The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

Entries for August 2009

29
Discovery 'LP'
A review of the album 'LP' by Discovery Review Snapshot: Vampire Weekend + Ra Ra Riot = Kanye West. The collaboration between a member of each of those bands comes up with a sort of indie ...

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28

We should take it with a fairly large pinch of salt, perhaps, but it seems that Noel Gallagher has left Oasis for good. Just before their scheduled appearance as headliners at Paris festival Rock en Seine, there appears to have been a backstage fight between Noel and Liam Gallagher in which a guitar was broken. The upshot was that Oasis cancelled their show and subsequent European tour, and several thousand fans who had come to the festival to see them were left disappointed.

Oasis cancel Rock en SeineIt was Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, on stage just before Oasis, who first told the crowd of 30,000 what had happened - but most people assumed he was joking. Confirmation came with an official announcement by the festival (right) stating: "Following an altercation within the group, the concert by Oasis is cancelled".

To be frank, it's been fifteen years since Oasis made a decent album ('Definitely Maybe', their very first) so whether they wind up or continue without Noel should be of little concern. It's a bit galling for their fans, who bought expensive tickets and must now also pay the price of the Gallaghers' immaturity and lack of responsibility.

The organisers of Rock en Seine must be feeling particularly jinxed by now - this is the third year in a row that a headliner has cancelled at the last minute. That said, the previous two years it was Amy Winehouse both times: no surprise there.

It remains to be seen whether the festival will take legal action against Oasis, or whether fans are entitled to a partial or full refund of their tickets.

Update: each ticket-holder will be entitled to a refund of 15 euros, according to the festival organisers. Precise details of this reimbursement will be announced within the next week.

Rock en Seine continues this weekend with Faith No More, The Offspring and The Prodigy topping a '90s-flavoured bill designed to appeal to punters in their thirties. Also due to appear are Bloc Party, Madness, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT and Eagles Of Death Metal.


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27

It's la rentrée, the return to school and work and normal life for the entire country of France. Your correspondent is back at his post in Paris, scouring la hexagone for the best tunes. And, first day back, we've found a cracker: if only it could always be so simple.

MataharieAnnecy is a town in the Alpine foothills of France and a candidate to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. (Its rivals are Munich and Pyeongchang in South Korea, neither city a winter sport stronghold.) But our interest is in cool music rather than chilly sports - Annecy is the home of a duo called Mataharie.

The pair, a girl called Bibie and a guy called Nico, used to be in a band called Goblins but have now struck out with this new project. Bibie writes and sings the lyrics while Nico writes and plays the music. We can't find any photo of them - just the rather pretty image on the right.

When a girl with a high, haunting voice sings enigmatic semi-electro songs called 'O Oak' and 'Lady Of Shallot', the reflex is to think of Kate Bush. Certainly the chorus rhythm of 'O Oak' tips its hat to 'Cloudbusting'. Fans of My Brightest Diamond, Bat For Lashes and the last Goldfrapp album will find that Mataharie's music fits nicely into their collection.

You'll find four tracks on Mataharie's MySpace page, and all four are wonderful. Our favourite is the Bush-y 'O Oak'... or is it the jazzy rhythm and soaring folk-inflected vocals of 'Diane'? And then 'Tambour' has an inventive mix of glacial electro-pop and traditional French accordion... We just can't decide. They're all so good.

No video for any of their songs yet - so head over to their MySpace page and be seduced by Mataharie.


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26
Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have being creating waves in the indie scene since they released their debut EP last year. Their fuzzy indie pop has proven infectious and their debut eponymous album is a...

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Posted in: Interviews
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25

As followers of Key Notes will know, Hard Working Class Heroes (HWCH) returns for the seventh consecutive year in October (Friday October 16 to Sunday October 18 2009).  Taking place, once more, in Dublin's Temple Bar, HWCH is a great opportunity for bands and music fans alike to experience festival-like conditions without any fear of someone setting fire to your tent.

Yesterday, the first 99 Irish bands were announced and, well, it's a pretty impressive list.  Stand-out acts for me are The Ambience Affair, Dark Room Notes and R.S.A.G.  That being said, there are a huge number of acts on the list that I've heard a great deal about but have yet to see live and that, if previous years are anything to go by, will provide the greatest enjoyment.

Ticket prices for Hard Working Class Heroes 2009 remain the same as last year, costing €40 (that's 49 cent per band!- Recessiontastic) for a weekend pass while nightly tickets are €18.50.  Tickets are available from Tickets.ie.

