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Midnight Oil - Australia's Best Ever?
2008-05-07 07:09:00
It was the summer of 1987. I'd just turned 13 and I was working for my father as a labourer, mixing cement and carrying blocks on a building site on an orchard farm in County Armagh. I was earning 10 quid a week. I was working with grown men for the first time, trying to appear worldly and mature. That didn't last long once my uncle found out that I fancied the orchard owner's daughter and that I was too scared to do anything about it. (I found out that she fancied me too. That scared me even more.) I remember being glued to the Wimbledon tennis championships as a I was a rabid Stefan Edberg fan (so was the orchard owner's daughter...). But mostly I remember attending my piano lessons on a Thursday evening when Victor, my piano teacher, would spend most of the lesson playing records - The Alex Harvey Band, Led Zep, The Pet Shop Boys (!)... The summer of 87 was great, I was growing up and I was growing to love music. That summer was also all about the Michaels - Jackson's Bad an...
More About: Midnight

The Eels. And schizophrenia.
2008-04-28 07:29:00
  Are the Eels a power pop band? Or a string-laden chamber pop band? Or are they an acoustic duo? Or a three piece punk band? The reason I ask is that I?ve seen this band play 4 times in the past 5 years and, on every occasion, they?ve been a completely different live proposition. They are, without doubt, the most schizophrenic of live bands. And that?s one of the many reasons why I love them to pieces. It seems as if Mark Oliver Everett (or Mr E or just plain E to everyone bar his bank manager) hears many voices in his head and listens to the loudest when he?s planning his world tours. It must be a kind of madness. Which, with is family history, kinda makes sense? Last night?s show in the Enmore theatre in Sydney began with a screening of a BBC funded documentary that traced E?s efforts to find out more about his father, Hugh Everett III, a quantum mechanics physicist who is credited with coming up with the theory of Parallel Universes. This theory has been embraced in popular cul...
More About: Schizophrenia

Short Cuts' Releases of 2007
2008-01-02 04:42:00
Firstly, Short Cuts apologises for the length of time between this and the last entry - a situation which will hopefully be remedied by a New Year's Resolution (!). As is now customary in the 00s (the decade of lists?), Short Cuts has, at last, decided to reveal its releases of 2007 in descending order. But first, let's discuss the disappointments of the past 12 months. There were two that hung over the year like stale smoke. After a blistering gig in the Enmore theatre as documented by Short Cuts back in April here, Wilco released the MOR Sky Blue Sky. Moving from alt to schmaltz, the record was lazy and confined. Impossible Germany, the only classic song to be added to the Wilco canon, shone like a beacon. What that record could have been... In addition, Short Cuts noted the enmity between 50 Cent and Kanye West here prior to their simultaneous album launches. West's Graduation turned out to be the lesser of his "School Triumverate" - it was bloated, lacking in melody and class...

John Butler Trio and Keith Urban - ARIAs 2007
2007-11-04 09:30:00
The ARIAs are the Australian equivalent of the BRITs - when all the great and good in the Australian music industry indulge in a night of backslapping and self-aggrandising. I watched the show principally because the legend that is Nick Cave got inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. But, unexpectedly, the highlight of the evening didn't involve the long-haired Grinderman. The organisers of the BRITs tend to throw a strange collaboration into the mix - remember Tom Jones and Robbie Williams, or Bjork and PJ Harvey, surely one of the more bizarre and well worth another look. Well the ARIAs chucked hippy John Butler and country singer Keith Urban together for a "jam". And it was surprisingly wonderful.  I reviewed the John Butler Trio 's latest record, Grand National, a few months ago and it really is a bit of a stinker. He lived down to his reputation when he accepted the award of Best Independent Release and launched into the kind of left-wing agenda driven speech that even Michael ...

Radiohead - how much are they worth?!
2007-10-01 15:45:00
  Isn't it quite outstanding news? A new Radiohead album, called In Rainbows, due out in 10 days in digital format... and it's free! Or extremely expensive. It's up to you, faithful music lover.  If a digital download doesn't float your boat, you can fork out 40 quid for a hardbook package with 2 CDs and a Vinyl album too and wait until early December for delivery. Just bizarre! The Guardian have, conveniently, listed the known tunes with some quite dubious YouTube links. 1. 15 Step 2. Bodysnatchers 3. Nude 4. Weird Fishes/Arpegii 5. All I Need 6. Faust Arp 7. Reckoner 8. House of Cards 9. Jigsaw Falling Into Place 10. Videotape So how much will you lot all fork out for the digital release? I won't pay full price on the general principle that MP3s are an inferior product. But for the sheer audacity of this idea (and the fact that it might influence some of the more far-sighted record companies), I'm willing to stump up a few euros. Check out the site - it's lovely. Isn't it ...
More About: Worth , Adio , Wort

