Smart lyrics, neat sitar lick, nice groove; whats not to like about HyBrasil's latest tune, "God Bless The Devil". Here's the video for your enjoyment.

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Until 2007, the idea of an Irish film about surfing was, well, rather like a Jamaican film about bob sleighing but now a new wave of Irish filmmakers, all with close links to Ireland's surfing community have stepped forward to commit a serious, new vision of surfing to celluloid that is far removed from Hollywood's sunlit Malibu centric image of the sport.

Firstly, there is surfer Naomi Britton's elegaic and poetic tale of the early days of Irish surfing, 'The Silver Surfari' which premiered in March and has been touring the country to packed audiences prior to a television broadcast.

Next up is Gavin Gallagher's, "And Then The Wind Died...", which documents the discovery and surfing of Ireland's big wave beast Aileens off the Cliffs of Moher, a wave that is akin to the monster surf of Waimea Bay. The film premieres at the Cois Fharraige Music festival in September.

Finally, there is Joel Conroy's big budget, 'Wave Riders', which interweaves an account of the advent of tow surfing in Ireland with the life story of Irish American surfing pioneer George Freeth.

Taken together, these films offer a comprehensive account of Irish surfing, where it came from, where it is right now and where it is going. Sound Waves applauds these young filmmakers and encourages the patrons of Cluas to seek out these films, if only to enjoy the often glorious music used on their soundtracks.

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Well, who would have thought when Sound Waves launched that we would find ourselves grasping the zeitgeist, however accidently, so it was with some delight that we found ourselves at the Village last night for the launch of Cois Fharragie. First things first, the confirmed 15 act line up includes Ocean Colour Scene, Delorentos, Paddy Casey, Tom Baxter, Badly Drawn Boy, Fun Loving Criminals, Kila and Republic of Loose. We worked it out that with tickets for the three days retailing at less than € 90.00 you are paying no more than € 5.63 per act and with the average ticket price for individual shows for acts of this size retailing at € 28.00 + booking fee thats got to be the bargain of the year. According to the press release, there will also be a three day surf contest run by the West Coast Surf Club, great gang and their annual Xmas party is a blast, so more details when we get them. The launch was good fun, my first by the way, free beer on tap although I was on the soft drinks as part of a training schedule, bummer dude and a great four song acoustic set by Ocean Colour Scene that ended with a wonderful sing along version of 'The Day We Took The Train'  with the audience in full voice. Nice ! We also got to see the first excerpts of Gavin Gallaghers eagerly awaited documentary on surfing the big wave of Aileens in County Clare, "And Then The Wind Died..." and I have to say the footage looks pretty tasty. All in all, a good launch and what looks like a neat little end of summer fest.

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Its always funny to watch a young pretender try to steal the crown of a reigning monach, in this case Beth Ditto attempts the same sort of audience interaction and stage diving antics as Iggy at Glastobury but with perhaps slightly less success as it looks like the audience let her hit the ground when she jumped into the crowd after which she missed her cue; something Iggy, old pro he is, didn't do. Think Jack Black in a latex dress. She still gives an electric performance though.

Iggy & The Stooges: "I wanna be your dog"

The Gossip: "Standing in the way of control"

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Right now, the hot album in estates and camper vans up and down the country  engaged in The Search is, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" by Modest Mouse. This fine 2007 album, featuring guitar work by the great Johnny Marr, is the must listen to record for all discerning surfers who have been left cold by either the grandiose orchestral rock of Arcade Fire or that Aretha Franklin of Riot Grrl, Beth Ditto but are digging on Modest Mouse.

You heard it here, maybe not first, but certainly on good authority. Peace and love to y'all. Here is the video for 'Dashboard' featuring a bunch of salty old sailor dogs, aaargh Jim lad !

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If you are one of those who attended Glastonbury 2007 and are now giving yourself a pat on the back because of the festival's eco friendly image and climate change campaign then you are in for a shock. According to New Scientist in an article on the festival, festival goers spent so much time urinating in one of the site's rivers, the Whitelake stream, that the river has been labelled an 'eco hazard' and has been sealed off  because, "levels of ammonia (found in the urine) are now high enough to pose a serious threat to the fish, frog and toad populations...and that the urine is contaminated with alcohol and drugs, which also affects the frog and toad population."

Nice work, kids.

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The Live Earth Concert in London began with the SOS Allstars: Roger Taylor (Queen), Chad Smith (RHCP), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) backed up by a team of drummers from around the world performing a dynamic percussion piece based around the International Morse Code Distress Signal (· · · — — — · · ·), better known as the SOS. Nothing demonstrated the mixed messages sent out by Live Earth better than this vibrant drumming piece, partly because it seagued into Queen's hoary old, classic rawk anthem 'We Will Rock You' thus acknowledging the troupe of dinosaur rock acts that were to take the stage in the name of a good show and partly because the SOS signal is usually sent by ships in distress such as the Titanic and the Lusitania which are already sinking. The only problem is that, in Earth's case there are no lifeboats to hand and, unless UFO obsessives are right, no passing spaceships to take us on board.  I am not qualified to argue either side of the coin in regard to climate change, but I do know as an experience diver and surfer that when you send out the distress signal, its already too late to save the ship.

Oh, and in case you thought that Al Gore's interest in Green politics began with 'An Inconvenient Truth', check out this spoof film made by President Bill Clinton just before he left office.

And finally, New Scientist asked its readers to calculate the electricity bill of the Live Earth gigs.

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I recently came across a version of Arcade Fire's 'No Cars Go', on their first EP which is available on i-Tunes. It is a song which, according to the All Music guide, "sounds like a blueprint for Rebellion (Lies)". What it sounds even more like is the re-recorded version of the same song that is the penultimate track on the band's sophomore album release, "Neon Bible". In fact, apart from a glossier sound, the new version is identical to the original, down to the guitar licks and the 'hey, hey' vocals. So, what is going on ? Are the band running out of ideas so soon into their career that they are already raiding their not exactly extensive back catalogue ? Are they perfectionists who felt that they could do even better re-recording this particular song ? Is it part of a canny plan to include one track from their first EP on every one of their later album releases? Answers on the comments board below, thanks.

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The following clips are are from surfing's answer to Apres Match, a very funny show called, "Dawn Patrol".

"Benji Surfs"

"Eating"

"Car Keys"

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Maximo Park: 'Books From Boxes'

The Gossip: 'Standing In The Way of Control'

Bright Eyes: 'Four Winds'

Arcade Fire: 'Intervention'

To those of you who went, hope you had a great time and that the mud washed off before you were due back to work. Peace.

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