Aimee Mann (live in Tripod, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: An occasionally shambolic but enjoyable night, culminating with a great set from one of the best American songwriters in the world today.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
The evening started off with Los Angeles husband and wife team The Submarines, who I knew nothing about before tonight but proved to be a pleasant discovery. It wasn’t hard to see why Aimee Mann picked them to support her on her current tour, as their music is precisely the same kind of catchy melodic rock that the likes of Crowded House, Squeeze and Aimee Mann do so well. The couple, with a drummer filling out their sound, powered through a hook-laden set that impressed me enough to pick up one of their albums at the merchandise box afterwards.

Next up was Sharon Shannon’s Big Band, who lived up to their name with ten of them cramming on to Tripod’s stage. Not being a great fan of Irish trad I had planned on skipping her set, but the sheer love of music that came through from ten first rate musicians vibing off each other was impossible to resist. At one point they dragged one of their roadies on to sing a cover of the Thin Lizzy classic Dancing in the Moonlight. This probably sounded like a great old laugh backstage before the gig but was considerably less fun for the audience as the guy hadn’t a note in his head.

Inevitably, this part of the night ended with Mundy being dragged on for a spot of shameless crowd pleasing with, surprise surprise, Galway Girl. I got the impression that Mundy is already tired of this particular millstone around his neck and even the audience didn’t seem to be singing along with the type of gusto one might have expected.

And so to the headliner. I’ve long been a huge fan of Aimee Mann and her live shows are always a joy. In a similar fashion to Crowded House, she always makes a point of bantering with the audience, taking requests and peppering the set with the stories behind her songs. Tonight’s show started with a batch of songs from Smilers, her most recent album, including the single Freeway which got the first big cheer of the set. This was followed by songs from the Magnolia soundtrack, one of her most successful releases and included one of my favourite songs, Save Me. If you had to pick one song to represent Aimee Mann’s lyrical worldview, this would probably be the one, with it’s chorus of “Well, can you save me / from the ranks of the freaks / who suspect they could never love anyone?”

It was at this point that people started shouting requests and Aimee duly responded, granting some and joking with the audience about not being able to remember her own songs. This part of the show can be great fun for the most part but can occasionally lead to some idiot who loves the sound of his own voice deciding to yell constantly at the band. There was one such yahoo in the audience tonight but thankfully Aimee managed to keep the show on the road diplomatically without having to tell him to shut up (the idiot in question wanted to hear It’s Not, the final song on the Lost in Space album, and got it).  A mix of old and new songs completed this part of the show, finishing with a brilliant performance of 'How am I Different'.

For the encore  we had one of the funnier moments of the night when a few people requested 'I Should Have Known', the very wonderful opening song on her debut solo album, Whatever. After a quick consultation with the rest of the band, she decided to give it a shot. All went well until the bridge, when Aimee forgot the chords. There followed several shambolic attempts to work it out until eventually they managed to finish the song. For the finale we were treated to Pavlov’s Bell, also from the Lost in Space album, and a wonderful extended version of Deathly, one of the key songs from the Magnolia soundtrack, with Aimee’s two keyboard players performing a great jam which brought the show to a satisfying close.

All told, a great night that’ll make my list when the inevitable “Best Gigs of 2008” lists are compiled.

Paul Brosnan

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The big music news in France this week has been the release via Internet of two new songs by '90s rockers Noir Désir (below right).

This makes the headlines because it's the band's first release since the imprisonment and subsequent release of lead singer Bertrand Cantat. Worshipped as the spokesman for a generation of French rock fans, Cantat was convicted of beating to death his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, in Vilnius in 2003.

The case sparked huge emotions at the time, which were aroused again last year when Cantat, repatriated to a French prison after starting his sentence in Lithuania, was granted a conditional early release on good behaviour after serving four years of an eight-year term.

Cantat's short stay behind bars was criticised by support groups for those who suffer conjugal violence. His fans, for their part, were torn between devotion to their idol and revulsion for his crime.

The two new tracks maintain Noir Désir's outspoken political posture. One, 'Le Temps De Cerises' is a cover of a revolutionary song from 1871, the era of the left-wing Paris commune. The other, 'Gagnants/Perdants' ("Winners/Losers"), is (according a press release) "a response to the current political and human climate". The lyrics refer directly to 'Nicolas' (Sarkozy, one must presume); Cantat warns him that "we will sleep with one eye open" to keep a watch on him.

