Gemma Hayes (live in Tripod, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Despite the distraction of events elsewhere, Hayes and her band of merry men were able to put on a really impressive gig that showcased the Tipperary native as one of Ireland's brightest talents.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
Anyone who reads my Key Notes Blog will know that I wasn't too sure about reviewing this gig.  After all, a certain European Cup semi-final was taking place at the same time and was pulling at my heartstrings.  However, despite missing out on Manchester United's victory, I made the right call by attending tonight's gig.

Initially I was worried that the gig might not be well attended as the crowd - most of whom decided to forgo Ann Scott's performance for the action at Old Trafford - were late getting in.  More fool them.  Scott is a competent performer with a haunting voice that was particularly impressive on set opener 'Jealousy'.  What let her down tonight though was the lack of a band.  Her guitar playing was not strong enough to support her voice and it was only at the end of her 5 song set, when she introduced a drum machine, that it really felt like she owned the stage.  Still, Tripod is a big venue to face when it's half empty and she did a good job warming up the crowd that had turned up.

Having never seen Gemma Hayes live before, my jaw dropped to the floor when she walked on stage tonight, but not for the reason you might think.  Hayes was accompanied on stage tonight by a veritable 'who's who' of the Irish indie scene.  

• On drums: Binzer (Concerto for Constantine, Bell X1, The Frames)
• On bass: Karl Odlum (Alphastates, Ham Sandwich, The Aftermath, Jape)
• On guitar: Joe Chester (The Sound of Bells, Sunbear, Tenspeedracer, eh, Joe Chester)

With such an impressive troupe around her, Hayes could hardly fail to impress.  However, it would be unfair give all the credit to her illustrious band as tonight Hayes provides them with excellent songs with which to work.  Opening with crowd favourite 'Happy Sad', Hayes and band launched into a lively 13 song set.  Aware of what was also taking place tonight, Hayes thanked the crowd, consisting mostly of mid-twenty year old women and their partners, for turning up tonight and even asked what the score was at one stage.

Highlights of the evening included new song 'Out of Our Hands' and 'Over My Head' ('Can you see a theme developing?' she asked) which were played back to back and showcased an impressive vocal range.  The only time the crowd really lost any interest tonight was during 'Home' a song taken from Hayes' new album 'The Hollow of Morning' which was unfortunately timed with the sound of hundreds of text messages announcing the result of the match.  However, obviously happy with the result, ther crowd soon picked up again during the performance of 'Back of My Hand'.

Overall, Gemma Hayes is very easy to like.  Her interaction with the crowd, while frequent, never strays into the Glen 'This song's about' Hansard range.  As a performance it's virtually flawless.  The only complaint I could have is that it finished very early, slightly after 10.  What ever happened to rock and roll; staying out all night, even if it is a school night!  However, that should not take away from Hayes', and indeed her bands, talent.  Gig of the year (so far) for me. 

Steven O'Rourke

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We've given it time to see if it's a grower. It's not. We watched her TV appearances on the off-chance that it works better live. It doesn't. We watched part 1 and part 2 of the making-of documentary in the hope that we'd learn how to decipher its mysteries. There aren't any. The new Camille album, 'Music Hole', just isn't very good, and that's about it.

We had feared as much when we heard 'Money Note', the first track made public before the album's release. The vocal effects were clever and engaging, so we liked it on first listen. Paying closer attention, we were surprised to discover that she was openly criticising MOR divas like Céline Dion and Mariah Carey for their histrionic technique.

This we found a bit rich, as Camille herself showboats all the way through 'Music Hole'. Like Whitney's infamous climactic blaster in 'I Will Always Love You', what else are Camille's vocal effects but a spotlight on her singing technique? And with her hyperactive live persona, she combines "listen to me" and "look at me" as much as any attention-seeking stage-school brat.

The extra attention on Camille has been detrimental to the quality of her material. On 'Le Fil' her vocal effects were subtle and served the song, like for hit single 'Ta Douleur' where her vocalising embellishes an already-brilliant pop song. For her new album the songs serve the vocal effects. This is apparent on the terrible first single, 'Gospel With No Lord'. Like 'Money Note', it's a song about being a singer; one step above 'songs about the war I watched on CNN' on the scale of Bad Lyric Ideas.

In 'Gospel With No Lord' Camille praises the person from whom she received her singing gift - herself. (It starts with her cheering herself on: "Allez Camille, allez Camille".) And, her family, whom she eulogises with a naff riff in a kooky deep voice ("Father in laaawwww - sister in laaawww - brother in laaawwwww"). It's supremely irritating and miles away from the subtle, subversive charm of 'Le Fil'.

