Someone once said that listening to a Tom Waits CD is more like watching a play than hearing an album. So seeing a Tom Waits show is perhaps akin to some abstruse sensory overload that, no matter how high the expectation, will bite you like a shark. The Carre Theatre in Amsterdam is a beautifully classic, large auditorium with retracting chandeliers and burgundy seats.
Someone once said that listening to a Tom Waits CD is more like watching a play than hearing an album. So seeing a Tom Waits show is perhaps akin to some abstruse sensory overload that, no matter how high the expectation, will bite you like a shark. The Carre Theatre in Amsterdam is a beautifully classic, large auditorium with retracting chandeliers and burgundy seats.
THE HEIR TO Dr. John’s voodoo blues throne, John Hammond, pays an April 21st visit to HQ.
He comes armed with a new album, Wicked Grin, that was written and produced by his old mucker, Tom Waits.
In a rare interview, US alt culture icon Tom Waits talks to Dave Fanning about touring with Zappa, getting the nod of approval from Dylan, his fastidious approach to songwriting and why Bill Hicks remains America’s foremost political commentator
This immaculate 1973 debut remains, for casual fans, his most complete (and by far most accessible) album: Waits doled out his stories of love, regret and heartbreak like those emotions had just been discovered for the first time.
The Duran Duran sound and Suede-like lyrics in ‘She Waits For Me’ all lend themselves well to an excellent historical reconstruction of another musical era. A slick production, the big guitar sound has all the right festival twang and shriek to it. “We want to make pop music cool again,” goes their manifesto, so it’s up to you whether to take that as a gesture of optimism or a snide dig.
Ahead of Tom Waits' much-anticipated Dublin visit for three gigs this Wednesday July 30 – Friday August 1, organisers have released final stage time and ticket security information.
The Van Diemens – a group comprised of top musicians who've played with the likes of Van Morrison and Duke Special – play a night of rock tributes in Whelan's this month.
Alice and Blood Money are Siamese twinsets written by Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan for a stage production directed by Texan image alchemist Robert Wilson
A shaggy dog story: Tom Waits shows up at a Northern Californian studio, prospecting for premises close to home so that he can ferry his kids to and from school while working.
The only problem with writing about any new Tom Waits record is the man himself describes his own work so accurately that any further attempts at conceptualism are rendered superfluous.
Far from the miserable pessimist of lore, eels frontman Mark Everett, aka E, is in fact an upbeat, sanguine character with an engagingly wry sense of humour. He here talks to Paul Nolan about The Eels’ extraordinary new double album, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, being inspired by Stanley Kubrick, collaborating with Tom Waits, why his dog couldn’t make it out on tour, and slapping Steve Jones’ backside.
Soul legend Solomon Burke waxes lyrical about a new album that sees him aided by a stellar cast including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, The Blind Boys Of Alabama... and one hundred pieces of fried chicken
The deadline is approaching for entries to the 2008 International Songwriting Competition, with the full list of judges just announced, including Tom Waits and Black Francis.
Shirley Manson, Tom Waits and Suzanne Vega are among the many heavyweight champions of US cult author JT LEROY, a 21-year-old who survived childhood abuse and a period as a truckstop hustler to become what he calls “an accidental novelist”.
When the Tom Waits shows were announced, there was the by now almost compulsory hue and cry about the ticket prices. So why do we pay more for tickets in Ireland than in the US?
See him after midnight in the trailer-park: beside his fire with its strange aromas, the withered man with the parched voice and the piercing eyes with even stranger talismans on his jacket.
*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...*
Dr Sean Millar is back with an acclaimed new album, this time accompanied by The Beet Club, displaying a recently acquired maturity in both music and lyric. Yet he tells Stephen Robinson that he's happy to be still growing up
PETER MURPHY meets GAVIN FRIDAY and discovers a fascination with Kurt Weill that has led to Friday and Maurice Seezer’s Ich Lieb Dich revue at the Tivoli Theatre
A misbegotten, footsore bone-crushing trek through the industrial badlands of Northern Germany finally left me in a single hotel room in Frankfurt uncorking a dutyfree bottle of Old Bushmills.
He’s the joker in the Irish music pack, a working class hero who has at once conquered and subverted the mainstream. For his first album in six years JERRY FISH and his MUDBUG CLUB have also roped in some top-tier collaborators including rockabilly queen Imelda May and Carol Keogh.
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.
He may have ranked among the biggest-selling artists in the world in 2002 – but the ambition that has driven Eminem to pop’s dizziest heights shows no sign of abating with the release of his own biopic, 8 Mile. On track to becoming Hollywood’s latest darling, with all the attendant pressures and provocations that entails, will his art survive?
EXTREMELY COOL is right. Not every Charlie-come-lately touting his second album can boast an endorsement from Willie Dixon on the cover, credit executive production duties to Johnny Depp, and feature major contributions in the songwriting, production and vocal departments from none other than Tom Waits. Mr. Weiss is connected.
A split seven-inch, Porn Trauma’s first effort since last year’s ‘Sunrise’ debut, sees the young Dubliners maturing nicely as a songwriting unit. Where their frantic live shows have often been let down by their material bleeding into one, ‘Casanova Blues’ is sufficiently stripped-back to allow fuller appreciation. All Waits-esque lyricism, its drowsy blues and Sunday morning comedown aura bring to mind slices of The Coral’s debut.
Jack L’s ambitions appear to have shrunk a little in recent times – seemingly resigned to the fact that he’ll never be seen as Ireland’s spiritual heir to Scott Walker (or Tom Waits), he has settled for making records that appeal to folks who find the Divine Comedy a little too feisty. Not necessarily a bad thing: ‘Chocolate Eyes’ is a pretty-but-inconsequential AOR ballad, which contains the telling line “I gave up on dreams / and regrets”. Never fear, Jack – now that you’re aiming lower, you’re actually hitting closer to the mark.
U2, Tom Waits, The Pretenders, Motorhead, Billy Corgan, Marilyn Manson & more to cover The Ramones on new tribute album, We're A Happy Family, due out later this year
If there was one album that convinced Bob Dylan to include Paul Brady in the club of “secret heroes” he listed in the liner notes of Biograph— and let’s not forget the only other members of this somewhat exclusive coterie were Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen— then it was 1981’s Hard Station.
