Shed Seven, once the forgotten men of Britpop, have been catapulted back into the spotlight with the success of their barking mad single She Left Me On Friday . Interview: Adrienne Murphy.
Six months ago, Kaiser Chiefs were complete unknowns. Now, they’re making appearances on the Ant and Dec show, playing Letterman, being saluted by Damon Albarn and heralded as the spearheads of “the new Britpop” movement. The group here give the lowdown on what’s been a hectic 2005 to Ed Power.
Maybe we’ve been just a little too exposed to the Chiefs of late, but this third single from Employment lacks a certain something, possibly the element of surprise that underpinned ‘I Predict A Riot’. We know that they love Britpop era Blur more than their mothers, we just don’t need the point rammed home so unequivocally.
John Walshe catches up with Teenage Fanclub s Norman Blake and hears about avoiding musical fashions, the realisation that they are growing older and how they are ambitious, despite what Alan McGee says
The Urges are a Dublin outfit who style themselves on '60s Britpop. While they are technically faithful to the genre, 'Around & Around Again' in essence sounds like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Coral and The Hives arguing over the guitar not being twangy enough and sticking knitting needles into the amp.
For some reason every new Charlatans album seems to be regarded as a comeback, despite the fact that they’ve never really been away. In fact here is a band that has outlived baggy, Britpop (first and second version) and every other fad of the last 15 years. ‘Blackened Blue Eyes’ is a very Charlatans record but is none the worse for that, a groovy, Stonesy kind of thing that knows exactly who it is and how it’s getting home
Yet another Dublin act tipped for great things in the UK. The Immediate sound like a hybrid of The Strokes and Cast. That’s not to say that they bear any musical comparison to John Power’s terrible Britpop outfit.
Well, okay, it's SOMETHING HAPPENS, so that's overstating it a bit. Still, having taken a fair few industry beatings over the years, the band are no longer inclined to simply turn the other cheek. At the end of a year in which they toured the States with Warren Zevon, released a "Best Of ..." and are bringing it all back home for Christmas, Olaf Tyaransen finds the band can snarl as well as smile.
If it’s Thursday it must be time for the UK music press to invent a new scene. Thus following on from the New Wave of New Wave, Shoegazing, Britpop, the New Rock Revolution etc etc, comes the New Rave ‘movement’ and their trailblazing leaders, Klaxons. You might not be surprised to learn that Magick sounds nothing like the rave records I remember – and it’s really not at the races. They may well disappear, but beware: the New Wave of Irish Riot Rock is only around the corner…
Before us stands the bookish wing of the Britpop revolution return, refined and cultured in contrast to the Monkeys’ gruff Sheffield charm. Bloc Party’s second coming has been fairly underwhelming and although ‘I Still Remember’ works better away from its poor parent album, it still lacks any real spark. Arch swots MP (I mean c’mon, umlauts?) are full of spark, although they don’t appear to have moved on from the jerky synth pop of two years ago. Progression, eh? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, poor sods.
And so the transatlantic battle for musical domination continues like some game of long distance ping-pong. This time last year it was all about the Arctic Monkeys, a couple of years ago it was Britpop. Come 2007 and all the buzz is around The Hold Steady, Decemberists and some bunch called Arcade Fire. Most exciting of all, however, are South California’s Cold War Kids. On the heels of last year’s astounding ‘We Used To Vacation’, ‘Hang Me Up To Dry’ is equally memorable, a collision between tight, clipped rhythms and raw, emotion-drenched vocals. Quite stunning, and you can’t help feeling that this is only the beginning.
They may (still) not be doing anything particularly new, but here at least Ocean Colour Scene sound like they really mean it, playing with a passion that so few of their Britpop contemporaries are able to muster.
Once unfairly derided as a second-rate Oasis, it looked for a while as if the McNamara brothers and co might be swept away in the great Britpop clear-out which saw off even more successful outfits like The Verve.
It always appeared as though The Charlatans were very much of their time, a paean to the wayward Britpop hedonism of the early nineties, but their live show demonstrates that the songs are as culturally relevant now as they ever were.
