The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

Blogs

From 2007 to 2010 CLUAS hosted blogs written by 8 of its writers. Over 900 blog entries were published in that time, all of which you can browse here. Here are links to the 8 individual blogs:

13

Christmas, a time for religious celebration, gluttonous overeating and overdrinking, frenzied spending, domestic rows. And, best of all, best-of lists. Remember to vote in the CLUAS polls for Best Album (domestic league) and Best Album (Champions League).

What's more, like in 2005 and 2006, your Paris correspondent will propose the Best French Music of the year: our regular readers may like to browse through our archives and let us know what should be in our final ten, which we'll post in the last week of the year.

CocoonA late charge for BFM-of-07 comes from Cocoon (left), a boy-girl duo whose charming acoustic pop has clearly been profoundly influenced by that of Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens and especially Elliott Smith.

And if that wasn't recommendation enough, they've only gone and called their debut album 'All My Friends Died In A Plane Crash' and released it on Sober & Gentle Records. This we must listen to!

And oh! it's acoustic pop to make you swoon. Pick of the bunch is a song called 'On My Way' - a melodic, lovelorn, happy-go-lucky ballad that's been touched by the spirit of 'XO'-era Elliott Smith. In other words, wonderful stuff.

The Cocoon pair - Marc Daumail and Morgane Imbeaud - are currently touring around France and Belgium and plan to spend April recording in Nashville. No news of any Irish dates or release yet, but with such excellent English-language songs it's surely just a matter of time.

Check out those charming tunes on Cocoon's MySpace page. Here's the video for 'On My Way' - as if the song wasn't adorable enough, the video features a cartoon panda:


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12

Song Venue Beijing

With talk of USD100,000 to USD200,000 being paid by national Olympic committees to rent venues during the Olympics, now's a good time to open a decent pub or club in Beijing. The latest place to open (in a location previously occupied by a failed club and bar) Song sounds special.

Described as a “contemporary Chinese style where the steps of the Paddy fields and soft contours of China’s south combine with the colour and flair of contemporary China,” Song “will be a physical home for creative people” goes the press blurb. The club/restaurant in the Place mall on 9 Guanghua Lu is run by local promoter and DJ Neebing. For people who like “lounging, talking and dancing” the whole thing looks very Scandinavian. Sure enough house DJ and Swede Nils Krogh will be there often on the piano and the decks – he’s billed as a “pioneering musician” who “heavily influenced the Swedish nu jazz” scene. The Swedish embassy are sponsoring his presence.

Chinastylus.com did the identity design and art direction. Looking like Rod Stewart, blond-haired Jonty Scruff from London has been brought in from London’s “coolest cutting edge clubs” for December 22 and 24 as well as New Year’s Eve. Pfadfinderei is a Berlin based design collective putting on a December 14 VJ/DJ session (Neebing on decks). That the group is more known for live installations for corporations like Louis Vuitton (Paris flagship store) says something about Song’s future plans and location – in the vast but soulless faux classic Place mall which opened in 2006. We wish them well, and hope they make it to the Olympic pay day. More later, we're going there tomorrow night.

Find Song at:

B108 The Place

song@songbeijing.cn


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12

Christy Moore box set

I reported some time back that there’s a Chinese singer doing a Mandarin version of Ride On, a mid-1990s hit for Irish balladeer Christy Moore. Well there may be more covers of the Kildare man’s in the East. Moore’s vaguely Pink Floyd-looking (the design is clean lines of primary colours on black) 1964 – 2004 box set is on sale at RockLand, a tiny pink-painted music store on Nanguangfang Hutong, run by the shaggy haired folk fan Xiao Zhan. You’re encouraged to choose the cheap version, neatly labeled CDs in rough brown envelopes burned on Xiao’s computer. So it’s RMB60 (about EUR6), compared to RMB300 (EUR30) he’s slapped on the original box.

One of the smallest, snuggest CD stores I’ve ever been in, Xiao Zhan’s cottage enterprise could mean that we’ll have Mandarin versions of Moore songs like Hey Paddy or the Enniskillen Dragoon – or the Knock song? – on Chinese radio soon. Xiao says he’s a fan of Moore – there’s also David Gray and Leonard Cohen, as well as lots of smaller singer-songwriter names on the shelves. Though CD factories in southern China manufacture batches of pirate copies of popular CDs the Rockland operation suggests there's also a counterfeiter and an audience in China for more obscure western artists.