Nouveau synth-pop and shoegazer drones mightn’t seem like the wisest bedding for Tom Waits’s compositions, but Scarlett and Sitek know exactly what they’re doing.
True love waits and all, but for the third album, I’d suggest a return to the bedroom studio…and maybe he should bring a couple of birds in tow to really loosen things up.
Suicaine Gratification treats us to the sound of an older and maybe even wiser Paul Westerberg. Coming across somewhere between the two Toms, Petty and Waits, it's one of his finest collections of songs to date.
You can’t help thinking of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, even Simon & Garfunkel, as ultimately this is a collection of simple songs and beautiful melodies wrapped in throbbing basslines and lo-fi beats.
A special exhibition focussing on musical inspirations as been lined up for The Music Show, which takes place at the RDS in Dublin this weekend, Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5.
THIS ONE was always going to be an event. Take an award wining actress/singer - one of Germany's leading exponents of Weimar Republicanism and the French chanson tradition - give her a ream of songs by Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Neil Hannon, Tom Waits, Philip Glass, Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill amongst others, assign Joby Talbot the arranging chores, recruit most of The Divine Comedy as house band and allow Scott Walker and Hal Willner to produce a brace of tracks . . .. this writer was halfway sold without hearing a note.
SHORT CUTS (Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Andie McDowell, Bruce Davison, Julianne Moore, Mathew Modine, Anne Archer, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher, Annie Ross, Lori Singer, Jack Lemmon, Lyle Lovett, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis)
We're not promising that it will bring untold riches and a ready supply of willing
bedmates, but this 10-step plan may just stop your band becoming the next Gay Dad.
The new album from Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (pictured) is one of the folk records of the year. As is Steve Earle’s remarkable ode to his adopted New York.
As he limbers up for yet another sell-out Irish tour, guitar-picking hearthrob Tom Baxter is keen to scotch rumours of impending nuptials and wax lyrical about his love affair with this country
Having shifted from playing drums in “loud, noisy rock bands” to becoming a Hot Press contributor in 1996, Peter Murphy has fast gained a reputation as one of Ireland’s leading journalists.
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.
Do you recognise this voice? "It really annoys me that our bleedin’ patron saint is a bloody Brit. Before he came along we were havin’ the craic, drinkin’, fightin’, killin’, pukin’, inbreedin’ an’ ridin’ animals. Then over he trots with his ‘thou shalt not do this’ or ‘hey, leave that Irish wolfhound alone’..."
Now a provocative solo artist following a spell with the Subtonics, The Mighty Stef (alias Stefan Murphy) invites Jackie Hayden round for some pasta a la Murphy.
SPARKLEHORSE TAKE CARE of headline duties when the Witnness Rising tour swings by the Empire, Belfast (June 27th); Warwick, Galway (28th); Savoy Theatre, Cork (29th); and Whelan’s, Dublin (30th @ 2 and 7.30pm).
Kristen Hersh’s new solo effort The Grotto is being released on the same day as her first album in seven years with her former band, Throwing Muses. she explains this curious coincidence – and lots more – to Eamon Sweeney
With the final countdown to Christmas already well underway, what’s on offer by way of music-related presents is on every rock’n’roll fan’s mind. We took Jerry Fish into HMV in Grafton St. and asked him to pick out the most desirable items on offer – including, of course, his own wonderful new record Live At The Spiegeltent.
With the final countdown to Christmas already well underway, what’s on offer by way of music-related presents is on every rock’n’roll fan’s mind. We took Jerry Fish into HMV in Grafton St. and asked him to pick out the most desirable items on offer – including, of course, his own wonderful new record Live At The Spiegeltent.
Stonemason-turned-artful strummer Mick Flannery talks about nearly winning the Choice Music Prize for his album White Lies, his on-going battle against laziness and his dreams of breaking the UK
MARY STOKES reminisces on her first decade as Ireland s premier blues artist, and looks forward to expanding her horizons in the future. Interview: john walshe.
For the painfully shy and private Ray LaMontagne, life in the spotlight is one of almost unremitting discomfort, and yet he hopes to last as long as Willie Nelson.
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.
They've hardly played any gigs and have only a handful of releasees to their name. Thanks in part, to the blessing of Damien Rice, however The Guggenheim Grotto are going places.
Taking time out from his stag weekend, baroque retro-rocker The Mighty Stef talks about the influence of film on his writing, his enduring love for Nick Cave and his friendship with Shane MacGowan
2004 was a year of infotainment overload when popular culture became increasingly co-opted to the business of selling. But there were those precious few, who remained faithful to the idea of art for its own sake.
Made up of some of Ireland’s finest session musicians, who have played with artists ranging from Damien Rice and Paddy Casey to Sister Sledge and the Bee Gees, The Carnival Saloon offer a promising debut.
Steve Earle is known for his passionate political views. But never mind standing firm in the face of conservative America. The hardest thing he ever did was follow Christy Moore onstage.
Tower's Wicklow Street store manager Clive Branagan reflects on how the shop's independent stance enabled them to get progressively stronger, while others floundered.
As it’s back-to-school time, Hit The North thought it would be fun to ask one of our class swots to write a ‘what we did with our summer’ report. So, find below how Rocky from electro-pop duo Oppenheimer spent the last month wooing New York suits, Hells Angels and Jersey cops. If they keep doing their homework, we predict great things this year.
Rik Mayall is back with a show that could be his rudest and most spectacular yet. Paul Nolan asks about the latest installment of bottom, and why he and Ade Eedmondson are the new Laurel & Hardy.
Rik Mayall is back with a show that could be his rudest and most spectacular yet. Paul Nolan asks about the latest installment of bottom, and why he and Ade Eedmondson are the new Laurel & Hardy.
You know her as the songstress from Stars and Broken Social Scene. Doing her own thing AMY MILLAN reveals herself to be, of all things, a country chanteuse, her heart heavy with woe.