Well, skip a light fandango if it isn’t The Pale, back with a new EP after the long absence that followed their massive contribution to the Irish rock scene of the early nineties. The Final Garden sees them re-emerge as a sturdier yet looser musical unit than of yore.
Erasure - namely Vince Clarke and Andy Bell have been creating electronic pop for over a decade. John Walshe catches up with them on a recent promotional tour.
Hotly tipped Britrockers Los Campesinos talk about the influence of the '90s riot grrrl scene on their music and explain why the prospect of arena rock success doesn't rev their motors.
COLM O HARE talks to EMBRACE frontman DANNY McNAMARA about the band s new album, their fondly remembered Glastonbury performance and being told to sound more like Shed Seven .
Disused Mexican banks, Little Britain, Pete Doherty and drunken Sky TV appearances are all on the agenda as Paul Nolan and his temperamental tape machine meet Carl and Didz from Dirty Pretty Things.
Prior to their recent Dublin gig, THE BLUETONES talked to NADINE O REGAN about the fickleness of fame, artistic integrity, America and the dangers of sausage sponsorship!
John Walshe chats to verbose Auteurs mainman, Luke Haines, and discovers why it s been three years since their last release, why all pop stars are scum and how he wants to become a famous TV presenter.
After an initial botched attempt at cracking the London indie scene, Ciaran McFeely, aka Simple Kid, re-emerged as a dynamic singer/songwriter with an inventive musical approach and a flair for darkly humourous lyrics.
Peering through a letter box, fielding flying knickers and knocking out a strong contender for album of the year - it's all happening for Cooper Temple Clause
Australia s the churcH have survived nearly 20 years of changing fads and fashions by maintaining their commitment to pure pop. siobhan long takes a pew.
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!
Paul Smith of Geordie punk-pop sensations Maxïmo Park talks to Phil Udell about breaking out of stylistic straight-jackets, the band's affinity with fellow northerners The Futureheads, and why Jose Mourinho's managerial philiosophy is equally as applicable to music as it is to football.
Coldplay, White Stripes, Strokes, Queens, Garbage, Oasis, JJ72, Franz... With a whole slew of major albums in the pipeline, it looks like ‘05 will be the wrong year to kick that addiction to noise.
Domino Records – home of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Max Tundra, Franz Ferdinand and Four Tet – turns ten. Kim Porcelli talks pop culture with label boss Laurence Bell.
melys are more than just the latest Gorky's soundalikes or Super Furry Animals copyists to emerge from the wilds of Wales, according to an enthusiastic nick kelly.
Reformed baa-aaa-aad boys pet lamb are back with a new album that's going to make Roadrunner sorry they ever dropped them. Getting the wool pulled over her eyes: Adrienne Murphy.
It was hardly the perfect start to guitar-based London outfit Rialto’s career when, after scoring three hit singles and recording their debut album, they were unceremoniously discarded by their record label. Interview: Nick Kelly.
Their music may be dark but there’s nothing gloomy about Stuart Staples’ mood as he talks to Phil Udell about the new Tindersticks album, Waiting For The Moon, and how after 11 years they’re finally going home
This fortnight s postbag brings another serious dilemma from an unsigned Irish band. Last year they recorded a demo and it aroused some record company interest.
Richard Ashcroft spent the best part of the ’90s on a quest to make one of the great rock albums with The Verve. Having succeeded with Urban Hymns, he promptly broke up the band. Now, with the imminent release of his second solo album, Human Conditions, an upbeat Ashcroft discusses his excitement about collaborating with Brian Wilson, his youthful adventures in clubland, and why The Verve had to split
It should have been the biggest indoor rock n roll knees-up of the year but oasis three nights at The Point were as notable for what happened off stage as for what happened on it. Does Liam s partial no show spell the end for the dreadnoughts of Britpop or is it just the latest hiccup in a career that seems to thrive on adversity? Report: siobhAn LONG.
…In October, actually. The reunited band’s guitarist and songwriter, Gary Kemp, talks about their rivalry with Duran Duran, inspiring Quentin Tarantino and the group’s long association with Ireland.
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.
