Ones to watch

MELATON

Having signed a record deal mere days before sitting their Leaving Certs, Melaton are so fresh-faced they could front an advertising campaign for Smash Hits. But don’t let that put you off: this Dublin quintet are capable of creating music that makes grown men twice their age sit up and take notice or break down and cry.

Formed in late 1997 while still in their mid-teens, this obscenely talented bunch come on like a blend of the best bits of Radiohead, Travis and Coldplay but with enough of their own sound and ideas (not to mention mandolin) to set them apart from the mob.

Worthy winners of the Heineken/hotpress New Band Challenge which took place during the Green Energy Festival over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, Melaton inspired a veritable feeding frenzy of A&R types who engulfed them, promising the sun, moon, stars and a few satellites to boot in order to woo them. Sony emerged victorious, rising from the rabble sporting the signatures of Luke Slott, Declan Garvey, Andrew Brennan, Jonathon Black and Anthony Mooney.

Having clocked up some notable live performances in 2001, including supports with The Frames and Aslan, Melaton have already released a limited edition two-track CD, available free from their website (www.melaton.ie), featuring ‘Moonstorm’ and the classic ‘Peripherique’, already a favourite on Phantom FM. hotpress personally knows of one well-known Irish musician who commented, “Fuck me: if they’re that good now, what are they going to be like in five years time?” The band are currently ensconsed in the studio working on their debut album, which will hopefully see the light of day in 2002. (JW)

SONORA

In the three years that Sonora have been together, there have been various incarnations of the band, all based around the songwriting partnership of Paddy Quigley (vocals and guitars) and Stephen Sheridan (guitars). The last year has seen the line-up solidify somewhat, with the return of original bassist Sid Alcock and the introduction of drummer Shane Power, who also doubles as their manager.

Sonora’s penchant for guitar pop with strong melodies and choruses so infectious they should carry health warnings saw them run away with the title of “Unsigned Band of the Year” in the Digifone/Warner Music New Band Competition, the final of which took place in Vicar St. in July 2001.

Aside from that competition, however, Sonora have built up a loyal fanbase around the capital through some top notch live performances, notably the Give Blood Day in Whelan’s and an incendiary support to Relish in The Ambassador in November.

The band have been courted by a variety of record labels, ever since gigging with Mercury Music Prize nominee Tom McRae in Whelan’s. As yet, though, they remain one of the country’s hottest unsigned acts.

Having been confirmed for the Heineken Rollercoaster Tour 2002, which kicks off in February, and with the poptastic ‘Relentless’ (a likely single release) being played off the air on Phantom FM, it’s a safe bet that Sonora will not remain Dublin’s best kept secret for long. (JW)

GEMMA HAYES

If you don’t know who Gemma Hayes is, you’ve obviously been hiding under a particularly large rock for the last few years. The Tipperary-born chanteuse is arguably the hottest property in Ireland today and her forthcoming debut album, due in February 2002, is perhaps the most anticipated first release from an Irish artist since four kids from Glasnevin set off for Windmill Lane all those years ago.

Having honed her talents supporting everyone who’s anyone, and arousing a serious amount of record company attentions into the bargain, Gemma ended months of speculation by signing on the dotted line with French label Source, the home of Air, in 2000.

The first fruits of this collaboration was the largely acoustic and thoroughly engaging 4.35am EP early in 2001, which confirmed to our colleagues across the water what we in Ireland had known for some time – that Ms Hayes is something very special indeed. The subsequent Work To A Calm EP has upped the ante further, showcasing the singer’s rockier, more experimental side, and bringing those My Bloody Valentine influences further into focus.

Her live show has been getting stronger by the day, with Gemma now boasting a band that are as tight as the proverbial camel’s arse in a sandstorm. With the imminent release of her Dave Fridmann-produced long-player and the patronage of no less a luminary than Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkhous (who invited Gemma to sing on his next album), Hayes looks short odds to be one of the stars of the next twelve months. (JW)

DEREK CARR

Think the words ‘Mullingar’ and ‘Detroit’ don’t belong together? Well, (unlikely as it seems) you’re wrong. Mullingar-based producer Derek Carr this year released the fantastic Copper Beech EP on his own Trident Records – three cuts of deep, melodic techno that couldn’t be more Motor City if they tried.

Garnering favourable reactions from the likes of Dave Mothersole to your very own hotpress, it’s just a taste of what’s to come. Carr (28) has been producing since 1994. He makes Detroity gear because of his “love of melody and science fiction”. He recently made his live debut in Mono in Dublin, and, in 2002, he aims to play live more often.

