In which I invent a new word, Aoife and I talk about Azealia Banks (that’s her above drawn by 400 Facts), why Grimes reminds me of Opus III, why Chairlift are great, Twitter fights with Zomby, Icelandic intentions and pronunciations, a load of brilliant Irish electronica and some Shangaan electro.

Azealia Banks Artwork by 400 Facts – Wallpaper.
Presenter: Aoife Mc of Right Click Radio 2XM and food blogger as I Can Has Cook?.

MP3: Nialler9 Podcast #39

Podcast #39 -Tracklisting

1. AU – ‘Solid Gold’ – Solid Gold (The Leaf Label)
2. Tanlines – ‘Brothers’ – Mixed Emotions (True Panther)
3. Grimes – ‘Oblivion’ – Visions (4AD)
4. Chairlift – ‘Ghost Tonight’ – Something (Young Turks)
5. Azealia Banks – ‘NEEDSUMLUV’
6. Daithí feat. Elaine Mai – ‘Carraroe’
7. White Collar Boy – ‘Noah’ – Solar Midnight
8. Benny Smiles – ‘Sunday Morning’
9. Monto – ‘Green & Blue’
10. Damu – ‘Breathless’ – Unity/a> (Keysound)
11. Samaris – ‘Hljóma þú’
12. New Look – ‘Teen Need’ – New Look/a> (!K7)
13. Tshestsha Boys – ‘Tshestsha’ – Youtube Top Hits (Nozinja Music)

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Annie Clark is pretty statuesque in real life so pitching her as a porcelain-skinned statue in her video for ‘Cheerleader’ isn’t too much of a stretch…until she starts to crack like a vase. Directed by Hiro Murai.

I introduced Cork dub dance pop duo Young Wonder last week who will release their debut EP on Feel Good Lost Records in April. Galway’s Daithí has turned in a smashing remix of ‘Tumbling Backwards’ which is available for download:

The original:

Music From Ireland have announced the lineup of Irish bands who will be travelling to SXSW in Austin and Toronto for Canadian Music Week this March. Full times and lineups are on the MFI site. Acts are chosen by each festival not Music From Ireland or First Music Contact.

They are:

SXSW

And So I Watch You From Afar
Patrick Kelleher + His Cold Dead Hands
The Minutes
Cashier No 9
Mmoths
Squarehead
Foy Vance 
Lisa O Neill 
Wonder Villians
General Fiasco 

Canadian Music Week

Cloud Castle Lake
The Rubberbandits
Squarehead
Daithí
Fred
Marc O’ Reilly
Windings

This is the weekly list of recommended gigs taking place over the next seven days in Dublin published every Tuesday. All times are 7.30/8pm unless stated. Feel free to recommend events not present in the comments below.

Ticket giveaways:

• Friday February 10th: !Kaboogie Sixth Birthday: Miss Dynamite, Champion, Lakker, Replete @ Twisted Pepper
• How to enter - Email freebies@nialler9.com along with your full name, and phone number before Noon on Thursday to be in with a chance to win.

Tuesday February 7th

• Chewing On Tinfoil @ Whelan’s (€7)
• Rua Sessions @ Anseo (9pm, Free)
• Ruby Sessions: Bipolar Empire, The Fresh Kills & more @ Doyles (€6, 9pm)

Wednesday February 8th

• Albert Niland  @ Whelan’s (€13)

Thursday February 9th

• Cathy Davey @ Whelan’s (€21.50)
• Dropkick Murphys @ Vicar Street (€25.90)
• Forward/Slash Presents: R. Kelly Appreciation Session @ The Bernard Shaw (Free)
• White Collar Boy Present CLU Live w/The Black Dot DJ set @ The Pygmalion (9pm, Free)
• Junior Spesh Presents: Nexx Vs B-Side @ The Twisted Pepper @ Twisted Pepper (€6)

Friday February 10th

• Great Lakes Mystery, Magic Pockets @ The Joinery (€8, BYOB)
• Loud Mouth Collective: edit;erase, DJ M-1, The Archetype, visuals by C.F. Meister @ The Bernard Shaw (Free)
• Back To The Left, Family Planning @ The Electric Lounge (€5 , 9pm)
• Musicmaker Social: Katie Kim, Axis of, Mia Sparrow, Tenaka, We Arrive Alive @ The Mercantile (9pm, Free)
• Automatic Tasty, Lunar Disko DJs @ The Sweeney Mongrel (Free, 11pm)
• !Kaboogie Sixth Birthday: Miss Dynamite, Champion, Lakker, Replete @ Twisted Pepper (Win tickets above, €12/€15, 10pm)