Patrick Freyne interviews chief Charlatan tim burgess, about 20 years of music, a new collaborative album and his role as a mentor for this year’s JD Set band competition.
It’s no rest for the wicket, as Stuart Clark gets bowled over by the DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD. Musical odd-couple Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh explain why they decided to record a musical homage to cricket and talk about hanging out with Blur’s Damon Albarn, the Governor of the Bank of England and Sir Tim Rice.
As soul-pop heavyweights M People gear up for another assault on the charts and a brief Irish tour, Nick Kelly shoots the breeze with their well-travelled Mancunian music maestro, Mike Pickering.
Having broken up Pavement, STEPHEN MALKMUS has had plenty of time to devote to making his eponymous solo album and indulging his obsession with all things Irish from U2 to Thin Lizzy to Planxty. NIALL CRUMLISH cocks an ear and raises an eyebrow
This year’s Heineken Green Energy festival has something for every music lover. Whether anthemic stadium rock (Snow Patrol) is your thing or you enjoy boisterous pop (Kaiser Chiefs), it’s a festival packed with sonic treats.
Having survived their initial mauling at the hands of the British music press, Asia-obsessed psychedelists KULA SHAKER have returned for a second innings. Frontman CRISPIAN MILLS lays off the poppadoms for long enough to chat to JACKIE HAYDEN about his band's new album, Strangefolk.
On the eve of the release of the group’s new album Winning Days, The Vines’ bassist Patrick Mathews gives hannah Hamilton the inside story on the tensions that threatened to split the band, hanging with Steve-o and the Jackass crew, and the group’s heretofore undeclared love of the Clancy Brothers.
Live at the Marquee on Friday June 29: They were the gaudiest of the ‘80s pop sensations. 20 years on, Duran Duran leader Simon Le Bon explains why the good time boys are a band for the long haul.
As suede prepare for their headline slot at Dublin Castle next month, their stock has never been higher, thanks mainly to the success of their fantastic third album Coming Up. craig fitzsimons talks to singer brett anderson about it and invites him to take stock of the last few wildly successful months.
She claims to wander about in the nude in her spare time. But British model-turned-TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss is fully clothed and respectable when Hot Press pays her a visit.
After five years of hard graft and dedicated shoegazing, The Boo Radleys came up with Giant Steps, an album so ambitious in scope that it’s been perched at the top spot of many end-of-year polls and has seen them heralded as the new Best Band In Britain.
Interview: LORRAINE FREENEY
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
Despite all appearances, Tamsin Grieg’s Black Books character Fran isn’t an unsympathetic, neurotic freak. “She wears dresses… she makes an effort,” she tells Paul Nolan
He’s Ireland’s latest singer-songwriter sensation. But Colm Lynch is no mere Damien Rice clone. In fact, his debut album, A Whisper In A Riot might be the most exciting thing you’ve heard in years.
As Stereophonics release their sixth abum, frontman Kelly Jones talks about his friendship with Oasis and reveals that he’s buried the hatchet with Muse.
It's Christmas, 1997 is drawing to a close and Noel Gallagher is in suitably reflective mood. "I can't be bothered writing music anymore", says the Oasis mainman before telling Stuart Clark precisely what he thinks of Liam, Meg, Sinéad O'Connor, that cunt Mick Jagger and England's chances of lifting the World Cup.
When Pulp released the obsessively carnal This Is Hardcore, it was widely touted that the band's main mover, Jarvis Cocker, had lost the plot entirely. But Pulp are back on the road now and Cocker is in fine form - as eloquent when talking about pornography and sex as he is reflecting on the vagaries of the press and his relationship with his father. Interview: peter Murphy.
When Pulp released the obsessively carnal This Is Hardcore, it was widely touted that the band's main mover, Jarvis Cocker, had lost the plot entirely. But Pulp are back on the road now and Cocker is in fine form - as eloquent when talking about pornography and sex as he is reflecting on the vagaries of the press and his relationship with his father. Interview: peter Murphy.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
Tribute bands may not capture the true spirit of rock’n’roll – but they do succeed in attracting fans, starved of the music of the originals of the species.
