Normally, this blog is the gentle, timid type. It takes a lot to get it angry; it takes even more to get it in such a state that it’s shouting at the radio while stuck in traffic on the N81, much to the bemusement of its fellow motorists. The reason for such apocalyptic rage? Cllr. Dessie Ellis of Sinn Féin.

Why, you might ask, is Key Notes discussing politics? It’s not, it’s discussing idiots. You see, Cllr. Ellis found the time to address the burning needs of his electorate in yesterdays ‘Irish’ Daily Mirror. His problem was that A Lazarus Soul have featured an image of Martin Cahill, aka The General, on the front of their new single The Day I Disappeared. Cllr. Ellis claims that this is ‘inappropriate’ and ‘sends out the wrong sort of message.’ However, and the reason why I was shouting at the radio, on Phantom yesterday evening, Cllr. Ellis admitted he hadn’t yet heard the song.

If he had taken the time to listen, rather than pontificate, perhaps he might not be so quick to judge. The Day I Disappeared discusses the loss of the ‘Ordinary Decent Criminal.’ It doesn’t portray them as heroes, but it does spark debate about whether Cahill and his ilk were ‘better’ than the ‘Younger, faceless, more sinister gangs’ the Gardai are failing to deal with today.

Of course, Martin Cahill was no saint; who is? What he was though, was the biggest fish in the murky pond at a time when we had crime under relative control, something that Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars, the album from which the track is taken, deals with in full. We used to think things were bad, and indeed they were, but they are a lot worse now. That is the theme of the album in general and this track in particular.

Now, it’s not for this blog to point out that Cllr. Ellis is a member of a party with extremely close links to the organisation that claimed responsibility for Cahill’s death. That information is already freely and publicly available. What this blog would like to highlight, however, is that politicians, and indeed people in general, shouldn’t be so quick to criticise a band/artist for a song they haven’t even heard.

Marilyn Manson isn’t responsible for kids shooting other kids, Elliott Smith (despite what this blogs mother might think) isn’t responsible for people killing themselves and A Lazarus Soul aren’t responsible for the gangland trouble we have today. Sparking debate and posing questions, while still composing a pretty accomplished indie-rock song, is something A Lazarus Soul should be applauded for, not criticised by someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

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CLUAS Verdict:  5 out of 10

A brave but, alas, futile, attempt at greatness; Everything Last Winter is the debut album from Fields.

The goal of Fields and their producer Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers) seems to have been to make Everything Last Winter a multi-textured indie pop record that gave the listener a new experience each time. However, the more one listens, the more one becomes frustrated with the bands attempts to shoehorn the ghost of Nick Drake and the soul of Fleetwood Mac into the same song. Put simply; there is just too much happening on this record to make it an enjoyable multiple-listening experience.

The difficulties faced by the listeners can be summed up in two songs. Both If You Fail We All Fail and Feathers, being the two most obvious attempts at combining the bodily fulid swapping intimacy of the bands earlier work and their new mega-stadium filling rock pretensions, start brightly enough. However, the cacophony of sound that litters the ending of both becomes far too claustrophobic over multiple listens and the bands desire to write the perfect crescendo would make even Gary Lightbody blush.

It’s not all bad though. While the majority of the album sounds as if it was written with serious musical aspirations in mind, tracks such as Skulls and Flesh and More and especially Schoolbooks, sound like they may well have been stumbled across in Nick Piell’s attic and it’s the listener, by being allowed more room to actually listen and appreciate, who is the main beneficiary of this serendipity.

In summary, Fields have the potential for greatness; they just don’t need to try so hard.

Steven O'Rourke

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The lineup for this years Hard Working Class Heroes Festival has been announced.  Taking place in the POD complex over the course of 3 nights (28th, 29th and 30th of September) HWCH '07 will see almost 100 Irish up and coming (and indeed some more established) bands given the chance to perform around Dublin in a festival like atmosphere. 

For me, the outstanding bands in this year's line up are Alphastates, Ham Sandwich, and Dark Room Notes.  Alphastates were the first band I saw at my first HWCH.  A cold shower inducing fusion of sultry soul and near erotic electronica; the Alphastates sound is augmented perfectly by the breathless vocals of Catherine Dowling.   If you don't believe me, check out the video for Kiss Me, a track from their 2004 debut Made from Sand.