Introducing Australia's Stones...
2007-09-30 18:49:00
I came across Angus and Julia Stone when I was chatting a record store guy in Bondi Junction and I asked him to put a CD in my hand that he thought I would love. That CD was a compilation of the 2 EPs they had recorded to date - Heart Full of Wine and the charming Chocolates and Cigarettes. I was completely hooked. One of the key characteristics of this Sydney North Shore sibling band is that each one writes songs that are instantly identifiable - Angus is more a strum-a-long Elliott Smith type whilst Julia veers from acoustic Bjork to a kind of breathy Joanna Newsom folk sound. They recently recorded their debut album in the UK (where they fell under the wing of Fran Healy of Travis fame). The album is called A Book LIke This and this is the lead off single, The Beast. I find it uttlerly beguiling and it's a lovely video too.     The Beast is very much an Angus song. Julia's music is a little more challenging, but it's part of the drama of this band. Have a listen to I'm Y...
More About: Tone , Stones

Ryan Adams - is it all Dylan's fault?
2007-08-28 01:03:00
Those of you who've been with CLUAS for a while may remember that I was an Adams evangeliser. I reviewed his first two solo records for these hallowed pages - Heartbreaker and Gold. These records, alongside the final Whiskeytown album Pneumonia, represented Adams at his most vibrant and vital. Acclaim was immediate and fulsome. Over time, Gold has tarnished but the other two represent an early 21st Centuty zenith in singer songwriting. The stage seemed set for Adams to achieve superstardom.  Except things have not gone quite according to plan. Adams has dated famous actresses, developed a proper drug habit, fallen off stage. All the while, he?s been churning out album after album. Five official album releases later (13 unofficial releases streamed from his website) and Adams? latest, the rather excellent Easy Tiger, has been met with a collective shoulder shrug from most music critics. Another Adams record stuffed with plaintive melodies, country-rock leanings, sad songs about sad ...
More About: Ryan Adams , Fault , Ryan , Dylan

Fiddy vs Kanye
2007-08-16 04:35:00
For those of you 'down with the kids', this will be old news. 50 Cent and Kanye West are releasing their new albums (Curtis and Graduation respectively) on on the same day in the US - September 11th. A rather entertaining war of words has now escalated to the following sensible conclusion: they'll be debating who has the best album live on television. As you do. Fiddy 's somewhat baffling response to West's TV debate closed with "Just don't be asking me if I am a conscious rapper. I know exactly what I am saying - so I am conscious". I read this imagining Fiddy in baby oil placing his finger on his chin and pursing his lips a la Dr Evil. Kanye's somewhat more reasonable reply ("What am I going to debate about?") has led to even more drama! Fiddy has declared that he will never make another 50 Cent album should West outsell him. This is an empty threat as Cent is regularly amongst the highest selling artists in the world. Still, we can but hope. At least this level of juvenile ...

Introducing Australia's finest, Augie March
2007-08-01 05:32:00
As I've been in Australia for a while now, I've been assimilating the local Aussie music scene. One band has stood head and shoulders above the rest and I feel it's now the time to introduce Ireland (and the world) to the genius that is Augie March .
More About: Intro , Finest

Astral Weeks? Astral S***E!
2007-06-16 10:23:00
Earlier this week, the Guardian asked a number of credible musos du jour (Mark Ronson,  Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips et al) to talk about a "classic" album that failed to light their fire. The article here delivers a masterclass in Sacred Cow slaying. Everything from Nevermind to Pet Sounds to The Stone Roses gets it in the neck. Whilst I disagree wholeheartedly with Alex Kapranos slagging off Marquee Moon (how could he?!), I must admit that I found myself nodding vigorously to myself with descriptions of the Arcade Fire's  Neon Bible ("..an agglomeration of mannerisms, cliches and devices...") and Is This It (..the Strokes are the new Duran Duran; the new decadence for the new millennium...). Of course, it got my thinking. Time to invite my fellow CLUASers to slay some sacred cows of their own. To start with, I'd like to nominate the two albums that adorn the top of the CLUAS Best Irish albums - Van the Man's Astra l Weeks , and Loveless by tha...

