Surfer Phil Edwards once famously termed all those who did not surf as, "the legions of the unjazzed". More recently Alex Wade, in his book 'Surf Nation', spent a chapter contemplating the possible links between the jazz music and surfing, specifically long boarding. They are views that Sound Waves empathises with, having been a lifelong, if not especially committed or knowledgeable, fan of jazz.

Notwithstanding that, advances in music playback technology have resulted in yours truly not having a stereo at home for something in the order of 5 years. I resisted the lure of i-Pod. I clung dearly to my CD buying habits, using my laptop to create mix CDs from my collection to play in the car. The car therefore became my listening room but set its own boundaries. Fast driving rock and roll by the likes of Teddy Thompson found favour but the complex patterns of Steve Reich proved overpowering and claustrophobic. My first MP3 player was a free gift thanks to a judiciously placed order for office products, it held about 40 songs, but due to my dislike of listening to music on headphones, and the constant roar of ambient noise of modern urban life it was rarely played. Moreover, the acts that were being promoted seemed little more than expensively produced tribute bands. Their music sounded familiar, like a movie actor you swear you have seen in a previous film but just cannot place. In a nutshell, I had become utterly sick of listening to music. In all this time, my modest collection of jazz albums by a shortlist of greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Brad Meldhu, Cannonball Adderly and Charlie Mingus lay in a box under the bed, still much loved but absolutely unplayed.

About six months ago, after much soul searching, I finally plumped down the cash to buy an 80G i-Pod classic. I wish I could say that I had some damascene conversion but I didn’t. To be honest, it’s just a well designed, if overpriced gadget and it has mostly spent its time sitting unused on my desk at home.

So what has changed? Well, earlier this week I headed into TX Maxx to buy some socks and there on offer was a set of speakers for MP3 players that contain lights that change in time to the music they are playing. The tag said € 25.00 and considering that any shop that sells I-pod compatible speakers tends to stock equipment with prices north of € 200.00, I figured I couldn’t lose. What I didn’t expect when I got them home was the high sound quality that could emit from a pair of speakers that, basically, double as Christmas lights. And so, I spent my first night with these speakers, first downloading my jazz collection onto my i-Pod via my laptop and then listening to the magical sounds of an elite group of artists drifting gently through the air of my living room, as my speakers pulsed in time with a soft blue light. Kind of blue? Not anymore.

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MUSE (live in Marlay Park, Dublin)

Review Snapshot:  Sometimes you find yourself so in awe of a band that there is nothing you can do except stand back, close your eyes and let a performance permeate every essence of your being.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
It wasn't looking good for MUSE at Marlay Park.  Monsoon like conditions over the past week would surely render conditions unsuitable for anything other than pigs and ducks.  Not so.  The first surprise of the evening was that parking was a breeze, as was gaining access to the arena.  The biggest surprise of all though was the condition of the arena.  Where were the anticipated mud baths?  No where to be seen, in fact you'd have hardly known it had rained non-stop for the past two weeks.

First up on stage were Glasvegas, the Glasgow four piece who count Michael Stipe amongst their celebrity fans.  If The Smiths were Scottish and liked dressing as the biker from The Village People, then Glasvegas would have lost their niche.  A band still finding their feet on the big stage, they just don't have the songs to keep a crowd containing everyone from drunken leaving cert students to 'accountants on tour' (Deloitte and Touche take a bow) entertained.  In the end, Glasvegas were a bit like the wasp that flew near my drink, it wasn't doing any harm, but I just wanted it to go away.

Kasabian were next up and launched straight into Empire the title track from their second album.  In fairness to Tom Meighan he tried his best to warm an ever increasing crowd up but I'm not sure if claiming to be Jesus is the way to go after just two albums.  Kasabian did exactly what I expected in playing some above standard indie rock, namely L.S.F and Shoot the Runner, and then playing the rest of their songs.  Of more interest than any of their music though is that they seem to have commandeered Roger Daltrey to play drums and Carlos Puyol on guitar!  Check it out for yourself here.  Kasabian should know by now though that this is post-Celtic Tiger Ireland, we don't sing Ole, Ole, Ole any more!

Despite me labelling them a singles band on more than one occasion I was quite excited about seeing MUSE live for the first time.  I'd heard reports of their live performances before but had no idea of the visual and audio bombardment that lay in store.  Opening with Map of the Problematique, Supermassive Blackhole and Dead Star, Bellamy and Co. had the audience firmly in their grip from the start.  Accompanied by lasers, satellite dishes and some of the best on stage camera work I've ever seen, each song becomes an almost cinematic experience in the live arena. 

Definite highlights for me were Invincible and the sing-along version of Time is Running Out, though an honourable mention must go to Feeling Good as I've never heard so many people attempt to sing falsetto before. Lets just say there were lots of canines covering their ears last night in the Marlay Park area!  Any band that want to have two encores better have some good songs to go with it and in Starlight, Plug in Baby (encore one) and Knights of Cydonia (encore two), MUSE certainly have more than enough tools with which to work a crowd. 