They've got the songs, the attitude and the neatest line in Oxfam chic since The Smiths but when will Pulp be famous? Niall Crumlish delves into the seedy twilight world of Sheffield's new sex gods.
As pristine popsters ABC gear up for their appearance at the Heineken Weekender in Cork, NICK KELLY grills band mainman MARTIN FRY about his new album Skyscraping, his love of all things Elvis, his battle with illness and why it felt right to wear that gold lami suit in 1982. Below, meanwhile, we preview the rest of the Weekender s goings-on down in Cork.
DOMINO RECORDS has released some of the most essential music of the 90 s by the likes of Sebadoh, Palace Brothers, and Elliott Smith. NICK KELLY talks to lynchpin Laurence Bell and one member of the label s current roster, Stephen Pastel of The Pastels.
placebo have probably garnered more column inches in the British press for frontman
brian molko s effeminate appearance than for their music.
colm o hare meets the men who want to be a band that parents hate .
the jon spencer blues explosion
are the hippest, baddest,
sleaziest, sweatiest, sexiest, sickest, noisiest,
in-your-face-est rock n roll
act to come out of America
for a loooooong time.
colm o hare joined them on the road to Manchester.
Few bands have managed to divide
critical opinion quite so spectacularly as Kula Shaker. Mystic musical saviours to some, prog rock nightmares to others, the one thing that everybody s agreed on is that mainman Crispian Mills gives exceedingly good quote. Interview and
periodic bewilderment:
Stuart Clark
What does Peter Buck have in his bathroom? What does Justine Frischmann do all day? stephen j. malkmus and spiral stairs of the decidedly non-lo-fi and non-slacker indie rock gods pavement spill the beans to nick kelly.
His career was almost over before it began. But hard work - and a surprise hit - have turned Edmund 'Mundy' Enright into one of Ireland's most widely adored stars. Here he reflects on some of the high points of what has been an amazing journey, during the course of which he has rubbed shoulders with some of the greats.
Discovered that there is life after Brett-pop, that is. nick kelly gets the lowdown from "the bloke who left Suede", Bernard Butler, whose mightily impressive solo debut People Move On, has just been released.
Although john squire and his new band The seahorses have taken something of a critical mauling following the release of their album Do It Yourself and some less-than-sparkling live shows, the former Stone Roses axeman is surprisingly unperturbed as peter murphy finds out.
whinging, yak-herding and masturbating over the sunday dinner are just three of the tenuously-related subjects that come up for discussion as stuart clark gets completely wireless with radiohead plankspanker from hell colin greenwood.
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.
Since the release of their sophomore album Antics late last year, New York goth-rock quartet Interpol have risen to the pantheon of great contemporary bands. In a rare in-depth interview, the group’s erudite frontman Paul Banks here discusses the making of Antics, their upcoming support slot with U2, the band’s peers in the NYC indie scene, The Strokes, Nirvana and David Lynch - and where one of the most acclaimed groups of recent years go to from here. Interview by Paul Nolan.
From First Cuts to Latest Cuts, from the First Lady Of Immediate , recording with Phil Spector, Jimi Hendrix and the Small Faces, to the First Lady of Techno, scoring Top Ten hits with Altern-8 and the Beatmasters, to today with Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene
P.P. ARNOLD has always been there, wherever the beat is hottest.
Interview: andy darlington.
As the final countdown to Blur’s Oxegen comeback gets underway, Alex James talks about falling in and out with his bandmates, collaborating with New Order’s Bernard Sumner – and why Clonakilty Black Pudding will definitely be on the band’s Punchestown rider.
Whether with THE SMITHS, ELECTRONIC, THE PRETENDERS or in brown trouser mode sharing a stage with PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE MICHAEL and NEIL FINN, he remains, by his own admission, the best JOHNNY MARR-style guitar player around. GEORGE BYRNE meets the cat others like to copy.
Fresh from the success of THE DIVINE COMEDY in the Hot Press Readers Poll, NEIL HANNON drops his guard(s) for some candid talking on love, sex, aesthetics and the whole damn thing. Interview: JOE JACKSON
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.
