Today is good friday for christians, great friday for the rest of us.
Time to celebrate by drinking lots and eating meat, while I spent a brief period earlier today drooling over the prospect of getting some fantastic steak, i couldn't afford it so instead i got chicken.
So lets celebrate all that is wrong with cathlocism by doing all that they ask use not to.
Party in mine
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
State Launch
Today I called along to the State Magazine launch, in Tower Records on Wicklow Street. Ham Sandwich(well 3/5ths of ham sandwich) did a short covers set.
I picked a copy of the magazine & a free 1GB memory key which was pretty nice.
The magazine has Michael Stipe on the cover, hand from what ive read so far the quality and layout is a nice change to see, it doesn't have the overcrowded look of Hot Press and isn't padded out with advertisments either. So very good articles that ive read and a few promising ones that I'll get to on the bus to Sligo tomorrow.
Glad to see a new music magazine trying the water in Ireland(and well timed to fill the gap left by Mongrel's Departure). I wish them the best and look forward to seeing more quality from them next month.
I picked a copy of the magazine & a free 1GB memory key which was pretty nice.
The magazine has Michael Stipe on the cover, hand from what ive read so far the quality and layout is a nice change to see, it doesn't have the overcrowded look of Hot Press and isn't padded out with advertisments either. So very good articles that ive read and a few promising ones that I'll get to on the bus to Sligo tomorrow.
Glad to see a new music magazine trying the water in Ireland(and well timed to fill the gap left by Mongrel's Departure). I wish them the best and look forward to seeing more quality from them next month.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Ham Sandwich - Carry The Meek
Ive only just got my hands on it today so this is purely first impression.
I like the extended opening of "St. Christopher" & the recording is definetly crisper than the previous recordings id heard. "Never Talk" really jumps out at me, i love the layers behind it, the big sound like a much larger band.
All in all I really like it and it seems to be a grower.
8/10
Stand-out tracks: "Never Talk",
For further information check out their MySpace Page
I like the extended opening of "St. Christopher" & the recording is definetly crisper than the previous recordings id heard. "Never Talk" really jumps out at me, i love the layers behind it, the big sound like a much larger band.
All in all I really like it and it seems to be a grower.
8/10
Stand-out tracks: "Never Talk",
For further information check out their MySpace Page
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Insufferable Cunt Wins Oscar
Here's hoping he stays over in the states, in an easily ignorable capacity.
He even cut into his girlfriend's acceptance speech, what a wanker.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Vyvienne Long
Ever in search of a good cover version, I point you today to the mypace page of Vyvienne Long, where you will find her versions of The Beatles - Come Together & The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army.
Famed somewhat as playing cello for Damien Rice, that shouldn't be held against her, Vyviennes solo stuff is an excellent change of pace to hear from an Irish artist, the cello is a beautiful and underused instrument in mainstream music. Her debut EP, last years Bird Talk also featured covers of the Flaming lips - Yoshimi battles The Pink Robots & N*E*R*D's - She wants To Move.
She is Not just a cover artist however and has written some excellent songs of her own, word is that an LP is in the pipeline & I hope to hear it soon.
Famed somewhat as playing cello for Damien Rice, that shouldn't be held against her, Vyviennes solo stuff is an excellent change of pace to hear from an Irish artist, the cello is a beautiful and underused instrument in mainstream music. Her debut EP, last years Bird Talk also featured covers of the Flaming lips - Yoshimi battles The Pink Robots & N*E*R*D's - She wants To Move.
She is Not just a cover artist however and has written some excellent songs of her own, word is that an LP is in the pipeline & I hope to hear it soon.
Vinyl: The True Music Medium
How does one start to explain why vinyl is the best music format there is for true music lovers. Cd's have their convenience, as do mp3's but with these mediums you lose so many things that make the music great.
Quality
The first thing i have to say about vinyl is that the music quality is better than cd(yes Cathal, better), and far better than mp3, i know everyone who rambles on about vinyl talks about the warmth and the crackle, buts its true ffs, it sounds better because it feels more real, its analog the medium that music is made in and it just seems to lose something in the digitising, maybe the digital rendering doesn't cover the full audible spectrum, I don't know, I suck at physics as some of you may know.
Artwork
The next best thing is that you get the full effect of the artwork, your tiney-tiny cd jewel case can't really contain a beautiful piece of artwork in its own right without diminishing it somewhat, The Beatles - Abbey Road for example, a beautiful iconic image, but on the cd you can't analyse it in any real detail. Whereas with vinyl you can read the car registration and make out facial expressions in the background. And of course mp3 loses you the whole artwork experience entirely. I know you can google and find any image you want, but its in no way the same.
