Damien Rice is doing very nicely out of compilations these days.
Control, Good Books' debut album, is self-confident – as it should be, coming from a group who’ve previously released three singles that made the hip’n’happening pee with excitement in their skinny jeans.
Unfortunately, the material from Morrissey’s most recent solo albums, while still containing the clever lyricism that is his hallmark, is missing one vital element – Johnny Marr – and so is musically generic, undistinguished and at times just downright boring.
Certain UK publications at the start of the year stacked a lot of chips on Rilo Kiley’s More Adventurous being the breakthrough album of 2005. This faith, it turned out, was based more on the U.S four piece’s previous rap sheet than the dubious quality of the new L.P.
Recorded in a day across various locations by a cast of 22, Help! A Day In The Life is the second WarChild album, the objective being to raise funds for child victims of global conflict.
In the first installment of Hot Press' Oxegen coverage, Phil Udell, Steve Cummins and John Walshe pick out their personal favourites of the weekend. This Thursday's Hot Press will feature extended coverage from Kim Porcelli & Ed Power as well as more exclusive photos from Liam Sweeney, Graham Keogh & Andrew Duffy - PLUS the Phantom reports from backstage!
Online Gallery Of Live Shots Here
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).
Budget cuts almost spelled the end of Other Voices. But the team behind the Dingle music institution rallied around – with the result that this year’s line-up is arguably among the strongest in the history of the show
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.
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…
