FRONTED BY Eric Brace, Last Train Home play a mix of folk-rock and roots country, at times recalling early Fairport Convention as much as hard-core country.
The man behind the Mystery Train is a bit of a mystery himself but, at Peter Murphy's request, writer and broadcaster JOHN KELLY steps forward to talk about Enniskillen, friends in high places, the fall and rise of his broadcasting career, his lack of intercourse with Dave Trimble, "taking the soup", desert island music and Uaneen.
Broadcast Views: Cathal Dawson
They may look after Lambchop’s pets and occasionally leg it from Crawdaddy to catch the last train home, but when not partaking in such hi-jinks, Dublin quartet Delorentos are busy trying to kick rock music another rung up the evolutionary ladder.
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.
When the decision to dump Rattlebag and Mystery Train from the RTE Radio 1 schedule was taken, accusations of dumbing down were rife. So is there scope for arts and music programmes with a bit of depth in Montrose? John Kelly insists that there should be.
BARRY GLENDENNING visited the Leeds Town and Country to witness the BRUTUS GOLD LOVE TRAIN, an unfeasibly
popular 70s disco extravaganza that will soon be winging its way to Dublin.
BARRY GLENDENNING visited the Leeds Town and Country to witness the BRUTUS GOLD LOVE TRAIN, an unfeasibly
popular 70s disco extravaganza that will soon be winging its way to Dublin.
JONATHAN O’BRIEN (real name) meets
WREKKED TRAIN DAVE (not real name) of the
LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS (real name) and finds out how CLAUDIO GENTILE (real name) fits into their chaotic scheme of things.
If you’re gonna be a one hit wonder, you might as well invent the dominant form of music for the ensuing decades. Released in 1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first hip-hop single to go gold, putting the group on American Bandstand and Soul Train long before Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.
Peter Murphy takes a train to the wild west (Galway that is) with the original Texas Jewboy, crime writer and legendary stardust cowboy Kinky Friedman. Peter Matthews has the negatives.
It's been a long strange trip and no mistake, one that describes a discernible line from
Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music through to the Handsome Family.
But there's even more going on beneath the surface. GREIL MARCUS, the music critic's music critic,
is PETER MURPHY's guide on a mystery train whose other passengers include Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Mark Twain, Nick Cave, The Blair Witch, Bill Clinton, The Band, Siniad O'Connor, Beck, William Burroughs, William Faulkner and Bob Dylan. And that's just the first class carriage. All aboard
Formerly The Fluid Druids, and fronted by Navan man Oisin Leech, 747S take their lead from classic rock n’ roll with a furious R&B rhythm and ascending Beatles harmonies. Though its loose melody hints at cabaret rock, there’s enough rattling energy here to keep the train on track. Not unlike the classic pop of Brendan Benson, it's little surprise then that they’ve recently completed a tour with The Raconteurs.
In which our sex correspondent finds that a trip to an Amsterdam strip club makes her hornier than a tomcat – with interesting consequences during the train ride home!
After subjecting train spotters worldwide to years and years of frustration, Planet E boss Carl Craig finally relents and releases his impossible to track down, limited edition Designer Music 12s on one CD.
UK hip-hop has begun to wake up and stretch its wings in recent years, decisively moving past a chequered history of ineptitude or indifference. Two veterans from back in the day, rare breaks predator Mark B and the windmillin’, body-poppin’, train-bombin’ scenester Blade have joined forces on The Unknown in a stab at Roots Manuva-style ubiquity.
Like an indie Addams Family, dark and macabre with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Clinic occupy a completely different space to most of their contemporaries. Their distinctive sonic concoctions are sometimes like riding a ghost train: eerie, unpredictable and quite brief but ultimately enjoyable.
Constant, constant, Constantine. For that’s how long the movie seemed. Perhaps it’s the onset of senility, but I’m staring to pine for the days when Hollywood spewed forth awful, woefully misjudged graphic novel adaptations on a weekly basis. At least with Batman And Robin or Tank Girl, one could revel in the train wreck.
OMAR KHAYAM knew about libel lawyers. Remember how he put it? "The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on in elaborate circumlocutions."
So I'm not about to say anything too straight or overly explicit about the case of Gay Byrne, the popular media personality who, at the time of writing, might be banged up at any moment in Mountjoy on account of having broadcast an item about the 1976 Sallins mail train robbery - the so-called "Nicky Kelly case".
After a storming appearance at the Eurosonic festival in Holland, Patrick Freyne talks to Cathy Davey about recording, redecoration and ill communication.
After enjoying spectacular success in the early 1970’s, Gilbert O’Sullivan suddenly found his career brought to an involuntary halt by legal red tape that took five years to unravel. The Waterford singer–songwriter managed to survive those dark days, though, and is now back doing what he loves best – playing live and making records.
By rights that should make him a happy man, but, as Joe Jackson discovers when he locks horns with the former ‘Bisto Kid’, there are certain aspects of the past that are hard to reconcile.
The Charlatans have reclaimed their DIY ethic and released their latest album as a free digital download. It's a far cry from the days of booze, E, and backstage encounters with Madonna.
He started out wanting to be Kurt Cobain. Then he went to New York, nursing dreams of emulating Dylan. Now Cork strummer Mick Flannery is resolutely charting his own course.
Philip Cawley is one of the mainstays of Today FM's daytime schedule. Recently he invited Jackie Hayden into his country home for a chat and a drop of Jameson.
A case of food poisoning in the Keane camp was Welsh band The Automatic's golden ticket to a Jools Holland performance. Next stop, a UK top five hit in the form of ‘Monster’.
In going back to her roots on her latest album, Nanci Griffith also shines a light on one of the great backing bands of rock n roll Buddy Holly s Crickets. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Or the total lack thereof, in an Ireland where unfavourable weather conditions and reactionary legislation has had the effect of ensuring tourists now rate Dublin as one of the most boring cities in Europe.
SEX, HUMOR And Truth it proudly proclaims on the cover and, sure enough, Hustler is almost as famous nowadays for upholding the Fifth Amendment as for what the porn world so sensitively titles hamburger shots.
It s been an unhappy start to 2001 for BELINDA BRENNAN, with the father of her unborn child being forcibly arrested and deported back to Romania, Niall Stanage reports on her and her partner s plight
With their debut album having sold a quarter of a million copies and being nominated for the Mercury prize, expectations were high for Athlete’s follow-up album, Tourist. But as frontman Joel Potts explains, the group are in it for the long haul.
DAVID HEFFERNAN pays tribute to the producer/director whose many and varied professional credits included some defining images of Irish and international music
Below is an extract from a new book by michael mccaughan which tells the story of how rodolfo walsh, an irish-argentinian writer and activist, met his bloody end at the hands of the state in buenos aires in 1977
The High Priest of Soul, AL GREEN is one of the greatest singers this century has known. Coinciding with his recent trail of magnificent shows in Dublin, the mercurial Rev granted this exclusive interview to KARL TSIGDINOS.
Pics: Bernard Walsh.
Below is an extract from a new book by michael mccaughan which tells the story of how rodolfo walsh, an irish-argentinian writer and activist, met his bloody end at the hands of the state in buenos aires in 1977
"I don't know whether they're going to replace No Disco with something equally interesting or, as is depressingly often the case, a duller, watered-down version": as one of the artists who benefitted from exposure on No Disco, DAVID GRAY offers this tribute to the show’s pioneering spirit. A Hot Press exclusive
Playing a character "full of loneliness and happiness" proved something of a challenge for actress Marie Bunel in the Oscar-nominated French film The Chorus. But as she tells Tara Brady, working with director Christopher Barratier helped her discover that acting can be much like using an instrument.
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.
He emigrated in '95, sang with jeff at sin-e, acted with denis leary, consoled nyc's firefighters and tripped around the planet with emmylou harris – but for mark geary, the adventure is only beginning
And that s just the band! Galway s finest, The Stunning, take time out from sticking pins in themselves as their debut album Paradise In The Picturehouse finds itself perched atop the Irish charts to explain the secret of their success to an attentive Michael O Hara, who undergoes a road to Damascus experience en route.
Ex-Python turned film-maker Terry Gilliam watched his latest movie project the man who killed Don Quixote collapse after a succession of production disasters. Yet two young film-makers who accompanied the director on the shoot have released a documentary film about the making, and un-making, of Gilliam's epic
Hard rocking Cork heroes Rulers Of The Planet recently toured the Czech Republic and Slovakia, along with Dublin electro-poppers Autamata. The Rulers’ Mick Hayes gives us the backstage lowdown, with these exclusive extracts from his tour diary.
After making their name with the glacial atmospherics of Felt Mountain, Goldfrapp work up a sweat on their new album Black Cherry. John Walshe hear how they “defrosted” their sound
Peter Sheridan, whose book 44: A Dublin Memoir has just been published to rave reviews, on Archbishop Desmond Connell, brother Jim, Samuel Beckett and Sean O Casey, and on the two key events one, an incident of sexual abuse, the other the death of a family member around which the whole book spins . Interview: joe jackson. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
Dublin art-rockers Rollers/Sparkers are currently earning critical garlands for their debut EP, Geography For The Leaving erudite band member, John McMahon, here holds forth on the local music scene and forsaking academia for rock’n’roll.
Ah yes, the glamorous life of the rock n rolling travel writer. Getting to see u2 live in Austria was a delectable piece of cake for liam fay. But getting back again that was when the dream turned into a nightmare.
Anti-folk graduate and New Jersey native Nicole Atkins' debut album Neptune City is a beguiling mix of Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn and Jenny Lewis's bangs. Just don't mention The Boss.
In Istanbul as a "curious neutral observer" of the Champions League Final, Ed Power was unimpressed by the Irish contingent’s putatively genuine support for Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool side.
Headgear’s debut album proves that the ‘have portastudio, will travel’ theory can yield ace results, especially when mainman Daragh Dukes gets a little help from his friends.
The most hyped show on earth may not have lived up to expectations but the year 2000 did provide the usual mix of giddy highs, horrible lows and the odd blast of flat out weirdness. THE WHOLE HOG reflects on 12 months in the history of our world, while our regular columnists have their last word on the first year of the new century
Internationalist jet-setting dance-pop playboy Sam Sparro has been propelled to ubiquity by the single 'Black And Gold', but he's not above offering HP a bite of his cheese toastie. Ahem.