And with that the balloons, the lasers, the smoke machines were all gone and we encountered the only problem of the evening.  When it takes you longer to walk a kilometre to your car than it does to drive 20 kilometres home you know you have a problem.  It's a problem MCD could sort by opening more exits but is a minor complaint given how enjoyable this gig was.  Gig of the year by a long way.

Steven O'Rourke

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The line up for Electric Picnic 2008 was announced this morning.  Full details can be found here. 

Electric Picnic, as you know by now, takes place in Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois.  Set on 600 acres of rolling countryside the Electric Picnic continues its role as Ireland's premier boutique music festival and this year sees even more arts & crafts, holistic and comedy elements form part of the festival.  However, as Key Notes likes to concentrate on the music, he now takes a look at potential highlights over this years Electric Picnic.

Friday August 29

Friday night should see Sigur Ros and Late of the Pier attract lots of attention.  That being said, Joan as a Policewoman, New Young Pony Club and Gomez will have their fair share of fans.

Irish interest on Friday centres on Jape, Giveamanakick and 'Ireland's Greatest Living Musician' Christy Moore.

Key Notes One to Watch: Goldfrapp

Saturday August 30

While Crystal Castles, Dan Deacon and Santogold will undoubtedly attract the 'indier than thou' crowd, Josh Ritter and La Rocca should satisfy those looking for an more americana feel.  Saturday also sees the return of That Petrol Emotion and Lisa Hannigan's big event debut sans Damien Rice.

Super Extra Bonus Party lead a very strong Irish contingent on the Saturday that includes Halves, The Flaws and Cathy Davey. 

Key Notes One to Watch: Tindersticks

Sunday August 31

While every accountant with a grudge against their boss will probably be breathlessly anticipating The Sex Pistols, people who actually like music could do worse than making their way to see My Bloody Valentine (though Key Notes undertands that ear plugs are a must).  Other highlights on Sunday include These New Puritans, The Gossip, Sinead O'Connor and CSS

Irish performances on the final day come from Gemma Hayes, Ham Sandwich and The Urges, who are not on heroin!

Key Notes One to Watch: Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)

Tickets for Electric Picnic sold out long ago so there's no point in even trying!

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The last few years saw an explosion in the number of summer music festivals big and small, not just in Ireland but across Europe.

However, the boom seems to have ended this season. Just last weekend we heard of the Dysart Festival in Kilkenny, which had to drastically re-cut its cloth. Then in Britain there was the now-infamous Zoo8, where the line-up was decimated when it emerged that acts were not guaranteed payment.

Mainland Europe, relatively unscathed by the credit crunch, hasn’t escaped the financial problems in the music industry. In France, one famous summer festival seems to be in serious trouble.

La Route du Rock is a three-day event that takes places every mid-August in Saint Malo, a quaint fortified town on the coast of Brittany. With a line-up that always features the season’s hippest alternative acts, it’s the traditional summer holiday for many French indie kids. This year’s event, the 18^th edition, features Foals, The Dodos, Pivot, The Notwist, The Ting Tings, Menomena, Tindersticks, The Breeders, Sigur Ros and others.

As an independent event without corporate sponsors or mainstream marquee names, La Route du Rock needs 14,000 paying punters to break even. However, with the 2008 edition just a few days away, word on the boulevard is that only 8,000 tickets have been sold – a potentially catastrophic shortfall. Unless 6,000 extra indie kids miraculously manifest themselves in Saint Malo this weekend, the festival doesn't look likely to reappear in 2009.

La Route du Rock has been in a precarious position for some time. Since 2006 the festival has run a series of winter concerts in February, straining its flimsy finances even more. Last summer the organisers took a chance and booked a big-name act, the reformed Smashing Pumpkins. The gamble backfired. Only 10,000 fans came to Saint Malo – not enough to turn a profit - and the festival’s indie reputation took a bashing.

Even with generous public support from the local council and regional authorities, La Route du Rock is in difficulty. Festival director François Floret admitted to financial problems in an interview this week with regional paper Ouest France. “La Route du Rock is in danger,” he said. “We’re in a very delicate situation and we hope to attract at least 14,000 fans to get out of it.”

At the time of writing, La Route du Rock 2008 is still due to begin this Thursday, 14 August.

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Beau Young's Official Website

Nava Young's MySpace Page

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Review of Glasgowbury 2008, Draperstown, Co. Derry

Well, we came, we saw, we were conquered... and sunburnt (in a nice way).

To the street with all these corporate shindigs like Oxegen et al. Glasgowbury is where it’s at and that ain’t no lie! A festival on top of the Sperrin Mountains in Co Derry, Eagles Rock to be precise, with some of the finest musical talent on the island, a festival where yet-to-be-friends help you across the camp site with your gear and help you set up whilst sharing a beer and announcing the bands they reckon are going to rock the ‘rock!