Saturday February 11th

• Alabama 3, Oddsocks Revival @ Button Factory (€24.50)
• The Minutes @ The Academy (€12.50)
• The Harder They Come ~ Ska Night @ King 7, Capel Street (€5)
• Bodytonic & Eleven Eleven: Balam Acab (Live), Angkorwat @ Twisted Pepper (€12,8pm)
• Swords @ The Grand Social (Free)
• Michael Kiwanuka @ The Sugar Club (€14.50)
• Surge Present Andy Stott, Barry Redsettaz, The Candidates @ Twisted Pepper (€12, 11pm)
• Fatty Fatty & Radiomade Presents: Beautiful Swimmers, Le Galaxie + Shocko ( €10, 11pm)

Sunday February 12th

• 12 Sundays: BLONDES & more @ The Bernard Shaw (Free, noon, Blondes on at 9.30pm)
• Saucy Sundays @ The Grand Social (Free, 5pm)
• Triúr: Peadar Ó Riada, Martin Hayes and Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh @ Abbey Theatre (€25)
• tUnE-yArDs, Thread Pulls @ Button Factory (sold out)
• Sunday Roast @ The Mercantile (Free, 9pm)

Monday February 13th

• Lights, Nightbox @ The Academy  2 (€15)

All photos by Michael Rickard (Twitter).

There’s no formula for hype but if you wanted a modern example of how to bottle it, Azealia Banks is it. In 2010, she was knocking out club rap tunes like ‘L8R’. Like Rye Rye and Yo Majesty! before her, it was fun but lacked a punch to take it to the next level.

Well that level hit 18 months on, when Banks debuted ’212′ with the backing of a slew of producers like Lazy Jay, Lunice, Jacques Greene and Machinedrum, a deal with a major in Universal and hypehypehype galore. Last night was only the beginning. A Monday night sold out gig in Whelan’s Dublin served as a live debut for her as an artist, an introduction and a salivation of the hype that had already built. Azealia only needed to prove she was a) talented b) cool and c) good live (unlike the less than impressive Karl Lagerfield clip which appeared last week).

She was all of these things and didn’t waste time proving it in a 25-30 minute set taking in seven of her short songs so far. With just Montreal’s DJ Cosmo on the decks, the focus was on Azealia and she was enticing. She knew how to work a crowd, her rhyming was on point and the crowd knew how to work her, flattering her by knowing the words to songs like ‘L8R’, ‘Barbie Girl’ and ‘Runnin’ (a Lunice production). The only mis-step was an a capella version of Groove Theory’s ‘Tell Me’ . At six songs in, she played ’212′ into The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ and the room went off. Even as she asked “Is this the song you came here for?”, there was an equal mix of yes and no that indicated that even in the moment, the crowd weren’t just here for a one-hit wonder.

American rappers and MCs are always the ones leaving people feeling shortchanged when they come to Europe. Showcase gigs and personal appearances are more expected across the Atlantic than they are here and as such a set that lasts no more than 30 minutes is going to grate many especially when she didn’t play ‘Liquorice’ or ‘NEEDSUMLUV’. It’ll all be forgotten about, those present can say they were at one of the first Azealia Banks shows if they’re so inclined. While people might have been upset at the length of the set, no one was giving out about her lack of talent. What is clear, is that Azealia is ready and what better way to experience that than a mad burst of energy on a Monday night in Dublin?

Some clips from last night:

“Whatever you do don’t funk with my groove…”

‘QueenS’ is psychedelic swagged out funk soul song from Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White more commonly known as THEESatisfaction.

Recommended if you like the kind of futuristic soul that Erykah Badu has been bringing of late.

These ladies are hitting Twisted Pepper on April 19th. They are close friends Shabazz Palaces and they feature on their album Black Up.. They also hit mainland Europe. A full length record is coming on Subpop entitled awE NaturalE in March.

Dublin-based band Funeral Suits kicked off their year of activity at Eurosonic and here we get a taste of what’s ahead with a stream of their new single ‘All Those Friendly People’, an anthemic sounding song produced by Stephen Street which gets a release on March 19th through Tri-tone/PIAS. It’s the most direct the band have sounded so far. They are on a UK tour from later this month. 2012 could be a big year for Brian James, Mik McKeogh, Greg McCarthy and Dar Grant.