Phil Udell switches into Marty Whelan mode as he joins The Chalets at a European rock festival with a difference - and lots and lots of lovely French wine!
The Rossport Protestors have been released from prison, but Shell remains determined to press ahead with its controversial Corrib pipeline. Locals say the fight to save their community has just started.
With the Five Nations Championship up and running again, Paul O’Mahoney discusses the state of the union game with Scotland’s straight-talking captain, Gavin Hastings.
Under the direction of Joe Devlin, the Focus Theatre has taken on an impressive range of projects – not least two plays that tackle burning contemporary issues. Devlin tells us how he’s been carrying on the Focus tradition.
JOHN WALSHE talks to top Irish 400m hurdler Susan Smith about what it means to devote yourself completely to athletics and her need to challenge for gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Pix: COLM HENRY.
As Ireland’s Latin American solidarity committee prepares to mark the 30th anniversary of the coup which overthrew Chilean President Salvador Allende, Michael D. Higgins TD remembers the inspirational life, poetry and music of the great folk singer Victor Jara who was brutally murdered in 1973.
tomais o saoire is an Irish immigrant living in New York. He is also HIV positive. This is his heartrending story a tragic tale which includes brushes with alcoholism and depression. Tape: DYLAN FOLEY.
This year's Olympics were one of the most fascinating ever. We sought the opinions of leading musicians and sports commentators on a memorable two weeks' action.
No-one knows a city like a local and so we asked Mike Edgar to be our guide to Belfast. Here he chooses ten things for visitors to do in the North s leading city. Only one problem: he forgot to tell us where to get an after-hours drink!
Minimalist practitioner, aficionado of asceticism and producer of note – Germanic groove technician Steve Bug is shaking up the continental dance scene in idiosyncratic and dynamic fashion.
In the first part of a two part special on the vital areas of songwriting, publishing and copyright, Jackie Hayden talks to Irish singer-songwriter Kieran Goss about his craft, on the eve of the release of the Northerner's new album Red Letter Day, his follow-up to the multi-platinum Worse Than Pride.
Kele Le Roc is poised for major pop success. Adrienne Murphy met her at Childline 99, and talked to her about the music buisness, finding her own voice and, er, the Kids from Fame. Pics: Cathal Dawson
isabel monteiro, lead vocalist with arch miserabilists drugstore tells stuart bailie exactly why she's writing songs about dead Chilean heads of state.
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.
Having resurrected James Bond in print, Sebastian Faulks has moved onto perhaps his most ambitious project yet – a multi-layered exploration of what it means to be modern.
With his first film The Station Agent, Tom McCarthy has fashioned a magnetic fable of Fin, the new-dwarf-in-town, which has invited comparison with Ford and Cassavetes.
Cinematic weirditude! arbus-like photography! theoretical physics! as Paul Nolan discovers, it’s definitely not only rock’n’roll for Hope Of The States, the Chichester band with a certain Westmeath connection.
Cinematic weirditude! arbus-like photography! theoretical physics! as Paul Nolan discovers, it’s definitely not only rock’n’roll for Hope Of The States, the Chichester band with a certain Westmeath connection.
Despite the controversies in which she has recently bee involved, when SINIAD O'CONNOR starts talking music it becomes evident why she ran away to join the rock'n'roll circus in the first place. Citing Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Van Morrison as her ultimate trinity, she discusses the spiritual forces that drive and inspire. Interview: BILL GRAHAM
A North Carolinian who speaks Irish and a country performer who only occasionally performs country,
jim lauderdale has a way that makes the seemingly contradictory work well. Interview: siobhan long.
Everyone knows Maxïmo Park’s Paul Smith is a fan of woolly hats and long, complicated novels. But did you realise Limerick is one of his favourite cities? Or that, as a teenager, he used to copy out all of Morrissey’s lyrics?
Ireland's The Answer have pulled off a major coup by bagging the support slot on the American leg of AC/DC's Black Ice tour. Cormac Neeson talks us through their first fortnight on the road.
Talk was not in short supply at the recent World Trade Organisation meeting in Hong Kong. But did the gathering of 150 world leaders achieve anything concrete for the world’s under-privileged?
Public Enemies is an extraordinary and controversial book of photographs of British neo-Nazis, taken by Hot Press’ London photographer Leo Regan. “You’re never going to combat racism unless you know where it’s coming from”, he says. Report: Stuart Clark.
Mary Bannoti, Ireland's goodwill ambassador for the United Nations population fund, visited Afghanistan in March. Here, she records some lasting impressions of a place at once brutal and beguiling, and describes her often moving encounters with men, women and children, many still in refugee camps in Pakistan, who are struggling to return home and rebuild their lives.
The Queen of Zydeco, Boris Bob Dylan Grebenshikov and an erstwhile Rolling Stone were among the unlikely collaborators on ANTHONY THISTLETHWAITE S latest opus, Crawfish & Caviar. COLM O HARE hears more.
ANYONE HOPING to learn about the Irish troubles from the cinema would probably conclude that Sinn Fein and the IRA had better declare a cease-fire quickly, before they do themselves some serious damage.
Now that the picking season is upon us, Siobhán Long offers a guide to the pleasures and perils of Pysolisin, otherwise known as the humble magic mushroom. Pic: Alan O’Connor.
You know them as heartfelt songwriters. But when they’re not mucking about in the studio, Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh enjoy nothing more than a game of cricket. And they’re not just in it for the cucumber sandwiches, either.
Seasick Steve is a former hobo who once called Kurt Cobain a neighbour and, in his 60s, now finds himself acclaimed as one of folk's hottest 'new' acts.
THE FOUR Marys, Mary Field, Mary Cotter, Mary Simpson and Mary Goebbels, shared a dormitory in St Elmos. Mary Goebbels, new to the fifth form, was sleeping in the bed formally occupied by Mary Radleigh, who had recently been found shot in the back of the head on a piece of wasteland.
It is every boy's wildest fantasy (bar, perhaps, Brett from Suede) to make a living playing with a fantastically successful football side. Craig Johnston was there, saw that and quit while he was ahead. But he has continued to make his dreams real. Gerry McGovern meets the kangaroo who won't be tied down, sport.
0ver the past twelve months, Daniel Kitson has risen to prominence following his Perrier award winning show at the Edinburgh fringe, and his celebrated appearance on Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights but all the bespectacled comic really wants is to be recognised as a stand-up guy.
A great many of us lost the run of ourselves during the Celtic Tiger epoch – the trad community included. But now that the arse has fallen out of the economy, maybe it’s time musicians went back to their roots
Rory Gallagher’s posthumous Wheels Within Wheels is a remarkable collection of previously unreleased acoustic material by Ireland’s guitar legend. It comes complete with a cover by the celebrated painter, David Oxtoby, that is certain to make a lasting impression.
Welsh pop extroverts Super Furry Animals have delivered their most cohesive and rewarding record yet. Frontman Gruf Rhys explains why Wu Tang Clan as the band's new role model.
From Chet Baker through Joe Cocker to The Cranberries, the world of music owes the late Denny Cordell an enormous debt. Bill Graham pays tribute to an inspirational craftsman who made Ireland his final home and resting place.
Whilst the biker culture has retained it aura of outlaw glamour and leather-clad allure down through the years, it’s nonetheless a mode of transport not without its dangers.
Forget Oxegen or U2 at Croke Park – the biggest shows in town this summer are the All Ireland Championships. With the crowning of the provincial championships, the season is entering its most competitive stage.
First, a little brainteaser or two to warm you up. Question: What do the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and Roxy Music have in common?
Next question: Around whose demise would a fact-based film called Death At Pooh Corner rotate?
Having built up a solid reputation on the gigging circuit, blues outfit Ali and The DTs have just released their debut album. Harp player Christian Volkmann discusses the details of their unique sound with Colm O’Hare.
The last scintilla of doubt just rode out of town – groundbreaking news spoof The Day Today is back on the agenda courtesy of a brand new DVD, and the show’s gleeful send-up of current affairs broadcasting is now more relevant than ever.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
Part two of our glance back over the year that was, complete with clickable quotes so you can read each and every article in full, if you like. And you know you like! So don't just sit there. Get reading...
The Police's reformation is the reunion they said would never happen, and according to guitarist Andy Summers the band is still the same mix of egos and visionaries.
The songs of Laura Cantrell are steeped in the timeless values of American country rock. But Cantrell, a former Wall Street banker, is a thoroughly modern artist.
COLM O HARE speaks to Fran Healy and Dougie Payne of TRAVIS about ongoing success, irritating Radiohead comparisons and avoiding the nightmare of 9-5 existence.
GERRY MALLON is the brains behind The Murphy's Comedy Club which has been running weekly in Galway's GPO for the last three years, despite one Englishman's determined attempt to incinerate the joint. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Australians are surf fanatics from birth. However, that doesn’t mean that participating in the sport isn’t a hugely rewarding experiance, as Hot Press’ resident Antipodean Danielle Brigham discovered when she travelled to Bundoran ahead of the town’s eagerly anticipated ocean festival.
WHILE HE WAS BEING TERRORISED AND BRUTALISED IN MONNOWITZ, LEON GREENMAN MADE A DEAL WITH GOD: IF HE WAS TO BE ALLOWED TO SEE THE OUTSIDE OF THE DEATH CAMPS AGAIN, HE WOULD DEVOTE HIS LIFE TO TELLING THE WORLD WHAT HAPPENED THERE. NOW, AS DENIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST CONTINUES TO AID THE INSIDIOUS RISE OF THE FASCIST MOVEMENT IN EUROPE, IT IS MORE VITAL THAN EVER THAT HIS STORY IS TOLD. REPORT: GERRY McGOVERN.
In the second part of her investigation into the issues surrounding childbirth in Ireland, ADRIENNE MURPHY speaks to Jo Murphy-Lawless, author of a compelling book on obstetrics.