RockLand is one of several music shops in Beijing’s old Houhai quarter, an increasingly bohemian/backpacker quarter sprouting out of narrow old grey-stone streets winding around the artificial lakes dug hundreds of years ago for the pleasure of the nearby palace. Several similarly tiny CD shops offer a slew of imported CDs, most of them the clearings of European music retailers. Details are very sketchy – one retailer said the CDs were part of lots manufactured in China for export before backtracking when I asked him about the price and promotion stickers of French and German shops. The CDs are possibly picked up along with electronic waste, paper and lots of other things Europe doesn’t want and put in the otherwise empty containers being shipped back to China.

Through some connivance at the ports the CDs enter China without being taxed – it’s unlikely cut CDs would be pass any country’s quarantine inspection procedure. Another CD shop owner told me his CDs were taken from a shipment of waste plastic. Whatever, there’s some great stuff here: among the pile I bought are Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, The Originals best of and Van Morrison’s latest. Prices were RMB40, RMB10, RMB10, respectively. I was charged extra for the Cardinals because it’s a double CD.


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09

 Music fans from the pre-Britpop/grunge days (late '80s to early '90s) may remember 'Rapido', the quirky and innovative Anglo-French TV show hosted by comedy Frenchman Antoine de Caunes (and scripted by legendary rock journalist Nick Kent, resident in Paris).

We have all the time in the world: My Bloody ValentineAnyway, from the archives of 'Rapido' here's a topical interview with Kevin Shields, now back in the spotlight following the recent announcement of a reformed My Bloody Valentine tour.

The MBV leader is here talking up ‘Loveless’ in 1991 and explaining how it took all of THREE YEARS to make! Little did we suspect that this was Shields at flat-out working pace.

Things to note: (1) Kev’s Dublin accent, thus settling for ever the old MBV-Irish-or-not argument, and (2) his hyperactive mile-a-minute personality, which he clearly brings to MBV productivity.

My Bloody Valentine will play concerts in London, Manchester and Glasgow in June 2008, with reports of a US tour to follow. No Irish date has been announced as yet. Shields has spoken of a new MBV album to be released imminently, but at the time of writing no details have been confirmed.


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07

This edition features A Lazarus Soul; the Dublin band whose recent single, Day I Disappeared, had those righteous boys and girls in Sinn Fein up in arms (if you'll forgive the pun).  Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars, the bands sophomore album has also been nominated for the CLUAS Album of the Year 2007.  Here, lead singer Brian Brannigan becomes the second Key Note Speaker

Favourite Songs from the Past Year
Racing Like a Pro - The National; Pass This On - The Knife; Little King December - Pat Barrett; Lost & Found - Future Kings of Spain

Favourite Song Ever
I could never pick just one out but Horseleg Swastikas - Silver Jews and Sunday Morning - The Velvets would be both up there

Favourite A Lazarus Soul Song
Trip Switch

Favourite New Band/Artist
The Ruby Tailights.  They released one of the best Irish albums of all time last year, Dressing Up

Favourite Band/Artist Ever
The Smiths or The Fall

Favourite Gig This Year
The National in The Olympia or The Rolling Stones in Slane

Favourite Gig Ever
So many to choose from.  The first time The Flaming Lips played Vicar Street; Julian Cope in Kilmainham Hospital in 1993 and Whipping Boy in the Project Arts Centre many moons ago

Favourite A Lazarus Soul Gig Ever
I prefer playing clubs.  We played Radiator with The Laundry Shop and also Death Via Satellite in Doran's.  Two of my favourites of those that I can recall

Favourite Venue
I think seeing the likes of Smog or Sparklehorse in Whelan's is incredible.  It's such a small venue for such legendary bands.  My favourite venue to play would be Kennedy's on Westland Row or The Hub

Favourite Piece of Musical Equipment
My Yamaha CSX1 Keyboard

Download or CD/Cassette/Record
Vinyl, always vinyl.  I only buy records and then steal MP3 versions for my iPod

Favourite TV Show at the Moment
I'm a big fan of cinema and DVD's over TV but I was a huge fan of The Sopranos.  It feels like a part of me has died now that it's finished