Experience
The experience of playing a record is akin to being back to when it was the principle medium, the album can be divided into the distinct sides each like a chapter in a book or the movement of a symphony. Having to get up and flip the record is not to be seen as effort but as audience participation, you only move to the next chapter when you are ready to do so, in your own time.
The other important aspect of the experience is that of wandering the record shops in search of something new, a very relaxing and enjoyable experience once you get into it, there are plenty of second hand records around and available all over the place.
Turntabilism
Another beautiful aspect of the finer medium is the fact that it has given birth to at the very least one genre of its own, turntabilism, this which has given hip-hop its roots which which to flourish and grow into one of the largest genres in modern popular music, without the records & turntables, hip-hop could have turned out very differently, it would probably have been just as dependent on guitars as many other genres are.
Keeping it Real
You can't buy vinyl records in the supermarket, they can't be churned out by by someone with a computer or sold b some terrible band who've got the money to record, but don't have the talent to get noticed. This allows vinyl to maintain that certain special something, a certain quality in what you are getting, its not pirated or churned out for free with some magazine as a sampler, but its the real thing.
Homesick
I really think that this nearly lost musical medium will never die, it has survived all previous usurpers of the throne, 8-tracks and tapes have dies out but vinyl powers on as the medium of true fans of music. It remain's the main thing that i miss from Home, not having anywhere to put it in my flat i unfortunately can't move it to Dublin with me. Someday I'll have the room.
I hope this encourages a few of you to consider rediscovering vinyl(most of you are old enough to remember a time before cd's surely)
------------------
Tom Dunne has dedicated part of his show this week to the beauty of vinyl, unfortunately I only caught the last 45 minutes of the Wednesday show & I'll be at work tomorrow evening when the last show of the week is on. Luckily I caught the Smiths Singles, 3 in a row is not to be sniffed at.
Quality
The first thing i have to say about vinyl is that the music quality is better than cd(yes Cathal, better), and far better than mp3, i know everyone who rambles on about vinyl talks about the warmth and the crackle, buts its true ffs, it sounds better because it feels more real, its analog the medium that music is made in and it just seems to lose something in the digitising, maybe the digital rendering doesn't cover the full audible spectrum, I don't know, I suck at physics as some of you may know.
Artwork
The next best thing is that you get the full effect of the artwork, your tiney-tiny cd jewel case can't really contain a beautiful piece of artwork in its own right without diminishing it somewhat, The Beatles - Abbey Road for example, a beautiful iconic image, but on the cd you can't analyse it in any real detail. Whereas with vinyl you can read the car registration and make out facial expressions in the background. And of course mp3 loses you the whole artwork experience entirely. I know you can google and find any image you want, but its in no way the same.
Experience
The experience of playing a record is akin to being back to when it was the principle medium, the album can be divided into the distinct sides each like a chapter in a book or the movement of a symphony. Having to get up and flip the record is not to be seen as effort but as audience participation, you only move to the next chapter when you are ready to do so, in your own time.
The other important aspect of the experience is that of wandering the record shops in search of something new, a very relaxing and enjoyable experience once you get into it, there are plenty of second hand records around and available all over the place.
Turntabilism
Another beautiful aspect of the finer medium is the fact that it has given birth to at the very least one genre of its own, turntabilism, this which has given hip-hop its roots which which to flourish and grow into one of the largest genres in modern popular music, without the records & turntables, hip-hop could have turned out very differently, it would probably have been just as dependent on guitars as many other genres are.
Keeping it Real
You can't buy vinyl records in the supermarket, they can't be churned out by by someone with a computer or sold b some terrible band who've got the money to record, but don't have the talent to get noticed. This allows vinyl to maintain that certain special something, a certain quality in what you are getting, its not pirated or churned out for free with some magazine as a sampler, but its the real thing.
Homesick
I really think that this nearly lost musical medium will never die, it has survived all previous usurpers of the throne, 8-tracks and tapes have dies out but vinyl powers on as the medium of true fans of music. It remain's the main thing that i miss from Home, not having anywhere to put it in my flat i unfortunately can't move it to Dublin with me. Someday I'll have the room.
I hope this encourages a few of you to consider rediscovering vinyl(most of you are old enough to remember a time before cd's surely)
------------------
Tom Dunne has dedicated part of his show this week to the beauty of vinyl, unfortunately I only caught the last 45 minutes of the Wednesday show & I'll be at work tomorrow evening when the last show of the week is on. Luckily I caught the Smiths Singles, 3 in a row is not to be sniffed at.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Video of The Week: Daft Hands Special
The Original
Immitations - Some Good Some Not
Harder, Bodies, Faster, Stronger
Daft Hands - Twice As Fast
Around The World
Immitations - Some Good Some Not
Harder, Bodies, Faster, Stronger
Daft Hands - Twice As Fast
Around The World
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