Coming across like a Beach House tune conceived in the Antipodes with the gender roles reversed, ‘Rhodesia’ is a beautiful lilting song from Adelaide duo Manor, Nathaniel Morse and Caitlin Duff. It’s their first single and an album is out this year.

Chairlift’s 2008 debut album Does You Inspire You? was an impressive if somewhat muddled first release. Swaying from from bubblegum electro-pop to moodier synth cuts, the overall impression of the Brooklyn band’s debut was “interesting” and perhaps most notable for ‘Bruises’, a cute song that featured in an iPod commercial that year.

Chairlift founding member Aaron Pfenning left in 2010 to pursue his solo project Rewards. Meanwhile vocalist Caroline Polachek strengthened her vocal chops in appearances with Girl Crisis, Guards, Holy Ghost! and Washed Out while Patrick Wimberly produced some Das Racist tracks.

Four years on, the duo return with Something, an infinitely superior album. Gone are the playful genre tryouts; in their place, Polachek and Wimberly stick with an ’80s inspired template of neon glowing synthesizers, AM radio pop hooks and arrangements reminiscent of the kind of driving song that you would do a Molly Ringwald dance to.

But this is a new decade and as such, the sounds we associate with ’80s are simply smart reference points for a hugely enjoyable pop record steeped in a very particular retro nostalgia (Retromania as Simon Reynolds has called it).

Polachek’s various collaborations and the intervening years have strengthened her vocal character and Wimberly has risen to the occasion too. Concentrating on a single time period for reference and you’re likely to be pigeonholed but Chairlift play the card so well that you just go with it. ‘I Belong In Your Arms’ is pure soundtrack montage gold, a chrome-plated Delorean speeding down a highway (and if it’s anything like ‘Sidewalk Safari’, it’s got it’s eyes on running you over), the only thing missing is a ‘We Built This City’ style impromptu radio announcer over the outro.

Where the music of the period relied on bombast and big drum sounds, Chairlift rely on tightly constructed rhythms and Polachek’s magnetising vocals filtered through taut modern production methods. Some of the singer’s best moments can be heard on the chorus of ‘Ghost Tonight’, the inner monologue of opener ‘Sidewalk Safari’, the wolf cries of ‘Amanaemonesia’ and the gentle ice-cold delivery of ‘Cool As Fire’. The arrangements meanwhile are shiny, brimming with bright vitality and unabashed in their emotion and embrace. There’s nothing confusing or swaying here, Chairlift MKII are the makings of something great.

Something is out now on Young Turks on February 13th in the UK and Ireland / Columbia in the North America now.

The live dance from the Boiler Room is very much worth a look for the comments at least – “my grandfather dancing better”:

The annual Red Bull Music Academy has become one of the best signifiers of new electronic talent in the last five years. While this year’s Academy is taking place in New York in October and November and applications are being taken from this week, big time rap producer Just Blaze and house producer Kerri Chandler will be in Dublin and Belfast in early March to tell you why you should be there (if you’re a hot young producer).

Closer to home Red Bull are also looking for talent with the Red Bull Bedroom Jam, which is aiming to raise the profile of Irish bands through a competition. Bands can apply by uploading a video of themselves to redbullbedroomjam.ie. Six of the top voted, viewed and talked about on social media bands will be filmed performing in their bedrooms and broadcast online and three of those will get a chance to perform at a large Irish festival and one band will get to record in a Red Bull Studio later in the year as the winner.

Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen has a solo EP coming out on Warp in March called Silent Hour/Golden Mile. ‘Silent Single’ is the first single from the EP, a gently rolling arrangement set to Rossen’s distinctive vocal and harmonies.

Last week, the more atmospheric piano number ‘Saint Nothing’ was revealed from the release.

Tracklisting

1. Up On High
2. Silent Song
3. Return To Form
4. Saint Nothing
5. Golden Mile

Promising producer Evian Christ has signed to Tri Angle Records and they’ve put out a mixtape of his featuring eight tracks so far entitled Kings & Them. Pretty excited about more music from this project. Download the mixtape and add Evian Christ on Twitter.

Delorean’s Ekhi features on ‘Journeys’. Here’s the closing track featuring Pional too.

Buy the album on eMusic or via label Permanent Vacation.

