Ready for liftoff

Headgear

Having more in common with Radiohead and Tricky than The Vines, Daragh Dukes (aka Headgear) has spent the last couple of years quietly perfecting his sound in his Limerick home studio.

His debut single ‘This Comes To Pass’ was released on his own label and he trawled the length and breadth of London to promote it. The ante was upped further when the sophomore 7”, ‘Wonderdog/ Widescreeen’, fell into the hands of BBC London DJ Sean Rowley. Rowley was so impressed that he set up his own label, Diamond Head Recordings, in order to sign Dukes. Heavenly Records were similarly dazzled, requesting a Dukes remix job for the B-Side of Doves’ next single.

October saw the launch of Headgear’s mini-album, Where The Good Life Goes, which
numbers John Kelly and MTV’s Zane Lowe among its champions. It also lead to a slot at Rough Trade’s Cherry Jam gig which was filmed by Channel 4 for their Music Night series.

With his album due in May, the first half of 2003 sees Dukes playing dates in Dublin and Limerick, and trekking ’round Europe with a major act who we can’t reveal at the moment for contractual reasons. What we can tell you is that Headgear are going to be massive.

Luan Parle

Luan Parle is grooming herself for the big time. Having spent the best part of 2002
jetting to and fro between the USA and her native County Wicklow, this 21-year-old country pop starlet has been working with some of the most influential names in the music biz – songwriter Billy Steinberg (Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Mel C) and producer Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow). Even Elton John has reportedly been calling her at home and sending her songs.

Her two Irish-released singles, ‘When I See You Smile’ and ‘More Than A Ghost’, both charted comfortably in the Top 30. Add to that a new management deal with Derek Mackillop – a pop svengali with Jamiroquai, Mis-Teeq and the aforementioned Elton John on his books – and it’s no wonder she’s laughing.

Luan is set to launch her assault on the unsuspecting world next summer with the
international release of her debut album. This is being assembled in San Francisco with the aforementioned Bill Bottrell pushing the buttons.

Her progress in 2003 will be watched with keen interest

Martin Corrigan

Remember the movie Misery? Well, Steve Albini should thank his lucky stars that he never had a car wreck in Fermanagh in the early ’90s. If Martin Corrigan had gotten his hands on him then, the famed bespectacled noisenik might still be wearing splints.

A decade on, and Corrigan has interned a whole host of other inmates in his mental
dungeon – David Yow, Black Francis, a murderous Johnny Cash, even the odd small-town degenerate from a Pat McCabe or Flannery O’Connor novel. And while you wouldn’t want to share a bunk, it sure sounds great if you listen through the bars.

After signing to Bright Star Recordings and rounding up a likeminded posse, Corrigan has released two singles during the past 12 months – ‘Forget It’, and the recent Kerrang Single Of The Week, ‘We’re The Wire’.

Debut LP How To Hang Off A Rope was produced by Andy Millar who, coincidently or not, began work directly after twiddling knobs for those other Nordy guitar-bleeders Desert Hearts. However, while D.H’s Let’s Get Worse proved an otherworldly, brilliant little prodigy, How To Hang… careers around manically – giving off fumes and looking for livestock to worry.

If musically demented poteen-punk is your bag, then prepare for its arrival in March. The rest of you – keep it locked and loaded.

The Thrills

The Thrills shot into the limelight this year by bagging a lucrative Virgin contract and a personal invitation to support Morrissey at the Royal Albert Hall. They were signed on the strength of a few low-key gigs: Conor Deasy (vocals), Daniel Ryan (guitar/vocals/bass), Ben Carrigan (drums), Kevin Horan (keys) and Padraic McMahon (bass/vocals/guitars) seduced listeners with their soaring harmonies and laidback West Coast melodies. The hyperbole has already reached fever pitch. NME not only chose their recent Santa Cruz EP as single of the week, but also claimed it was the debut of the year. The King’s Tower hype organ also handpicked the band for next year’s Brats tour alongside The Datsuns, The Beatings and Polyphonic Spree.

In addition to adoring the music of The Beach Boys, Neil Young and Burt Bacharach, The Thrills seek inspiration in movies, listing The Virgin Suicides, Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon and The Godfather as favourites. Currently in the process of completing their first UK tour, you can see what the fuss is all about when The Thrills tour Ireland in January. A debut album recorded in Los Angeles will follow sometime in 2003.

Ambulance (pictured)

Ambulance are Dunk and Trev, one of the more compelling electronica acts around, who have been doing things at their own sweet pace for the last four years. They acquainted themselves with the wider public by playing with David Kitt, Sigur Ros, Squarepusher, David Pajo, Mira Calix, Max Tundra and Suburban Knight of Underground Resistance fame. They have a formidable live reputation and are noted for their penchant for improvisation.

The duo have already released material on U:Mack and Frontend Synthetics and have another EP entitled Whindie in the shops now on Frontend. The EP will feature remixes from Max Tundra, Decal and Spectac.