Those of you who've graced the Key Notes blog before will already know of my admiration of Ham Sandwich.  Currently working on their, as yet untitled, debut album they are undoubtedly one of Irelands finest live bands. Having toured relentlessly over the last 18 months or so you can expect a full house when Ham Sandwich hit HWCH.  I don't think you're likely to see Lionel Richie there though.

Dark Room Notes are not only the saviours of wet and windy Monday evenings in Whelan's but also the purveyors of some of the finest electronic indie you're likely to hear.  Usually all it takes is a Casio to draw comparisons between *insert band name here* and the likes of Depeche Mode and Joy Division but in the case of Dark Room Notes it's entirely warranted.  It's a long time since a band excited me this much.   The video for Love like Nicotine is available to view below.

The full line up of Irish acts performing is available here.  Who are you looking forward to seeing most? 

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'Reminiscing; it ain’t what it used to be,' or so the saying goes.  I for one would like to disagree.  I was recently given a gift of The Travelling Wilburys double CD and DVD.  An unusual gift as I’d never once mentioned my deep rooted appreciation of The Wilburys to this person; but it was an inspired one.

As soon as I started listening to volume one of the CD I was instantly transported back in time to December 1988.  Don Mclean was singing about the day the music died, but, for me at least, this was the day that music was born.  It wasn’t that I had ignored music up until that stage; indeed, growing up in a house where Hendrix and Lynott shared airspace with Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury it was hard to avoid it.  But until then music had always been in the background, just extra noise distracting me from Transformers or He-Man.

However, as I've said, in December 1988 that all changed.  The start of the song didn’t even get my attention.  I’m sure if I was older George Harrison’s vocals would have raised an eyebrow or two but for me it was just another song.  Then, the man with the greatest voice I’d ever heard sang 'I’m so tired of being lonely, I still have some love to give, won’t you show me that you really care,' and I was hooked.  Who was this guy?  How did he manage to sound like ice cream?  (It was a stupid question, but that’s what he sounded like to my six [and a half] year old ears.)

He was Roy Orbison; the band was The Travelling Wilburys and I’ve been hooked on music ever since.  I’ll never get tired of hearing this song and I’ll never get sick of looking at this video, so here it is for you:

What about you; when did the music bug first bite?  Who was it that grabbed you by the ears and had you pressing the repeat button on your tape deck?  While I couldn’t agree with the truism that started this blog, I’ll end with one I can:  'You always remember your first time.'

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One of the worst things about living in Dublin is that you become very lazy when it comes to finding new music. In my defence, it’s possible to go into town almost any night of the week and find a decent gig without very much effort at all. Recently though, as a result of writing this blog, I have decided to spread my musical wings in an attempt to unearth some musical treasures from the rest of the country.

For the first in this "Beyond the Pale" series of blogs, I’m going to start with Westmeath, a county, according to Wikipedia at least, famous for cattle, lakes, pewter and élan. Famous Westmeath people include Michael O’Leary and the man with the largest collection of female underwear in Ireland, Joe Dolan.

However, you’ll be glad to know that Westmeath has much more to offer Irish music than dodgy cover versions of Blur songs. My Fallen Empire are a seven-piece band capable of sounding like your favourite song and yet nothing you’ve ever heard before. I had the pleasure of supporting My Fallen Empire in a previous life and the sheer verve that Eddie Keenan and co. put into their live performances is something to behold. Currently writing and recording for their debut album, My Fallen Empire have almost limitless potential. Hopefully, 2007 will see that potential come to fruition.

Another of Westmeath’s rising stars is Peter Doran, described to me by one music insider as "the greatest songwriter Ireland has ever produced!" While I’m not quite in agreement as yet, there is a certain magical quality about Doran’s music that sets him apart from every other guy with a guitar and a tune. Of course, as with all the best singer-songwriters, Doran benefits from the band he surrounds himself with; Gerard Toal (Cello) and Johnny Owens (Violin) deserving particular credit. That being said it is Doran himself who writes the songs and his debut album "Wood" showcases his aptitude in this regards with the aforementioned "Wood" and "Treasure Chest" being the two best examples of his undoubted talents.

