For Connected

I make no secret of the fact that I think a lot of Irish music doing the rounds nowadays is very mediocre. Therefore, when Connected assigned me to stand in the middle of a Dublin shipping dock on a Saturday night in the middle of November, the only thing that was tearing me away from the warmth of my sitting room and Jedward (now there’s quality…) was the draw of a certain Jeremy Hickey and his wonderful drumstick-wielding ways. Hickey, who is better known by his ironic moniker, Rarely Seen Above Ground (RSAG), was on just before headliners New Young Pony Club, though, so whilst waiting I hung around and took advantage of the free Coors Light and ate chips to keep warm. Oh, and I checked out a couple of bands too…

Codes
The Dublin indie quartet played songs from their debut album, Trees Dream in Algebra, to get the crowd warmed up. Phantom FM playlist stalwarts such as ‘You Are Here’ and ‘This is Goodbye’ provided plenty of fodder for the mass of indie fans that had amalgamated at the foot of the stage. In fairness to the band, ‘This is Goodbye’ is a catchy, melodic number that suits the singer’s androgynous voice but, on a whole, Codes are a poor man’s Keane who probably aspire to be more like Muse, yet haven’t quite got the balls to pull it off (although Muse are the most overrated band of our generation, so it’s much of a muchness). They seemed to placate the crowd – each to their own – but at this point I was still wishing I had stayed in and watched X-Factor.

Tiny Magnetic Pets
With nods to Kraftwerk, Stereolab and David Bowie, Tiny Magnetic Pets emulate some of electronica’s greatest innovators with an admirable aptitude for their chosen field. They seem to have grasped the concept of ‘less is more’ on a lot of tracks (‘See What I See’, ‘Spinning’); letting sparsity speak volumes whilst dually avoiding the messy synth-orgy that so many Irish electro-pop outfits get drawn into due to over eagerness and inexperience. Saying this, tracks like ‘Control Me’ prove that the Psychonavigation-signed duo can still hold their own in the dancefloor-filling stakes. Ok, so they’re not breaking any moulds with singer Paula Glimmer’s Allison Goldfrapp-esque vocals, but their understanding and usage of analogue instrumentation is usually spot on. Their cover of the Eurythmics’ ‘Love is a Stranger’ was particularly noteworthy and there were more than a few heads mouthing the words to their biggest hit to date, ‘Girl in a White Dress’.

RSAG
After some time spent admiring industrial paraphernalia that had been transformed to fit the scene – 40ft shipping containers used as projection screens – RSAG was announced as the next act and the crowd started to heave en masse towards the stage. As the only artist to have been booked to play all five Coors Light Peak gigs (in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick), the Kilkenny man was undoubtedly one of the main draws for many ticketholders.

His debut album Organic Sampler is one of the best Irish records to have been released in recent years and his live sets never fail to disappoint. With his trademark ‘graphic band’ visuals especially striking thanks to the industrialised backdrop, things were off to a good start. Whoring through tracks from the aforementioned Organic Sampler, RSAG’s short set surged through the crowd like a combustible burst of live energy. Live, his deadpan, Ian Curtis-like voice is certainly less-than-comprehensible but I guess it’s a matter of personal taste as to whether that takes away from the songs or not.

Personally, I think it’s neither here nor there and, in fact, may even add to his renowned reputation as a great live performer. Flawless vocals can often be strangely unsatisfying at a live gig but, again, it’s down to personal opinion on that front. It’s hard to pick out any one highlight of the set; ‘Talk Back, Crawl Back’, ‘The Climb’, ‘Days Go By’… the list goes on. I would strongly urge you to check out RSAG before the rest of the world cotton on to one of our most exciting musical assets.
Ok, sycophantic fawning out of the way… let’s move on.

Drag Queen Bingo / Extreme Rhythm
Filling the set up time that was going on over at the main stage, regular Twisted Pepper DJ duo Drag Queen Bingo teamed up with Wexford-based percussion ensemble, Extreme Rhythm, on the smaller stage to inject some vigour into the frost-stiffened limbs of the crowd. Energetic drum pounding fused with favourite club classics such as Paul Van Dyk’s ‘For an Angel’ were definite crowd pleasers.

New Young Pony Club
Considering that New Young Pony Club (NYPC) haven’t released any new material since their 2007 Mercury-nominated debut, Fantastic Playroom, the band’s headliner status felt more like a last minute panic by the booking agents than a carefully planned move. That fact is compounded further by looking at the quality of Coors Light Peak’s previous Irish headliners: Reverend & The Makers, The Charlatans, Fight Like Apes and Jape.

Call me ungrateful, but I felt a little hard done by on behalf of us Dubliners. Nonetheless, onetime super-hyped singles such as ‘Ice Cream’ and ‘The Bomb’ persuaded me to drop the cynicism for a nano-second and give NYPC a chance. Result? Meh. The crowd bopped away regardless in the ever-increasing cold, thanks to a steady stream of Coors Light and an admirably energetic set from a so-so band. They did play some new material but in my humble opinion there was nothing earth-shattering going on.

