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:

12

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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12

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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10

The inaugural Ch+Indie (“pronounced ‘Chindie’) festival passed off successfully over the weekend in the garden of alternative favourite hang out 2 Kollegas, a dive bar tucked into a park originally designed for a drive-in theatre, which shares the space with several restaurants and KTV parlours. Unfortunately Beijing’s weather has settled into a pattern of ferociously hot days and wet nights. The rain lashed down heavy on Saturday evening about 6.30, driving bands and about 400 fans indoors. Sunday they didn’t bother to put the stage back up. Rather, local favourites like Joyside, Lonely China Day and Subs played their sets indoors. The event was organized by local label Tag Team Records, whose Lonely China Day closed out the festival Sunday night. For an RMB45 ticket per day fans got a taste of China’s most happening indie music – punk too from Subs – as well as cheap beer and vegetarian food. There were stalls too, selling t-shirts and band memorabilia.

Given the stalls and the muck and the beer, there was a real festival feeling about. A pity then that more of the locals didn’t show up. Aside from the rockers the turn-out of locals on Sunday was small. Most were girlfriends of foreign fans. Odd indeed to play your hometown to a mostly foreign crowd. Can you compare it to a bunch of Irish bands playing Chinese pop songs, or traditional tunes on the erhu and guqin, in Dublin's Phoenix Park and the crowd is made up mostly of the local Chinese community? Not really, since China has had a lot of famous rock stars like Cui Jian, but it does again prove how much a niche taste rock music is in China.

 


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10

Our favourite French radio show is 'C'est Lenoir', presented by Bernard Lenoir on France Inter. It's an hour of the best alternative music, with live sessions from every decent act that visits Paris (Elvis Perkins did a fantastic acoustic set recently).

One of the cult hits of the show so far this year has been a glorious little track called 'Les Trois Copains' ('The Three Friends') by a French singer-songer called Constance Verluca.

It begins as a deceptively twee piece of acoustic folk about feeling blue, before it suddenly changes gears and launches into an unforgettable chorus of "Vive le chocolat, le heroïn et la vodka! Vive le chocolat, le heroïn et la vodka!". Dare we say that the song itself is just as addictive?

Listen to 'Les Trois Copains' on Constance's MySpace page. We think it would sound perfect on Pearl's Sunday morning show on Phantom.


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10

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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09

The most intriguing event in this week's Paris concert listings takes place tonight at our favourite live venue, La Fleche d'Or.

Lebanese Underground Party is a night of bands and DJs from the Lebanon, on the Lebanese Underground independent record label. Acts include rock bands Scrambled Eggs, Bamby And The Dogs, Domingo and Lumi, hip hop from Rayess Bek and DJ sets from Jade and Cocosuma.

There's no fundraising or overt political agenda to the night - just a celebration of Lebanese acts and the surprisingly active Beirut scene.

There are close historical and cultural links between France and Lebanon. The Middle Eastern state was a French protectorate between the two world wars, proclaiming its independence in 1943 while France was under Nazi occupation. Lebanon's judicial and educational systems are based on the French models, and French is one of the most popular school languages.

Until the start of the civil war in 1975 (chronicled definitively by Robert Fisk in 'Pity The Nation'), Beirut was known as the Paris of the East, such was its beauty and glamour. Today, like Belfast, it's trying to shake off its war-torn image - though recent violence has once again pulled the rug from under Beirut's reconstruction.

 


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08

Is it July again already? This year's Tour de France (which Jules mentioned a short time ago) has just begun... in London, on one of the Tour's regular showcase starts in foreign countries (including Dublin in 1998).

This weekend, France's sporting news centred on the British capital - although ultimately with a lack of French success. Apart from the Tour, at Wimbledon Richard Gasquet and Marion Bartoli exceeded pre-tournament expectations before both losing on Saturday. In the French media poor Marion's heroic march to the final has been eclipsed by the Tour circus in London - just as Amelie Mauresmo's victory last year was overshadowed by the World Cup Final.

Now that London is only two and a half hours by train from Paris, there's a real sense of the two capitals being closer together. French TV news now carries regular reports from London - not just recent headlines like the Blair/Brown transition or the foiled terrorist attacks, but also comparative reports on the cost of living, stories of French people in Britain, the adventures of Arsenal (now minus Thierry Henry but still with a large French contingent), new UK-side developments (there's considerable interest here in London's congestion charges) and the occasional 'and finally' story (for example, Damien Hirst's diamond-skull).