Who'd have thought of such a hair-brained scheme? Well a music legend by the name of Paddy Glasgow, not sure if anyone else could have pulled this off... the man lives music, and the promotion of it, not for money, kudos, but for the betterment of its soul.

In a nutshell...Glasgowbury 2008? It was 4 stages, 3 of which were indoor (the G-Session's, The Acoustic and The Spurs of Rock) and 1 outdoor stage ('Small but Massive Main Stage') and it all took place over one day 12 noon to 12 midnight, and a night's camping in a couple of fields (we were assured by the powers that be that no sheep were hurt in the making of this festival).

We arrived early on the Saturday morning, the campsite already alive with the sound of camping novices cursing the limited instructions the 10 quid throw-away tent they came with. A few 360 degree turns to take in the breathtaking beauty that is the Glasgowbury setting, this really is something special. A few still cold tins downed in the comfort that there were no suits, computers or Starbucks in sight, nor no pop drivel, daft Dave or broadband adverts to be heard.

Then off to explore… You know that feeling you get in your stomach when your walking into a festival, flanked on all sides by your nearest and dearest, filled with the buzz of life, the distance thud of some champion yielding his bass axe, well, if you could bottle that nervous, excited feeling, Smurfit’s bank balance wouldn’t come close. Bars, clothes stalls, stages, jugglers, stilt walkers, St John’s finest primed and ready for action (thanks for the masking tape if your reading)…time to roll.

First stop was the G-Sessions stage, and Hybrasil. Technical hiccups sorted, the guys came on stage 10 mins late and for a short and very sweet time, blew the socks off the place with a set of new tunes, not a note from the superb Monkey Pole, but none the lesser for it, exchanging guitars for drum pads, moogs, korgs and other wonderous gadgets with exact precision, live, these guys are something else.

It was all a bit weird with the merciless sun blazing, the factor 40 mixing with sweat seeping into the eyeballs as we caught a fine set from Limavady’s finest Furlo who were as tight as a tinker’s cuss.

Quick ice cream, cool pint, catch up with few people I forgot every existed - festivals are a great place to reacquaint and relight old friendships. Now where’s that Spurs of Rock stage...

Remember the 80's? Remember the Mama's Boys? Well Pat 'The Professor' McManus was in the Mama's boys, and he cant! For a while they were Ireland's rock saviours, and for one night only on a mountain in the middle of no-where, The Professor delighted us all a blistering set of, well, em, ahh, err, rock! A huge crowd assembled and left smiling, arm in arm... Result.

And so I Watched you from Afar, Ireland's answer to Explosions in the Sky played a blinding set from their highly acclaimed "This is our Machine and Nothing can Stop It”, these guys really are the shit, ending their set with, at the last count, about 40 folk on stage dancing out, bing bong. The meat in So I Watched You From Afar and Fighting With Wire were the wonderous Oppenheimer, using some kind of weird wizardry to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

Fresh from signing a big deal with Atlantic, Fighting with Wire had a right old homecoming, rocking out like the back door on a windy night with a moshpit to rival that of Triggerman’s earlier in the day. 

Ash finished off the day’s music with a storming set of their classic singles' back catalogue, everyone arm in arm jumping in unison, cows darting for the nearest wunny bush and village folk were heard bolting the window latches awaiting the impending avalanche. Ash, whilst not the greatest album band, are a fine fine festival band, with a cannon of peerless tunes. Why didn’y they play Petrol? Who knows, but they did dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s with Jack Names the Planets from the same Trailer EP ...bing bong.

With so much happening, the only downside was missing bands like SuperFreakz, Panama Kings, The Beat Poets, Ed Zealous, General Fiasco, Mantic, La Faro etc etc etc

The campsite partied and laughed 'til the wee hours and as we all packed up and trounced up the road to various trains, boats and planes, sore, but happy heads, we thanked the sheep for a loan of their home. Life really doesn’t get much better. Until next year.

Sig Doherty

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With thanks once again to Leah in Urchin PR and Foggy Notions; Key Notes has two double passes to give away for Little Wings who will take to the stage Upstairs in Whelan's on Wednesday August 13th.

Little Wings is Kyle Field and whatever musicians and musical instruments cross his path as he makes his merry way through venues singing songs that flip-flop between old school country and low-fi electronica.  Field himself describes Little Wings as 'an ever-changing art project where I can take on different identities and roles with associations with those around me.' 

Having previously collaborated with the likes of Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, the loosely assembled membership that now revolves around Field sometimes includes drummer Adam Selzer, keyboardist Rob Kieswetter, and bassist Mark Leece.

Key Notes has two double passes to give away to the first two people who email keynotes[at]cluas[dot]com putting 'Little Wings' in the subject bar.

For a taster of what one can expect from Little Wings, please see below:

Little Wings: New Topanga

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