Competing with Henry Rollins' spoken word thing ten yards away, that didn’t stop ?uestlove from The Roots regaling the Hot Press Chatroom at Electric Picnic with some tales – and a world exclusive.
The Roots have always seemed to exist somewhere on the periphery of the hip-hop world. 2004’s The Tipping Point, however, suggested that they were moving in the right musical direction. Free-flowing and upbeat, it was easily their best record to date.
Although darker in tone, Game Theory is no less engaging, and has strong political undertones.
The sun shone on our Sunday Chatroom, with talkative adventures aplenty and guests The Flaws, Gemma Hayes, Mark Geary, Hadouken, Foals, The Roots, Michael Franti and more!
Musicologists often find it neater to trace the roots of soul, blues and rap back to their African origins. In the process, they can often avoid exploring the far untidier influence of the African-American entertainment tradition in which Cab Calloway was a pivotal player.
A long way from there to here
With 35 years on the road behind them, THE DUBLINERS are the roots of Irish music. Interview: Colm
O'Hare. The Rolling Stones aren't the only ones celebrating 35 years on the road this year.
The star-spangled story of how Richard Melville Hall learned to relax and love sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. "Don't tell anybody but I'm actually the lead guitarist with Slipknot," he informs Stuart Clark.
The big soul sister returns with a rare collaboration with the fantastic Erykah Badu, best known for her stunning work with Philadelphia hip-hoppers The Roots.
The upcoming Hot Press cover star will be performing live and signing copies of her highly-anticipated debut album Let the Truth be Told – in Grafton St’s HMV on Friday evening.
Still relatively unknown, Jill Scott is set to raise her profile significantly with this impressive debut which has already entered the charts in the US. A former backing vocalist and songwriter, Scott has collaborated with such acts as The Roots, Common and Will Smith.
It seems that Mike’s got a chip or two on his shoulder, and his heavies – including members of The Roots, Cypress Hill and Jay-Z, who is “executive producer” – are on hand to right a few wrongs that would be too personal to mention in his Linkin Park overalls. If it passed the quality bar. Which it doesn’t.
Veteran hip hop soul princess Erykah Badu's newest creative contribution is ambitious, but lacks the smoothness and cohesive feel of her previous work.
After playing second fiddle to the Fugees and the Roots on support tours since 1995, Atlanta hip-hop collective Goodie Mob (an acronym of sorts for the Good Die Mostly Over Bullshit!) launch an all-out assault for major league hip-hopping glory.
While Electric Picnic did not lack for non-musical highlights, the hottest action was to be found on stage, where the likes of the Sex Pistols and My Bloody Valentine whipped up a storm.
Wherein T.Heads go beat crazy, complete the circle back to the continent which sent out the roots of much of what has since blossomed into contemporary popular music, and, amongst other things, create an album of the highest calibre body music.
The siege of Derry was a pivotal moment in Irish history. But contrary to popular opinion, it was fundamentally about land and not religion, says Carlo Gebler. Photography by Cathal Dawson.
Roots music may help build bridges between past and present and us and them, but the media stance is still often isolationist. So says simon emerson of the afro celt sound system. siobhan long takes notes.
Roots music may help build bridges between past and present and us and them, but the media stance is still often isolationist. So says simon emerson of the afro celt sound system. siobhan long takes notes.
For once, and don’t hold your breath for the future, we had a really brilliant summer. Couldn’t have been better. What would ya be going to Spain for, sure isn’t this even better? It was just mighty.
Folk doyen Richard Thompson remains a singular presence in the roots music scene after four decades. Here he talks about “exile” on the US West Coast and his recent return to his electric rock roots.
Country music’s stock has never been higher. First Johnny Cash gained an entire new generation of fans, then Hollywood began to pepper its films with bluegrass and roots music. Now, everyone from Jack White to Van Morrison is waking up to the magic of country. Ireland's getting in on the act too, with the launch of the Midlands Music Festival, a two-day celebration of all things hatted and booted. Colm O’Hare traces the rebirth of a genre.
Or perhaps we might have reached for another old familiar headline - Fears and Loathing in RTE - as the bosses at Radio 1 announce the chopping of virtually all specialist music programmes from the schedule. It is, writes Bill Graham, an act of cultural criminal negligence.