The rest of the album follows the same tack: promising songs are sunk by Camille's incessant need to highlight the vocalising that made her name. So, a quiet thing like 'Home Is Where It Hurts' is ruined by the very showboating she criticises in Mariah et al. With depressing predictability, 'Cats And Dogs' breaks into animal noises. And so forth.

Follow-up albums, as we noted above, tend to be written in the spotlight of public praise and expectation, and thus with a great deal of self-consciousness. Like thinking about yourself while dancing, too much self-awareness trips up songwriters every time. With every note and song of 'Music Hole' Camille seems vividly aware that she's Camille, and so she plays at being Camille for the whole album. This may be impeccable post-modernism - but it makes for rotten music.

Here's that first single, 'Gospel With No Lord':

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Electric Eel Shock (live in Fibber Magees, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Electric Eel Shock provided one of those nights where you arrive with very little expectation and leave with sweat on your brow and a smile on your face.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
It's not very often I have to be convinced to go to a gig but tonight was one such occasion.  Having spent the day toiling in the never-ending mountain of work that is my garden, the last thing I wanted to do was spend an evening in the company of, well, anyone.  However, as is her way, my wife convinced me otherwise and Electric Eel Shock went on to provide one of the most high-energy shows I've seen in quite a while, proving once again that my prettier half is always right.

Opening the night was Acoustic Eel Shock, essentially Electric Eel Shock's drummer Tomoharu 'Gian' Ito on an acoustic guitar.  It only lasted a handful of songs and he sang in Japanese but it sounded good and Ito's guitar playing skills were impressive. 

Next on the bill were Nations of Fire, a band whose moniker could well be their undoing as I heard the phrase 'Nations of Sh*te' on more than one occasion during their set.  That might be too harsh a review but they weren't exactly an easy band to like unless you're fifteen and think that nobody understands you.  Perhaps Nations of Fire would work as an instrumental band as they seem to have some decent material but it was as poor a vocal performance as I've heard in a long time.

The penultimate act of the evening was Nova Static.  It seemed a strange choice of gig for the band though, as their brand of melodic rock (think Weezer or Muse) was at odds with what preceded and, indeed, what was to follow.  This was my second time seeing the band in a little over a week and while I was impressed the first time, they were even better this time around.  They are, dare I say it, a very radio-friendly band, with 'Tape it off the Radio' and 'Meet me in the Underground' especially impressing.  Having secured two high-profile support slots in a fortnight - two weeks ago they were the opening act for the Portlaoise leg of the 2fm 2moro 2our - it would be interesting to see Nova Static play a longer 'headline' set.

And so we come to Electric Eel Shock.  Sometimes you can't explain why you like a performance.  If I were to review this logically the music wasn't particularly inspiring and the lyrics were, ahem, interesting (with songs called 'Bastard' and 'I Love Fish but Fish Hate Me' what did I expect?).  But this gig was about the energy of the performance and the ability of the band to whip the crowd (consisting of an odd mix of young Japanese women and balding-but-still-having-long-hair middle aged men) into a frenzy, and all this despite playing a Black Sabbath cover!  As lead singer Aki Morimoto told us many times, Electric Eel Shock 'love heavy metal!'.  Before this gig I didn't particularly care for it, afterwards, well, I was more impressed than I ever thought I could be.

Steven O'Rourke

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Here's a long email I got from a good Chinese journalist friend which is typical of the views I've been getting from local, Joe soap types these past few weeks of anti-western rage in China. The email is in response to a debate we had about why a friend of mine from China's restive Uyghur (or Wei) muslim community can't get a passport (the reason being Olympics 'stability and security,' he's told by officials). Many Tibetans I've met have a similar problem. So if the average Chinese is fine and dandy with the government here, what are we westerners expending so much time and effort demanding Beijing to give its people more human rights? Should we stick to seeking more rights for Tibetans and leave the rest of China to the government the average Chinese appears so content with?

"First of all, I am not a politician. I talk to you because we are friends and I am a Chinese. I hope I can help you know Chinese people more and give us more understanding.

I feel sorry about John if something really unfair happened on him as a Wei minority person recently. You think that's discrimination. I also believe Chinese government can do this kind of things because recent days Xinjiang region and Tibet region are not stable so government has to take some actions.
I also believe Chinese government and even Chinese people are not open enough when we have problems because we are afraid of losing face. Face matters a lot in China and it could date back several thousand years ago.