Well and truly punch-drunk and punch-lined, BARRY GLENDENNING rounds
up the gargles and the giggles at this year's CAT LAUGHS COMEDY FESTIVAL
in Kilkenny. Pix: Kevin Clancy
And suddenly yet newer horizons opened up. The Arab and the Israeli shook hands. The walls came tumbling down. The lion and the lamb lay down together. The strangest things have come to pass.
She’s the most hyped newcomer since... well, since as long as we can remember. But with her debut album finally here, BBC Sound of '09 winner Little Boots is equal parts nervous and excited.
Yes readers, it s that time of year again when TOM MATHEWS hacks his way through the vin and verbiage of dear old Galway town for the cuirt festival of literature.
Daemon Codell – aka Joe Daly – is an illusionist with a difference, who likes nothing better than the sight of blood on the stage. It’s only when it’s his own blood that he gets worried.
and didn’t like what he saw... Fatboy Slim tells Stuart Clark about an encounter with Man Utd so unpleasant that even Zoe Ball is thinking of switching her allegiance to Brighton. Plus: the highs of Normstock and the lows of So Solid Crew
They named themselves after a Japanese biker gang, they won t give details of their line-up to the music press, and their first ever recorded release was limited to 33 copies. GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR also happen to be one of the most exciting new bands to emerge in years. PETER MURPHY investigates.
Musical trends come and go but the blues continues to thrive. In Ireland, the scene is now stronger than ever. With her reputation growing internationally, Mary Stokes talks about her role as a performer - and her friendships with numerous blues legends. Oh, and Van Morrison's birth sign!
Noel Gallagher and Paul Arthurs of Oasis talk about their staggering rise from being unemployed no-hopers to Top Ten chart act striving to outshine T.Rex, The Beatles and Neil Young to name but three and show Tony Clayton-Lea how to order a peanut.
He's reputed to be one of the toughest interviewees in music. But RAY LAMONTAGNE is slowly learning to chill out and, if not embrace the limelight, then at least live with it...
‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ used to be a pretty good song before it became a fairly awful movie. Now it will be impossible to listen to Percy Sledge’s tremblingly emotive cry from the heart without thinking of Andy Garcia giving moist-eyed Meg Ryan that puppy dog on prozac look.
As the turbo-charged economy he helped create teeters, Charlie McCreevy talks about medical cards for the aged, the Eircom shares debacle, explains why he wouldn't swap places with current Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.
Trip-hop legend Tricky on how he's falling in love with Europe, why he's dying to work with Kylie and why if you live in a rough part of the UK, it's best to carry a knife.
STUART CLARK asks DAN MURPHY whether antique collecting is the new rock 'n' roll and in the process discovers why it's taken SOUL ASYLUM nine years to become an overnight success.
What has transformed 47-year-old boy Adonis TOM MATHEWS into a realistic simulacrum of that red-nosed little feeb in the Bamforth Comic postcards? Yes, readers, a punishing fortnight at the Galway Arts Festival. Now read on
Manu Chao may not be able to change the world, but he’s certainly conquered it with his unique fusion of musical styles. Fresh from a sell-out show in The Point, he talks to Danielle Brigham about journeying to the North Pole, trashing Argentinian TV studios and “Mr. Bush, the number one terrorist.” Photographs: Cathal Dawson.
Maureen Bolger's son Darren committed suicide in 2003, at the age of 16. This tragedy inspired her to create Teen-Line Ireland to assist other young people at risk.
Fact, fiction and hard graft form the inspirations for DERMOT HEALY s acclaimed memoir The Bend For Home. LIAM FAY meets an author who moves rocks, stones and words. Pic: CATHAL DAWSON
It's been almost two years now since Anam's Brian O hEadhra unpacked his rucksack from top to bottom, two years of tearing all over the globe, from Düsseldorf to Darwin, Chicago to Castletownbere. With three albums well and truly reared, the band have recently been coaxing their fourth offspring, First Footing, out into the big bad world, blinkering its eyes against the glare of daylight.
The release of Born may confirm that hothouse flowers are back to their blooming best, but as john walshe discovers, liam, peter and fiachna have a few vinyl skeletons in the closet. Readers of a nervous disposition are advised to proceed with care.
In an age when hype springs eternal, DAVID GRAY is that rare phenomenon a success story scripted by the fans rather than the industry. And a distinctly Irish success story at that. A certifiable platinum-selling box-office blockbuster in this country, the Welsh singer-songwriter still awaits a similar eruption of Gray fever in Britain, Europe and America. But his latest album, White Ladder, could be the record which tells the world what Ireland already knows. Now as he prepares to wow the faithful at Galway s Big Beat festival, JOHN WALSHE presents the inside story of the best kept secret in the west.
Pics Mick Quinn
An old friend of mine used to regularly take out a word and fondle it like a friendly animal. A very Irish amusement, I think. One particular favourite was the word “worrying”, as in dogs “worrying sheep”.
The release of Born may confirm that Hothouse Flowers are back to their blooming best, but as John Walsh discovers, Liam, Peter and Fiachna have a few vinyl skeletons in the closet. Readers of a nervous disposition are advised to proceed with care.
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.
As Duke Special set off for a jaunt around Europe with the Divine Comedy, our correspondent hitched a ride on the tour bus. In between the sound-checks and the motor-way pitstops, he received a unique insight into the life of the touring musician.
From studying at the Brit School of Performing Arts and providing backing vocals for Westlife, to her Terry Wogan-facilitated assault on the charts and subsequent elevation to bona-fide star status, former Belfast resident Katie Melua has packed an enormous amount into her 19 years.
STEPHEN RYAN has made his songwriting reputation on the byways rather than the highways. Now, with a new REVENANTS album finally on release, he takes NICK KELLY on a trip off the beaten track. Pics: Bernard Walsh.
Welsh noiseniks
STEREOPHONICS who've just come up with the song title of the year in the shape of "More Life In A Tramp's Vest" have recently been the subject of a frenzied A&R bidding war. Sarah McQuaid finds out more.
THAT OLD scapegoat for all of society’s ills has reared its ugly head again: the Video Nasty. As soon as the guilty verdicts were returned on two young boys for the brutal murder of Liverpool toddler Jamie Bulger, politicians, policemen, priests and parents began casting around for someone to blame.
Where other bands moan about the music industry or spend small fortunes bringing their stage designs to life, Stereophonics like to keep it nice and simple. Or at least as nice and simple as it gets when you tour with U2, get advice from Prince Charles and see Slipknot with their masks off
At the end of a year which saw (most of) Fleetwood Mac reunited, on CD and stage, drummer Mick Fleetwood recounts the story of a legendary band and the making of a classic album – Rumours.
Undiscovered genius, ahoy! liam fay finds Pierce TurneR still struggling for the recognition his rich talent deserves. And to coincide with the release of his own Best Of, he asks Turner to compile the album of his dreams.
A brief encounter with Dido – author of multi-million-selling debut album No Angel and brand-newie Life For Rent – not to mention one of the nicest popstars you’re ever likely to meet.
30th Anniversary retrospective: From the murders of Tupac and Biggie to the bizarre implication of Marilyn Manson in the Columbine massacre; from Courtney, Axl and Spector’s falls from grace to the canonisation and demonisation of Peter Doherty... here’s a potted history of the most controversial events in the last 30 years of rock ‘n’ roll.
Having disbanded the band, the man who is Divine Comedy sets out to make music that makes his soul happy. The reformed jack the lad talks music, memory, marriage and fatherhood with Peter Murphy
Having disbanded the band, the man who is Divine Comedy sets out to make music that makes his soul happy. The reformed jack the lad talks music, memory, marriage and fatherhood with Peter Murphy
With the opinion polls predicting a tight finish in the upcoming General Election, there is an increasing likelihood that the Greens will play a part in the next Government. So what is their leader Trevor Sargent really made of?
The inhabitants of Mostar in southern Bosnia-Herzgovina have lived together in harmony for more than 700 years. Now, shelled daily by Croatian forces and suffering nightly sniper attacks, this unique city has seen its population decimated and its ancient architecture destroyed. GERRY McGOVERN talks to EMIR STRANJAW.
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.
Or that's what the proponents of the phenomenon of Virtual Reality might want us to believe. GERRY McGOVERN enters this brave new world and discovers that its capacity to transform our lives - at work, rest and foreplay - is truly mindblowing. Now, put on your headset and start reading!
As the Creamfields dance juggernaut heads towards Punchestown we catch up with the carnvial at Prague in the Czech Republic and offer a preview of what’s to come
When Tommy Tiernan held court in the Hot Press Chat Room at Electric Picnic recently, he had no idea the kind of shit storm that would unfold. During what was in effect a spontaneous, unscripted live performance – not unlike an appearance on The Late Late Show that also sparked controversy – he told a story about a couple of Jews who reproached him after a performance in New York. The result? He has been accused of anti-semitism and widely vilified. But those who know Tiernan are quite clear that the accusations are completely wrong. So – in order to allow people to judge for themselves – here is the full text of the Chat Room interview.
With the release of their debut album, My German Lover, Hada to Hada's tenure as one of Ireland's best-kept musical secrets may well be over. Siobhán Long talks to Keiran Duddy and Belinda Morris about the craft of song-writing and the dedication
that made the album possible.
Fourteen years on and people still come up to BRUCE ROBINSON and quote chunks of Withnail & I to his face. But if you don t know more about this talented, opinionated, chain-smoking, wine-guzzling writer/director, then that may be because, to put it at its mildest, he and Hollywood have never seen eye to eye. PETER MURPHY meets the angry older man
Dublin is a shithole basically! that's the opinion of Kevin Shields, one of the two Irish members of My Bloody Valentine, who quit the fair city six years ago because of what they saw as the stifling atmosphere of the place. Since then they've lived and gigged all over Europe and their 1988 album Isn't Anything has put them on top of the critical approval lists and independent charts. Here, taking a break from their US tour, the band reflect on their art, their careers and what they see as the general awfulness of the Irish music scene. Interview: Helena Mulkearns
The rise and fall of chef CONRAD GALLAGHER was Icarus-like – one moment the toast of Dublin’s glitterati, the next a virtual pariah.
but unlike Icarus, Gallagher has fought his way back, bloodied but unbowed and determined to pay off all his debts
Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN
On the release of a double CD retrospective of his forty years as a performer-songwriter, Johnny McEvoy talks to Jackie Hayden about his early days as Ireland’s answer to Bob Dylan, meeting the great man himself, supporting and introducing The Rolling Stones, defending The Wolfe Tones, not apologising for the troubles in the North, U2 and the key albums that have inspired him.