The lads follow in the steps of Decal with a debut album on Mike Paradinas’ Planet Mu label scheduled for 2003. Their daring take on electronic music on a long player is bound to be compelling. If you want proof before you make a purhcase, type Ambulance MP3 into Google and download their ‘net classic ‘Air Hostess’.

The Chalets

Amidst the ranks of post-rock instrumentalists and singer/songwriters lurks a devastating boy/girl pop machine called The Chalets. Peepee, Pony, Chris, Enda and Dilbot attended the fantastic indie fest All Tommorrow’s Parties in Cambersands and stayed in a chalet... and the rest is a three-minute pop song.

A two track demo featuring ‘Them(e) From Chalets’ and ‘Kisschasin’ did the rounds and brought a lot of smiles to a lot of faces. The lads and lasses opened for the likes of The Jimmy Cake and Ex-Girl and thrilled audiences with their pure pop suss and snazzy stage outfits. They could nearly be a White Stripes for extremely drunk people plagued with double or triple vision, only a bit catchier and with not too much blues.

Peepee also sings with Jape (Richie Egan’s project) and Metro and Chris and Enda are two thirds of D.A.D.D.Y. (Design Animation Design Design Yay), who were involved in producing videos for Creative Controle’s ‘Bloodrush’ and the wonderful ‘Padre Pio’ for those “zillionaire space pricks” Warlords Of Pez. They round off the first year of Chalet life with the Foggy Notions tour with NeoSuperVital and The Last Post and should have a poptastic release ready for the New Year.

Hi.Rise

Hi.Rise grabbed the public’s attention during summer 2002, when they were chosen by the listeners of Tom Dunne’s Pet Sounds as the last addition to the Witnness bill, their single ‘One Man’s Poison’ beating off stiff competition from the likes of Babelfish and Sonora.

A heady combination of soul and electronica, the quartet of Donna McCabe (vocals), Andrew “Rooster” Rooney (guitar/loops), Des Bracken (bass) and Anthony Patterson (drums) came together in 1999 and have been wowing audiences the length and breadth of the country since, as well as building up a live following in London.

Summer 2000 saw the release of a four-track EP, The Cinnamon Graham Sessions, showcasing the outfit’s melodic loops and abstract grooves to great effect.

The quartet returned to the studio in 2001, which resulted in ‘One Man’s Poison’, the track that secured them a spot in the Café Stage at Witnness. The b-side to that single, ‘Love Rash’ is due to be included on the soundtrack to the Irish movie, Goldfish Memory, in the new year.

In Donna McCabe’s own words: “Hi-Rise are proof positive that quality modern music is a subtle collusion between old sounds and new.”

A band who look as cool as the noise they make, expect to be seeing and hearing a lot more from Hi.Rise throughout 2003.

Think

So far their development has been relatively low-key, but the Think campaign swung properly into action in October of this year with the release of the outfit’s debut single ‘Man Alive’. A memorable piece of Bolan-esque pop, it was accompanied by a Gordon Murphy-directed video that captured the style and energy of Think mainman Terry McGuinness to a T.

McGuinness is a prolific and talented songwriter. Together with producer Gareth Desmond, of the Studio Loop organisation, he is showing a mastery of the vocabulary of rock’n’roll that belies his relative youth. The grooves are distinctly contemporary, and there is a psychedelic twist which gives the Think portfolio an extra edge, but the musical objectives are classic: to make great rock’n’roll that is as popular and accessible as it is challenging.

Think’s debut album is scheduled for February release and the band – a three-piece which makes a far bigger noise than might be expected with the help of samples and loops – will be cranking it up on the touring front, to promote it. When they get going they will turn heads and win hearts. Think about it: 2003 could be the start of something very special...

Bodytonic/091

Bodytonic are a group of like-minded house heads who have stuck by their guns through some lean times – and they’ve finally begun to reap the rewards.

After a few barren years, Galway finally has something to get excited about again. It took off in 2001, when 091 – aka Frenchie, Lynam, Tiddlerz and Seven-Eleven (clearly not their real names) – stuck their necks out and approached the DeBurgoe’s club in the city and landed a regular home. A small’n’intimate joint – also the city’s Garda Club – it was soon rammed to the gills. The soundtrack? Fresh beats and good vibes, just like the flyers say.

To call the crew ‘party DJs’ is a bit of an insult – they’re music fans who know how to rock a party, playing everything from hip-hop to techno to broken beats to The Pet Shop Boys.

Headhunted by the GPO in late 2001, they have now made the bi-weekly Saturday night their home. Frenchie and Lynam have recently been making inroads into Dublin’s tightknit scene with residencies in 4 Dame Lane and Eamon Doran’s. There’s also rumours that they’re about to purchase their own mobile soundsystem – who said acid house was dead?

Bodytonic was formed in December 2000, with the sole ethos of ‘let’s do it ourselves’. By promoting clubs, producing tracks and setting up their own web site and record label, the Bodytonic ethos has always been about setting up their own identity – separate from anyone else. Over the last year or so they have grown to include a large group of people all focused on the same goal – promoting good quality dance music.