But can I say something else to help you know more? Ok, if you think it's discrimination for John, then I'd like you to tell if these are discrimination for Han people. I believe China central government support those minorities with many preferred policies, financially and spiritually. I don't know too many details but I definitely know minority people can have many kids if they want. They can go to universities with less points than Han people. Wei people and Tibet people can have their knives with them when they go out but Han people can't. Do you think it's very fair for Han people? Have you ever heard that Han people protested against these before? We only heard too much violence in Xinjiang and Tibet and those gang destroyed public facilities and killed normal people. Do you think those people will become kind after they get independent? Do you think they are not terrorists?

Think how the US reacted after 9.11? They thought everyone from Middle East was a terrorist and they took tighter action to foreign people who were in the US and wanted to enter into the US. Why you don't understand Chinese government is doing something to Wei and Tibet people? People always take what they have for granted and complain for wha they are short . It is unfair to John but don't think it is discrimination and ignite Chinese people's hate. Unfair things are always there and it takes time to get over. Wei people has more privileges than Han people, please think of this as well.
 

Western countries always mention human rights, but I think they just emphasize more on individual rights and don't take it as a whole. I would like to take my family as an example and I hope you will get something. My family is a very traditional Chinese family. They didn't have stable income since they were only normal farmers in the beginning.  Just because China reform and open policy, my dad could have chance to go out and make money. Considering there are four children in my family, I think my parents really did a good job to have our four children get educated. My mom once said, "I think you dad is really great. Considering we are only Noon Min family, but he could support four kids to go to university". And my dad said, "our family is here because you mom managers our family well". They appreciate each other very much even they don't say "Xie Xie, Dui Bu Qi" at all. I learned to say them till I went to university. So if you ever go to my hometown and people don't say "Xiexie and Dui bu qi" to you, don't think they are rude. They just don't get used to.

Now let me think back, I think my mom even pays much more hard-work to our family. My dad has been busy making money and my mom looks after the whole family. She is very generous to give out and she has very good relationship with the neighbors and relatives. Chinese marriage is not only something about one man and one woman but a relationship between two families. My parents take each other's family as their own family. They take responsibilities for both when they need them. My dad gives every coin he earns to my mom and my mom takes good care of them. My dad seldom spends money himself and he just leaves most family things to my mom to deal with. Only when there are some big things that need my dad to decide, then my mom will let my dad do. Otherwise my mom will arrange everything. Their great mutual trust makes me admire very much.

Their four kids - my older sister, older brother me and my younger sister all have a decent job compare to other our fellows. My parents feel happy because they think we will have pension at least when we get old. My mom feels sorry for my dad because my dad even couldn't get pension even he has been working till now. He couldn't get it because of his farmer's identity.

But my parents never complain. Their attitude towards life, towards our education is very influential to us. I never look down on myself for my farmer's family. I never complain that I have too little to share to others. I seldom make time to complain life if something bad happened on me. I don't have time to do it. Even I was put a waitress position in my first job because other people thought it should be good enough for a graduated girl who grew up in the countryside to work in a city, even I was rejected by Canadian embassy because they thought I was not well-established and I wouldn't go back to China, unfair things are everywhere that not just happened on me. I only made effort to improve myself. I got recognized and promoted after my hardworking during my first job. I am sure I will go abroad after I make me strong enough. I don't have time to complain.

People, who think other people look down on them, must look down on themselves first. They should raise their awareness of improving their own first. China, as a big family, is trying to make every nationality in the right place. Our government is making big efforts to improve. We never look down on Tibet people or Wei people because they are Chinese too. Even we have problems, that's our domestic problems and China has ability to get through completely.

Some countries ignore Chinese history and Chinese culture and offer a hand saying they will help those people who get discriminated in their countries. If all in all could say there is discrimination, my parents have right to say it too. But they never say it instead, they think their life is getting better and better and they can't complain. My mom is happy to act a supporting role and she thinks man is a main power in a family. Many people think I am independent woman but if I have to give up something to complete my man, I will do it.

I have attended a discussion that a lady who came from Harford university, thinks it's ridiculous that Chinese prefer boys than girls. She thinks women should have more voices in political field. I just think she is ridiculous too. If she ever lives a rural area in China, if she knows to harvest the crop is a team work, then she might know why especially in rural China, boys are more important than girls because they need more labors. And girls often are a member of their parents-in-law. It's Chinese tradition.

Chinese people do have a lot of bad habits. To spit in public is indeed disgusting. I think this habit there is just because those farmers work in the fields and they don't find a right place to spit. It happens in big cities because most people in big cities are from countryside too.