Sacred Cow Slain - Clint Eastwood
2007-06-01 08:02:00
"My candidate for the worst movie-star director of all time has to be Clint Eastwood . Because he's still a big star and he stays on budget, Hollywood continues to indulge his directorial fantasies, yet in nearly 40 years of half-assed attempts at directing he has never developed a style of his own. Every directorial chop Eastwood displays was stolen from Don Siegel or Sergio Leone - real filmmakers who taught him what little he knows. Clint's only original theme, present from Play Misty for Me all the way to Million Dollar Baby, is that of a paternalistic white male who exercises the power of life or death over a woman: invariably, he chooses to kill her." Alex Cox, May 25th 2007 Isn't that one of the best Hollywood Sacred Cow assassinations of all time? It's from a recent Alex Cox column in the Film and Music section of the Guardian newspaper. Alex Cox, for those of who may not be up to speed on your bitter independent film directors, is British and is best known for his 80s lo...

Richard Swift, Wilco on Jools tonight
2007-05-25 01:10:00
Once in a while, stuck on the other side of the world, I envy the quality TV that you lot get in the Northern Hemisphere. One of the shows I miss most is Later with Jools Holland. And tonight's show has a simply brilliant line-up. Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, Joan Armatrading, Wilco and my hope for breakthrough of the year, Richard Swft. The last, and only, time I saw Richard Swift live was on a visit to see our esteemed editor in Brussels. As is his wont, Eoghan organised that we, with our better halves, would go see a gig that he had picked out. Swift made up one of two relativlely obscure singer-songwriters - the other being Baxter Dury, son of the late Ian Dury. Dury's rather predictable reggae-like urban dramas were completely obscured by Swift's dramatic, almost vaudevillian, chamber pop. Swift had a memorable head of hair (!) as well as a tight, funky band. His melodic delivery perfectly suited his songs. I bought a double CD that was available on the night - a compilation...
More About: Tonight , Toni

Grindhouse gets... errr... ground down?
2007-05-01 07:43:00
During the utlimately rather forgettable 300, I found myself thinking about the trailer I'd just seen for Grindhouse , a double bill directed by Robert Rodriguez (who made the heroic Sin City) and Quentin Tarantino (do we need to list his triumphs?). The gorgeous Rosario Dawson as a stripper with a machine gun for a leg. A grizzly looking Kirk Douglas wearing an iconic eye patch. Again. The trailer was so gloriously over the top - a quick scan round the audience revealed many a popcorn muncher elbowing his partner or mate, mouthing "what the f*** is this?!". I've been annoying my partner about this film for months. And, now, the release in Australia (and Ireland) has been postponed. Indefinitely. The box office takings of the movie in the US have been disastrous - a measly $12 million in its opening weekend (over Easter - traditionally a strong movie-going period). Considering the movie had a reputed budget of $100 milliion, this represents a flop of titanic proportions. A double b...
More About: Ground , Down , Gets , Round

A quickie... the White Stripe's Icky Thump...
2007-04-30 08:45:00
... can be heard here. The Strip es are even more Led Zep than ever. Magnificent!  
More About: White , Icky Thump , Trip , Hump

The Shortlist Short List...
2007-04-30 06:19:00
One of the more interesting of the music prizes on offer is the Short List . The list this year is remarkable in that it's virtually a distillation of the past 12 months of our CLUAS discussion board faves!... Band of Horses, Beirut, Joanna Newsom, Cat Power. All CLUAS discussion topics over the past months and all very much in with a shout of winning. For those of you unfamiliar with the "rules" of Shortlist , any album released in the U.S. in 2006 is eligible for nomination as long as it had not been certified gold for domestic US sales of 500,000 or more. The list is chosen by a random selection of musicians - this year that selection really is a fascinating combo. We will have a winning album chosen by Franz Ferdinand, KT Tunstall, Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol), last year's winner Sufjan Steven and Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips front man) amongst other luminaries. A long list of 61 has been whittled down to the following:- 1.     Band of Horses - Everything All the Time 2.     Beirut ...

Wilco - the Band of our time?
2007-04-22 03:44:00
It happened halfway through last Wilco 's first ever headlining gig in Sydney last night . The band were ripping through Walken from their imminent release, Sky Blue Sky.  I was sat by the sound desk, in a leg brace - long story. My good friend Fergal, enjoying his virgin Wilco experience, turned to me and took a Robbie-Robertson-a-la-Last-Waltz stance, wide-legged, jerking back and forth, guitar swinging from side to side. I looked back to the stage and realised just how much Jeff Tweedy resembled the former Band front man. Right down to the ear to ear grin. Yep, this was not the grumpy Jeff I'd experienced in the past - this was a happy Jeff. Jeff, the raconteur, taking the piss out of Steak 'n' Kidney (Sydney) and describing Tasmania as "the two-headed state". The music was just as joyous. Encompassing songs from all of their albums, the gig hit some extraordinary heights. Misunderstood was HUGE, the audience yelling "Nothing!" with the band over and over and over again. Set ...
More About: Time , The Band