Critical brickbats aside, the success of TRAVIS seems to know no bounds. Here FRAN HEALY and co talk to STUART CLARK about drugs, Oasis, Paul McCartney, Ali G, and drunkenly dancing on computers! The man who took the photos: STEVEN FISHER
CAST mainman JOHN POWER is on top of the world, with a string of hit singles behind him, a brand new album and impending fatherhood on the way. He talks to JOHN WALSHE about life, love, the joys of smoking weed and the meaning of sheerability .
In a rare interview, DJ, Sabres Of Paradise mainman and all-round geezer andrew weatherall tells stuart clark about why he won t be working with Primal Scream again, comes clean about his Van Morrison obsession, and does his best not to slag off Kula Shaker and Mansun.
Recorded in the bucolic splendour of County Westmeath, Bloc Party's second album is a labyrinthine concept album about urban living. Better to take a risk, says frontman Kelé Okereke, than to repeat yourself .
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.
Or how a short-term model, aspiring novelist and Indie kitten became a sophisti-cat and lived to twitch her tale. Peter Murphy meets the multi-layered Sophie Ellis Bextor
The Charlatans will be gigging their way to the Ambassador for one night. Although originally scheduled for May, hotpress.com has learnt that the gig is currently being rescheduled and will bring you details as they emerge.
A fresh generation of bands is tearing up the rule book and redefining what it means to be Irish. To celebrate this new wave of talent, we catch up with the best of them.
Back in the saddle with their eagerly anticipated second album Demon Days, subversive animated quartet Gorillaz here talk to Paul Nolan about striking out against celebrity culture, what went wrong with the Gorillaz movie, collaborating with Shaun Ryder, Roots Manuva and Dennis Hopper, and why they didn’t vote Labour. Oh, and Mexican brothels.
Older and wiser but still mad for it, Oasis have delivered their best album in years. In an exclusive – and expletive-filled – interview Liam Gallagher holds forth on fatherhood, brotherly love and explains why Coldplay and The Killers are limp-wristed also-rans.
Fame has come remarkably quickly for Lily Allen, with her sensational debut album Alright, Still hitting the No.1 spot in the week of its release. But, with babysitting for Bez on her CV, anything is a breeze – and the bolshie young singer is taking it all in her stride. Plus, having lived in Ireland for a number of years, she has more than a few interesting tales to tell. Just don’t ask her about Bob Geldof...
The last 18 months have been a hell of a ride for The Thrills, catapulted from the relative obscurity of the south dublin suburbs to the top of the uk charts, rubbing shoulders with Van Dyke Parks and Peter Buck along the way. But are the band suffering from diver’s bends? is that laid-back california-in-my-mind facade starting to crumble? We put on our therapist’s hats and endeavour to find out, if something’s gotta give, what gives?
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 ]
andy darlington meets skunk anansie with a live grenade in his hand
Peter Murphy s damning Hot Press review of their latest album Stoosh. You could cut the tension with a knife
which appears to be exactly what Skin wants at this very moment. Will anyone here get out alive?
In a highly revealing interview, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke talks about the inspiration behind one of the albums of the year, his current listening and the band's plans for the future.
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.
When the Be Here Now tour fell apart at the seams in 1997, the end seemed nigh for Britain’s biggest rock’n’roll band. Then Noel Gallagher gave up drugs and moved to the country. With a stunning new album on the way, the Oasis mainman tells Stuart Clark where it all went right.
Heard the one about the Irishman, the Bronx and the tab of industrial-strength acid? Stuart Clark hadn t either until that most eligible of bachelors, David Holmes, talked him through the mad month in New York that inspired his Let s Get Killed album.
The 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.
While the path to rock n roll stardom is never smooth, RICHARD ASHCROFT has experienced more ups and downs than most. In a wide-ranging interview with DAVE FANNING, he talks about drugs, The Verve, his new solo album and why the old hometown doesn t look so bad.
It sounds like the stuff of hype and overnight success – from struggling garage band to next big thing and accolades from noel gallagher, morrissey and bono – but even at an average age of 23 The Thrills have paid their dues. Olaf Tyaransen hears how the summer’s hottest band went from worshipping whipping boy to having beck’s da play on their debut album.