Since I first met up with Shangaan Electro producer Nozinja in Johannesburg in 2010, the ultra fast-paced marimba electro music was an unknown phenomenon. Since then, thanks to an Honest Jon’s compilation and lots of media coverage, Nozinja and his team of dancers and singers have toured Europe, Australia and made appearances at Damon Albarn’s Another Honest Jon’s Chopup gigs in October last year alongside Fatoumata Diawara, Flea, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Tony Allen and Theo Parrish.

Last month, two new compilations appeared on digital download sites. The clown-faced boiler suited Tshestsha Boys’ released Youtube Top Hits while Tiyiselani Vomaseve, a five-piece girl group released Tiyiselani Volume 1. All music is by Nozinja. Here’s a tune from each:

Buy them at eMusic and on iTunes (US only).

Meanwhile, Honest Jon’s are pressing on with their Shangaan remix project which has already seen the likes of Theo Parrish, Oni Ayhun, Ricardo Villalobos, Burnt Friedman and Peverelist have a go. A double CD entitled Shangaan Shake will be released on February 27th featuring those remixes and more from Actress, Hype Williams and Demdike Stare.

Tracklisting

1. Mark Ernestus Meets BBC
2. Oni Ayhun Meets Shangaan Electro
3. MMM Meets Tshetsha Boys
4. DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn Meet Tshetsha Boys
5. Burnt Friedman Meets Zinja Hlungwani
6. Actress Meets Shangaan Electro
7. Old Apparatus Meets Shangaan Electro
8. Theo Parrish Meets Mancingelani
9. Demdike Stare Meets Shangaan Electro
10. Peverelist Meets Tshetsha Boys
11. Anthony Shake Shakir Meets BBC
12. RP Boo Meets Shangaan Electro
13. Actress Meets Shangaan Electro 2
14. Hype Williams Meets Shangaan Electro
15. Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer Meet Shangaan Electro
16. Mark Ernestus Meets BBC Version

Benny Smiles has given me one of my favourite tracks of the last month already with ‘Sunday Morning’ (below) but here in a turn into Rubberbandits territory, the Loud Mouth Collective producer combines with Ballz Deep (who wrote the lyrics and sings the tune) and goes for the art heads with an R&B jam about an NCAD Girl, that’s guaranteed to have Thomas Street buzzing.

“The afterparty is in Andrew’s Lane… Oh my god, the music is so amazing. There’ll be jizz and crunkstep, UK garage toolbox, grime, retro future cyberwave and a new minimalist techno from Berlin. It’s so minimal it’s actually silent… it’s so coooool..”

Benny Smiles is Ross Fortune from Wicklow and he was in the Gorgeous Colours at some point. He display his live looping live show at State vs. Loud Mouth Collective alongside The Notas and Mick. E Rawk on Feb 17th.

More tunes at Soundcloud.

Music aside for a second, Stephen Colbert is a bit of a hero, the kind of person you want attending that fantasy dinner party filled with all the people you admire. He has been using his show, The Colbert Report, to hilariously highlight the stupidity of Super PACs (a puppet group that run ads on behalf of a Presidential candidate often run by his closest allies) in the States by starting one himself and raising $1 million dollars from the people who watch his show (“I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain’t one!” he said on his show). It’s political satire at its best.

Colbert is also a master interviewer able to walk the line between delivering one-liners, establishing fascinating discourse and squeezing his interviewee for laughs through his Republican persona. Watch his interview with Björk where they talk about apps, elves and art & Björk performs ‘Cosmonogy’.

Authors of one of the most interesting leftfield rap records of 2011 in Black Up, Shabazz Palaces are coming to Cork for a show at The Pavilion on May 19th. More info as it happens. I suspect a Dublin date is also imminent (Update: Jim confirms it). A new video is above while live footage and a album short film are below to give you an idea of what to expect.

The best of new album streams this week in A-Z form. See recent album streams in the category page.

Blondes – Blondes
Dan Sartain – Too Tough To Live
Delorentos – Little Spark

DJ Food – The Search Engine
Heartless Bastards – Arrow (alt)
Islet – People Illuminated
Kathleen Edwards – Voyager
Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (alt 90 second samples)
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas (alt) (alt 2)
Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral
Of Montreal – Paralytics Stalks
Paul McCartney – Kisses On The Bottom
Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend
Rats On Rafts – The Moon Is Big
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp (alt)
The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know 
We Have Band – Ternion (alt)

Highlights

This is the weekly list of recommended gigs taking place over the next seven days in Dublin published every Tuesday. All times are 7.30/8pm unless stated. Feel free to recommend events not present in the comments below.