Like the Loch Ness Monster and The Abominable Snowman, doubts have long been cast over the existence of a recording of beat master JACK KEROUAC reading from his classic On The Road. Now, not only have the legendary tapes finally materialised, they also show that the man was no mean crooner and songwriter to boot. PETER MURPHY reports.
Like the Loch Ness Monster and The Abominable Snowman, doubts have long been cast over the existence of a recording of beat master JACK KEROUAC reading from his classic On The Road. Now, not only have the legendary tapes finally materialised, they also show that the man was no mean crooner and songwriter to boot. PETER MURPHY reports.
Few things faze gary louris and marc perlman, the original members of the jayhawks. In fact, their only regret is that they don t have breasts. Interview: Peter Murphy.
Theo, aka Terry Quigley, did time in One Half Monk, but now fronts Theo and the Red Beats. Jackie Hayden uncovers the background to their debut album Get What You Came For.
Having made the headlines recently with their attention-grabbing impromptu gig at the You’re A Star auditions in Portlaoise, Longford rockers The Rubens are now out to put the life and soul back into Irish pop.
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
Steve Cummins meets Philip King, the man behind Other Voices: Songs From A Room, the acclaimed music show which has provided an invaluable platform for Irish musicians – and which has now expanded its remit to include international artists as well.
Steve Cummins meets Philip King, the man behind Other Voices: Songs From A Room, the acclaimed music show which has provided an invaluable platform for Irish musicians – and which has now expanded its remit to include international artists as well.
MIKE DID not know what he was getting himself into. I didn’t know who Mike was at the time, only that I was sitting in my favourite cocktail bar, Footlights, during the all-day Sunday happy hour and these two very colourful, very loud black guys came in, full of laughter and big gestures.
Before Wexford playwright BILLY ROCHE made a name for himself as a Chekhovian chronicler of smalltown dreams and desperations with The Wexford Trilogy, he wrote a novel entitled Tumbling Down. More than 20 years after its original publication, that book has been revised and reissued as a beautiful limited edition hardback.
Stepping out from under the shadow of Tricky – but refusing to leave her former amour entirely behind – Martina Topley Bird has staked her own claim with one of the albums of the year. Comparisons with Billie Holiday may be flattering but, as she tells Stuart Clark, she’s too “pig-headed” to be anyone other than herself
When not sleeping late or trying to score free beer, students like nothing better than to kick back and watch a movie. In fact, it is thanks to students that many films have gained a permanent place in the pantheon. Here are some stude faves from the annals.
No mere actor boy moonlighting as a rock star, Billy Bob Thornton is steeped in music and also in the kind of brooding Southern gothic aesthetic which informs his compelling album of song and story, Private Radio. Peter Murphy meets a singular man of stage and screen
That, according to Shane MacGowan, will be the title of his next, and exceedingly long-awaited album. in the meantime there’s Sean Nós, the war, his dad, drink and Celtic football legend Jimmy Johnstone to be going on with.
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.
Pennie Smith, the legendary NME photographer who shot the cover of The Clash’s London Calling is about to have an exhibition in Belfast. Peter Murphy gets her to rewind the film
He’s triumphed at comedy venues all over the country, and was a firm favourite with the blue-rinse brigade as ultra-naff country star Eoin McLove in Father Ted. Now Louth stand-up Patrick McDonnell has turned his attention to hoodwinking unsuspecting members of the public in RTE’s surreptitiously filmed prank-fest, Naked Camera.
Almost unheralded, in "Raintown" Scotland's Deacon Blue have made one of the year's outstanding albums. Despite extensive critical kudos, however, the first two singles from the album - "Dignity" and "Loaded" - failed to make any inroads into the charts. A third single, the excellent "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)" looks as if it might enable Deacon Blue to prise open the door. Nevertheless the band must be perturbed at their relative lack of success to date.
BIG IN BRITAIN! BIG ON THE CONTINENT! BIG IN THE STATES! YET IRELAND STILL HAS TO FULLY SUCCUMB TO THE DELIGHTS OF FOUR MEN AND A DOG. HERE, THE TRAD SUPERGROUP EXPLAIN THEIR CURRENT SITUATION TO COLM O'HARE AS THEIR SECOND ALBUM *SHIFTING GRAVEL* HITS THE SHOPS.
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
Fifteen years since they first topped the Irish charts, The Saw Doctors remain one of this country’s most successful bands. So why do so many people still consider them a novelty act?
As the founder of Island Records Chris Blackwell can claim a unique role in the evolution of popular music. He pulls up a chair and shoots the breeze about his Jamaican heritage, his relationship with Bob Marley and taking power-lunches with U2.
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
Annie Nightingale on BBC Radio One is Dance Music s fixture for insomniac clubbers. But for the BBC s first-ever female DJ this is just the latest incarnation of a career that began, sort-of, by insulting John Lennon. ANDY DARLINGTON reads the book, sits in on the show, and even finds time for an interview.
There's another Belfast, an alternate dimension populated by C.S. Lewis, Van and your host and spirit guide, Duke Special, who's just released his latest album.
She's never been one to pull her punches but even by her standards, Mary Coughlan's latest album is a rollercoaster. Here, she talks about a life of love, loss, pain and redemption.
Michael Ondaatje wrote The English Patient, and is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language – but his latest tome, Divisadero, has confounded and impressed critics in equal measure.
With his work on the soundtrack to In The Name Of The Father bringing him into the full glare of media attention Gavin Friday takes this opportunity to put to rest any accusations of riding on U2’s coat-tails. Confident and brimming with ideas for his solo career, The Spotlight Kid gives the lowdown to an eager BILL GRAHAM.
While 2004 has not been an especially spectacular year to date, there is good reason to believe that rocks big guns are likely to deliver the kind of records that will revive spirits in the industry. Chris Donovan previews some of the albums that are likely to top the sales – and the critical – charts before 2004 is out...
The Stunning's new EP, Deja Voodoo, features cover versions of Beatles, Byrds, Dylan and Captain Beefheart tracks. But what about the more intriguing and embarrassing records that lurk within Steve Wall's collection? Olaf Tyaransen investigates and unearths a few surprises like The Goons, BBC sound effects albums, and ...Barry White?!