Some cities have all the luck - Los Angeles is not one of them. As it begins rebuilding after its third major disaster in as many years, our man on the spot, Tomas Conlon, writes that, when not even the ground beneath your feet can be trusted, you see life differently.
Between the unattractive alternatives of the Belfast Agreement and a return to war, there has to be a new way forward for the Republican movement. So says former IRA man and respected Republican TOMMY McKEARNEY. Interview: EAMONN McCANN
PICS: CATHAL DAWSON
In Vienna, along with another 99,999 people, LIAM FAY witnesses what may well be the finest rock n roll extravaganza ever mounted and discovers that its got both art and heart in abundance as well.
Having learned his trade with Muddy Waters and just about any other blues legend you care to mention, BUDDY GUY has long since become one himself. On the eve of his showcase gig in Dublin's Olympia, he tells PETER MURPHY of his struggle to pass the blues torch on to another generation.
One of Ireland’s leading young painters, Rasher has had his work collected by Colin Farrell, Louis Walsh and Ali Hewson, and has also contributed a cover image to the new edition of Declan Lynch's The Rooms.
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden? It doesn t get much
better than this. JOE JACKSON goes
backstage for a brief but revealing encounter with Joni and, from a vantage point to die for, finds two 60s legends who can still send shivers up the spine at the end of the millennium.
Sprawling across four restless, angry and sometimes contradictory sides, "Rattle And Hum" is nothing less than U2's most ambitious album yet. Review by Bill Graham
“There doesn’t need to be any problems conjured for wrong interpretations,” says Clown aka Shawn Crahan. And while you’re chewing on the prime gibberish, here’s the Slipknot view on humanity (“filthy, disgusting, disease-ridden”), fans (“they’re all cows”), piss (“i like the way it smells”) and life in a band (“i’m so bored, so trapped”). Prepare to shake your head in disbelief
Super Furry Animals are yet another Welsh band poised for huge success on the back of their new album. They talk to STUART CLARK about their rejection of Brit Pop, strange Japanese fans and the glory days of The Free Wales Army. Pics of Super Furry Animals with super furry animals: Mick Quinn.
For the Chinese community in Northern Ireland, life can at times be difficult in the face of racism and violent attacks. But they can also spare a little time to party, as our very own Chinese checker Colin Carberry discovered on a visit to the hectic offices of the Chinese Welfare Association. Photos: Amberlea Trainor.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Not Philip Ó Ceallaigh, who actually seems remarkably nonchalant about not scooping a pot of money for his latest short story collection.
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
Rregarded as the original, manufactured boy band, once upon a time The Monkees ruled the world. Now, half of television's fab four are back and, as you might expect, they have quite a tale to tell. Joe Jackson talks to Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz
Actress, writer, director, singer and not quite so archetypal French heroine Julie Delpy renders terms like ‘renaissance woman’ positively anaemic. Currently back on the map with Before Sunset, one of the cinematic highlights of the year, she talks art, sex romance and Gallic caricatures.
RTE are set to screen a documentary series about Carlisle United football club. But the fly on the wall had better keep his ears covered since the team’s manager, Dubliner Roddy Collins, is no shrinking violet. And, as Stuart Clark discovers here, even on subjects unrelated to football, the brother of boxing champ Steve doesn’t pull his punches. Images Liam Sweeney
An ex-con, a foe of The Krays and a man capable of such acts of violence that he once sliced off a prison guard s ear, Mad Frankie Fraser now makes quite a nice living for himself spinning yarns about his gangster years. Stuart Clark interrogates him about prison, drugs, the IRA, Arsenal and a novel theory on Veronica Guerin s murder which, Fraser insists, the Irish media haven t had the bottle to print. Mugshots: Cathal Dawson
STEREOPHONICS are on the up-and-up, their popularity growing without the band making concessions to the London-based music media. GEORGE BYRNE met them to talk about drink, drugs, writer s block and their upcoming Slane support slot.
Mini Pics: MICK QUINN.
There’s no argument. The Rolling Stones new record Voodoo Lounge finds the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world of yore back in fighting trim, stomping out that distinctive blend of musical mayhem we know and love in positively swaggering style – good enough, some would say, to see off any contenders to their coveted throne. At the centre of this triumphant return to form is one Michael Philip Jagger, who sounds lean, mean, hungry and ready for the fray. Here he raps with Don Was – producer of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Was Not Was, Bonnie Raitt and of course The Rolling Stones – about the primeval power of music and how to keep on doing it even at the grand old age of twenty (Sorry! I’ll read that again) . . .
The rise and rise of the female singer/songwriter is fast achieving phenomenon status in Ireland - here,
Peter Murphy profiles an eclectic mix of new and distinctive talent
A win next week and we're there - but what lies in store for Irish supporters if Big Jack's men do qualify for America? Long suffering England fan Stuart Clark was in the States this summer for US Cup '93 and found that if the dress rehearsal is anything to go by, the World Cup Finals should be a sporting event to savour. Main pix: Simon Parry.
From the biggest international names to the most dynamic local creations, festivals make Ireland a good place to be in summer, even when the sun refuses to put in an appearance
Sting – all dull AOR anthems, mawkish charidee singles and empty celeb blather, right? wrong! The artist formerly known as Gordon Sumner here talks to hotpress about the lingering fall-out from the break-up of the police, hanging with über-hip filmmakers Terry Gilliam and David Lynch, and getting the seal of approval from the late Johnny Cash.
Liam Fay calls on Shane MacGowan at home, where over mugs of brandy, the singer cheerfully rationalises his notorious alcohol-intake in the face of widespread concern that he might be drinking himself to an early grave. The premier Pogue disagrees, predicting instead a happy fulfilling life away from the stage, in which he would own and run a fully-licensed restaurant in London and face extended vacations in Thailand.
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
The economic downturn may bring a different kind of upside for groups involved in projects in developing nations. Has there ever been a better time for young people to get involved as volunteers?
For Gen X-ers like Kurt Cobain, Matt Groening and Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnston is akin to Syd or Roky, a gifted figure beset by the demons of delusional paranoia and manic depression. A 1994 tribute album featuring Beck, Tom Waits and eels showcased his ghostly and surrealistic folk songs, and now, as the remarkable documentary film The Devil And Daniel Johnston goes on release, hotpress is granted an audience with the man who isn’t there.
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, Sharon Shannon has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: Gerry McGovern.
From her humble origins in Corofin, Co. Clare to The White House, SHARON SHANNON has blazed her own unique trail across the landscape of Irish music. Her extraordinary success notwithstanding, she has remained an enigmatic and elusive presence, renowned for the child-like sense of wonder she radiates. Here, for the first time, she opens up, telling her own remarkable story to Hot Press. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN.
Christy Dignam of Aslan has never been one to pull his punches and, as a result, controversy has dogged the band with every new public utterance. Now as their debut album Feel No Shame nestles at the top of the Irish charts, in an in-depth interview he attempts to set the record straight, on his attitude to U2, poverty, drugs, groupies, his personal life and the macho implications of the band s image and music. Sceptical Eye: Cathy Dillon
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.
Is there a technique to picking up a member of the opposite sex – or does it just happen? Feeling that he could do with a little bit of help in that department, journalist Neil Strauss hooked up with a cult community of Pick Up Artists and set out to learn the secrets of the trade. With all those Christmas parties looming, his advice might just come in handy.
He pioneered the art of glam-punk excess with the New York Dolls and now he's learned to grow old gracefully. Peter Murphy meets the boy from New York City, the ever cool David Johansen. Photos: MYLES CLAFFEY
Great slogans, great scams, great music and wreckless eric too. 20 years after the label first saw the light of a record shop, richard balls gets some of the key players to reminisce about the glory days of stiff records.
After 12 months which saw the group go from the indie B-division to rock’s premier league, Snow Patrol have had a more dramatic 2004 than most. In an in-depth interview, Gary Lightbody discusses a life-changing year, the Irish and British music scenes, friendships, relationships and where the band go to next.
Jailed in the '70s and '80s for gun-running and membership of the IRA, Kerry-born MARTIN FERRIS was one of the most senior Republican figures in the south to throw his weight behind the Sinn Fiin-backed peace process. Now, a Kerry County Councillor with ambitions to take a Dail seat, Ferris has earned a particular reputation for being tough on drugs in his native Tralee.
Interview: NIALL STANAGE.
Raised on the road by evangelical hippies, Joaquin Phoenix has overcome the tragic death of his brother, River, to become one of Hollywood’s most brooding leading men.
Contrary to the negative way in which it's so often portrayed by the national media, Limerick is a city that combines a rich sense of tradition with an eye for innovation and in recent years has developed into one of Ireland's leading cultural centres. Kevin Barry takes a look at the people - and the places - breathing new life into the mid-western capital.
He might have been a young Einsten but instead MARK OLIVER EVERETT ended up as EELS aka a man called E aka the Souljacker. PETER MURPHY discovers how it all went horribly right
First she learned to pout - then she learned to kick butt. from Revlon to Resident Evil, Milla Jovovich explains how a girl from the Ukraine conquered the world. In Prada boots, of course
MICHAEL NOONAN may be the most follicularly-challenged member of the Fine Gael front bench but he is also seen by some as the party's leader in waiting, the only person capable of bringing about the kind of revitalisation which has so conspicuously eluded John Bruton. Now aged fifty, Noonan was for years known as the man who as Minister for Justice in the mid-eighties exposed the Sean Doherty bugging scandal and ordered the release of Nicky Kelly. More recently, however, he has achieved real fame as a Scrap Saturday caricature. Interview: LIAM FAY.