A condition of Cantat's early release is that he cannot comment publicly on his crime, trial (left) or punishment until the original 8-year term has elapsed. This precludes him from writing songs about the affair until 2011 at the earliest.

As well as being overtly political, both new tracks continue the Noir Désir penchant for dull, self-satisfied sludge-rock. Thus warned, you can listen to them on the band's new website.

Media reaction to and coverage of the new tracks, the band's first release since their album 'Des Visages Des Figures' came out on 11 September 2001, has been curious. Only the vaguest references have been made to the reasons for Cantat's absence. Callers to music radio shows on indie stations like Le Mouv' have been almost entirely supportive and surprisingly free of the strong anti-Cantat sentiment that's also widespread in France. 

Given Cantat's notoriety, it's unlikely that the band will play live anytime soon. There are no plans for a new Noir Désir album at the time of writing.

Here's what looks like a home-made video for 'Gagnants/Perdants': 

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Neon Neon (live in Tripod, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Side-projects are so hot right now, but these guys are just cool. Neon Neon is a conglomerate of decidedly super-ferrite animals, and they transported the Tripod crowd through an audio-visual interpretation of John DeLorean’s life with the same frenzy in which he lived it. DeLorean’s car was the pièce de résistance in Back To The Future trilogy, and over 20 years on Neon Neon are still making the DeLorean past seem like the future.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:

I think the term juxtaposition applies here: Neon Neon is a collaborative project from producer Boom Bip and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys - amongst others - entirely devoted to Detroit-born engineer and entrepreneur John DeLorean and the “dream” car he produced near Belfast primarily for the American market. Hmmm....

Whilst The Good, The Bad and The Queen had their Dickensian, urbane merits, Neon Neon’s Stainless Style album stands out as the most energetic and ambitious side-project this side of John DeLorean’s alleged affair with Raquel Welch.  Indeed, NN’s early stomper ‘Raquel’ (on said liasion) is accompanied by a cinematic montage of Welch’s voluptuous career. Phwoar. This, along with in-house DeLorean footage, air drums, moog synths, casio guitars and applause placards ensured Neon Neon’s Tripod performance was a surreal homage to the slick lifestyle of the first playboy engineer. I’ve seen the term ‘retro-futuristic’ attached to Crystal Castles of late, but its far more appropriate when faced with soundtracked Bond-like visuals of DeLorean sports cars speeding around mountainside backdrops. You simply forget all subsequent technological advances and want to be an affluent cigar-smoking businessman in the early Eighties with a copious disposable income.

One man who knows how to live that lifestyle – as least in his typecast 1980s roles – is Michael Douglas, who haunts his namesake song in one of the most memorable moments in NN’s live show: the chorus’ tagline “I see my reflection... in Michael Douglas’ famous sunglasses” in tandem with the image of Warhol–esque portraits of MD on the big screen and Gruff Rhys on his knees playing air drums! As if that wasn’t enough of a headfuck, the sight of Obama-loving wigger Har Mar Superstar rapping whilst standing on his head during ‘Trick for Treat’ left the indie kids in the crowd faced with a completely different type of animal to the Golden Retrievers normally associated with Gruff Rhys’ live repertoire. 

Musically, NN did aural justice to their album. ‘I Told Her on Alderaan’ stood out – imagine a synth-laden version ‘Jessie’s Girl’ and you’re not far off. ‘Belfast’ is a beautiful organ-drowned track, and seeing it accompanied with footage from the Troubles sparked the thought that the song will probably be used in a Prime Time report if Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness don’t make friends soon.  ‘Steel Your Girl’ was the perfect wind-down song late on in the set, with a backdrop of early-morning, high-speed DeLorean-dashing round an autobahn whilst the chorus sang “goodbye for the final time”.

You could say Neon Neon rocked, but it’d be more accurate to say they oozed. On average, a painted DeLorean sports car is worth up to 20-30% less than an unpainted, stainless equivalent. Likewise messrs Rhys, Boom Bip et al won’t be adding another layer to the Neon Neon project, so those who catch them live before they soon disband really will have seen a stainless and stylish concept at its peak.

Ronan Lawlor

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Key Notes has been somewhat depressed lately.  It could be any number of things; post holiday blues, the prospect of becoming a 'long-term unemployed' statistic or, most likely, because this blog has been reading far too much Kafka.  Existentialism is not healthy in that dosage.  