Those angry young Marxist Punk-Rockers THE MEKONS are back with a new album I Love Mekons and a contribution to a pro-abortion Woman’s Rights compilation . . . but they’re no longer quite so angry or young, not exactly Marxist, and their Punk is reinforced by Folk, Country and World Music! ANDY
DARLINGTON finds out what the hell is going on in Club Mekon.
He created great songs out of the good, the bad and the ugly and earned the respect of people as diverse as Bob Dylan and Hunter S. Thompson. In this previously unpublished interview Warren Zevon, who died last week after a long battle with cancer, reflects on his sweet and dirty life and times.
Having survived the Stone Roses and a spell in jail, IAN BROWN briefly toyed with the idea of a career in gardening before re-inventing himself as the man most likely to bridge the gap between rock and dance. Ahead of his appearance at Homelands, he talks to RICHARD BROPHY.
A straight-talking Swede renowned her famously candid – and frequently highly controversial – personal web-blog, European Commission Vice President Margot Wallstrom is not your typical Eurocrat. On a recent visit to Dublin, she took time out to talk to Hot Press about Tony Blair, George Bush, the Irish and the Swedes’ mutual love of alcohol, Bertie Ahern, Charlie McCreevey’s accent, Bono and Bob Geldof. And she even taught us a few Swedish swear words. Interview by Jackie Hayden. Photography by Liam Sweeney.
We re surrounded by American culture from the breakfasts we eat through the beer we drink to the music and movies we define our lives by. And with Independence Day coming on July 4th, you might as well go ahead and enjoy it to the full. Here EAMON SWEENEY suggests how to become an American for a day.
She learned her craft with the Wild Oscars and Kaydee, and more recently featured on the John Hughes album Wild Ocean. Now, Tara Blaise has taken flight with the release of her debut album Dancing On Tables Barefoot – a record that unveils an impressively free-spirit and a desire to live life to the full.
During their 11-year lifespan, New Zealand popsters Crowded House racked up four hugely successful albums and umpteen hit singles.
It was, therefore, all the more of a shock to their legions of fans when they called it a day in 1996. Here, erstwhile mainman NEIL FINN explains the reasons for the split in typically candid fashion to NEIL McCORMICK, as well as discussing the anticipated reaction to his new solo album, Try Whistling This.
With a herd of their fellow Bostonians stampeding the charts and a fine new album Big Red Letter Day to their credit, BUFFALO TOM seem especially primed to cash in on the commercial success that has been dangled teasingly in front of their faces for years. But are they too normal to be
rock 'n' roll stars? LORRAINE FREENEY tracked the band in London with that very question in mind.
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.
Things are on the up and up for Snow Patrol whose long-overdue commercial success means they’re now getting matey with pop divas, soap stars and footballers. Gary Lightbody tells Stuart Clark how it all went right.
With her new volume of autobiography, AGNES BERNELLE has turned the spotlight away from the stage and onto her own life illuminating both the happier and dark chapters of a turbulent personal story. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: COLM HENRY
One of Ireland’s premier singer/songwriters whose work has been covered by Christy Moore and the Corrs, Jimmy MacCarthy’s latest album The Moment illustrates a lighter side to his character. Below Jimmy gives us the inside track on the songs, the singers and the craft of writing
He was a literary sensation, a writer with the outlaw charm of a rock star. But when rumours began to circulate that JT LeRoy was nothing more than a post-modern media prank, Peter Murphy, a friend and confidante, found himself caught up in an extraordinary story.
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.
t certainly would, Joe. But you can have a toot on my megaphone if you like! Gavin Friday discusses the finer points of sexual politics not to mention the post-Freudian subtext to his stunning new meisterwork Shag Tobacco with Dr Joe Jackson. Our man in the white coat concluded: Gavin s time has come. But is the world finally read
Don't write the singular Maria McKee; write the plural Maria McKee instead. Bill Graham encounters a mercurial talent in a variety of moods, musics and memories.
Jerry Fish – or if you prefer, Gerry Whelan – is what you might call a happy man right now. In fact, if the guy were any higher, the boys in blue would probably stop him on the street and ask him to piss into a cup. Not only is he preparing to close on his most successful professional year in a decade, he’s also received a rather momentous early Christmas present. Some 28 hours before our meeting, the singer’s partner Niki had given birth to a baby boy, their second child. Mr Fish, as you can imagine, is coasting on cigars and brandy and goodwill to all men.
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.
Hand-picked, coddled and manufactured: mainstream pop stars have the life. Don t they? KIM PORCELLI gets up about twelve hours earlier than usual and spends the day with SAMANTHA MUMBA. Hot shots: PETER MATTHEWS
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they re naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: Colm O Hare.
The Kooks' first album was a million-selling sensation. As they unleash the long-awaited sequel, frontman Luke Pritchard talks about the death of his father, his feud with television presenter Simon Amstell and much more...
Back in the saddle witha politically charged new album, Burning TimesChristy Moore and co-collaborator Declan Sinnott are putting the agit-prop back into folk. In a rare interview, Moore speaks frankly abot Hattie Carroll and Rachel Corrie, Richard Thompson anoraks, interpreting Morrissey and recently being detained by British authorities under anti-terrorism laws.
On a fleeting visit to Dublin the legendary Jack White sat down with Hot Press' Stuart Clark to discuss his past life as an upholsterer, jamming with Bob Dylan. Jimmy Page and The Edge and going for dinner with Loretta Lynne.
Psychic and physical disintegration! Quacks, pulsars and Marshall amps! The sound of the end of space and time! And, oh yes, silly song titles too! Welcome to the world of WAYNE COYNE and The Flaming Lips. Interview: Peter Murphy.
We are going to spare you all the obvious puns about going back to basics, catching this particular fish in the raw or even the irrefutable truism that fins ain’t what they used to be. But as you can see from the accompanying pictures, there is something particularly vulnerable about people when they're naked. Dropped by Atlantic Records, stripped of all the corporate support, funding, and of course bullshit, – this is how An Emotional Fish stand before the public, on the launch of their independently-produced Sloper album. Not that either the band or lead singer are without the support of people who matter. Ger is photographed with his wife Lorraine . . . Interview: COLM O’HARE. Pix: MICK QUINN.