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
After the stadium rocking exploits of the Cranberries, Noel Hogan has taken a more experimental tack with his new electro-influenced project, Mono Band.
Just because you’re not “slapping a bitch” or “shooting people” doesn’t mean you’re a “christian rap act”. DJ Nu-Mark of Jurassic 5 makes the case for the defence.
Torch-song troubadour marc almond had his greatest commercial success during his days with Soft Cell, but it s as a solo artist that he s really reached his creative pinnacle. Interview: adrienne murphy
Having previously worked with directors of the stature of Danny Boyle and Anthony Minghella, and with a role as the main villain in the next Batman movie in the offing, Cillian Murphy is one of the hottest young actors around. Joe Jackson caught up with murphy to discuss his central role in Garry Hynes’ version of Synge’s famous play, the Playboy of the Western World.
In the past, many Irish people suffered from an inferiority complex about their own culture – about the language, music, film and literature of this island. But music is one arena where things have changed dramatically. Report: Jackie Hayden
IT IS OFTEN DISMISSED AS BIGOTED, SEXIST, VIOLENT AND TUNELESS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, MUCH MORE TO THE STORY OF RAP THAN THAT, YES, BIGOTED VIEW MIGHT SUGGEST. GERRY McGOVERN SINGS A HYMN OF PRAISE TO WHAT HE BELIEVES IS THE MOST INTENSE ART FORM OF THE NINETIES.
Incendiary Irish-American rabble rousers black 47 are coming to town for a couple of Irish shows later this month. liam fay talks to band mainman larry kirwan about those two eagerly-awaited dates, as well as their new album, Green Suede Shoes.
He may be able to put more bums on stadium seats down under than INXS but elsewhere no one seems to give a XXXX about Jimmy Barnes. That could all be about to change though as Stuart Clark
discovers when he has his hand broken by Australia's best-kept secret.
30th Anniversary Retrospective: In a special interview, The Edge reminisces about the early days of Hotpress, explains Bill Graham’s role in U2’s development, and comes clean about what the band have been up to recently in Morocco.
ROCK IN RIO, which attracts 200,000 people, may be known for headliners like Sting, REM and Britney Spears. But this year, DERVISH played there too - and got a rapturous welcome. SIOBHÁN LONG reports from an extraordinary event
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
Having lost his way for a bit, Liam Howlett is back with a new enthusiasm and a new sound for The Prodigy. “No one has filled our shoes – now we’ve come back to tread on everyone else’s feet,” he tells Tanya Sweeney.
Travelling by first class train between Wales and London James Dean Bradfield did a surprising thing: he started working on his first solo album. The resulting record taps the Manic Street Preacher’s growing affection for his roots in the valleys.
Their unique combination of sensual Latin melodies and brilliant, metal-inspired guitar playing have made Rodrigo y Gabriela a phenomenon in their adopted Ireland, with a platinum album, sell-out tours and barn-storming festival appearances already to their credit. Now, with the release of their third album, Rodrigo y Gabriela, their sights are set on the international arena. Here, this extraordinary couple explain why they swapped sun-drenched Mexico for rain-kissed Dublin – and, for the first time, talk candidly about the open relationship they enjoy, as long-term friends and lovers.
While the entity that is U2 continues to be the dominant focus in the creative lives of its four members, away from the band, Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry have all indulged in extra-curricular activities, bringing them – and their music - into contact with such legends as Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Keith Richards, and Roy Orbison, By Dermot Stokes
As the major force in the "Club of '22", whose attempts to oust Charlie Haughey from the leadership of Fianna Fail finally resulted in Dessie O'Malley's departure to form the Progressive Democrats, Charlie McCreevy was long considered a thorn in the side of the Taoiseach by the party faithful. Ironically then, it was McCreevy himself who was to be instrumental in setting up the talks with the P.D.s following the recent election which would result in Charles J. Haughey continuing to stay in power in a new kind of coalition government.
Generally regarded as one of the most candid of Irish politicians, Charlie McCreevy here lives up to his reputation as he shoots from the hip on matters both political and personal.