Tuesday January 31st

• Bonnie Prince Billy, Susanna @ Vicar Street (€28)
• Ruby Sessions: Watson Ace, Cat Dowling, John Byrne, Peter Doran @ Doyles (€6, 9pm)

Wednesday February 1st

• Kaleidoscope @ Odessa Club (€10)

Thursday February 2nd

• Cathy Davey @ Whelan’s (€21.50)
• Social Rising: White Collar Boy, Bantum, BloodyEnds  @ The Grand Social (€5)
• Film Networking Party and Fundraiser: CF Meister and Redahan @ 4 Dame Lane (€6)
• Junior Spesh: L-Vis, Bok Bok @ Twisted Pepper (€10/€12)

Friday February 3rd

• Squarehead, Hello Moon, The Bridges of Madison County @ Whelan’s (€10)
• Tenaka, Monto, Lemonada, Nialler9 DJ set @ Electric Lounge (formerly Shebeen Basement) (€)
• First Second Label: Ickis Mirolo, Kaleid, Redahan, Elliot Hyland, Camron Duffy & more @ U Bar (Free)
• Disclosure, Bingo, Clu, Kaleid  @ Crawdaddy (€10, 11pm)

Saturday February 4th

• Elevens @ Unitarian Church (€11)
• Banquet: Factory Floor @ Tripod (€8, 11pm)
• Estel 13th anniversary gig, Gretta Gunn, Mur Mur and Ashley Campanje @ The Grand Social (€7)
• We Are Electronic: Neil Landstrumm, Sunil Sharpe, Barry Redsettaz & more @ Twisted Pepper (€12, 10.30pm)
• Nightflight Presents : Steve Bug @ The Grand Social (€15 ,11pm)

Sunday February 5th

• 12 Sundays @ The Bernard Shaw (Free, 2pm)
• Saucy Sundays – This week featuring – Veroa, The Barley Mob, The Blackened Trees, Pearse Mac Gloughlin, The Violet Roadkills, Marita Connolly plus special guests @ The Grand Social (Free, 5pm)
• Sunday Roast @ The Mercantile (Free, 9pm)

Monday February 6th

• Azealia Banks @ Whelan’s (sold out)

Fresh new sounds out of Cork from Ian Ring and Rachel Koeman, a duo going by the name of Young Wonder (Twitter) who released their first video today for ‘Tumbling Backwards’, a direct to the head dubby pop thrill that you could imagine sounding big on the radio.

Just sayin’.

In a move that surprises me little considering his form for producing music videos for hot new acts, Brendan Canty will release their six-track debut EP on Feel Good Lost Records on April 14th on limited physical release and digitially. That EP is an impressively put-together first release filled with big beats, pitched vocals, euphoric synths, a sample from The Avalanches and Rachel Koeman’s sweet timbre. Canty and Feel Good Lost also did the video.

Download ‘Tumbling Backwards’ below and come back here next week for a Daithí remix of the track. More remixes on the way from: Sun Glitters, SertOne, Sacred Animals, VAARsity (of Zombie Computer) and more..

It’s from Manchester’s No Ceremony and is released on a 10″ vinyl on February 20th backed with the similar ‘WeAreMe along with ‘Deliverus’.Grab the download below and listen to the other tracks. Order the vinyl here.

Youtube dance maverick Nathan Barnatt teams up with Yelle for a super-fun music video. Joy.

Beats inspired by J Dilla is the theme at the centre of SertOne’s newest EP Quesadillas. Each of the four tracks is inspired by an individual Dilla production from the Intro to the Ruff Draft LP to chimes and vocals of ‘Make’em NV’ to Slum Village’s ‘Fall In Love’.

Proceeds for the sale of the EP go towards the J Dilla Foundation. Sert got the idea for the EP because he is playing a Dilla charity night in Liverpool.

You don’t need an excuse to hear this song again. ‘Hold On’ is a glorious old-fashioned soulful rock ‘n’ roll song from Alabama Shakes‘ debut album Boys & Girls out in April on Rough Trade. It also features on their Bandcamp EP.

Things have been progressing nicely for Cork’s REID since 2012 hit. He’s got himself on a management agency and ‘Diptera’, one of the tracks released on his second release for the upcoming Blah Blah Blah label was used in a documentary From The Inside Out for US filmmakers Second Base Films. The doc also features tunes from Chase & Status, Nero and Digitalism.