One of the finest white soul voices Britain ever produced, Rod Stewart reminisces about the sozzled Faces days, discusses Bob Dylan, his penchant for blondes, and recalls the thyroid cancer that almost robbed him of his voice seven years ago.
[oops this was mis prompted as oxegen video interviews in our e-zine - they're here ]
He’s spent the past few years hanging out with Kate Moss and Primal Scream, but now it’s time for Irvine Welsh to look up some old pals. Yup, Begbie, Spud, Renton and Sick Boy are back in Porno, an XXX-rated tale which makes Trainspotting look like Harry Potter
Massive Attack explain why they are outspoken opponents of the proposed war in Iraq, give high praise to Sinéad O’Connor and reveal how a porn soundtrack left them gasping for airtime.
The Make Poverty History marches in Dublin and Edinburgh were among the biggest political demonstrations in years. Rory Hearne kept a diary of an inspiring week on the barricades.
Striking Gold and setting a new World record might be enough to satisfy some athletes but for Sonia O'Sullivan such exploits are merely a warm-up for the glories that lie ahead. Ireland's athletics superstar talks to Liam Fay about winning, losing and the personal sacrifices she's prepared to make in order to become the best.
They are one of the most interesting and enigmatic groups in rock. They are also one of the biggest, with a string of multi-million selling albums to their credit. But they don’t like interviews much, making themselves available for only a handful in Europe to coincide with the release of their new album Around The Sun. Once Peter Buck sits down opposite a microphone, however, a different face of REM reveals itself, as he talks eloquently about life, family, downloads, air rage, Iraq, Bush – and The Thrills.
How did Brandon Flowers, Ronnie Vannucci, Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer go from the Las Vegas dive bar circuit to selling four million copies of their debut album, Hot Fuss? On the eve of the band's highly-anticipated Oxegen 2005 appearance, Stuart Clark talks to the people involved in the making of The Killers.
Despite being peerless at his chosen profession, CHRIS MORRIS has been sacked from more jobs than most people will have in a lifetime. He announced the death of Michael Heseltine on live radio, was responsible for a debate about non-existent drugs in the House of Commons and once screamed Christ s fat cock! at Cliff Richard during an interview. BARRY GLENDENNING examines the career of the broadcaster commonly regarded as Britain s foremost media satirist.
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.
PACK YOUR LEMSIP AND NIGHT NURSE AND PREPARE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE BEIJING FLU AS THE SAWDOCTORS TACKLE THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ON THEIR LATEST TOUR. CURRENTLY BETWEEN LABELS THE BAND’S U.K. FANBASE IS INCREASING STEADILY, EVEN IF THE CONCEPT OF ‘DESIGNER BOGMEN’ HAS YET TO PENETRATE THE SHIRES
CHECKING THE TEMPERATURE: BILL GRAHAM.
Although arguably the outstanding female country artist of her generation, Emmylou Harris has always distanced herself from the Nashville
mainstream. From early recordings with Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan through to her most recent Daniel Lanois-produced album Wrecking Ball, her work has been characterised by a maverick spirit and real fire in the belly.
PETER MURPHY caught up with her in Dublin.
A broken and distraught LIAM FAY recounts his nightmare on Stephen Street where he endured the full horrors of LINE DANCING . . . and just about lived to tell the tale. Pics: Mick Quinn
It s a story that has it all. Fame, drink, women, politics. Even death threats and The Mob. In a special retrospective feature JOE JACKSON explores the myth, and the reality, of THE RAT PACK, the original reservoir dogs.
With a little help from Timbaland and The Neptunes, Justin Timberlake’s debut solo album justified propelled him from N’Sync baby food salesman to purveyor of the slickest dancefloor pop since the days when Michael Jackson was black. here, via the wonders of modern technology, HP eavesdrops as the boy wonder receives a Woodward & Bernstein-style investigative enema from the Euro-press.
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
A smart, savvy actress with a wry take on the vagaries of fame Sarah Michelle Gellar has her feet planted more firmly on terra firma than the average Hollywood starlet. In an exclusive interview with hotpress, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer star discusses her blood-curdling new movie The Grudge, being a teen icon, marriage, celebrity and much else besides. Just don’t mention the English coffee.
Sex? Yep. Drugs? Uh-huh. Rock 'n' Roll? Yesireebob! Aerosmith were no strangers to the unholy trinity of debauchery during the '70's and early '80's but find that having cleaned up ten years ago they're now cleaning up with the punters. Not that they're beyond having fun, fun and, er, more fun as our resident boogiemeister Stuart Clark finds out.
As the Bush-Gore election night morphed into pure strung-out political farce, a footloose hotpress writer found himself hunkered down in Amherst, Massachusetts, the place Emily Dickinson and Dinosaur Jnr have both called home. With smalltown American as his window on the world, this is the view that Peter Murphy got
'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me' may be their battle cry, but leftist rocker/rappers Rage Against the Machine are new to Dublin and Tom Morello needs to be told how to do everything from crossing streets to putting vinegar on his chips. Here, while strolling through town, the guitarist talks about the band's politics, life in Los Angeles and the camera of the people - the Kodak Electrolux. Tour guide: Tara McCarthy
Though he was busking in Grafton Street at 14, it s taken Glen Hansard more than a few shakes of the lamb s tail to reach the plateau of success which his songwriting talents have, for so long, threatened to take him but after the colossal success of Revelate , The Frames are, finally, set fair to enjoy their day in the sun. Here, Glen and guitarist, Dave Odlum, put Niall Crumlish in the picture.
Though he was busking in Grafton Street at 14, it s taken Glen Hansard more than a few shakes of the lamb s tail to reach the plateau of success which his songwriting talents have, for so long, threatened to take him but after the colossal success of Revelate , The Frames are, finally, set fair to enjoy their day in the sun. Here, Glen and guitarist, Dave Odlum, put Niall Crumlish in the picture.
For the person in the eye of the storm, massive success can involve a titanic struggle. Especially when, as you’re trying to keep your bearings, ordinary life jumps up to punch you in the teeth. Now, after death, birth, fatigue, grief, joy and the "mindfuck" that is "the tidal wave of success," it is time, says David Gray, to get back to the music. and – whisper it – maybe even have a little holiday.
P.J. HARVEY's latest album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea will surprise listeners with its positive spirit and sheer lust for life. Hell, she even manages to get Thom Yorke to sound like Tom Jones! KIM PORCELLI meets an artist who has come in from the cold
A top American psychologist claims she has unearthed disturbing evidence of CIA involvement with British Intelligence in Northern Ireland.
Olaf Tyaransen reports.
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, especially when it involves piling on layers of latex, strapping on corsets, and getting to grips with false eyelashes. And yet, whether it's Kurt Cobain donning a scruffy frock, Robin Williams in full matronly guise for Mrs Doubtfire, or the 6'7 Ru Paul co-presenting The Brits, transvestism seems to have acquired a stronger multi-media allure than ever before. Andy Darlington examines the portrayal of TVs in cinema and the arts, and considers the sexual and social implications of the ancient art of cross-dressing.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
Each year, the BALLYBUNION BACHELOR FESTIVAL in Co. Kerry sees numerous unattached males flocking to the Kingdom for a week of boozing, carousing and
general merry-making, in a vainglorious attempt to prove their bachelorian credentials. OLAF TYARANSEN went along for this year’s ride. Pics (and occasional enraged outbursts): CATHAL DAWSON.
Padraig Harrington talks about gay golfers, stalkers on the tour, the potential of Rory McIlroy and the death of his father. And, he says, his Open win was just the beginning.
Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album, The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album, The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Or should that be Black pages? Mary Black and her long-time friend, producer and collaborator Declan Sinnott look back over ten years of solo work, and the steady progress which finds her ready to take on the world with her latest album. The Holy Ground. Interview: Joe Jackson
Ireland and Munster out-half, Ronan O’Gara, has a pivotal say in this country’s rugby fortunes. As what is potentially the most important season in Irish rugby history moves into its most competitive phase, he takes time out to reflect on the demands of being a big time rugby star, the cult of celebrity, his taste in music, Roy Keane’s infamous Saipan walk-out – and Ireland’s chances of Six Nations glory in 2005.
He was a midwife to grunge and has worked with artists as diverse as Marilyn Manson, Hole and Ozzy Osbourne. Far from being a studio boffin, though, Michael Beinhorn believes modern music is too often reliant on technology.
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
JJ 72 have been hailed by some critics as the finest thing to come out of Ireland since U2 - and no wonder. With a hugely impressive debut album under their collective belt, the expectations are even higher for the follow-up, I To Sky. They share with their illustrious predecessors a predilection for intense songs of spiritual yearning - and a desire to make music that truly stands the test of time. But is it rock'n'roll?
ENTERTAINMENT OFFICERS FROM UCC, UCD, UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER, UCG, DCU AND THE UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF LIFE ON THEIR PARTICULAR CAMPUSES.
It's been ten years that's shaken a fair bit of the world and now, suddenly, OASIS are back. what better time for a reflective, confessional, candid and scandalous one-on-one with a man who always gives great quote, NOEL GALLAGHER. Interview: STUART CLARK
Fermanagh is a county that s accommodated a rake of musical traditions both past and present. Split by the sibling lakes of Upper and Lower Lough Erin, Fermanagh s musical identity is as diverse as her geography, to the extent that at times there s little or no crossover in musical style from north to south of the county and vice versa.
For years, Holly Johnson delayed having a HIV test. When he did, it checked positive, and Holly began a journey of self-discovery that has seen him develop enormously. Now, the former lead singer with Frankie Goes To Hollywood is proud, committed and highly politicised . . .Interview:Joe Jackson
Journalist NEIL McCORMICK was a schoolmate of BONO when U2 were taking baby steps. Over the past 25 years their paths have frequently crossed, inevitably in rather more exotic circumstances than a classroom. As another year draws to a close, they meet up again: the result is an unusually intimate portrait of a man who came not to save the world but to serenade it. Plus: a close-up look at some of the most striking songs on All That You Can t Leave Behind
Eleven years on from their debut and New York avant-garde guitar manglers Sonic Youth have reached an ever-growing audience without compromising their ideals of integrity. Here, GERRY McGOVERN offers a personal testimony to their recorded output in anticipation of their appearance at Sunstroke '93.