There’s also a possibility of an album release over the next 12 months, and seeing as he is currently “in talks” with a number of possible homes, it ain’t an unlikely prospect.

Stiil, if that doesn’t work out, he’s always got his DIY option. “I set up Trident to launch my own career. I had a lot of interest from other labels (English and European), but nothing definite, so I decided to release my own record,” he tells us.

It sure paid off. And judging by the warm, mature, classic-Detroit-with-a-twist advance EP hotpress has had the good fortune to hear, there’s plenty more good moves where that came from. (B O’D)

KIDD DYNAMO

Earlier this year while supporting The Reindeer Section on their series of autumn Irish dates, Belfast singer songwriter Colin Campbell – aka Kidd Dynamo – fell unintentionally asleep on the band’s tourbus and woke up the next morning to find himself pulling into a carpark in the harbour of Dover. If he had brought his passport he could well have stayed on with the Scots-Irish collective as they hit the festival trail in mainland Europe, as it was, though, a quick whip-round was needed to send the poor bloke back home.

The story is oddly in keeping with the thrust of Campbell’s development so far – he’s almost arrived you see, just not quite yet.

A fan of Tom Waits, Red House Painters, American Music Club and all manner of top-notch torch-lit souls, the Kidd Dynamo moniker has in the past applied to Campbell both solo with an acoustic guitar and some click tracks, and also amped up with a band full of old mates. And while recent appearances have seen him onstage alone very much in David Kitt quiet beats mood, his excellent debut single ‘I Am A Landslide’ was a noisy slice of Folk Implosion melancholia that had Steve Lamacq, for one, all of a tizzy.

At the moment he’s trying to settle on a deal that he’s happy with, while polishing the material he has collected together for what promises to be a startling first album. Anyone who can write a song as lovely as ‘Closed The Shop’, about the winding-up of a Spar in Carryduff has to be special.

2002 could well be the year that Kidd Dynamo has his papers stamped. (CC)

THE JIMMY CAKE

Just when the notion of so-called post-rock music was becoming the cliché it was trying to avoid in the first place, Dublin nine-piece ensemble The Jimmy Cake gave instrumental music a new lease of melodic and innovative life. Brown Fury, Lisa Carey, Rory Carr, Dip, Diarmuid 'Dee' Dermody, John 'John' Dermody, Vincent 'Smelly' Dermody, Simon O'Connor and Zentrum all have their own colourful histories and activities, playing with David Kitt's band, Luc and the Platelets, Thinker Org and Das Madmen in addition to scoring operas, working with the Whispering Gallery collective and running the successful electronica label and promotions outfit Frontend Synthetics – responsible for the first Lee 'Scratch' Perry visit to Ireland among other coups.

In 2001, The Jimmy Cake played with Stereolab, Pram, Future Pilot AKA and Max Tundra and stuffed their own headliners in Whelan's, the Music Centre and Mono. The summer saw the release of their debut album Brains – which scored no less than a legs eleven on the hotpress dice. They still found time to record arguably the longest single track for a Fanning Session ever (weighing in at a hefty ten minutes) and got Del-9 to produce a lovely animated video for 'Hungry Ghosts' in addition to doing a Road Relish release with Daemian Frost.

2002 sees them bring their eighteen-legged swoon machine beyond The Pale while putting the finishing touches to their second album. Watch out for live engagements with two fantastic Italian bands Guapo and Zu, not to mention the glorious sonic fruition of Peter Murphy's appraisal: “Roll on the economic crash and burn: Bands like The Jimmy Cake, like cockroaches, will multiply and inherit the earth.” (ES)

PAUL BRYAN

Paul Bryan

In a world where there’s just far too many DJs, hotpress is only delighted to bring to your attention one that deserves it.

Waterford man Paul Bryan has been blazing an impressive trail on various sets of decks around the sunny south-east for the year. He’s been DJing for the past six, you understand, (starting off with the promoters of Play before moving onto the Roxy last year), but he’s found his form in the last 12 months thanks to what’s becoming one of the best club night in the land, Muziklab at the Forum. With a policy that stretches from deep house to techno, it suits Paul perfectly.

“I play anything from deep stuff to tech-house,” he reflects. “There something about it, it sounds cleaner than techno and not as boring as some of the deep house.”