What links Richard Harris with Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel with The Supremes, and Frank Sinatra with er, Ghost Of An American Airman? Why, the music of Jimmy Webb, of course, one of the most widely-respected songwriters of all-time. Here he talks to JOE JACKSON about his friendship with Richard Harris, his encounters with Elvis and his deep-rooted love of Irish music.
No-one has ever asked suzanne vega before if Luka the story about child sexual abuse which made her famous was based on personal experience. Here for the first time ever the singer reveals that indeed it is and that she is still dealing with the after-effects of that traumatic experience. Interview: SIOBHAN LONG. Pix: COLM HENRY.
The reclassification of cannabis in Britain was a good day for the UK’s estimated five million users. But not a great day. A drug that is much less damaging than alcohol or tobacco remains illegal in most parts of the world, including Ireland, a situation which criminalises the user and benefits only the criminal gangs. It’s high time for a change, argues Olaf Tyaransen.
From First Cuts to Latest Cuts, from the First Lady Of Immediate , recording with Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix and the Small Faces, to the First Lady of Techno, scoring Top Ten hits with Altern-8 and the Beatmasters, to today with Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene
P.P. ARNOLD has always been there, wherever the beat is hottest.
Interview: andy darlington.
When he was with PiL he ate cheese rolls and guzzled vintage wine by the neck in Maxim s of Paris. Having gotten the rock n roll lifestyle out of his system, he literally went underground, working as a driver on the London tube. Now he s back, mining the divine power of music with his latest album, The Celtic Poets. saraH Mcquaid meets the inimitable jah wobble.
THE PRODIGY may be one of the biggest dance acts in the world but, increasingly, they’ve been developing a rock ’n’ roll attitude. As the band line up for their Friday night headlining slot at Féile, techno guru LIAM HOWLETT talks to STUART CLARK.
From a darkened studio in Artane to the bright lights of Top Of The Pops and beyond that 'Orinoco Flow' has taken Enya and all who sail with her on an unprecedented voyage of discovery. Niall Stokes joins the key figures as the flow swells into a torrent of success and is pleased to report that nobody on board is in danger of losing their bearings.
To mark the occasion of the release of a near definitive punk compilation, GEORGE BYRNE fondly recalls the days when pogo was go-go and gabba gabba was hey.
Heard the one about the Irishman, the Bronx and the tab of industrial-strength acid? Stuart Clark hadn t either until that most eligible of bachelors, David Holmes, talked him through the mad month in New York that inspired his Let s Get Killed album.
The Catholic Church has blamed ‘system failure’ and human fallibility for its failure to crack down on the paEdophile Fr. Brendan Smyth. Not so, argues BILL GRAHAM: here, he
examines the role of the Church and, particularly, Cardinal Cahal Daly in the wake of Fr. Smyth’s crimes, and comes to some damning conclusions.
In the magical, wind-swept landscape of Ireland's remote north-west the cameras roll as U2's Bono and Maire of Clannad make the video for their collaborative single "In A Lifetime". Bill Graham joins the entourage at work and at play and talks to the main protagonists.
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
Niall Stokes draws on his best-selling book Into The Heart: The Stories Behind The Songs Of U2 to offer a unique insight into the way in which some of the greatest songs in the history of popular music came into being.
Martin McGuinness was one of the key figures in the troubles in Northern Ireland . Many unionists believe that the one-time IRA man was at the heart of much that was wrong and divisive in Irish life. But ultimately the quiet Derryman has taken on the role of peacemaker – and he is now the Deputy First Minister in the new power-sharing administration at Stormont.
Anti-capitalism, political fundamentalism, life after September 11 and what to tell the kid who has only two stripes on his tracksuit - the celebrated no logo author tells Hotpress about how best to beat the brand.
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
Criminologist paul o mahony is one of the country s most progressive and radical thinkers on Irish criminal
justice. olaf tyaransen hears his provocative and important analysis. Pix: cathal dawson
It is five years since rapper TUPAC SHAKUR was gunned down on the streets of las vegas in a gangland-style shooting that took place on September 7, 1996. Since then he has become the subject of one of modern music’s most bizarre death cults, as he continues to sell millions of records and to top charts all over the world. but behind his death lies a story of hip-hop babylon – a sordid tale of intrigue, egos, drugs, sex, intimidation, violence – and, almost by the way, some great and enduring music.