It s re-introductions all round, as the Starman embarks on a hazardous solo mission. Stuart Bailie records him taking one giant leap for a man.
The Starman walks into a public bar in Chorlton and looks for a quiet spot. The old regulars at the back are nudging each other. They re sure that they recognise the face
and the style of a traveller who s been all the way up there and back.
Watching David Bowie on television recently one couldn't help but think of Neil Hannon. Not that he is a musical "chameleon"—to use the phrase most often applied to Bowie—but he does seem to be a person more comfortable presenting to the world a series of ever-changing poses designed to conceal rather than reveal his "real self", as in vocally situating himself somewhere between Barry White and Prince on the magnificent Charge, or satirising—while still relishing—his role as the eponymous sexist hero in Becoming More Like Alfie. Strangely enough, Neil confesses that he was thinking something similar while watching Bowie being interviewed
Or should that be The Clash? Well no, actually, cos there's no Clash, Damned or Pistols in 1999. But there s still joe strummer, who was there when Shane got his ear bitten off and, 22 years later is back for his own second bite with THE MESCALEROS. I ve seen everything that it s possible to see go down and I ve survived it, he tells STUART CLARK who finds himself shanghaied on a ferry to Stranraer.
Main pix: MICHAEL QUINN.
Known from the TV sitcom as the Man who Behaves Badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson. main photography Cathal Dawson
Known from the TV sitcom as the man who behaves badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson.
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
A new album, a new producer, a new sound and a new lease of life so where better to launch mary black s Shine than in New Orleans? Report and
interview: siobhAN LONG
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
The initial rumours were that it was going to be a rock n roll record . Then subsequent whispers hinted at everything from trip-hop to techno to ambient. But U2 s eighth studio album, Pop, is all of these things and more. It s the first album since 1983 that they ve made without the assistance of Brian Eno, it s been a long time in the making roughly a full year, all told and it s selling like the proverbial warm buns. Here, NIALL STOKES talks to BONO and ADAM CLAYTON, as well as co-producers FLOOD, HOWIE B and THE EDGE, about its lengthy genesis and what the band hoped to accomplish in creating it.
Pix: STEPHANE SEDNAOUI .
Alphastates’ ‘Sometimes’ is still a supremely elegant electro-acoustic number that convincingly explains their esteemed status in the Dublin independent scene.
Kaiser Chiefs’ teenage fanbase is unlikely to be disappointed by Yours Truly…, which is packed to the brim with the sort of singalong anthems that made their first album such a resounding commercial success.
Fashion mags have been drooling over Sheffield’s Long Blondes for months now – a pavlovian reaction, one guesses, to frontwoman Kate Jackson’s knack for looking quite dapper in a vintage neck cravat.
When 17-year-old Finn Andrews left New Zealand to come to London and make the big time, he hinted at the confidence and self-belief that simply pours out of The Runaway Found.
Skin swops her former intensity for a calmer, more introspective sound that suits her themes of intimacy with self and others, the break-up of relationships and that which forms to take their place.
10,000 Things' songs have a brutalised air, as though they were bullied into existence. Fitful guitars prowl the mix in search of a melody or, failing that, a purpose, while front-man Sam Riley yelps in a manner that suggests he’s about to have his throat slashed.
For such reasons, their self-titled debut feels less like a statement of intent than an obstacle course through the muck. Opener 'Self Destruct' is as tired and tattered as an old denim jacket; a putatively anthemic 'Titanium Boxer Shorts' suffers delusions of tunefulness.
With two members of The Kooks having just turned seventeen, it’s no surprise to learn that it was The Strokes ‘Reptilia’ that first inspired them to form a band.
There’s something reassuringly real about Delays. They’ve kicked around the dreary provinces (in their case Southampton), gigged every toilet in the UK, supported Ocean Colour Scene and released a string of singles that have inched their way towards the bottom end of the Top 40.
It’s all pretty brave – the faithful may scratch their heads and the detractors probably won’t even listen but just maybe they’ll find themselves reaching a whole new audience.