Below is a live version of "Wood" for your enjoyment.

Who am I missing?  Does Westmeath have any more musicians/bands I should know about? If you know of any, please spread the word by commenting below.

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I can’t remember when it first started, but it appears that in the not too distant past all the musicians in the world got together in a room and decided it was suddenly okay for them to sell their music to the highest bidder and promote everything and anything in the hope that it would take their music to a wider audience.

Surely though when musicians, indie or otherwise, start pimping themselves to the advertising industry they should start devising business plans and hosting AGM’s as well?  Music is supposed to be an art from, but when was the last time you heard anyone talk about ‘the art business’ or ‘the literature business?’ It doesn’t happen because it shouldn’t happen. Art in all its forms should be pure, how else can you believe what the artist is trying to tell you. 

The late, great, Bill Hicks once said ‘Do a commercial, you're off the artistic roll call, every word you say is suspect, you're a corporate whore and eh, end of story,’ and while I’m not saying that Hicks was always right (his views on smokers ‘rights’ I particularly disagree with) he makes a very valid point in this instance. I remember when I heard ‘The Shining’ by Badly Drawn Boy on the Kellogg Cornflakes ad. I remember because I haven’t been able to listen to a BDB song since without thinking about that ad and, therefore, his music has lost its appeal for me.

On the local scene two Irish bands have recently been gaining exposure from high profile television advertisements. Saso feature in the most recent Coors Light ad while The Laundry Shop provide the music for the new Discover Ireland spot with their song ‘Highs & Lows’

 It’s actually The Laundry Shop that inspired this blog. I saw them support A Lazarus Soul recently and was enjoying their set until they finished with the aforementioned ‘Highs & Lows’. People who weren’t interested in a song they’d played all night suddenly paid attention. All well and good, but do The Laundry Shop really want to be known as ‘that band with that song, you know, from that ad?’

 Am I right to agree with The Beastie Boys when they state ‘Don't grease my palm with your filthy cash, multinationals spreading like a rash, I might stick around or I might be a fad but I won't sell my songs for no tv ad.’ Or should musicians use any means possible to promote themselves?

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The Cluas verdict? 1 out of 10

Egotistical, soulless rubbish.

Described as soul, though clearly devoid of any, Musiq Soulchild's fourth album sees our hero address subjects that affect each and every one of us. On album opener B.U.D.D.Y for example, Musiq tries to persuade some random woman to become his 'f*@k buddy' by singing ‘sorry if I come off disrespectful but my convo is a little bit 2 sexual but damn it's incredible be a more flexible 'cause the context some text is a lil special’   Complete rubbish and yet it’s the ‘highlight’ of the album. What follows is an uninspiring mix of R & B and neo-soul, throughout which time the man born Talib Johnson laments the fact that he's having lots of sex, but has no one to love. It’s hard not to feel moved by his plight.

Forget Paris Hilton; forget the incompetent presidential incumbent; Luvanmusiq, the work of a narcissist completely lacking in talent, topping the Billboard 200 upon its release tells you everything you need to know about what’s wrong with American culture. It’s not even well produced, and for an R & B album that is unforgivable.   

Steven O'Rourke

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The People of The Year Awards website gives some indication as to what genres they think most people will look to when casting their vote. Amongst the names mentioned are Phil Coulter, Enya, Paul Brady and Ronan Keating, all, well, nearly all, fine musicians in their own right, and all appealing to a very particular demographic, “The Mammy”, or “Female 35-50” as I’m sure she’s known to the marketing department of the awards sponsors. 

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Writing recently about the competition to find Ireland’s Greatest Living Musician gave me the perfect opportunity to delve into my record collection to remind myself of some of the contenders. In the process of completing this task I was taken aback by the sheer volume of music I possessed belonging to musicians now headlining the great gig in the sky. A quick check on my mp3 player showed that of the 100 most frequently played songs, 58 of them were by musicians who have already shuffled off their mortal coil.

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