Best Movie Ever Seen
Naked - Mike Leigh; Nil by Mouth; The Last Great Wilderness; Willy Wonka

Greatest Book Ever Read
The Bible

Most Listened to Radio Show
I don't listen to much radio anymore but when I do it's Phantom

What’s in Store for A Lazarus Soul Next
Me & Maradona Dunne will be the final single from Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars and will be released in late January with some gigs to promote it.  We'll start rehearsing new material in the New Year and we'll hopefully try out some new songs at those gigs


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07

While Dublin's indie and metal teenagers mooch and sulk around Temple Bar and its Music Centre (aka The Button Factory), their Parisian dance-music counterparts are outside the Centre Pompidou and being far more active. The plaza outside the famous art gallery is a hot-spot for Tecktonik, the breakdance-meets-techno dance style that's the talk of the Paris club scene.

The Tecktonik style started as long ago as 2000, in a Paris nightclub called Metropolis. But it's only this year that it began to have an impact on the public consciousness - the annual Paris Techno Parade this September marks the start of serious media attention on the movement. TV news programmes have begun to report on the craze - which probably means that it's about to become seriously uncool.

Tecktonik dancers have their own distinctive look - heavily-gelled futuristic haircuts matched with skinny-fit jeans and T-shirts. The robotic dance moves add to the cutting-edge visual impression of the style; advertising agencies in France and beyond are finding Tecktonik irresistible.

Now more and more clubs are putting on Tecktonik nights, a business which is not as straightforward as it sounds. Many such nights are being stopped with injunctions - not by the police or local authorities, as with raves, but by the Metropolis nightclub, who are the owners of Tecktonik.

Yes, Tecktonik is a registered trademark, the first dance to be copyrighted. No other club can advertise a Tecktonik night, as this would legally infringe on the Metropolis' trademark. Some clubs are bypassing this by holding 'Danse Electro' nights instead.

A range of Tecktonik merchandise is available, bearing the symbol of an eagle (left). This symbol, though, has only served to add even more controversy - many people feel that the Tecktonik eagle resembles that used in Nazi imagery.

You can check out some Tecktonik moves in the video for 'A Cause Des Garçons" by Yelle, a current hit in French nightclubs:


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06

Ticket ToutsNot happy with pegging concert ticket prices at ever increasing prices, some of the biggest names in the music industry now want to now get a slice of profits made on tickets resold on the web. They are proposing that a 'Resale Rights Society' (RRS) is established that will slap a levy on the sale price of every ticket resold on sites like eBay.

Apparently Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Arctic Monkeys are among the 400 artists who think this is a good idea. With a straight face the chairman-elect of the RRS Marc Marot (a former chief exec of Island Records) tried to claim that the move was not to pad out the already fleshy wallets of millionaire rock stars but instead to help new artists who have a greater dependency on gigs for their income. Yeah, right. If that's the case then why not come out and say that no money pulled in by the RRS will be given to a wealthy established artist? In any case any new artist who finds tickets to their gigs being resold online for more than face value will be well chuffed and can start considering themselves as having made it, secure too in the knowledge that financial worries are to be a thing of the past.

But the most outrageous justification given by Marot was that "it is unacceptable that not a penny of the £200m in transactions generated by the resale of concert tickets in the UK is returned to investors in the live music industry." Following the same logic a property developer (i.e. an investor in the property industry) could claim it is entitled to a cut of any profit made when a house they build and sell is subsequently sold on. Brass as monkeys property developers may be, but they know that they'd never get away with such a scam. However, this loose affiliation of millionaire rock stars who 'invest in the live music industry' think they can do just that. Who do these guys think they are?

As far as I know absolutely nobody out there in the free market is offering something with a price tag that says 'it costs this amount, but if (because I don'r offer a possilbity of a reimbursement ) you then go and sell it to someone else, you must give me a slice of your sale price' (Update: Aidan puts me straight on this point below in the comment section where he points out that a % of a painting sale or a soccer player transfer is passed back to the artist / original soccer club). That sort of mentality is more at home with pyramid schemes than the free market.