If you want to make a demo that won't be used to blackmail you a few years down the road to fame and fortune, there are a few things you should know. Here, the experts tell Niall Crumlish what they are.
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
The spectacle of U2 playing to 50,000 admirers with OASIS as their support band would seem to suggest that reports of PopMart's demise have been greatly exagerrated. And, behind the scenes, the mood is even more upbeat as the two bands revel in a mutual appreciation society.
Neil "Access All Areas" McCormick was with them in the dressing room, the mini-bus and the after-hours bar.
It’s Christmas time and, as far as the hotpress journalistic elite are concerned, there’s not a turkey in sight. JOHN WALSHE, COLIN CARBERRY, CHRIS DONOVAN, EAMON SWEENEY and BARRY O'DONOGHUE report on the Irish acts who are going to be huuuuuuuuge!
over the next 12 months.
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.
With their new album, Gotta Go There To Come Back, in the bag, Stereophonics have chosen a very special gig at the Heineken Green Energy extravaganza in Dublin, to make their return to the stage. No wonder the boys are feeling bullish! Chris Martin, Ronnie Wood, Fran Healy, Rod Stewart, Noel Gallagher, U2 and the Rolling Stones – Kelly Jones has opinions on all of them! So who’s feeling the lash of the ‘phonics frontman’s verbal assault, then?
The first rule of interviewing LOU REED is that you don t: he interviews you. Peter Murphy survives the turning of the tables and is rewarded with thoughts on Joyce, Wilde, Dylan, Ginsberg and on becoming an elder stateman for the alternative thing .
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.
Having been catapulted to fame by their debut, the knives came out for GARBAGE with the release of Version 2.0. But their crifical mauling has only served to bring the band closer together. PETER MURPHY saw them triumph at The Point, and spoke to SHIRLEY MANSON about fame, performance and one-night stands.
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.
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
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.
One of the great rock mavericks, Moris Tepper, makes a rare visit to Ireland for gigs in The Lobby, Cork (June 26) and Boom Boom Room, Parnell Street, Dublin (27).
Until recently one of the ultimate indie cult bands, The Flaming Lips have survived the ravages of heroin, acid and a hunting trip with William Burroughs. Now, their new album At War With The Mystics finds them taking their funky psychedelia to strange new places – including the upper reaches of the charts for the first time. Could it be that their moment has finally come? Interviews: Craig Fitzsimons (now) and Peter Murphy (then). additional reporting: Stuart Clark, Ed Power and Jackie Hayden
NIALL STOKES takes a very personal journey back through the music and memories of a friendship with a man he was proud to have known
THE DRIVE to Cork was a lonely one. Ry Cooder on the deck, that sweet slide guitar shooting off tracers: the memories, stacked up like a vast
rack of on-line CDs, kept slipping in and out of the engagement slot. No need ever to press the play button. Now and then I had to hold back the
tears as the music of past friendship flooded the car and, with it, a terrible awareness of all the things that might have, but hadn't, been done.
The news of Rory Gallagher s tragic death has sent seismic shock waves through the music world. Here was a man who managed to combine the gift of being an authentic creative genius with the even rarer gift of being a genuinely decent, honourable human being. Over the next six pages, Hot Press pays tribute to both the legend and the person, with contributions from the stars, friends, fans and colleagues who were touched by the Gallagher magic, and takes a trip through the backpages of an extraordinary career.
Don’t let her steal your heart away!
sheryl crow: Hot Press Readers’ Love Of The Year and Bob Dylan’s favourite singer-songwriter is the hottest new star in rock'n'roll. Helena Mulkerns charts the singular rise of Kennet, Missouri’s most celebrated slacker country queen.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed* along the way
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
Imagine the scene. It is August 15th, 1977. Joe Jackson of Hot Press arrives at Graceland, to do the ultimate interview with Elvis Presley. Elvis is in the music room,seated at the piano and singing 'Blue
Eyes Cryin In The Rain'. They sit down across the table, Jackson pushes the record button - and so begins the final interview with the greatest rock'n'roll star of them all
Following the huge commercial success of Set List and ‘Fake’, The Frames look poised to ascend to rock’s premier league with the upcoming worldwide release of the Burn The Maps album. Kim Porcelli joins the band on the day of their triumphant show at Marlay Park to discuss the pros and cons of pop-stardom, the departure of dave odlum, the abiding influence of mic christopher, and the challenge of creating their most eagerly anticipated record yet.
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 been a long, strange trip for David Grohl, from Nirvana drummer to Foo Fighters frontman, via Queens Of The Stone Age and Tenacious D. Now he’s back with a new Foo album, he’s buried the hatchet with Courtney Love and he’s still as rock’n’roll as ever
Since their debut single ‘Wired To The Moon’ went gold here The Revs have established themselves as Ireland’s hungriest and most energetic rock combo, with an appetite for gigging and an eye for publicity that has seen them embroiled in a number of amusing controversies. But behind the brash exterior is the fascinating story of three dedicated young musicians who have overcome their status as outsiders to build one of the biggest and most loyal grass roots following of any local act. Now with the release of their debut studio album, Suck, they are ready to go international.
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
How The White Stripes turned the bare essentials into an essential noise, insisted that three is indeed a magic number and wound up becoming one of the most phenomenally successful rock acts in the world
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
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy
Never mind pressies and OD’ing on cranberry sauce, the important thing about Christmas is that it signals the return of the HP-10 Summit. Absolutely no blushes are spared as Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll elite dissects the musical year that was 2006. Keeping order: Stuart “Paxman” Clark. Taking photos: Graham “Paparazzi” Keogh. Taking the piss: Eyebrowy.
After being a magnet for A&R men during the 80s, Dublin has recently developed into something of an underachiever. The city may have the second biggest growth-rate in Europe but there are a hell of a lot of gigs and records that simply aren t selling. peter murphy casts a critical ear over the capital s music scene and decides that what s required is a full-scale artistic enema.