‘Diptera’ / ‘Fall’ get a digital release on February 20th. The former is a quiet/loud compressed synth line workout while the latter is more fluid and rolling with bells and big beats.

Catchy and super fun debut garage pop single from Galway band Dott who are made up of former members of other bands Nicola Cosgrove (Rites), Laura Finnegan (Nevernoodz), Tony Higgins (Grand Pocket Orchestra, currently also Junior 85) and Anna McCarthy (Blasterbra).

They play their first ever gig this weekend in Galway.

[ Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp ]

It’s been a year and two months since Neil O’ Connor aka Somadrone’s third LP Depth Of Field was streamed here and next month he’ll play his first headline shows since that period kicking off with Friday February 4th in Triskel Arts Centre, Cork with support from Magic Pockets, Thursday February 23rd in Belfast’s Menagerie Club and culminating on Saturday February 25th in Dublin’s Unitarian Church on St. Stephens Green with support from Angkorwat and I Am The Cosmos (check the amazing flyer by M&E).

New Somadrone music on Skinny Wolves (bringing Grouper over in late March) in the woodblock percussion and starry synth-featuring ‘Reckoning’ is below which Neil says is indicative of new more upbeat songs.

“I was listening to alot of library music this time around, with alot of German stuff like Cluster and Harmonium. I just wanted to make a completely new record, challenge myself to write out of my style. The results are interesting, less acoustics on this one. It’s full on electronic pop. Our live set is now myself on stereo guitar, modular and other synths, Glenn Keating on drums/electronics and David Kitt on guitar and vocoder”.

Another Come On Live Long remix? Sure when they’re this good…

Lemonada chops and screws the last track off the Mender EP, ‘Someone’s Home’ into a skittery vocal beat combination. This the kind of music that if your granny heard you’d listen to, she’d ask if there was a “want” in you…

Everywhere I went at Eurosonic, people talked about James McMorrow. From the 3Voor12 to the BBC to the waitress in the local restaurant, everyone in Holland loved him. ‘Higher Love’ found itself in the UK charts the week before thanks to the Lovefilm campaign. Myles O’Reilly and Simon O’Neill joined him at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on his sold out Dutch tour last week and captured some of the excitement around an artist whose profile continues to rise.

A special version of the album with bonus tracks comes out shortly.

Donegal-based Keith Mannion is the man behind the SlowPlaceLikeHome project which dropped its second free download EP called Coastal Hubs for Chivalry EP this week. Mannion gallivants around the subgenres of electronic, never really committing to any one in particular but common in his palette are wandering instrumentals, treated vocals, ’90s electronica and swirling arrangements. It’s very effective thinking music. The first EP Waiting on The 3rd 2nd Chance is also on Bandcamp.

Coastal Hubs for Chivalry EP:

The Cast Of Cheers get the Peter Gabriel stop-motion treatment (or Bosco as Aoife pointed out) in the video for their first ever formally released single ‘Family’ out next month on School Boy Error/Co-Op. Video directed by Russell Weekes.

They’ve come a long way.

As the embodiment of gutsy vocalist last year, Merril Garbus’ appearance on Elephant & Castle’s ‘En Memoria’ has a refreshing daydream quality to it. It’s a gentle riposte to a year spent looping guttural vowels through alluring melodies.

Elephant & Castle is the pseudonym of David Reep and his album is out on his Transitions LP in March on Plug Research. More tracks here.

Need you be reminded that tUnE-YarDs play The Button Factory on February 12th, if you’ve never seen her live and don’t go I’m blocking all of you… SOPA-style. That seems fair.

Thanks to Alan for sending this on.

An intermission… Bon Jovi brought to you in the style of Bon Iver by The Miracles Of Modern Science.

Nialler9 and Jim Carroll’s On The Record are segueing blog powers together at Camden Crawl, London which happens from 4th to the 6th of May this year.

300 of the best new bands have been chosen to play by a panel including ourselves (full list below) and as part of the 3 day event, Nialler9 & On The Record will curate a night of live music with a lineup to be revealed at a later date. Camden Crawl kicks off with Death In Vegas in Koko on May 4th from 5pm (I’m doing a DJ set before Richard Fearless this Saturday as it happens)with support from four of the best new bands of the festival. The full lineup will be announced in February as will details of the Dublin version of the festival.