Whatever the reason, Key Notes has always taken comfort in music and it's been no different recently.  To cheer himself up, this blog has started switching from his dated (no pun intended) chrono-biographical album filing system to a less manageable but more rewarding geographical filing system.  Key Notes realised two things when doing this.  Firstly, he clearly has far too much time on his hands and secondly, Irish artists take up a huge part of his record collection.  Therefore, it's about time he started talking about his favourite Irish albums.

One thing this blog would like to make clear before he starts this series is that this is his personal opinion and so Key Notes doesn't want to read any comments telling him he's wrong.  Right, now that we've got that out of the way lets start.

Key Notes Top Ten Irish Albums: 10

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

This is the most recent and, to Key Notes' friends at least, most surprising entry on the list.  Released a little over a year ago to much critical acclaim, Overpowered, as is often the case with albums that do, failed to trouble the chart compilers, reaching only 51 in the Irish charts.  This is nothing new to Murphy whose 2005 solo debut, Ruby Blue, confounded even her own record company who, rather harshly, considered it a flop.

In 2006 she parted company with Echo Records and signed for EMI.  It's surprising that a company as historically cagey as EMI took a risk on someone as eccentric as Murphy but with Overpowered she has rewarded their support ten-fold.  Fair enough, it didn't sell that many records over here (about 40,000 in Britain) but upon its release in the US, penciled in for later this year or early 2009, Key Notes is sure Murphy's blend of arthouse disco will find a willing audience.  Indeed, her double A-Side single of Movie Star and her version of the Brian Ferry song, Slave to Love, recently went to #3 in the Billboard Singles Chart.

Ironically, Movie Star is this blogs least favourite song on the album, sounding more like the work of Alison Goldfrapp than Arklow's most famous daughter.  Indeed, despite all the great work put into this album by the likes of Groove Armada it is Murphy's own personality and extraordinary voice that makes it one of Key Notes favourite Irish records. At times gleeful (Footprints), at times chilling (Dear Miami), it is always entertaining, no more so than on Overpowered and on this blogs favourite song, You Know Me Better.  Overpowered is the kind of album that Ray of Light era Madonna and Homogenic era Bjork would make if they invented a time machine and collaborated in the cloak room of some 70's roller-disco.  That Murphy can sound that unique is a testement to her and Overpowered's genius.

I'll leave you with the brilliant Observer Music Monthly's description of Overpowered as being full of 'bubbling, sensual, and soulful glitterball gems (that) effortlessly tap into the perennial glory of feeling lost and lonely at the disco at the end of the world.'  That it is only 10th on this blogs list shows the quality of albums to come.

Róisín Murphy - You Know Me Better

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A review of the album 'I Never Thought This Day Would Come' by Duke Special

Review Snapshot: While never consistently matching the dizzy heights of previous album 'Songs From The Deep Forest', Peter Wilson still makes a convincing tilt at the title of Ireland's Best Songwriter. A few Duke-Special-by-numbers numbers aside, mostly collaborations, his new album contains more of the same catchy, heartfelt piano-pop with which he's now synonymous. A consolidation, then.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:

Not to burden the new Duke Special album with impossible expectations or anything, but Peter Wilson’s previous long-player, ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’, was simply astounding. Bursting with baroque ambition, soaring joy, searing heartache, witty poetry, warm sincerity and catchy tunes, it’ll soon be permanently camped on the upper slopes of Mount Best Irish Album Ever. (If not, it’ll be because of the drippy single mix of ‘Freewheel’, for which someone should be fired.)

So, the follow-up, then.

Well, while not topping or matching its illustrious predecessor, ‘I Never Thought This Day Would Come’ is still a very good album. With it, Wilson continues a fine strand of work and consolidates his reputation as a Champions League-level pop songwriter.

It falls short of greatness because it can’t keep up the consistent emotional, lyrical and musical density of ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’. Simpering second track ‘Sweet Sweet Kisses’ shares a melody with ‘She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain’ and is just as repetitive and flimsy. ‘Flesh And Blood Dance’ feels like a photocopy of ‘Portrait’ off the previous album. And if ever a song sounds like hard work just from its title, then it’s ‘These Proverbs We Made In The Winter Must End’. A track co-written with, of all people, Bernard Butler, that title is the catchiest bit. Exactly.

(Butler, of course, famously walked out on Suede’s ‘Dog Man Star’, another baroque pop masterpiece whose frosty darkness complements Wilson’s sunnier disposition.)