Yup, we thought you'd like our stab at a tabloid headline. Thing is, there was a time when Danny Boy O'Connor looked inexorably set on a course for the California State Penitentiary. Then he discovered the therapeutic qualities of the House Of Pain and apart from the odd skirmish with the 2FM Roadcaster, there's been no looking back since. Crime reporter: Stuart Clark.
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
Astrology. an ancient science or a load of cosmic nonsense?
FERGUS GIBSON is probably ireland's best-known astrologer, a man who gave up a hit-making career in music to concentrate on another kind of stardom. Here her talks about his astrological work with David Bowie, Iina Turner and Garth Brooks, explains why your aura always reveals the truth about your love life, describes his own encounters with strange and inexplicable phenomena and, finally, gives our own STEPHEN ROBINSON a personal palm reading. star gazer: Cathal Dawson
At the ripe old age of 50, when most of his peers are floundering in the doldrums, Nick Cave has hit a purple patch with Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, his most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album to date.
The recent murder of
the notorious b.i.g., following the killing of Tupac shakur six months ago, has been linked by many to the prolonged East Coast-West Coast feud which threatened to tear the US hip-hop community apart. jonathan o brien reports on how life
chillingly imitates art in the gangsta rap wars.
When Siniad O Connor tore up a picture of the pope on the Saturday Night Live television show in the US recently, she unleashed a storm which has been swirling around her ever since, causing her at one point to announce her premature retirement from the music industry. One month on, bruised and weary she may be but Siniad is neither downhearted nor repentant. Having declared war on the Roman Catholic Church she is determined to keep taking the battle to the real enemy. Interview: Niall Stokes.
In the first of a new series about life at the rock n roll coalface, musician and writer Peter Murphy recalls the night the devil wrecked all his best tunes. Confessions Of A
Rock n Roll
Survivor
From stardom with Westlife to the breakup of his marriage, and a subsequent attempt to kickstart his solo career, Brian McFadden had an extraordinarily eventful year. With his private life routinely splashed all over the tabloids and controversy currently raging over everything from his latest video to his admiration for Nirvana, he remains in the eye of the storm. In a candid interview with hotpress, he discusses living his life in the media spotlight, his decision to leave Westlife, drink, drugs, sex and the continuing fallout from his break-up with his wife Kerry.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
. . . 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
There is a serial killer on the loose in London, who has targeted the male gay community. But because of the spanner ruling, which has made a criminal offence of consenting SM sex practices, those who are most at risk are finding it impossible to talk to the police. And inevitably, the sensational distortions of the british media are only making matters worse. This year's Gay Pride March took place against that disturbing backdrop. Fay Wolftree reports. Pix: Leo Regan
First there was the bad shit then the mad shit – the biggest-selling album in Irish history, an international hit and a record you hear “in every shoe shop”. So, having climbed the white ladder to phenomenal success, how does David Gray follow that?
It’s the guide Ladbrokes, the Central Bank, Mystic Meg and Mark Lawrenson turn to at the start of each year – Jackie Hayden’s cultural, sporting and political forecasts for the forthcoming twelve months.
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
In the second and final part of the ultimate interview, elvis talks about colonel Tom Parker, marriage to priscilla, his '68 comeback, his quest for enlightenment and the truth about his drug intake. but as he dreams of an exciting future, at 42 he doesn’t realise that the end is close at hand
*The quotes in this recreated interview are drawn from a wealth of reliable sources and involved extensive research into many rare articles and books
A self-styled dandy, painter, writer and poseur, Sebastian Horsley seems to do everything to excess – whether that be drink, drugs, sex, sending shit to a critic or, literally, being crucified for his art. Olaf Tyaransen hears about his agony and ecstasy.
Widely recognised as the best sports writer in Ireland, Tom Humphries became a key player himself, this time last year, when his interview with Roy Keane led to the departure of the Corkman from Ireland’s World Cup squad. Here, Humphries discusses sports journalism, club versus country, soccer in Croker, the Michelle Smith scandal and, of course, Roy Keane, his part in his downfall. [Pics Mick Quinn]
Fianna Fail TD, guitar player, marathon runner and father of David, TOM KITT on: Charlie, Beverly, Liam, Bertie, Carr Communications, drink, dope, religion, protest singing and the high regard in which he holds his famous son.
Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN. Photography: MELLA TRAVERS
As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, MO MOWLAM M.P. has one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in British and Irish politics. The task facing her is an unenviable one: to bring together the two extremes of both traditions, however briefly, for the purposes of all-party talks. In this exclusive interview, she talks about the difficult journey to date, and the immense challenges which lie ahead of her. Our man who went to Mo:
JOE JACKSON.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
From “Outspan” to Glen Hansard, from Grafton Street to Hollywood – and onwards to Lisdoonvarna 2003. A portrait of The Frames as a most unusual band. Part one of a two-part special feature by Peter Murphy. [Main Photos: Mick Quinn]
WITH ITS RESOUNDING ECHOES OF THE TROUBLES, THE WAR BETWEEN THE BASQUE SEPARATIST GROUP ETA AND THE SPANISH STATE REMAINS BLOODY AND SEEMINGLY INTRACTABLE. WITH HIS FIRST BOOK, DIRTY WAR, CLEAN HANDS, IRISH JOURNALIST PADDY WOODWORTH PRESENTS A COMPELLING BUT OFTEN HARROWING ACCOUNT OF HOW VIOLENCE DEFEATS POLITICS AND TERROR BEGETS TERROR. AND, REFLECTING ALSO ON HIS OWN PAST POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT WITH SINN FÉIN, HE TELLS JOE JACKSON HOW HE HAS COME AROUND TO THE VIEW THAT TALKING IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN WAR. AUTHOR PORTRAITS: CATHAL DAWSON.
Teach Shinanna, in Shanraw, County Leitrim is the place where pagans go on their
holidays, an adventure
playground for all manner of
earth-worshipper and Celtophile. Liam Fay hears all about it from its founder
Chris Thompson and an
imposing gentleman known as The Fluid Druid.
Pix: Michael Quinn
...IS COMING TO TAKE YOU AWAY! WHEN JOE JACKSON WENT TO INTERVIEW BONO AT U2'S SECRET DUBLIN RECORDING BASE, HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT. WHAT HE GOT WAS A CRAZY ROLLERCOASTER RIDE THROUGH THE EXTRAORDINARY WORK-IN-PROGRESS WHICH WILL BECOME U2'S FOLLOW-UP TO THE ACCLAIMED "ACHTUNG BABY!", WITH BONO AT THE WHEEL AND AN UNSEEN PRESENCE WORKING THE ACCELERATOR LIKE A DEMON. "RECORDS SHOULD BE MORE OF A TRIP," SAYS THE MAN IN THE WRAPAROUND SHADES. FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS THEN. THIS WILL BE NO ORDINARY RECORD. AND THIS IS NO ORDINARY INTERVIEW.
With Cameron Crowe s Almost Famous putting rock hackery on the silver screen, no less, Peter Murphy wonders if Seventies rock journalism is the new rock n roll. Helping him with his enquiries: PAUL MORLEY and GREIL MARCUS
It’s a different world than it used to be! In this special extended birthday column, The Hog takes a necessarily selective – and typically colourful – look at the 30 most important influences on the process of change that has brought this country all the way from there to… well, where else but here?
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
With his upcoming concert in Poulaphouca marking his solo Irish debut, it's been all too easy in the recent past to overlook Bob Geldof's standing as a musical and lyrical artist. The lines connecting the youthful Dun Laoghaire blues and Dylan aficionado with the creator of The Vegetarians Of Love are rarely traced in media-bytes that prefer to concentrate on Modest Bob, Live Aid Bob and Saint Bob. Here, Bill Graham, who knew the schoolboy, takes musician Bob on a freewheeling trip from then to now.
With his upcoming concert in Poulaphouca marking his solo Irish debut, it's been all too easy in the recent past to overlook Bob Geldof's standing as a musical and lyrical artist. The lines connecting the youthful Dun Laoghaire blues and Dylan aficionado with the creator of The Vegetarians Of Love are rarely traced in media-bytes that prefer to concentrate on Modest Bob, Live Aid Bob and Saint Bob. Here, Bill Graham, who knew the schoolboy, takes musician Bob on a freewheeling trip from then to now.
With his upcoming concert in Poulaphouca marking his solo Irish debut, it s been all too easy in the recent past to overlook Bob Geldof s standing as a musical and lyrical artist. The lines connecting the youthful Dun Laoghaire blues and Dylan aficionado with the creator of The Vegetarians Of Love are rarely traced in media-bytes that prefer to concentrate on Modest Bob, Live Aid Bob and Saint Bob. Here, Bill Graham, who knew the schoolboy, takes musician Bob on a freewheeling trip from then to now.
MIKE SCOTT once fronted the greatest rock n roll band in the world, but before the world got a chance to wake up to the fact he had gone west and invented raggle taggle. Now with a new Waterboys album, A Rock In The Weary Place, just released, Scott takes time out to reflect on his strange but true adventure. By PETER MURPHY
CORONATION STREET. It s an
institution. So who wants to live in an institution? Well - there s Ken Barlow, Vera Duckworth, Deirdre, Fiona . . . you know them all, don t you? Be
honest! ANDY DARLINGTON visits
the Street of Dreams, and finds out that it s real!
brian hayes is a 28-year-old Fine Gael TD who represents the constituency of Dublin South West. At the last general election, he virtually tripled Fine Gael s vote in the Tallaght area. He opposes the legalisation of cannabis, claims that feminists need to have a fundamental re-think on their current position, feels guilty about not attending Mass regularly, and reckons that You need order in society . . . you need people who know what they re about . Is this the face of young, politically aware Ireland? Interview: liam fay.
Pics: colm henry.
Are Bono and the boys just a really good rock band or have they succeeded where the priests and politicians have failed and unlocked the neuroses of our colonial past? Joe Jackson indulges in a spot of cultural sparring with John Waters and finds the author of Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 well able to maintain his guard.