Yes, it is true that there are some problems with the reselling of tickets on the interweb but trying to just grab a slice of an illicit cake is simply not a credible way of addressing the issue. If they were really serious about this, these artists & their management teams would get together to put in place preventative measures to stop, or at least reduce the numbers of, tickets being resold online (such as a mechanism for reimbursing a fan who has bought a ticket and unexpectedly finds s/he cannot go to the gig, this being something that could be provided for a modest charge offered on an opt-in basis at the time of the booking, just like it is with many airlines).

In the meantime anybody thinking of buying a ticket online via the likes of eBay just needs to do as they would for any other purchase: research what is being sold, who is selling it and for what price. If they are comfortable on all levels then go ahead and make the purchase. The same Caveat Emptor approach is valid be it for the purchase of a tube of toothpaste, a semi-d in Leopardstown or a ticket to see Led Zep in London.


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04

Ah Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year.  That is, of course, if wonderful is defined as stress filled, panic buy inducing madness!  Luckily for this Blog, whose agoraphobia appears to increase in direct correlation to the number of people selling sheets of wrapping paper '3 for €2', Mrs. Notes takes care of most of the Christmas shopping in these parts.  There are, however, two notable exceptions; Mrs. Notes' gift and any music related gifts that need to be purchased. 

This year has been by far Key Notes' easiest year yet.  The fact that the CLUAS 'Shortlist' for the Album of the Year stretches to 40 titles is a testament to the quality of music released this year.  Personally, as your resident Irish indie music commentator, Key Notes is especially proud that Irish releases make up almost 25% of the shortlist. 

So, if you're still unsure as to what to buy your loved one this Christmas, let Key Notes guide you through its selection of this years 'can't fail'* alternative music gifts.

For Your Dad
You've seen him at weddings with his tie wrapped around his head, head-banging to AC/DC and you know that he has an inner rock god buried deep beneath his Mondeo driving exterior.  Yet, every year, without fail, you buy him socks or cufflinks because you can't think of anything else.  Not this year though.    Raising Sand, the haunting, slightly disturbing, and yet still brilliant collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss allows him to relive his youth and keep his dinner party guests happy.

For Your Mum
It would be very easy to buy Il Divo or Take That for your mum but really, she gave birth to you, therefore she deserves better.  If she was a Prefab Sprout fan in her youth why not give her Neon Bible, Arcade Fire's homage to all things Paddy McAloon.  She'll enjoy it much more than Il Divo and it's not nearly half as embarrassing as having to explain to the sales person that it's for your mum, not you.

For Your Siblings
Without a doubt Key Notes favourite album of this year; Nervousystem is the second album from the Future Kings of Spain.  Your brother will thank you in years to come for ridding him of his fascination with all things My Chemical Romance while your sister will appreciate Joey Wilsons trademark disinterested drawl; Mrs. Notes certainly does.  Alternatively, there's Cathy Davey's Tales of Silversleeve, an album as remarkable as it was unexpected.  A work of genius to pleasure the ears of siblings of all ages.

For Your Partner
Finally, the age old dilemma of what to put in his/her Christmas stocking.  It should, of course, depend on that persons musical taste.  However, you should note that it doesn't matter if they'd appreciate Wilco's Sky Blue Sky more than the Kings of Leon or if they'd prefer Interpol over The Flaming Lips.  The real key to choosing an album for your partner is to pick something you like, especially if you're living with this person.  Trust Key Notes when it tells you; they're going to make you listen to it!

*Key Notes takes no responsibility should any of these recommendations result in divorce or disownment.


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02

John Carney's 'Once' was released in France on 14 November - and it has enjoyed reasonable success.

The French poster for 'Once'With only 54 copies distributed (compared to 364 for 'American Gangster', released on the same day), the low-budget Irish film has attracted an impressive 47,343 cinema-goers in its first two weeks, putting it at no. 20 in the French box office chart (American Gangster, third in the table behind Saw IV, has almost 730,000 punters).

French reviewers have been quite positive too. The general consensus is along the lines of 'the songs and the charm make up for its faults'. Widely-read cultural weekly Telerama's opinion was typical: its review emphasised the key role of the 'glum rock' songs in the storytelling, and praised Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their performances.

Your blogger saw 'Once' in a Paris arthouse cinema this weekend. The film certainly has its charms, most of all Hansard as the likeable hero (we were about to write 'likeable busker', but that'd be going too far with the suspension of disbelief). But Irglova's part was seriously underwritten; her lines were not so much dialogue as stage directions ("I have to go now" umpteen times) and plot markers, with no sense of her character having any emotional depth or development. Perhaps Carney, maker of the brilliant 'Bachelors Walk', just can't write a convincing female role; there was Marcella Plunkett being the dreamy two-dimensional love interest, just like in the TV series.