Citing the likes of Wiggle, Music For Freaks and The End as favoured labels and Luke Soloman and Derrick Carter as his favourite spinners, it’s obvious he like his sounds slighly off the Saturday night path. Thing is, from the sets hotpress has seen and heard, he’d put any of the Saturday night crowd to shame. Tough, fluid and funky, he’s got that knack of making even mediocre records sound good. In 2002, he wants to “keep the club going well”, push some of the local musicmakers in the area (Necksnapper, Ikeaboy – also residents at Muziklab) and get more gigs countrywide. Promoters, what are you waiting for? (B O’D)

PAUL O'REILLY

Not to be confused with his Dolphin Records founding namesake, the Frank Black lookalike from Swords with the cherubic smile and gentle stage manner became a regular fixture alongside Will Oldham, David Kitt, January, Creative Controle and The Frames in 2001. While some barstool balladeers clumsily strummed their way through well-worn busking standards, O’Reilly softly plucked his instruments, inducing an air of tranquil calm where you could even hear his fingers on the fret board. In February, he shared a 7” with The Dudley Corporation and engaged in increasingly frequent live exercises in delicate songcraft. Paul recorded a series of beautifully realised home recordings with fellow songwriter, video director and Mango Music mainman Steve Fanagan which were to become eight tracks of love, affection and tenderness on his debut album on Volta Sounds, First Thing In The Morning. The listener could imagine a city sleeping as a wide awake and wide eyed Paul picked and crooned his way through a soft song cycle. Possibly one of the quietest artists around, audiences totally went along with his quiet revolution without hushing or complaint, gracefully proved by stuffing the Witnness Café stage at the most unfestive hour of 1pm. Friend and producer Steve Fanagan directed a gorgeous video for ‘Beautiful’ starring some very cute cuddly toys. O’Reilly has already written enough material for a follow up, and there is a strong likelihood that he will distributed in the UK early next year. Given his tender years amount to a mere twenty, this could be a fresh and crisp morning of an excellent career. (ES)

CARA DILLON

It may not catch on as a genre, but there’s a definite argument for describing Cara Dillon as “nu-trad”.

A native of Derry, Dillon spent her teenage years zapping round Europe as a member of, first, Oige and, then, the much-hyped Equation.

Although still enthralled by the songs she sung as a nipper – ‘Donald Of Glencoe’ and ‘Maid Of Culmore’ are just two of the standards included on her eponymous debut album – the twentysomething’s approach to her craft is more Beth Orton than it is Dolores Keane.

It wasn’t long before her new take on old traditions caught the ear of Geoff Travis who signed her to his Rough Trade label. While not quite as unspeakably hip as stablemates The Strokes, Dillon has garnered an impressive amount of column inchage in the rock press, and had her elpee played off the air by BBC Radio 2.

Bearing in mind this has all been achieved in 12 months, you wouldn’t bet against her scoring a major international breakthrough in 2002. (CD)

JETPLANE LANDING

Fate, it proved, wasn’t too kind to the slew of Northern bands signed in the rosy post-Ash glow of the mid-’90s. While for many the early days were relatively successful, by the end of the decade something of a cull had taken place that shook up even the most dapper. Poor Neil, for one, is having to dream it all up again at this very moment, a process that members of Joyrider, Backwater, Tunic and Cuckoo can relate to as well. However, Hannon should note that, far from sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, the kids from these broken homes have recently been busy getting on with their new lives. Phil from Joyrider now fronts Ninebar International, Backwater have – tired of the parochial overtones – dropped the name and returned as Torgas Valley Reds, while both Olympic Lifts and Go Commando have been launched from the Tunic mothership. Which leaves Cuckoo - who, armed by Geffen with perhaps the tastiest deal of all, genuinely seemed at one time the boys most likely. Unfortunately, with the gloomadelia of Spiritualized and Radiohead in the ascendant, the times did not chime with the hard-rocking outfit from Derry and, dropped from their label, it wasn’t long before they decided to call it quits. Almost immediately, though, bass player Jamie Burchell and guitarist Andrew Ferris had hooked up with Jamie’s brother Raife and formed Jetplane Landing – with the intention of making the kind of raw, dynamic music that looked beyond Cuckoo’s grasp. Their self-released debut album Zero For Conduct threw all the right new wave shapes when it came out in June, and their first single ‘This Is Not Revolution Rock’ is as sparky and nervy as a Foyleside Talking Heads. There isn’t much in the way of big money behind the boys these days, and they sound all the better for it. Bad timing with the name, though. (CC)