Westerners should learn more about Chinese. We are trying to improve and we often pick on our own problems too but don't expect we'll ignore our Chinese identity.It's good if you help people to have different voices. But I would suggest you release something unfair in China later on but not in this sensitive time."

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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 culture through shows like Doctor Who and cult movies like Donnie Darko. E’s investigation took him on a tour of all things Quantum – from Princeton where his dad developed the theory, to Copenhagen where the film detailed the meeting that his father had with eminent scientist, Nils Bohr. The documentary, whilst highly amusing in parts, touched on some desperately sad events – the suicide of E’s sister, the depression of his parents, the sudden death of his dad just as his theory was becoming more accepted. Many of these events have been detailed in the Eel’s albums over the years but the onscreen revelations added an extra layer of feeling to the band’s intimate performances later in the evening.

Maybe “band” is too strong a word. The Eels, on this world tour, consists of E himself and “the Chet”, a multi-instrumentalist who accompanied E on piano, harpsichord, the saw, guitar and, most thrillingly, the drums. It’s a Motherfucker, performed solo at the piano, was as amusingly poignant as ever but the evening really kicked off when the duo warped into some kind of White Stripes version of the Eels and thrashed their way through Flyswatter, Bus Stop Boxer, Novocaine for the Soul and Led Zep’s Good Time Bad Times. Without this manic period, the gig may have slipped into anonymity.

In any case, the Eels clearly buck the trend. How many bands tread the boards each tour, trotting out a few numbers for the new record and a smattering of old faves to a ripple of applause (and yawns). I salute the Eels, and in particular Mr E, for their (his?) contrariness and the fact that they wish to challenge me as a fan on each and every tour. I can’t think of many other acts that compare?

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Dateline early 2007, and the CLUAS gaffer is proposing to his Paris correspondent that his leisurely monthly column become a hi-octane, fact-acting blog:

CLUAS gaffer: Your column is becoming a blog. Start posting toot sweet or there'll be no more CLUAS Foreign Correspondent Expense Account. That is all.

French Letter: Yikes!

Luckily for us and our lavish expense account, loads of Irish acts visited Paris in 2007 just so we could write about them. Some, like Nina Hynes and The Immediate, came more than once. Others, like Duke Special, inspired us to write dizzying prose the likes of which hadn't been seen since the last pages of The Great Gatsby. We were nominated for awards and dreamy French actresses started returning our calls.

It couldn't last. Now that there's a recession in Eire and everyone's queuing hours for sold-out stale bread, Irish bands are giving up their Paris trips to concentrate on rocking the lucrative Donegal bingo-hall circuit. Bell X1 supported Nada Surf here last week... and that's all. The Frank And Walters cancelled three French dates scheduled for April. We were starting to panic, and dreamy French actresses don't find that attractive.

And then, flicking through pocket-sized Paris listings mag Lylo to look busy, we found Junah (right). Junah have been supporting Kill The Young on their recent French tour, and they have their own show at the Café Montmartre in Paris tonight. Junah. You know... Junah. The Irish band. Junah!

No, neither did we. Junah are a five-piece band made up of four Dubs (from Tallaght and Palmerstown, to be precise) and a French drummer. As they say on their MySpace page, their acoustic folk-rock "[combines] the melodious hum of Irish Folk music charged with an overwhelming and embodied enthusiasm for the progression of the Irish rock scene". Seeing the dreaded Eleanor McEvoy as one of their prominent MySpace friends (they're supporting her at Aras Chronain in Clondalkin on 16 May) tells you all you need to know about that particular genre.

Still, in the spirit of "g'wan Oirland!" and shake-a-shamrock and non-begrudgery, we'll give them a mention. After tonight's show in Paris they'll be in Arles on 30 April and Sanary-sur-Mer (no need for me to tell you where that is, of course) the following night. Then it's off to Switzerland before coming back to Ireland.

Junah were due to compete in Phantom's battle of the bands competition but withdrew due to 'sudden unforeseen complications with schedules'. Never fear - one look at their MySpace page and you'll be able to find out where you can see them (hint: Clondalkin).

From a recent appearance on Balcony TV, here's 40% of Junah performing 'Walk Me Into The Ground':

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Thanks to John "Nevada" Lundemo for filling me in on the latest kunming outdoor music festival, held on April 18,19. John heads up a multinational blues rock band called the Tribal Moons, which plays gigs around China's southwestern capital of Kunming. Some 20 bands played the second installment of the Kunming Outdoor Music Festival took place over the weekend in Taiping Town outside of Kunming - 600 people and a wider variety of music than at the previous edition: Gouride, Tribal Moons and Heiyu. "We rocked the crowd," says Lundemo. "But there were too many "death metal bands" for my taste, so we were, as usual, a "welcome relief".

