Bands entering this or any other competition face a number of crucial choices and disputes which can often seem insurmountable; which songs to enter, should they be re-recorded, what order should they be put in and so on, and that s where the cracks start to appear in even the most stable of band relationships.
But as the person who for the last six years has listened to every entry for the Bacardi band competition, and to the song entries as well, I have some very practical advice for you which you can ignore as you wish:
1. Think carefully about your entry tape or CD, especially as to the recording quality. It doesn t have to be state of the art, but recording it in your kitchen while your kid sisters are dismantling the oven is not a good idea. The recording should give the best representation of your band as you can conveniently afford. Bear in mind that it will be heard by judges who probably never heard of you and you won t have the opportunity to sit beside and explain away the glitches.
2. In music as in life, first impressions are often the most lasting. So put your best song first. Also consider if any of them really have to be as long as they are. There s a particular skill in knowing when, and how, to end a song.
3. Avoid overdubs you won t be able to reproduce on stage.
4. Package your entry as if you care about it. If you send in a shoddy entry it sends the wrong signals.
5. Make sure you comply with all the rules and send all the required information.
6. If any member of the band is a bad loser, then don t enter at all.
Apart from all that, try to have fun. There are some great prizes at stake, but even if you don t come out on top the exercise should have other benefits for you.
Mayo multi-instrumentalist Orlagh De Bhaldraithe reached a regional final some time back and has now completed a superb five song CD which gives ample evidence of her extraordinarily expressive voice which on Falling dips and soars, hinting at a trad version of Bjvrk. It whets the appetite nicely for further pleasures on Gypsy Delights and Dangerous Winds which use a mixed palette of strings to create a compelling backdrop against which her emotion-laden voice is attractively pitched. But her guitar-playing is equally superb and her intelligent songs have a depth and intensity that makes you want more. It will be a shame if she doesn t make the right career moves in order to bring her undoubted talent to the world.
Meanwhile, last year s Bacardi Unplugged winners Idahoe haven t actually been sitting around. Actually I tell a lie, as they ve been busy sitting the Leaving Cert. But in between boning up on the second law of thermodynamics and studying the effect of the moon on seventeenth-century politics they ve managed to record a handsome new EP demo Benjamin Junk.
Midsummer s Nights has some great vocals and throbs along like a dirtier take on Video Killed The Radio Star and which they effortlessly propel in all the right directions, chorus and all. Morning s Call opens as if it might be an inbred cousin of the Hendrix version of All Along The Watchtower but it quickly veers off into Idahoe s own nether world and even has a couple of guitar solos a younger Hank Marvin would appreciate. Crashing Down is a dreamier affair, with some cute guitar swimming around in the mix and some great vocals from Cathal Geary that belie his under-eighteen age, before it niftily shifts up a gear.
Idahoe have an appealing listlessness to them that sets them apart from their more frantic counterparts. And they sound like fun too and have a sense of humour.
Streetcrab are the artists formerly known as Deluge and they hail from Limerick. They impressed many during this year s IMRO showcase tour and were featured on the Best of gigs in Dublin and London. Unfortunately they failed to capitalise fully on this valuable exposure, confusing the citizens with a CD release on Danceline which was apparently to be treated like a demo. In the resulting confusion it got a bit lost, suggesting the band need to take the business side of the music business a lot more seriously.
That CD is a worthy affair, but the songs should, and could, be better.