Hidden Gems...
2007-04-19 12:37:00
So there is a movie that is coming out soon that has me positively salivating.... it's not Fincher's Zodiac. Nor is it the Rodriguez/ Tarantino lovein, Grindhouse. No - it's This Is England, by maverick English director, Shane Meadows. The reason? I believe Meadow's last movie, 2004's Dead Man's Shoes, to be one of the greatest pictures of recent years. It's a rivetting revenge thriller starring the British Isle's one true acting superstar (are you watching, Colin?) , the very wonderful Paddy Considine. He plays ex-soldier Richard with such menace, magnetism and macabre humour that I would readily compare the peformance with de Niro's iconic Travis Bickle - yes, Considine really is that good. Meadow's makes very personal pictures. His Once Upon a TIme in the West was a western based in, you guessed it, the Midlands (Dead Man's Shoes reminds me of Leone's Hang 'em High in its tone) and his newest release, This Is England, is a semi-autobiographical skinhead drama and pro...
More About: Hidden , Gems

Word Up?
2007-04-15 13:43:00
American TV shows seem to be picking up some increasingly interesting music - I was sitting watching CSI with my girl this evening when a perfectly funky version of Cameo's Word Up was showcased. A little digging turned up that the song (available for download below) is by a London soul singer called Willis - more info here. If you are intrigued, Willis is playing the Plastic People on Curtain Road in London on April 28th. Cover Versions are pretty special to me and, over time, they'll become a major theme of my blog. I hope you like this as a starter for 10...  Download: Willis - Word Up

Warning... there is a Blog here!
2007-04-10 13:20:00
As the BBC recently reported, a draft "Blog ging Code of Conduct" is being proposed after perceived threats made on a popular blog against US developer, Kathy Sierra. Ms Sierra was threatened on the US blog Creating Passionate Users. The offensive comments (details here) caused Ms Sierra to cancel a personal appearance at the SXSW festival. The main tenet of the proposed code of conduct draft is that :- anonymous blog messaging should be banned; writers must take responsibility for comments as well as content; don't say anything that you wouldn't say in person; users of sites that advocate "open" blogging should be warned on that site's home page before they blunder into the deep and dark abyss that is known as free speech... Forgive my facetiousness. But doesn't this remind you of Tipper Gore's anti offensive language campaign in the mid eighties that resulted in the now infamous Parental Advisory Sticker. Recent US albums facing censorship from the sticke...
More About: War , Warning , Here , There

"Back in the Days When it Meant Something"
2007-04-04 10:47:00
A comment ("...back in the days when it meant something to him...") left by the reader 'Wazza' on my first blog entry has got me thinking. It was in reference to Robbie Williams and seemed to suggest that Williams' heart is no longer in his music, that somehow he'd lost his muse. Williams' rise was certainly a dramatic one - from making it massive by proving his old mates wrong, by having 250,000 people chant his name. Maybe now Williams is suffering from the Rules of being a Celebrity in the Modern Age that dictate that he cannot stay on a pedestal that high. He has to fall. Maybe that fall has everything to do with his manic depressive nature but, personally, Williams has, in recent years, become a much more interesting artist (though both Williams' record company and would probably disagree based on the quite dismal performance of his 2006 release, Rudebox). It seems to me that the music now means more to Williams than his audience. "...back in the days when it meant somet...
More About: Methi , Back , Days , When , Something

Love the Songs, not the Audience
2007-03-23 00:23:00
Have you had a musical experience that, over time, has festered in your mind until you reach a point where what you feel now is much more intense than what you felt at the time?   Well, let?s talk about Damien Rice?s show at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, last month. Having had mixed Rice live experiences in the past, I was wary of his mood. On occasion, he can be a storyteller, an engager. On others he can be sullen and dismissive. But seldom, if ever, has an artist shown such disregard for his audience as Rice did that night in Sydney. He was surly, he turned his back to us. He refused completely to engage. His band played with a kind of cautious acceptance, reverentially bowing their heads at the appropriate times as if to let him know that they understand. The show only sparked to life when the band played a glorious Cold Water in near total darkness. How pleasurable it was to not have to look at him! When Rice had left the stage, Vivienne Long gently taunted him by pretending that...
More About: Songs , Love , Audi , Song , The A