Tickets

Early Bird tickets are sold out. Weekend passes for the Camden Crawl scheduled for 5th & 6th May 2012 go from £72.90 to £83.70 plus fee (extra for opening night entry), and tickets for the Opening Night Party featuring Death In Vegas will go on sale at £21.60 plus fee from Monday 23rd January.

Curators

1234
Artrocker
Backstreet
Big Cheese Magazine
Club Fandango
Drowned In Sound
Fact N Fear & Records
flowerpot Collective
Lantern Society
Last.Fm
Lift Off
The Local
Mistajam
Moda
Moshi Moshi Records
Nialler9 Vs. On The Record
Old Blue Last Presents
Rockfeedback
Rough Trade Shops
Rwd Magazine
Sexbeat
Summer Sundae Weekender
Sway
Urban Nerds
The Weird & The Wonderful 

https://www.facebook.com/thecamdencrawl
http://thecamdencrawl.com/

Highlights: Richard Fearless of Death In Vegas, Lisa O’Neill, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Certain Three Tour, Quompilation launch and Grandmaster Flash.

A list of recommended events taking place over the next seven days in Dublin. All times are 7.30/8pm unless stated. Feel free to recommend gigs not present in the comments below.

Tuesday January 24th

• The Secret Sisters  @ The Sugar Club (€15.50)

Wednesday January 25th

• Temple Bar Tradfest: Lisa O’ Neill @ The Button Factory (€15)
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Tripod (€20)

Thursday January 26th

• Temple Bar Tradfest @ various venues
• Pugwash @ The Odessa Club (€10)
• Forward/Slash: Bantum @ The Bernard Shaw (FREE)
• The Dying Seconds, CFit @ Crawdaddy (€5)
• Soil Creep, Rhino Magic, Desperadow @ The Electric Lounge (€5, 9pm)
• Junior Spesh: Electronic Rock Ireland  @ Twisted Pepper (€5, 10pm)

Friday January 27th

• Temple Bar Tradfest @ various venues
• Temple Bar Tradfest: The Dubliners 50th Anniversary Concert @ Christchurch Cathedral (€20-40)
• Quompilation #2 Launch Party: The Ambience Affair, Cloud Castle Lake, No Monster Club, Simon Bird, Girl Band, Ginola, Turning Down Sex and Rhino Magic @ Crawdaddy (€)
• Grandmaster Flash @ The Village (€12.50)
• Glider @ The Workman’s Club (Free, 10pm)
• Zombie Circus: Skuzzi Port, The Violet Roadkills, DJ Mog-Y @ The Sweeney Mongrel (€)
• Hoot Night: Ozzy vs Disco @ The Sugar Club (€)
• Cirque De La Mode (in aid of Aware): White Collar Boy & Lorem Ipsum @ The Grand Social (€5, Fancy Dress)
• The Certain Three 2012 Tour:  Katie Kim, The Lost Brothers and Puzzle Muteson @ The Workman’s Club (€12)
• Jeff Mills @ The Button Factory (€22.50, 11pm)

Saturday January 28th

• Temple Bar Tradfest @ various venues
• Temple Bar Tradfest: The Dubliners 50th Anniversary Concert @ Christchurch Cathedral (€20-40)
• Heritage Centre @ The Grand Social (€8)
• Saso, Little Green Cars @ The Sugar Club (€10, €5 student discount)
• Haiti Fest: The Shoos, BiPolar Empire, Raglans, Damo & Ivor & more @ Whelan’s (€20)
• The Walpurgis Family (album launch),  Boa Morte, Jonny Fun @ Crawdaddy (€10 with free album)
• Yard / Eleven Eleven: Lorem Ipsum, Last Days of 1984 & Soil Creep @ Twisted Pepper (€5 , 10pm)
• Big Dish Go: Richard Fearless DJ set, Nialler9, Conor Feeney @ Kennedy’s (11pm, €12)

Sunday January 29th

• 12 Sundays @ The Bernard Shaw (Free, 2pm)
• Saucy Sundays @ The Grand Social (Free, 4.30pm)

Monday January 30th

• …

Here’s a new version of ‘<3' by Mmoths featuring Keep Shelly In Athens on vocals. This version features on Mmoths’ debut EP coming March 9th with a launch gig and debut headline show happening in the Twisted Pepper on the 18th of February.

You can read my interview with him on State.