By PETER MURPHY
At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes
[this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email u2@hotpress.ie to reserve a copy]
Oppenheimer, Jinx Lennon, Joe Rooney and his very special comedy guests are the latest additions to the Hot Press Chatroom at this weekend's Electric Picnic.
David Holmes, whose latest album The Holy Pictures received a resounding thumbs up in the latest issue of Hot Press, will join the Hot Press Chatroom at the Electric Picnic.
This album collects together the two Inner Circle dub albums which were released, originally, in 1978, a time when, led by the late Jacob Miller, the group were the most popular act in Jamaica, and had enjoyed a hit with 'Everything Is Great' from their eponymous Island record debut.
We Did Then, their debut, is an impressive enough piece of homegrown dub that offers up hope for the future of original music in a world full of tribute bands
For years major labels have been scratching their heads asking themselves how they could shift serious units in unfashionable genres but now they’ve finally cracked it.
De Danann, outmoded by the Celts. Supplanted by the Iron Age. So they retreated into the hills and mastered their magical powers. The true traditionalists who still had the suss on the newcomers, and for all their old-fashioned ways were able to out-manoeuvre the modernistic and industrialised Celts. More traditional and yet more advanced.
Pound For Pound is the sound of American rock'n'roll from the 1950s, dragged through a Florida swamp, kicked through cities from Seattle to Dallas, emerging bloodied but unbowed at the far side.
Rónán O Snodaigh is the singer and bodhránist with Kíla, and the title of his second solo album translates as “Ró’s Waves”. It’s an adventurous concept, an album of a dozen percussion-based songs, richly leavened with Irish language vocal chants and guest offerings from singer Tara Mooney.
Sean nós singing has undergone something of a renaissance recently, and Finola O'Siocrú's debut, Searc Mo Chléibh/Love Of My Heart is a welcome addition to the genre.
Since he announced himself to the world with the release of his debut album back in 1986 Dwight Yoakam has remained one of the most vital exponents of hi-octane hillbilly music.
His new record, his 18th, straddles the divide between rock and hardcore country. Eager and energetic, it marks a fresh phase for Yoakam’s music.
With the Daft Punk film selling out ahead of tonight's screening and tickets selling fast for the Guinness Storehouse weekender, the new DEAF box office is the place to be
The name suggests a winsome folkie waif, but Ms Rose ain’t nonesuch. Irish-English-Italian-Catholic-American of extraction and a descendent of bare-knuckle brawler John L Sullivan, she was born and brought up somewhere between Boston and Salem.
Saturday was chatterday here in the Hot Press Chatroom, with appearances from Josh Ritter, The Stunning, Elbow, Oppenheimer, Cathy Davey and That Petrol Emotion.
Although under constant review, the word from the U2 camp is that they are still planning to go ahead with the return visit of the Elevation tour to North America.
Damien Dempsey takes two Meteors and then represents Ireland at the London St. Patrick’s day parade..and much more in Folk Centre: the latest folk news, with Sarah McQuaid
While the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival offered a typically eclectic and dynamic programme once again this year, the organisers behind the event nonetheless weren’t afraid to deliver a few uncomfortable home truths about Northern Irish society.
The Sex Pistols are back! In what has the look of a major coup for the event, punk’s great trailblazers are among this year’s headliners at Electric Picnic 2008, which takes place in Stradbally over the final weekend in August.
John Waters, who was among the most out-spoken critics of the running of last year’s Eurosong 2006 contest by RTE, has emerged triumphant from this year’s event.
The Hot Press Irish Music Awards proved to be as keenly contested as ever with U2, Ash and The Corrs emerging as big winners. But the number of awards acknowledging nascent talent prove there’s more heavy-hitters waiting in the wings
‘That’s entertainment’ was the message of the year but not as Paul Weller intended it, for in 1986 popular music was closer to mass entertainment as Declan McManus’ pater knew it than any year since Elvis Presley swivelled his hips on the Ed Sullivan show.
On the face of it, Westmeath s made more of a name for itself in the bellylaugh stakes than in the annals of music. Still, scratch beneath the surface of any town or townland, and you ll be rivetted to your seat with musical anecdotes.
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…