But there’s plenty to be positive about on this album. Wilson, like Paul McCartney, seems genetically designed to write (or co-write, as is more often the case on this album) tunes that’ll be whistled by postmen and bus drivers the world over. It’s surely no accident that, like all radio-friendly pop songwriters, he usually makes the title the lyrical hook of his songs.

And though we complained above that this album can’t match the power of its predecessor, there are still plenty of memorable moments. It’s hard to dislike the bruised optimism of opening track ‘Mockingbird Wish Me Luck’ and the subversive cynicism of the title song (whose punchline is given away by its own subtitle).

Best of all are two tearjerkers that rate among Wilson’s finest songs. It’s hard to convey the emotional wallop of Wilson singing simple lines like the title lyrics of ‘If I Don’t Feel It’, ‘Why Does Anybody Love?’ and ‘Nothing Comes Easy’. If you listen to them on the bus to work tomorrow morning, good luck convincing fellow passengers that you’ve just been chopping onions. Like poor old Elliott Smith, Wilson has the knack of marrying bleak sentiment with gorgeous melody. And his voice, that vivid Belfast accent, is still his ace: the implicit touch of sincerity and individuality that has us trusting the emotions he evokes.

If we’ve gone on too much about Wilson’s previous album, that’s because the man has set a dizzyingly high standard and we want him to maintain it on this new record. He doesn’t always succeed, but now we know that a good Duke Special album is better than most people’s best. Go on, son – write that next record all by yourself and make it blow our minds.

Aidan Curran

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Mercury Rev (live in Róisín Dubh, Galway) Review Snapshot: With their recorded output of late suggesting the band have lost their studio and creative focus, their current tour is...

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You probably saw that recent post on the CLUAS discussion board: a busker telling the story of how he was invited onstage by Glen Hansard at a recent Swell Season show in Boston. (Damn the cynicism: it was a bloody decent thing for Glen to do.)

Anyway, Glen and Marketa Irglova (and Oscar too, perhaps) are in Paris this week for a gig at La Maroquinerie on 5 November. Will the steep hill up to the venue be lined with buskers pitching themselves at the Oscar winners? Maybe, although there aren't many street buskers in Paris. Most musical begging is done underground, in metro passages or even on the trains themselves.

(Your blogger was passing through the metro stations at Saint Michel last Friday evening when we heard the dreaded 'Hallelujah' being busked. Four years in Paris, and it was the first time we'd had to endure it. And there was a crowd around the guy listening to him murder it! It reminded us why we choose to live far, far away from Grafton Street.)  

Notwithstanding all that, you probably have come across the Take Away Shows - a series of live acoustic sessions with the hippest indie acts, usually impromptu and on the streets of Paris. It's probably a no-brainer that there'll be a Glen n' Marketa special filmed this week.

We'll bring you any Swell Season session as soon as we can 'borrow' it from the Take Away Show. In the meantime, here's the most recent edition, featuring Bloc Party and an acoustic version of 'This Modern Love'. Paris-watchers: they're coming out of a rock bar called the Truskel, the traditional location for after-show parties by visiting indie bands, and they end up playing in front of the Bourse:

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While sulking recently about how our favourite Paris live venue had become all trendy and uptight, we mentioned that indie rock is currently fashionable in Paris. One proof of this is the amount of promotion going into French guitar bands; we don't remember ever hearing so many radio promos for home-grown bands before.

One band currently doing well out of this is Quidam (pronounced 'kee-dam'). The Clermont-Ferrand trio (right) had released their debut album, 'En Eaux Profondes' ("in deep waters") earlier this year and it was a modest success.

Now, though, they're getting loads of airplay for a single off this album. 'Nos Souvenirs' ("our memories") is hardly revolutionary or daring - but it's a catchy little thing, with its slinky rhythm guitar riff and (that rare thing in French rock) a chorus hook! Round-the-clock radio exposure means we can't get it out of our heads, which is a good thing.

The song has been doing the rounds since 2005, when Les Inrockuptibles featured it on their annual CQFD compilation of new French tunes. But it's only now that there's a market for guitar bands making radio-friendly pop. Better late than never, though.

The rest of their album is decent enough, though there's nothing else as good as 'Nos Souvenirs'. Still, one good song is one more than most bands have.  

You can find out more about Quidam on their MySpace page. (Their name is a Latin word for a person who can't be identified.) Here's the video for 'Nos Souvenirs':

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