The 99 Irish bands announced yesterday were as follows:

202s
A Plastic Rose
Adebisi Shank
Airstrip One
Albert Penguin
Ali & the DTs
Alright Chief
Armoured Bear
Autumn Owls
Biggles Flys Again
Black Robots
Blood Bottler
Briana Corrigan
Carpool Conversation
C!ties
Cheap Freaks
City of Angels
Collie
Cutaways
Dark Room Notes
Deaf Animal Orchestra
Deaf Joe
Disconnect 4
Distractors
Doug Sheridan
Escape Act
Exit the Street
Fingersmith
Fiona Melady
Funeral Suits
Giraffes
Go Panda Go
Goatboy
Gran Casino
Ham Sandwich
Hassle Merchants
Heathers
Heritage Centre
Here Comes The Landed Gentry
Hired Hands
Hunter-Gatherer
I Love Monster Hero
Ian Whitty And The Exchange
Identity Parade
Jogging
Killer Chloe
Kill Krinkle Club
Kowalski
Kyon
Ladydoll
Land Lovers
Liz Is Evil
Mail Order Messiahs
Midatlantic
Miracle Bell
More Tiny Giants
Neosupervital
NoLady
Not Squares
O Emperor
Oliver Cole
Only Fumes & Corpses
P-Dog
Pearse McGloughlin
Planet Parade
Pocket Promise
Primo
Remma
Robotnik
Rory Grubb
RSAG
Sergeant Megaphone
Sounds of System Breakdown
Subplots
Super Extra Bonus Party
Sweet Jane
Talulah Does The Hula
The Ambience Affair
The Angel Pier
The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra
The Brothers Movement
The Dead Flags
The Dying Seconds
The Holy Roman Army
The Kinetiks
The Poormouth
The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock
The Star Department
The Vals
Theme Tune Boy
Tidal District
Tiny Magnetic Pets
Ultan Conlon
Valerie Francis
Verona Riots
Vox Populi
We Cut Corners
Yes Cadets
Zealots

So, who are you looking forward to seeing?


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23

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZPTFfpO40


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Posted in: Blogs, Sound Waves
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23

 

http://www.themoth.org/listen


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20
Gaggle
Gaggle, a 22-piece London based female choir, creatively infuse powerful, fast paced evocative music with an almost intimidating air. Though Gaggle are only new on the scene, fronted by Coughlin forme...

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Posted in: Interviews
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20

Bonjour from Ireland! Your French correspondent needs a break from French corresponding, especially after our action-packed weekend at La Route du Rock. So we’ve left the stale heat of Paris and headed back home to the wind and rain of Kerry.

But, as we pointed out during a previous trip home, it seems that France always follows us to the Kingdom. Here in Tralee there’s a French deli/café and this weekend a French market will set up in the town centre as part of the Rose of Tralee festival. (There’s also a France Rose, Melodie O’Neill from Brittany.) And there are plenty of French tourists around Tralee and Dingle and the rest of the county.

Jane BirkinThe weekend after this one, someone else will travel from Paris to Ireland. Jane Birkin (right), our erstwhile neighbour and France’s favourite Englishwoman, is performing at the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire. Birkin will be at the Pavilion Theatre on Saturday 29 August, with tickets costing €30-32.

We’ve already written at length about Birkin and that duet, and it’s impossible to talk about her without mentioning Serge Gainsbourg, her late former romantic and creative partner. Since the great man’s death in 1991 she has curated his legacy by re-interpreting many of the songs he wrote for and about her. On stage she sings his songs and talks about him, as if recognising that he has defined her adult life and their relationship is now a cultural artefact in the public domain.

But it would be unfair to reduce Birkin to a mere supporting role in her own life - the woman is an icon in her own right. True, many of her acting parts have been as up-for-it sex kittens – but her intense and brave performance in the bleak Gainsbourg-directed 1976 film ‘Je T’aime (Moi Non Plus)' remarkably prefigures her daughter Charlotte’s award-winning role in Lars von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’.

And recently she has started painting a broader canvas of her pre- and post-Serge life. ‘Boxes’, her first film as a director, is a semi-autobiographical look back over her live and loves. (Before Gainsbourg she was married to another legendary musician, film composer John Barry.) And her latest record, ‘Enfants D’Hiver’, is her first to be entirely self-composed and continues the bittersweet nostalgic theme of her movie.

On a previous album, Birkin sang a song written for her by our own Neil Hannon. The track, ‘Home’, touches on Birkin’s momentous life and has her wondering about the other paths she may have taken. It’s a catchy little thing, relatively sincere for a Hannon composition, and while never the world’s greatest singer Birkin handles this song with a sure touch. The video, where Birkin’s native London blurs into her adopted Paris, is a smart and witty take on the long-term ex-pat’s complex and conflicting feelings when the heart is in two places at once. (Your correspondent knows the feeling all too well.)

Unfortunately we can’t embed the video, but it’s definitely worth a view and a listen – watch the video for ‘Home’ by Jane Birkin here. And if she sings it in Dun Laoghaire next weekend don’t be surprised if the songwriter pops up beside her on stage.


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19
Pearse McGloughlin 'Busy Whisper'
A review of the album Busy Whisper by Pearse McGloughlin Review Snapshot: Busy Whisper is a haunting collection of ten songs that reflect on those moments of longing that appear to happen in the p...

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Nuggets from our archive

2000 - 'Rock Criticism: Getting it Right', written by Mark Godfrey. A thought provoking reflection on the art of rock criticism.