From "Out Of Control" to "All I Want Is You", Neil McCormick presents a major critical retrospective on the complete recorded works of U2, the band who went from being one of the world's worst cover groups to become a leading force in modern Rock'n'Roll
I bet if you asked him, the Wainwright’s family dog would be able to knock out a tune or two on the piano. There just seems to be no end to the well of talent in the household. While dad Loudon 111 continues to be acclaimed as one of America's finest songwriters, and brother Rufus continues to be the critics darling, Martha has been slowly building up a cult following of her own.
Take a respected, if neglected, vocalist, give him a bunch of songs from hip contemporary writers, place him in front of some hot musicians and see what shakes out
Intially conceived as the third single release from Amnesiac, the project gloriously mutated into another 40 minute goody bag akin to the extended Airbag/How Am I Driving? package.
Comparing the insipid, whiney ramblings of The Offspring and Rancid to the incendiary anthems of movement-instigators The Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls and The Ramones is like comparing a firecracker to a nuclear explosion. But then you already knew that
This listener always got the impression that Kíla frontman Rónán Ó Snodaigh could have been born at any time in the last 1000 years or so and he’d still be doing exactly what he does today.
Sean Needham and The Maladies are among the long line-up of musicians taking part in The Music Marathon fundraising event in support of Outreach Moldova
Former Emotional Fish front-man Ger Whelan aka Jerry Fish has taken an unusual-but-winning route with this project, rounding up a diverse array of local talent to partake in a quirky, upbeat collection
Something is happening here… A Walk Across The Rooftops is drawing me in.The Blue Nile are a Scottish trip whose work owes more to the Associates and their charms than to the more guitar orientated bands like post-Postcard Orange Juice and their ilk.
Their first all-acoustic album since 1990’s Allegria, the excellent Roots sees the Gipsy Kings music return to its Flamenco/Gipsy origins without the studio embellishments of their more recent output.
This eight album from the former Grammy winner is a revelation, a beautifully formed record that on songs like ‘Open The World’ manages to sound both seductive and disturbing as it puts you under its spell.
The question has often been asked, ‘Does the world need another singer-songwriter?’. Certainly, many acoustic guitar-wielding troubadours would be better off saving their grievances for their diaries instead of inflicting them on the wider world. However, every now and then a new voice comes along that’s worthy of attention. Tessa Perry is such a voice.
There’s no getting past the thick layer of grief that cakes Ash Wednesday. Far from plunging down a sinkhole of the soul, however, Perkins has struck a note of quiet defiance.
The Solas we knew is, on record at least, no more. In its place is a highly polished outfit bringing their own muse to new pastures, where the technical possibilities of the various instruments are stretched in all sorts of ways, usually delivering that which is sought
Other Voices: Songs From A Room director Philip King reacts to news of Sinead O'Connor's retirement from public life - and praises "one of the world's very best singers"
Gone is the major label deal, along with most of The Ataris' members, and Welcome The Night sees them return as a seven-piece, complete with cello player and handling their own affairs.
The Strokes? Pah! Last night's jammed Billy Bob Thornton gig in Vicar Street (stars on the stage, stars in the audience, queues round the block) is the current front runner for gig of the year. Hot Press, of course, was there (consider us your private radio)
Having rocked up twenty-five years and over thirty albums of sometimes brilliant but always uncompromising progressive punk, Mark E. Smith's singular approach shows no sign of letting up.
After 14 years together Silkworm have become intuitively complex and inventive. But despite building a loyal fanbase, they’ve yet to earn the recognition they deserve.
Sure, this is Roesy live and dangerous on stage at The Spirit Store in Dundalk, but he might as well have been beamed up into your living room, such is the intimacy and immediacy the album creates, despite its miserly 32 minutes.
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
The Blind Boys of Alabama might have spent sixty years “talking to the man from Galileo,” but on their new album, Spirit Of The Century, they’ve gone one better and nabbed some of His funkiest tunes while they’re at it.
1985 was the year of the debut album. Light A Big Fire and their explosive ‘Gunpowder’, Hoodoo Gurus’ ‘Stoneage Romeos’, The Men They Couldn’t Hang with ‘A Night Of A Thousand Candles’, and the much vaunted Jesus And Mary Chain who silenced the detractors with ‘Psychocandy’.
While their fortunes may have faded since Jamiroquai last swung on by in 2001, there’s no sign of it in The Point tonight, the very venue they previously visited.
Anyone who ached with Shane MaacGowan on the Late Late Show will not be surprised to find him missing in action from this new album apart from some co-writing credits.
Millar retains his own distinctive edge throughout, ensuring he can experiment with pop, folk and country styles yet keep a singular thread weaving through the album
Occasionally one gets a hardy annual, but 1985 has been more of a hardly annual, than anything. Jazz hardly raised its head above the rafters, and only Wynton Marsalis brought forth a thing of beauty in ‘Hot House Flowers’. Miles Davis got worse, and sadly Philip Larkin, a great jazz critic, died.
Psapp’s airy concoctions may be a little too delicate for those with a more robust palette, but the records of such mischievous imagination and careworn beauty like this should really be savoured.
Having provided background music for a gazillion middle-aged dinner parties the world over, it was always going to be interesting to see how Norah Jones’ particular brand of intimate, sittin’-on-the-dock-of-the-Starbucks music would fare in the vast expanse of the Point.
A potent collection that allows Coughlan's seeringly honest voice to straddle the hinterlands of jazz, blues and rock like few other Irish artist would dare
Last year's A Little Bit Of Something proved to be a sadly neglected summer classic, lost in the grey noise of Britneyism but lovingly cherished by many here in HP Towers.
Welcome to the weird and wonderfully wicked world of the Black Romantics, last heard playing second fiddle (and cello) to Jack Lukeman on his debut Wax album
Seka/Sister is a marathon collection of 22 songs from a plethora of artists (both well known and obscure) in aid of a women and children's refuge in Croatia.
Seka/Sister is a marathon collection of 22 songs from a plethora of artists (both well known and obscure) in aid of a women and children's refuge in Croatia.
A year bedevilled by inconsistency, 1987 cruelly ruptured all the upheaval theories linking it to ’67 and ’77. Lots of brilliant singles and precious few (and few precious) albums.