Hardly had the ink dried on the last issue s item of advice for would-be entrants for the revised Bacardi Plugged band competition than a number of missives arrived in asking why there was no advice for those who might be thinking of entering the song part of the same project. As some of the senders know where I live I d thought I better oblige.
A double CD of 22 tracks from any region is unlikely to be without its dodgy bits, and this collection is no exception. Still - all hail main motivator John Finn for making it happen.
Where did it all go right? Oasis are back. Six years on from Noel Gallagher’s enquiry as to where it went south, the Gallagher brothers have begun to regain some of their phenomenal mid-'90s popularity
Fresh from supporting Foo Fighters in the States, Supergrass roll into Dublin for a brace of low-key gigs in preparation for their Cois Fharraige headline slot.
Over the course of my HP career I've never been slow to volunteer for interviews involving the Heavy Rock community, as invariably they're a whole lot more entertaining to talk to than floppy-fringed Indie mumblers who "make music for themselves and if anyone else likes it that's a bonus".
By now we’ve become used to new bands arriving in a blaze of their own hyperbole, but even still Leicester’s Kasabian do seem to fancy themselves a fair bit.
Never Said Goodbye is impossible to dislike. If Matthews has decided to pull back from a full-on roots/folk detour, there are still enough quixotic diversions to justify your love.
There are quite a few things that the world needs at the minute: love, of course, empathy, tolerance, and maybe even a new album from Lauren Hill. However, I’m not sure how far down the wish-list one has to travel before the prospect of a Scandinavian Ocean Colour Scene is mentioned.
YOU MAY have been led to believe otherwise, but there are, in fact, no fewer than eight deadly sins; pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, sloth and recording useless cover versions in an attempt to get a hit.
They’re following a blueprint set by The Cramps and the only real difference between them and Dublin underground band The Things is their proximity to A&R men. But woah, do they know how to create an atmosphere.
Myslovitz, who take their name from the German spelling of their hometown, have sold millions across the world although they still record mainly in their native tongue.
Ambient but not a dance album, modern-classical without any of the academic seriousness or rigidity that connotes, and finally a world-beating, thoroughly modern pop record, this marvellous debut from Dubliner Daniel Figgis is an impressionistic gem.
The New Mexico-based Hazeldine are in the vanguard of the American alt (alternative) country movement. In real musical terms, that means they are doing what the country rock bands of the early seventies did, a little louder than Tammy Wynette and a little punkier than The Eagles and that's about all, y'all.
It’s not as nebulous as their last album – and it doesn’t deliver the melodic thrills of Last Splash – but Mountain Battles has personality, spirit, warmth and tenderness in abundance.
Gorillaz are, in many ways, the pub conversation that went too far. On the back of a beer-mat, it’s certainly a perky conceit: a comic-strip band whose songs muddle genres with cartoonish chutzpah.
In execution however, Damon Albarn’s pet endeavour has too often tended towards debilitating smugness. Toxically pleased with itself, Gorillaz’s self-titled 2001 debut felt like an open-top tour of Albarn’s ego.
A frisson of pure excitement waves through the capital upon hearing news of the band’s reunion, which does little to explain the somewhat muted reception the band receives tonight.
We could squabble over the Mercury Music Prize shortlist until the cows come home, but this year has seen some unfathomable omissions. For instance, how come Primal Scream’s Xtrmntr, a career high and easily the equal of 1991’s Mercury-winning Screamadelica, gets ignored in favour of their buddies Death In Vegas muscular but somewhat overrated Contino Sessions.
Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft and now Brett Anderson; these guys seem doomed to roam the fringes of indie consciousness, forever questioned about halcyon days by cub reporters shiny-eyed with retro visions.
Music Review | Live
29% | 8 Mar 2005
Lisa Coen
Considering that you’d pay a small fortune to see a better-known outfit yawning through the usual stuff that they take for granted will entertain us, Garageland gigs are a bargain for your &euro:8. Tonight’s unsigned acts were on their toes and eager to impress the partisan crowd, so from the beginning that guaranteed a great atmosphere.
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.