Maybe he was referring to No Answer, whose Chinese name means 'beat me to death and I still won't talk', are fronted by self styled punk-slut styled Bai Cai. Go Kunming reported that rock/reggae hybrid Made in Dali proved the consensus favorite among fans.
An excellent English-language blog to the region, Go Kunming reported that there was a sizeable military presence at the festival, "with dozens of (officially) off-duty soldiers checking out the variety of musical offerings under a nearly full moon." On Saturday night two personnel carriers entered the festival site with sirens blaring - the soldiers aboard however, seemed only interested in taking in a set by Rap Republic.

The Tribal Moonsband may be lucky that its base is Yunnan province, a balmy, hippy-friendly region bordering Laos and Burma. Certainly it's all gigs for the band, which headlines an all night festival party in the picturesque old town of Dali on on May 1st. "We also have a "fly out' (we're flying to another city) on may 8th for a big "private party". paying us a ton of money, but we're not sure what the exact deal is yet. It sounds exciting..."

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Here's what security looks like at the annual Beijing Pop Festival. Thanks to Judith Govey at Uk-based Association for Independent Music (AIM) who sent it to me. AIM-represented group The Crimea played the festival in 2007. Beijing Pop Festival organisers have privately moaned about trying to get security - required by the local government agency which grants the festival's license - into something less formal than their paramilitary unforms. No luck, lets see what they manage for this year's fest, set for September.

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French-based music fans have some tough decidin' to do for the start of July, what with three tasty festivals happening on the same weekend at different corners of la hexagone.

We've already featured the Main Square Festival at Arras in the north, and Eurockéennes at Belfort in the east. Both have their charms.

However, your blogger will be at a different festival, the third panel in our tryptich of French music trips for the first weekend of July. We're staying in Paris. There happens to be a tasty festival just down the road from Château French Letter.

Solidays takes place at the Hippodrome de Longchamp, the west Paris racecourse that holds the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (won last year by the Irish-trained Dylan Thomas). The festival was conceived as an AIDS-awareness event, but has grown into a bona fide heavyweight summer concert series.

The festival's honorary president is Antoine de Caunes, familiar to UK and Irish TV viewers as the host of Rapido and Eurotrash. If you know Paris then you'll know it's quite appropriate that the presenter of Eurotrash is heading a festival that takes place near the Bois de Boulogne, where all the 'interesting' people come out at night.

Now in its tenth edition, Solidays 2008 hosts a mix of French and international indie and dance acts.

Friday 4 July features the wonderful Vampire Weekend, the equally-brilliant French folk-pop duo Cocoon (left), Australian airplay-darling Micky Green (is she famous in Eire yet?) and impressive Belgian rockers Girls in Hawaii. There'll also be sets from local heroes Deportivo and Têtes Raides (not our thing), alt-folkies Moriarty and those irritating Hoosiers. Later that night there's a dance stage featuring Vitalic and Laurent Garnier.

The Saturday night line-up doesn't really appeal to your Paris correspondent. Unless there's some wonderful late addition, we'll probably head into town that night to drink wine on the banks of the Seine. But for those sticking with the festival, there's the happy-clappy folk-pop of Apple saleswoman Yael Naim and some are-they-still-around moments with Asian Dub Foundation. The samedi soir home favourites are rocker Cali, balladeers AaRON, singer-songer Thomas Dutronc (son of '60s pop icons Françoise Hardy and Jacques Dutronc) and dreary slam-poet Grand Corps Malade, who we won't be sorry to miss. But the Etienne de Crecy DJ set might be worth catching on our way home.

Sunday night: that's more like it. The Gossip and Foals, with two French Letter favourites - Grenoble indie kids Rhesus and disco-pop princess Yelle (right). Also: Toots and the Maytals! Richie Havens! We'll have to check out those two too.

All of that for only €33 for early bookers. The normal three-day price is €45 - still excellent value. Camping on-site costs €8 per person. Tickets are available from FNAC.

You can read up on Solidays and its line-up at the festival's website and MySpace page. Here's Sunday night star Yelle and her hit single 'A Cause Des Garçons' ('because of boys'). If you don't enjoy this, there's no hope left for you:

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A review of the album 'Seldom Seen Kid' by Elbow Review Snapshot: Top class intelligent rock pop – Elbow could never make you happy but they could afford you a better class of misery...

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