More than another group of wannabes hoofing together the latest trendy noise, Bloc Party are a ridiculously sophisticated outfit and Silent Alarm is a most gratifying piece of aural amusement.
Double Up is a maddeningly inconsistent collection, with more misses than hits – though Kelly’s best moments do go some way towards atoning for his flaws.
Mark Mulcahy’s second solo album is surely going to win him more friends and admirers than even his glowingly-received debut, Fathering. And justifiably so, because SmileSunseT is a big, broad, warm-hearted, gentle and extremely lovable album.
Having previously confined his activities to the studio – there’s an 8-track jobbie in his living room – Dukes is now setting his sights on making Headgear work as a live entity.
Tori Amos' sixth album and her first since 1999's To Venus And Back, marks a major departure for her in that it consists entirely of cover versions – written exclusively by men!
New Wave is the fourth album from Florida punk rockers Against Me!. It will probably go down as their ‘sell-out’ record, in that it's their first for a major label.
New album Higher Ground sees them continuing to plough the fresh fields of contemporary funk and soul, shining the light of the Lord and reaping their own uniquely harmonious harvest
Crash Test Dummies have always distinguished themselves from the rest of the posse with their highly literate (and often dauntingly dense) lyrics and their apocalyptic vision of the human condition in the last decade of the millennium.
Reports of the demise of the concert business in Ireland have been greatly exaggerated. In fact the business has never been healthier, says leading concert promoter, Peter Aiken
By this stage, you're no doubt aware that Bono co-wrote this movie and provides no less than six songs on the soundtrack, some with his old muckers in U2 and others with The Million Dollar Hotel Band, which prises the likes of Lanois and Eno away from the desk and into more standard musical roles.
Watching Steve Earle and The Dukes is like rooting for a nag you know has a shot at the cup if it would only get the lead out. I’ve seen this lot a few times over the last 15 years, and tonight was possibly the closest they’ve come to an all-out tour de force, yet there’s always the sense that they’re holding out on that extra ten per cent.
Tabloid fiends that you are, you’ve probably heard that Roman Abramovich has offered Amy Winehouse a million quid to play at his new model girlfriend’s birthday bash...
Don't let the tulle threads fool you - there’s a flinty edge in Maria Doyle-Kennedy's delivery that's far closer to Patti Smith or Marianne Faithful than any of the '90s vintage Lainey Keogh-goes-to-Lilith songbirds
In a popular music world that has become increasingly schizoid and fragmented, it was appropriate that the best records came from those folk who have always boasted independence and individuality.
Sure Tadhg Cooke writes his own songs and, yes, he does sing. But for the most part, his highly assured debut album Wax & Seal sounds as far removed from the beardy brigade of po-faced strummers as Pablo AimarÍs deft touches are from the journeymen footballers of, say, West Brom. Thankfully, it's also a refreshingly cliche-free zone.
Everyone’s favourite slime-green marketing phenomenon returns in this rambunctious sequel which successfully recycles the shrewd, irreverent wit of the globe-conquering original. Now wedded to the lovely ogress-Princess (Diaz), Shrek’s (Myers) domestic bliss is shattered by an invitation from his in-laws to visit their kingdom of Far Far Away – a campy Hollywood parody apparently populated entirely by English character actors.
Laura Cantrell – investment banker by day, respected nu-country DJ by. night – gained a dizzying reputation with her two previous albums. A degree in economics and, by country standards, suspiciously comfortable upbringing (no rags-to-riches back story here) proved little hindrance as she made the Americana a-list. Her debut, Not The Tremblin’ Kind, was judged an instant classic by the alt.country cognoscenti. John Peel declared it his favourite album of the last ten years.
The official opening of The Music Show will take place in Trinity College, with an interview with Island records founder Chris Blackwell conducted by our very own Stuart Clark.
Precious and few are those who can take possession of the inanimate figures of Rock'n'Roll wax museum, get 'em on the good foot, and send them out to Boogaloo down Broadway.
"If rock 'n' roll was a religion, I'd be a preacher in need of a church."
AND YOU shall know him by his trail of dead.
Johnny Dowd is the middle aged co-owner of a New York-based haulage company.
David Johansen on the other hand, one-time front man with the New York Dolls (a moment's silence please), stays perfectly still and croaks his blues truths with all the grizzled gravitas of a fellow who has seen the three days.
Fancy taking a trip down to Dr John’s bayou, with Andy Weatherall’s decks appeal, Nick Cave’s religious fervour, and Johnny Cash’s outlaws as your inlaws?
Sumptious strings herald the opening of Catatonia’s latest aural adventure, and you’re starting to think that maybe you’re being taken in a new direction, a pop towards high art. But then Cerys Matthews’ familiar tones enter the fray and you realise that no matter what Catatonia do music-wise, they are still going to sound like Catatonia.
A solo Jeff Tweedy show, a new Poozies retrospective, Christy appearing on Later With Jools, and Kila’s pre-Christmas shows: it’s a busy time in the folk world.
Yes folks, it's here at last: the most eagerly-awaited film in all human history, starring the almighty Rupert Everett alongside his erstwhile pal Madonna in what aspires to be a serious issue-based drama about parenting, surrogacy, homosexuality and the nature of friendship
Sometimes stately, often insistent and never short of majestic, The National’s fourth opus is a towering achievement and this Boxer is surely already a heavyweight contender for album of the year.
Burn those leather chaps, chaps. X-Tina wants to be PG-Tina, and that means no mo’ dressing like no skanky ho’. Except the Aguilerean definition of ‘demure’ means that when she uncrosses her legs now, you can only see all the way to Wisconsin instead of Nebraska.
With Come Away With Me, it was a class thing. Not class as defined by birthright or capital gain or social station, but that quaint 1950s Americanism denoting an indefinable aristocracy of character.
Ireland s recording studios are busy creating the masterpieces that will dominate the charts over the coming year but there are still good deals on offer from some of our most respected establishments.
colm o hare reports.
It’s so confident, accomplished and comfortable in its own skin that you feel like you’ve happened across a long-running serial that’s bubbling along mid-season.