Overall, the gig was visually impactive and well organised. Feeder busses ferried punters to and from the city centre with no obvious hiccups and security seemed to be extra vigilant; perhaps due to the somewhat perilous setting. Just give us a bit of sunshine to go with our ice cold beers next time and we’ll be happy.

Review: Sheena Madden

Photography: Sara Devine

The lovely and talented Richie Egan AKA Jape was announced the winner of the 4th Annual Choice Music Prize last night at a ceremony in Vicar Street. Jape beat out an extremely high calibre of nominees including RSAG, Halfset, Messiah J and the Expert and Fight Like Apes.

Below is a clip of the Hot Chip-esque ‘Strike Me Down’.

The 10 nominees for the Choice Music Prize were announced earlier today. Chosen on merit, rather than radio play or album sales, the ten albums are intended to represent the cream of Irish music released in 2008. By and large, it’s one of the stronger lists to have emerged since the innaugeral Choice Music Prize in 2005. The Script are obviously the token ‘mainstream’ nominee and there are a few predictable contenders in the shape of Fight Like Apes and Jape, both of whom put out extremely popular albums last year. I hope in my little heart of hearts that RSAG wins but my money’s on Jape all the way. Speaking of which, Paddy Power are now taking bets. 

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 4th March at a ceremony in Vicar street that will feature performances from as many of the nominees as possible, subject to their availability on the night. Tickets for the event go on sale Monday 19th January at the bargain price of €27.00. 

So, without further ado…

The Choice Music Prize shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2008  

Fight Like Apes ”Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion” (Model Citizen) 

Mick Flannery ”White Lies” (EMI)

Halfset ”Another Way of Being There” (Casino Gravity Records)

Lisa Hannigan ”Sea Sew” (Own label)

David Holmes ”The Holy Pictures” (Canderblinks)

Jape ”Ritual” (Co-Op)

Messiah J & The Expert ”From The Word Go” (Inaudible)

Oppenheimer ”Take The Whole Mid-Range And Boost It” (Fantastic Plastic)

R.S.A.G. ”Organic Sampler” (Psychonavigation)

The Script ”The Script” (Sony Music)

Ok so I was adamant that I was going to survive this whole ‘No Music Day’ malarkey… in fact looking back at my previous post I was quite ‘haughty’ about it. Well… I can humbly admit now that I am a complete failure. In my defence, I survived the whole day without listening to the radio or slyly fluting about on myspace in work. The problem was when I got home. I hopped out of the shower and resisted my hand’s natural reaction to flick on the radio until I realised what was on the fancy USB yoke that I have hooked up to my fancy stereo. A few days ago I downloaded Van Morrison’s classic album Astral Weeks and had NEVER listened to it (I know, sacrilege, blah blah). So I battled with my will power for a (very short) while and then decided to justify my weakness by allowing myself to listen to only ‘QUALITY’ music for the rest of the evening – still no Phantom FM or ‘zany’ DJ duos allowed. Oh it was so good. I felt so satisfied. Until I got in the car and realised that my car radio (not so fancy) doesn’t have a fancy USB port. Dilemma. Silence? Phantom? Oh no…. Sitting beside me on the passenger seat like a shining beacon of hope was the beautiful monochrome digipack containing my just-purchased copy of Organic Sampler by the afore-raved about RSAG. No downloading for you my sweet, you get actual hard-earned cash for your talent (in fairness, Van has plenty of the stuff up there on Cypress Hill or wherever it is he lives). Oh happy day. So on it goes and Sweet Jesus what an album. I don’t know if it really was that good or if my pathetic attempt at abstinence just made me lap it up like a hidden track on a Joy Division album but good ‘oul Jeremy Hickey’s still up there on my list of Geniuses of the Year.

So what have I learned from my experiences?

One: I have the willpower of Kate Moss in a crackhouse. Two: If it takes trying to abstain altogether to ignore the constant drone of repetitive shite in the background and actually take note of and absorb the music that we are listening to then I’m all for it. I may have failed dismally but at least I fully appreciated the two fantastic pieces of work that I did listen to yesterday, and not a Crystal Castle or Kaiser Chief in sight. Result!

There’s been a quiet buzz rising since late Summer about R.S.A.G (Rarely Seen Above Ground) AKA Jeremy Hickey, Kilkenny multi-instrumentalist/singer/producer/latest Irish prodigy providing an alternative to the stale taste that the ‘indie scene’ has left in our mouths. As per usual, those intrepid heavyweight bloggers got the skinny on him months ago but as yet he’s still not a household name. Hickey’s debut under the R.S.A.G. psudonym Organic Sampler recieved rave reviews from those in the know. Everyone from Talking Heads to Zeppelin to The Chemical Brothers are sited as influences but the most prominant sound is one not dissimilar to a young Ian Curtis.

R.S.A.G plays Kennedy’s Underground and Andrew’s Lane in December with stints in Tralee and Tullamore before Christmas too, details of which can be found on his myspace page. The clip below is a bit tinny sounding but does the job, some great songs up on said myspace page too. More to follow regarding my latest obsession very, very soon….