On their second record, the Montreal quintet have chosen to go widescreen, abandoning their previous tendency towards bed-sit mopery. The broader canvas suits, though don’t expect to find any of The Dears celebrating the fact.
Thankfully for them, the Manchester three-piece deliver on the promise of their debut, as their sophomore effort is brimming with the kind of timeless guitar tunesmithery that marked their earlier work
New York and LA are fine, but nobody throws frilly knickers at you quite like they do in Dublin. Futureheads guitarist Ross Millard talks music and underwear with Phil Udell
Pop must always, always be stupid – stupid as in not understanding the rules, as in running blind, as in stupid with desire, stupid with joy, as in stupefied. That kind of stupid. Supergrass, then, are the most unremittingly stupid band I have ever met.” – Taylor Parkes, Melody Maker
While the arrangements, production and execution of ideas are as excellent as you’d expect the songwriting is surprisingly lightweight and indistinctive.
Forget brain surgery or being Shane MacGowan's oral hygienist, the toughest job in the world has got to be that of an A&R man.
At around about the same time that I was telling everybody that Thee Amazing Colossal Men were going to conquer the world with their second album, a demo from five pasty-faced Londoners went from the Clarkian desk to bin in record time on account of its tired Bowiesms.
With The Book Of Lightning, Waterboys fans will be thrilled to have Mike Scott back on form, while the uninitiated will get a chance to understand what all the fuss was about.
These are strange times for Noel and Liam. Displaced by Pete Doherty in the stony hearts of tabloid editors; overtaken in the quotably-lippy stakes by Jose Mourinho; and more likely to find themselves gracing the pages of Heat than the NME, the terrible twosome have never skirted as close to the boundaries of cultural obsolescence as they do just now. After all, post-Shameless, they may not even be the most famous Gallaghers in Manchester.
I've been taken to task by reader Brian Bolger from the band Cushy for the compulsive need I and everybody else in HP seems to have to put every band into a descriptive compartment.
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.
A friend of mine who works in the music business in London recently received an unsolicited demo tape from an Irish band. Nothing exceptional in that alone, other than the fact that it had seventeen tracks on it and was accompanied by a note to the effect that tracks 5, 8 and 11 were, in the band's opinion, the best and should be listened to first.
Men out of time, The Verve were a neo-psychedelic jam-rock outfit who got fortuitously swept up in the Britpop boom and stumbled upon a timely form of Big Music.
Post-Throwing Muses, post-grunge, post-Britpop, post Tori and Alanis, post girl power, post-Corrs, the charts flooded with shiny moulded-plastic pop bands for so long we don't even notice their rubbery stench anymore - what could 2001 possibly have to offer the almost-gone and nearly-forgotten godmother of American college-rock?
Awards by the dozen, celebrities wall-to-wall, gobsmacking world exclusives and of course, great music: it can only be the Hot Press Irish Music Awards. Only 24 hours to go - here's how it's all shaping up
When your friendly local A&R man (and yes, he's almost certain to be a man) sits down to wade through his latest intake of demos, what exactly is he looking for?
These days, Barry McIlheney is a major player in the world of London-based consumer magazines. He s been a guiding hand behind FHM, Q and Mojo, and has just launched a weekly entertainment magazine, Heat.
For connoisseurs of indie music, the Hot Press New Band Stage will provide a weekend-long bonanza. Here, Patrick Freyne selects 10 acts who will grace the stage that are essential viewing.
Turbulence, the debut album proper from Saucy Monky, is one of those records. It is at once rich, smart, sexy, thrilling, entertaining, diverse and hugely accomplished. It is a great, rock’n’roll record, both playful and deep, its sometimes dark indie heart-core spangled with enough sparks of pop magic to light up the western sky.
At the precise moment that TOWER RECORDS are celebrating their 30th anniversary, they have the youngest managing director in their history – ANDY LOWN. Since assuming his present post in July 1996, he’s masterminded the expansion of the company in Ireland, and is about to preside over the opening of five new outlets in this country. Interview: STUART CLARK.
All Write Now, we said. And boy did you follow instructions! The entries poured in from all over Ireland, and further afield, in their thousands. We were snowed under – but, as the song says: That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it…