“And now we havf ze results of ze ‘elseekni jooury” … burble, squeal, zeekzrrzzsngtum … oops, we’re sorry, we’ll write that again … the result of the Hot Press jury, who wish to profusely thank David Byrne for all those pints he bought us in the International Bar last week – even if he did rather endanger his chances with all those neo-structuralist musings about The Bogmen.
Maybe the best way to get a handle on Devils & Dust is by process of elimination. In other words, it’s not a big band extravaganza with sax and piano fanfares for the common man. It’s not Human Touch or Lucky Town, both of which suffered from pick-up pros trying to play E Street shuffles, and as any fool knows, the only ones who can do that are the original Jersey shower. Nor is it the bleak and beautiful lunar landscape of America under the Republican gun a la Nebraska. It’s not Tom Joad either, although it does share some of those album’s attributes, namely a writerly rigour with regard to research and character development, plus a slew of wetback protagonists inhabiting southerly borders both geographical and moral.
AGNES BERNELLE s death last month brought a truly remarkable
life to a close. SIOBHAN LONG looks back, in the company of
Gavin Friday, Philip Chevron and Alan Amsby.
Check out the last of the old-format HP before we went skinny in February '08. Our new slimline cover hosted the likes of Glen, Marketa and an Oscar, along with Morrissey, Tom Waits and The Boss.
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.
Since its premiere back in 2002, HBO’s The Wire has, over the course of five years, garnered a reputation as the only serious contender for The Sopranos’ title of greatest TV show of all time.
Gavin Friday has been talking about his involvement in a Johnny Depp-inspired project that also involves Bono, Andrea Corr, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry, Antony & The Johnsons, Richard & Linda Thompson, Loudon Wainwright and some of his former Virgin Prunes bandmates.
EXCLUSIVE!! The Frames have signed a deal for most the world with Anti, the left-field wing of hardcore label Epitaph which is also home to Tricky and Tom Waits.
Thus far reviewers have been foaming at the mouth trying to describe what an ungainly and unprecedented enterprise is The Raven, but Reed has always been at his best when there’s a thread to his threnodies, from New York to Berlin.
Because the Fun Lovin’ Criminals never meant Bo Diddley in their home country, the band have always been at the whims of the British and Irish record-buying public, notoriously more fickle than America, where the sheer size of the land mass and populace means it takes longer to make a man as well as break one.
Today sees the first unveiling of the complete Hot Press Covers Exhibition online, featuring a selection of the great and historic images that have adorned the front page of the magazine, from June 1977 onwards
At least 95% of budding musicians and songwriters currently touting their wares around Ireland will probably have given up in frustration within five years
One of the most influential trad bands of the past quarter century, De Dannan have set out on the comeback trail - and they’re kicking their resurrection off with a comeback show to remember.
WHAT WE have here are two prime specimens of Metallicus Mutatus, a creature indigenous to North America and as resistant to extinction as the cockroach.
Till now, Pogues' compliments have invariably centred on Shane MacGowan's singular songwriting. The group's erratic performances which could descend into some ramshackle acoustic heart of darkness meant the praise wasn't always extended to his fellows.
David Holmes is momentarily back in Belfast, fixing up some business, talking with friends and previewing some of the music that he s been cooking up in New York over the past five months.
THE CRITICS PANEL WHO VOTED FOR THE TOP 30 ALBUMS AND SINGLES OF THE YEAR ARE AS FOLLOWS: BILL GRAHAM, LIAM FAY, GEORGE BYRNE, STUART CLARK, LORRAINE FREENEY, TARA McCARTHY, GERRY McGOVERN, NEIL McCORMICK, DERMOT STOKES, OLIVER P. SWEENEY, SIOBHAN LONG, STEVE AVERILL, ANDY DARLINGTON, COLM O’HARE, JOE JACKSON, HELENA MULKERNS, DAN OGGLY, CATHY DILLON, NIALL CRUMLISH, OLAF TYARANSEN, PATRICK BRENNAN, JACKIE HAYDEN AND NIALL STOKES.
In pre-judging the guilt of those arrested in connection with the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and fomenting a desire for vengeance, elements of the media have behaved abominably
The joys of poetry: Abby Oliviera enlivens Pride Week with a little ditty about her Highness's oral expertise. Are you sure Willy Wordsworth did it this way?
While Electric Picnic did not lack for non-musical highlights, the hottest action was to be found on stage, where the likes of the Sex Pistols and My Bloody Valentine whipped up a storm.
Our columnist wasn’t exactly popping open the champagne at the news that Mark Thatcher had escaped with a suspended sentence for his part in the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. Plus: why Bono’s gushing endorsement at the Labour Party Conference has allowed Blair and Brown to continue to get away with murder.
In which the musical renaissance of Don Van Vliet continues apace (and at what a pace). Like 'Shiny Beast' and 'Doc At The Radar Station', Ice Cream For Crow mines the seams first deliriously pick-axed in the 69/70 Trout Mask/Decals period.
Politics | McCann
16% | 6 Jan 2004
Eamonn McCann
Eamonn McCann reflects on a tumultuous twelve months in which anti-Bush sentiment reached unprecedented levels of intensity, Dr. David Kelly’s suicide opened a can of worms, and, at home, the stem-cell debate swung into full flow .
Some of the country's leading music industry figures joined thousands of people for the Music Show, a two-day celebration of all that's good about the recording arts in Ireland.
Continuing his occasional Bum Notes series of reminiscences on life as a musician, Peter Murphy fondly casts a nostalgic eye over the birth of his daughter and the, eh, interesting rock ’n’ roll circumstances that surrounded it.
Think you've got them all right? Or maybe you fancy a sneaky peak (you're only cheating yourself you know!). Either way, you've got the questions – we've got the answers....
Olaf Tyaransen reports from the Birthday JD set in Lynchburg, Tennesse, which featured performances from such acts as Hugh Cornwell, Roisin Murphy and Ash's Tim Wheeler.
The relationship between drugs and creativity has always been a hotly debated subject. But narcotic indulgence has proven to be the downfall of many a gifted artist.