And the songs aren't really good enough to win over Frames-doubters the way they do in the film; bland, generic love-and-angst lyrics delivered in Hansard's trademark quiet-to-loud style. But his melodies - especially 'Falling Slowly' - are strong and memorable, like the best of his songs. The more adventurous James Blunt fan may be swayed by them, though we know that's damning Hansard and Irglova with faint praise.

We were curious as to how French people would react to 'Once'. Street buskers aren't so common here - most musical begging is done on the metro (though there's a regular pitch at one corner of Place Saint Michel). And would not knowing The Frames be a help or a hindrance?

Well, we gained one telling insight thanks to a certain French audience reaction. Early in the film, just before the girl appears, the guy is singing 'Say It To Me Now'. At the moment that Hansard launches into the song's histrionic section, some people in the cinema started laughing - they clearly found him ridiculous and thought it was meant as a joke. But the laughter died away when the French viewers realised that the busker's OTT performance was to be taken seriously.

Apart from the cultural shock of experiencing a real Grafton Street busker (though not singing 'Hallelujah'), here are some other Things That French People Learned About Dublin Thanks To 'Once':

  • No one in Dublin (except rich studio engineers) owns a mobile phone. All calls must be made from public phones just off Grafton Street.
  • It's normal to go to the shop at night in your pyjamas. You won't be mugged or arrested.
  • Dublin thieves are perfectly nice once you've caught them and shown them your compassionate side. But watch out for that second door out of HMV!
  • Young Dubliners don't go to the pub; they organise sing-songs at home where everyone eats plain spaghetti and listens to someone's ma* singing come-all-ye rebel ballads.
  • Immigrants to Dublin have no worries except for neighbours barging in to watch 'Fair City'.
  • It doesn't rain in Dublin.

As for your blogger, three years out of Dublin, it seems that Mountjoy Square is going to become the new Stoneybatter. But are there more buskers there now because of 'Once'? We think we'll be staying in Paris a while longer...

(*Mrs Hansard, we believe)


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01

November was a bumper month for Irish acts playing in Paris, and the trend looks set to continue into December.

The ThrillsTonight (1 December) The Thrills (right) are playing in the Maroquinerie, one of our favourite indie venues here. The Brian Wilson worshippers are currently on a European tour in support of their latest album, 'Teenager'.

Next stop for the lads is Amsterdam, followed by Germany, Spain and Scandinavia, all in the next two weeks. Let's hope Conor Deasy's voice can hold up under that busy schedule.

Those madcap Cork boys The Frank And Walters (below left) are playing two Paris shows this week. First, they're at La Flèche d'Or (this blogger's home from home) tomorrow night (2 December), and they'll also be at the Club Le Baron on the swanky Avenue Marceau just off the Champs-Elysées on Tuesday 4 December.

The Frank And WaltersThat leaves them all of Monday free for a bit of sightseeing. Oh, and some promoting business; their last album 'A Renewed Interest In Happiness' was released in Europe earlier this year.

After their Paris shows, The Frank And Walters will be touring around Ireland during December to play for you their new single 'City Lights' and their fine back-catalogue of colourful guitar-pop.

The Frank And Walters gig tomorrow night is part of a fantastic line-up at La Flèche d'Or this week. Last night we saw The Posies there: guitarist Ken Stringfellow now lives in Paris, and last night he and singer Jon Auer put on a stripped-down, guitars-only show of the band's power-pop classics. They played 'Flavor Of The Month'; it made our weekend.

Then on Monday there'll be a mad dash from the day-job to see more cult indie-pop, this time from Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips of Galaxie 500 and Luna fame. Support comes from much-fancied French singer Bo.

In his role as CLUAS Foreign Correspondent (Paris), your blogger will have a gig review of the Frank And Walters show as soon as possible. As a nod to the non-striking transport workers of France, perhaps they might play 'Happy Busman':


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Nuggets from our archive

2000 - 'Rock Criticism: Getting it Right', written by Mark Godfrey. A thought provoking reflection on the art of rock criticism.