It's all changed for DAVID GRAY. Within the past month he has played a series of sell-out gigs across the US, gone top ten in the UK, and returned to this country to celebrate the release of Lost Songs. In a hotpress exclusive, NIALL STANAGE reports from New York, Boston, London and Dublin on the globalisation of Ireland's favourite Welshman. Hotshot hitman: STEVEN FISHER
London has long been recognised as one of the world's leading centres of entertainment and musical excitement - not to mention pleasure in all its multifarious manifestations. But when you really need it, do you know where to find it? Fay Wolftree brings you the insider's inside guide to Europe's premier rock 'n' roll metropolis.
Saturday, July 13th, 1985 will go down in history as Live Aid Day, the extraordinary culmination of Bob Geldof's attempts to mobilise the international music industry behind urgently-needed famine relief in Africa. Among the stellar cast performing for 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium, London are U2, a band determined to rise to the occasion. Report: Neil McCormick
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
In the final months of his battle with cancer, TONY GREGORY sat down with Hot Press to discuss his life and career. Knowing it would be his final interview he was in a reflective frame of mind.
U2 are about to unleash their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The world’s media are descending on Dublin. And Bono is back at the punch-bag, getting into fighting shape before the shit storm really explodes. The gloves are off. He’s got work to do. And he’s going to do it. Words Stuart Clark, additional reporting by Niall Stokes.
25 years after the publicaton of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, doctor hunter s. thompson remains the originator and unequalled exponent of Gonzo journalism, an author as famous for his own high-octane, outlaw lifestyle as he is for the remarkable series of books and articles which made him a rock star of the written word.
Tracked down to his lair in the Colorado mountains, Thompson lives up to all expectations in this exclusive interview and story by daniel senstius and jurrien dekker. Photography: chris van houts.
inishing off a year in which his immersion in the craziness of orthodox religion won him a top journalism award, Liam Fay finds himself standing atop a windswept Hill of Tara in the dead of night in the depths of winter all the better to survey the diverse landscape of paganism and witchcraft in 90s Ireland.
The year began with contrasting and contradictory alignments. On the one hand, the United States were about to invest a new president, a young, rock’n’roll-loving sax-playing boyo from the south called Bill Clinton, offering the possibility of America as the last great hope again.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
Detroit house producer Dixon returns with a release that takes inspiration from his techno contemporaries’ fixation with outer space sounds and, on the droning ‘Links’ a booming bass that makes Saunderson’s Resse project seem tame.
Lipfloater head our way for Irish tour. Who they, you wonder? The Boston band, fronted by Dub Barry Kelly, who recently opened for The Strokes, that's who
This year’s genre-redeemers, here to re-prove that words are for losers who can't say it with music, are the pathos-laden, relentless, positively monumental The Uptown Racquet Club
Memories of the Suns of Arqa are fond indeed, mostly stemming from long summer days and nights spent in a field somewhere listening to their mighty global dub sounds.
The Electric Picnic-bound Mick Jones has his youth revisited on October 3 when The Clash’s 1982 set supporting The Who in Shea Stadium is given a CD release.
Treading similar country/folk territory to Alison Krauss and Shelby Lynn, Smith’s style is less structured in the traditional sense and more quirky and personal.
Far from loud excessive rockisms, Willard Grant Conspiracy flirt around the edges of folk-rock and lo-fi country. This, their fourth album, captures a warm glow that will doubtless delight many who are already partial to Nick Cave and Tindersticks.
Widely regarded as one of the best steel guitarists in Ireland, Drogheda-based Richard Nelson has been a much in demand session musician, playing and touring with the likes of Daniel O’Donnell and Mary Duff over the years. But don’t hold that against him! In his debut album Moment’s Notice, Nelson has teamed up with the cream of the Irish jazz crop -Dave Redmond on bass, Hugh Buckley on guitar, Phil Ware on piano and Kevin Brady on drums – to produce a collection of jazz standards that sound anything but.
Famously footwear-bereft folkie Beth Orton cries our name once again at two Vicar Street shows in October, following the late summer release of fab new LP Daybreaker
What’s most striking about the show isn’t the huge Angus-style skull caps which are perched on top of the roof of the stage that come complete with wiggling devil horns – it’s the crowd.
Enniscorthy-man Clive Barnes is a 24-year-old blues singer-songwriter who, unlike too many of his European blues counterparts, doesn't sing in a fake American accent about going down to Chicago.
Alphastates, Headgear, La Rocca and Republic Of Loose are among the bands that will have music videos made by students at New York's Tisch School of the Arts
IT HARDLY needs to be explained that Jackie Chan's latest offering is by some distance the worst film this fortnight in terms of dialogue and narrative sophistication – but as out-and-out mindless fun, it's up there with anything we've seen all summer.
Every so often an album comes along that just leaves you with a big, gob-dawed smile on your face. Keep It Like A Secret is one such record. The third opus to seep out of the heart and mind of Boise, Idaho's Doug Martsch, this is a joy to behold.
How do I get there?
Aer Lingus flies direct to Geneva. If you don’t have specific dates in mind, you can get a great deal. Prices vary from as little as €6 excluding taxes and charges to over €150 each way.
Using the same chorus structure made popular by Short Cuts and Crash, this singular Australian drama refuses to connect all the dots until the very last moments.
The emergence of what is being touted as Kinks’ mainman Ray Davies’ first official solo album is quite timely, given that the sound of mid-period Kinks permeates much of to-day’s hot “new” acts.
What is it about this mob that fails to persuade? Their steel peddle revivalism comes on like pastiche, yet it’s subtle, tender pastiche, delivered with intelligence and reverence. There are hints of Beck, glimpses of vintage Nick Cave and tremors too of music that is older, sadder, wiser.
That's me sold on Trashmonk. Mona Lisa Overdrive contains some of the most unusual, atmospheric, surprising and mystical songs that I've heard in ages.
That's me sold on Trashmonk. Mona Lisa Overdrive contains some of the most unusual, atmospheric, surprising and mystical songs that I've heard in ages.
Trouble is that much of Simply Deep sounds exactly like you’d expect it to sound, a succession of fairly standard R&B excursions that showcase a fine voice but little in the way of genuine inspiration.
Having scored a bounding success with his screenplay for last year’s Man About Dog, Pearse ‘not a cat person’ Elliot makes his directorial debut with another film that might rightly be described as all dog.
With their album catalogue now into double-figures, the Vermont-raised Phish (not to be confused with that big bloke from Marillion) have yet to stamp their indelible mark on Irish earlobes, . . .
Kicking off in a rush of rudimentary riffs and cracked vocals, The Weirdness suggests all of your fears have come true: rock’s angriest mob have turned into toothless old sleazes, and it seems they’re the only ones not to realise it.
Dublin’s Stone Ocean are unmistakably, 100%, no-doubt-about-it, alt rock. Much in the way that Queens Of The Stone Age are, and there’s no other words to describe them so accurately.
Songs From The West Coast harks back to a time, before the tiaras and tantrums when Elton John had an untouchable knack for turning out memorable, melodic songs in tune with the times
I would be guilty of gross hyperbole if I asserted that John Coltrane has been largely forgotten by all except jazz fans, but there's little doubt that his place in history has been considerably obscured due to the shadow cast by his contemporary and one-time bandmate, Miles Davis.
A COMPILATION of eight years worth of The Pastels' singles, b-sides, odds, sods, cover versions and fiddly instrumental bits, Truckload Of Trouble proves that The Pastels are, in one sense at least, a remarkable group.
Displaying more balls than Old Trafford on a Saturday afternoon, Velvet Revolver’s music is much more than the sum of its parts – and that’s saying something.
Sports correspondent Barry Glendenning reports on exciting new developments in cricket and enjoys a day at the races – purely with the intention of, er, studying the field, of course
28% | 27 May 2004
Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark rounds up the best music CDs, DVDs and books of the fortnight...
An intensely personal portrait of iconoclastic architect Louis Kahn, the documentary, subtitled A Son’s Journey, marks the director’s attempt to rediscover a father he barely knew through family, friends and Louis’ singular artistic vision.
Subtitled Notes From Planet Earth (whatever that means) this newly compiled collection from the Dalkey Dynamo claims to be different in one major respect from previous Greatest Hits offerings.
He is the doyen of one-liners and one of the great physical comedians of the age. But don’t expect Emo Philips to crack up when conversation turns to the subject of Ireland’s roads.
Aongside gentlemen of similar vintage and taste such as Shane MacGowan and Nick Cave, Will Oldham (by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Palace Brother, or any other name) is a master of adapting traditional musical and linguistic idioms to post-punk sense and sensibilities.
Two things shine through here: the affection and respect Toner has for the music, and the corresponding affection and respect in which he’s held by his fellow musicians.
I HOPE John O Donoghue has a happy Christmas. The last time I saw our Minister for Justice on television, he looked and sounded like a deeply troubled man.
Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days Of Heaven), one of cinema’s most unique creatures, doesn’t do car-chases. The New World, his reworking of the Pocahontas legend, is less a film, more a sublime visual poem, with the colonisation of America re-envisaged as the expulsion from Eden.
Dublin's Hyland Brothers are aiming to punch their way into the Guinness Book Of Records. How? They are all launching individual bids for European boxing titles.
They got rhythm; they got soul; they got a newfound pop sensibility. Yes indeed, folks, Tindersticks are back and they're better than ever. It seems that Stuart Staples & Co. have finally had enough of life in the lonely bedsit and have decided to come out and face the world.
A smouldering demented femme disrupts a buttoned-up bourgeois existence. Dead bodies pop up. Elegant, yet coolly dispassionate Hitchcockian rhythms with no particular place to go. Yep, it’s a Claude Chabrol movie alright. Never quite as terrible as the rest of the New Wave enfants, The Bridesmaid marks the 75 year old director’s second crack at a Ruth Rendell mystery, but that’s no cause to panic.
Other Voices: Songs From A Room - the gig series held in a Dingle church and filmed for serial broadcast on N2 - to debut on telly screens at the end of the month
It’s a sign of some pretty vacant musical times that Angels And Cigarettes, the major label debut from 24 year old Eliza Carthy, can saunter all the way to the Mercury Prize nominations list.