Tara Blaze

Among those in the know, for some time, she has been regarded as a special talent in waiting. Now, as 2003 looms, she is about to emerge from the shadows with a satchel full of new songs, that will more than fulfil the prevailing sense of expectation.

The face of Tara Blaze will be familiar to many. Originally Tara Egan-Langley, she was the lead singer with Kaydee, the band to which she lent her wonderfully photogenic looks and haunting voice. Since that outfit disbanded, Tara has been working quietly away, developing new material and a solo identity. After a period incubating, she has linked-up with John Hughes, manager and mentor of The Corrs, who will bring his touch – both managerial and musical – to bear on the potential which Tara Blaze possesses in abundance.

Insiders are talking about Blaze in terms of the new cool. With her unique voice, fine songs and sense of mystery, it is easy to see why. It’s the first additional project Hughes has taken on since achieving worldwide success with The Corrs, having turned down a dozen other opportunities, among them a number that were offered by major record companies. He is involved with Tara because this is something he believes in. An album will be ready for early summer release, and from there on, all bets are off – this one could run and run.

Creative Controle (pictured)

Described in these very pages as “everything that is integral to the essence of quality hip-hop”, Creative Controle are that rarest of beasts, an Irish hip-hop crew that are talented, focused and fucking amazing live.

Formed in 1999 as a side-project from six-piece The Stonecutters, MC Messiah J, DJ Mayhem and producer, The Expert, were soon blasting out their own unique brand of top quality, adrenaline-fuelled hip-hop. Their debut double A-side single on Volta Beats, ‘Bloodrush’/’The Dose’ proved, beyond doubt, that Irish hip-hop could be as inspiring and vital as anything from across the Atlantic. The follow-up, ‘Check The Vision’, cemented their reputation, aided and abetted by some incendiary live shows. Meanwhile, the animated video for ‘Bloodrush’, created by those wonderful souls at DADDY, has been hailed as a classic.

Unfortunately, summer 2002 saw their appearance at Witnness rained off, although the boys insisted on playing their set anyway, despite the fact that nobody was allowed into the tent. They have managed to clock up a healthy number of gigs during 2002, though, including some high profile support slots to the likes of Dalek.

Now a duo, following the departure of DJ Mayhem and with their debut album on the way, 2003 should be the year that the nation takes notice. After that, it’s the world!

Also on the radar
Keep your ears peeled for Kathy Davey, 8 Ball, Rollers/Sparkers, The Crayonz, Derrick Devine, The Tycho Brahe and The Uptown Racquet Club

Whatever happened to the class of 2001?

Gemma Hayes:
Not content with her Night On My Side album being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, the Tipperary singer has toured with Suede in the UK, and is currently running round Europe with Counting Crows.

Kid Dynamo:
It’s been a productive 12 months for Colin Campbell & Co. with their second single, ‘New Space’/’What’s Happened’, getting noticed by all the right people and high profile outings with Supergrass and David Kitt. They’ve also inked a deal with LA independent Left Wing Recordings, which will see their first American EP out in the spring.

Paul O’Reilly:
Toured extensively with particularly positive reviews for his Wonky outing in August. Following on from the untitled EP he released on his own Songs label, O’Reilly is currently working on an album that’ll surface here on Volta Sounds and in the UK on Loose. You can see him doing his live thing at Whelan’s on December 17.

Cara Dillon:
Her debut album won her both a hotpress Roots Award and the admiration of Peter Gabriel who invited Dillon onto the WOMAD tour. The New Year sees her working on the eagerly awaited follow-up and renewing acquaintances with Peter and his world music mates in Australia and New Zealand.

The Jimmy Cake:
When they weren’t playing ecstatically received live shows – do these people understand the concept of “time off”? – the Cake could be found working on their excellent Dublin Gone. Everybody Dead album. Early 2003 sees them embarking on another nationwide Irish tour and releasing “a monster three-song 80 minute EP.”

Jetplane Landing:
Having introduced themselves to the world with the Zero For Conduct album, the Jetties – as no one apart from us calls them – embarked on a never ending tour of Bob Dylan proportions.
Along the way they got to record an EP, Els Quatre Gate, which spawned the MTV2-endorsed 'Acrimony'. Next up is another LP, due in the summer, and more frantic gigging.

Melaton:
Made their Irish top 30 debut in April with the Falling Down EP, and spent the rest of the year working on an album which is due in the spring.

Paul Bryan:
The past 12 months have seen the Waterford DJ’s profile rising nicely. Apart from his long-running residency at The Forum, he’s played numerous gigs in Dublin and beyond. He’s also released an acclaimed mix CD and has another in the pipeline.

Sonora:
The Dubliners joined Hothouse Flowers and The Revs on the Heineken Rollercoaster tour and released a single, ‘Relentless’, that was played off the air by the country’s finer radio stations.