Two CDs here, one a 'best of' and the other comprised of a dozen brand new outpourings from one of the legendary Northern bands of the punk era, paint a graphic sonic picture of Belfast's social eruptions.
Van Morrison and Linda Gail Lewis
What next for Van Morrison? Already this year he's gone back to his skiffle roots with The Skiffle Sessions, hauling on board for that project the great Lonnie Donegan. And now Van-the-man returns to a time when he was Van-the-boy, digging the kind of pure country music made by Hank Williams and the frenetic rock 'n' roll sounds fashioned by Jerry Lee Lewis.
The faces so resemble reanimated death-masks it’s often like watching a Joan Rivers lookalike contest. This coldness naturally detracts somewhat from the festive vibe. After all, even It’s A Wonderful Life wouldn’t work if it starred a bunch of robots.
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.
Some performers wish you to know they can sing like angels and howl like banshees. In fact, so proud are they of their foundation-shaking vocals, they hesitate to allow anything as trivial as a song get in the way.
It's hard to believe that it's so long since John Fogerty's last album. In the intervening time span, rumour and speculation flared intermittently about a new album in the marking - yet Fogerty, one of rock'n'roll's most tantalisingly enigmatic recluses remained silent.
He's been languishing in the undergrowth for way too long. But Lonnie Donegan has emerged from the shadows with a mighty fine album, a calling card to be proud of, especially when he comes knocking on the doors of an entire generation who missed out on the delights of 'My Old Man's A Dustman'.
THE EARLY promise of Musical Shapes, the album Carlene Carter recorded in England - and which was produced by her then husband Nick Lowe - wasn't fulfilled until almost a decade later.
The 14th Dublin Film Festival will be underway by the time you read this, and will remain in full swing till 25th April. Admission to all screenings is restricted to Festival members, but since the membership fee is a mere £3, it's certainly more than worth your while taking the trouble. Here's a brief rundown of ten of the expected highlights.
Discuss: The Libertines – one of the most exciting personality clashes since Mick & Keef/Strummer & Jones/Morrissey & Marr, or Jam-my dodgers in matching emperor’s new Sgt. Pepper suits who struck lucky with a couple of decent tunes?
Aw, who cares.
During his misspent youth, Johnny Cash crashed and burned so spectacularly, so frequently, that a future rock biopic became something of a certainty. James Mangold’s fine film has plenty of seamy detail – Cash’s amphetamine fuelled tours with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, hysterical groupies, a drug-bust at the Mexican border. Primarily though, Walk The Line is a romance, a dark, spiritual, difficult, redemptive love story.
TOMBSTONE (Directed by George P. Cosmatos. Starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Dana Delany, Jason Priestly, Joanna Pacula, Michael Rooker, Billy Zane)
For a man who generally guards his privacy with considerable zeal, this six CD box set is a generous entree into the private realm and thoughts of a man who has chronicled Ireland’s place in the modern world with all the passion, courage and clarity of a homegrown Woody Guthrie.
Millions announces its implausibility by situating itself in a UK on the verge of switching to the euro. For several minutes you wonder to yourself if Danny Boyle’s follow-up to 28 Days Later is about to present the reanimated corpses of Sir James Goldsmith and Dennis Thatcher leading an attack on Westminster, or related news stories, such as, ‘hell freezes over’. Happily, the film quickly proves far too charming to sustain such notions, though it must be said that Millions is not without its fair share of the deceased.
ANY ALBUM that devotes its opening track to the cross-dressing antics of cartoon character Mr. Benn must have something going for it and as 'Festive Road' takes you strolling through the leafy streets of sixties' London suburbia, it soon becomes apparent that what we're dealing with here is songwriting of a vastly superior quality.
This is not “the Indiana movie that you were dreading.” Though it’s not nearly as good as the trilogy that went before, Crystal Skull is, undeniably, quite good fun.
Returning to London from a trip to Tuscany, Bootboy re-evaluates his love for urban anonymity, and discovers why there’s no room for big fish in the small ponds.
Contract-filler is a dirty word in the music business. It's an expression used to describe a shabby or rushed record - a record that lacks commitment or interest on the musician's part.
Moving Hearts' posthumous offering The Storm, is by Donal Lunny's admission on Dave Fanning's Rock Show recently, an unashamed contract-filler.
How do I get there?
Ryanair flies from Dublin to Torp airport for as little as e5 each way. So you’ll have no trouble finding return flights for under e50. A word of caution; saying Oslo (Torp) is a bit like saying Dublin (Borris-In-Ossory). A bus service Torpekspressen links the airport to Oslo city (about 1 hour 45 minutes away) and costs e20 for a single ticket or e35 for a return. SAS Scandinavian also flies from Dublin to the main Oslo airport (a mere 20 minute train ride from the city centre) but you’ll pay around e200 for a return ticket. A connecting flight with Aer Lingus stopping in London Heathrow works out at about the same price.
John Kelly’s Mystery Train is among the surprise exclusions in a major reshuffling of the pack at RTE radio. Both RTE Radio 1 and 2FM are affected by the changes, with long-standing 2FM stalwart Dave Fanning shifting over to Radio 1 for the majority of his on-air hours.
ORANGEMEN last marched in Dublin in 1937. Apparently feelings ran high at the time, and there were running battles and scuffles the length of Talbot Street, as the banner-bedecked brigade made its way towards Amiens Street station, some of them, at least, to board the Belfast train there. Sixty-three years on, another march is being planned for the capital this time to mark the bicentenary of the first meeting of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which took place in what is now the Norwich Union building on Dawson Street.
For every macho posture, there are two images of Rock strumming an acoustic or blowing on a harmonica. Flip through the album credits and there are also indicators that there is more to Cocky than meets the eye.
Born on 26th February 1932 in Arkansas, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Johnny Cash is one of the true legends of country music, a performer whose popularity transcends the boundaries of that art-form.
One of the problems of working for a fortnightly publication is that events can so easily overtake you. Right now, on Monday 9th October, the stark reality is that the Middle East is on the brink of all-out war. By the time you read this, Israel may have forced the region over that brink, potentially plunging Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya and the Lebanon, as well as Palestine, into a full-scale conflict.
Having supported the likes of Relish and Interpol, Belfast-based rockers Leya have now signed with prestigious Dublin label Rubyworks. Plus the usual round-up of news from the domestic front.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
IN RAT Pack Confidential, his immensely entertaining analysis of the bacchanalian rites of Frank Sinatra s showbiz pals summit in early 60s Vegas, Shawn Levy tells a story about stand-up comedian Joey Bishop, one of the lesser known rodents on the famous Sands Hotel bill which comprised such showbiz luminaries as Ol Blue Eyes, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Peter Lawford.
Or how the Christian right detected family values in the sex lives of penguins. But only the heterosexual ones. Plus: the bizarre parable of the Eyeballs In The Sky.
“One… two… three… four. Is anybody aliiive out there?” Recorded at the final two shows of his record breaking ten-night stand at Madison Square Gardens last summer, this is The Boss’ most anticipated release in years.
In which your correspondent strongly retracts previously stated praise for the London underground, and celebrates the cavalier approach of the irrepressible Birr hurlers.
Trent Duval, 28, is a stand-up comedian who has been playing the Irish comedy circuit for almost three years. He is currently working on a sitcom set in the Maldives, a play, two period dramas and a novel. In August, he takes his one-man show, Pre-Millennium Tension, to the Edinburgh Festival. He shares a house in Northside Dublin with his friends, Jack, an accountant, and Midgy (not his real name), a leisure centre manager.
I Never Thought This Day Would Come is a confident, big-hearted and ebullient record, which sees Peter Wilson tell his truths from behind the mask of Duke Special.
For his latest astonishing trick, slacker deity and screenwriting wunderkind Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of A Dangerous Mind, Human Nature) tackles the twisty, time-travelling, amnesiac romance with vaulting, overwhelming success.
Being a fiendishly appropriate headline for a column in which our hero reveals how easy it is to win an Oscar and offers his suggestion for the ultimate musical instrument of torture. (And no, it’s not the accordion).
JIMEOIN, ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDIANS WORKING IN AUSTRALIA, WAS BORN AND BRED IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND EMIGRATED SEVERAL YEARS AGO IN SEARCH OF SUNSHINE AND A FAIRER WAY OF LIFE. BACK HOME FOR HIS FIRST EXTENSIVE IRISH TOUR, HE TELLS LORRAINE FREENEY WHY AUSSIES RULE...
More and more of us are losing our jobs – but we shouldn’t blame so-called ‘low-skilled’ workers for joining the construction sector when times were good. Their contribution to the economy was no less valuable than anyone else’s.
After more than 15 years BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line is undergoing something of a re-vamp. Colin Carberry reports on why this is good news for fans, and bands, on both sides of the border
From his role as Officer Larvell Jones in Police Academy to voicing Gremlins and imitating Zeppelin and Hendrix, Michael Winslow has been making funny noises with his mouth for decades.
Bootboy's productivity takes off ... he credits sexual energy as the driving force, and ponders the impact of such vigour on those who are expected to remain celibate.
At long last, a real debate seems to be beginning in Ireland about our treatment of immigrants. It may get nasty and unpleasant at times over the coming months. Already, the foul stench of prejudice and bigotry is in the air, with the attempted launching of the Immigration Control Platform by the Clonakilty schoolteacher (the mind boggles) Aine Nm Chonaill. This pathetic creature s ideology stinks but, in a perverse way, in launching her campaign she may be doing us all an unintended favour. Because what she espouses is little more than an extreme version of what passes for official policy on immigration in this country.
Unlike Dublin, London and occasionally Paris, Berlin hasn’t yet succumbed to the increasing pace of modern life and become a stressful, impersonal, and overpriced capital. words: Paul Walsh
*Well, it's 9th and Hannepin/And all the donuts have/names that sound like prostitutes/And the moon's teethmarks are/on the sky like a tarp thrown over this...*
Hold on to your hats, folks, fasten your seat-belts, gird your loins, and let the devil take the hindmost, for that annual bonanza of brinkmanship when Foul Play makes its predictions for the destination of soccer