These days French people regularly zip over to London on the Eurostar - and many stay there. While the UK capital's rent prices are notoriously high, salaries in London are also higher than the heavily-taxed French pay packet. From this end of the tunnel, London often seems like the brighter light.

Coming in the other direction, London and its rock mythology have always exerted huge influence on the Paris music scene. Serge Gainsbourg recorded his greatest works in Swinging London. The Clash inspired every '80s French band to mix punk and reggae - usually with awful results (apart from Mano Negra, who were fantastic). And today The Libertines are the unlikely idols for the new wave of English-singing Paris bands.

As for le grand boucle ('the great loop', as the French call the Tour), it has perhaps lost a lot of its prestige and interest for many French people - not because of the omnipresent drugs scandals but simply because there hasn't been a credible French challenger in years (and no home champion since Bernard Hinault in 1985). That's hardly going to change this year - the local hope is national champion Christophe Moreau, who's probably too at 36 (to put that in context, retired 7-time winner Lance Armstrong is 35 this year).

Still, for anyone who remembers Stephen Roche collapsing on La Plagne in 1987 or Greg Lemond trumping Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds in 1989, the Tour is undeniably a great spectacle and something quintessentially French. In 2005 your blogger was across from the Eiffel Tower and watched Armstrong et al (within touching distance from us) coast leisurely into Paris before the final sprint up the Champs-Elysées. Last year the Tour even went through our suburb - though in a multicoloured blur that makes you understand how French painters invented impressionism.

To celebrate the great race, here's some, em, German electronica - Kraftwerk's 'Tour De France':


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06

If you're going to Oxegen and you'd like a bit of le French touch (as the French themselves refer to it), there's a veritable Ferrero-Rocher-pyramid of Gallic dance and electronica on offer.

On Saturday afternoon, Justice are on the Dance Stage at 5:00, performing from their excellent debut album (the one with the crucifix as a title). They really should be on your list of must-see acts. Warning: Justice make the queasiest, squelchiest sounds around, so don't visit the chipper van just before seeing them.

Later that night, for anyone hoping to sway along to some bland existential swoosh noises, Air will be at the Pet Sounds stage. With luck they'll play lots of oldies from they days when they made essential music.

Sunday's headliners on Stage 2 are Daft Punk, the original of the French-electro-duo species. No news of a new album from the pair, although the DVD of their directorial feature 'Electroma' (premiered at the Cannes festival last year) is coming out this autumn. However, it doesn't feature any Daft Punk music.

I dare you, put one of the bank's 'Please Remove Motorcycle Helmets' signs on the Stage 2 entrance just as Daft Punk are arriving. I double dare you.

Finally, also on Sunday but all on his own, Miami-based hard house DJ Cedric Gervais is on the Dance Stage.


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06

I was watching both 'Music & Lyrics' and ' End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones' in quick succession recently. In the former, the female pop superstar Cora is seen during one scene wearing a figure hugging, grey Ramones t-shirt and in the latter Richie Ramone is heard complaining that he never got a cut of 'the t-shirt' money during his time on the band. It got me thinking that perhaps the lasting legacy of The Ramones might just be a sartorial look which can be yours for just €24.99 in all good record stores. Along with the "CBGBs" t-shirt that I have seen many an aging Irish music industry guest judge on "You're A Star' wearing around Dublin it seems to be the most popular mass produced garment at present for those who want to be seen expressing their individuality and their belief in a personal freedom. The Ramones were famous for having a 'uniform' that remained as rigid and unchanging as their music and one which Dee Dee railed against but I do wonder from time to time if their onstage look and the logo which is the motif of the t-shirt was the pinnacle of their creativity, whether their lasting influence is not on music but on casual fashion and brand awareness. Hey, I love "Cretin Hop" but maybe it was Gap and not Green Day that learned the most from them. After all, there's no stoppin' the cretins from shoppin'.


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04

Damien Rice is playing two shows in Paris this week. He's at the Olympia tonight and tomorrow night (4 and 5 July). Support on both nights is by long-time Rice-collaborator Vyvienne Long.

As we've mentioned before, the Newbridge singer-songer is very popular in France, not least of all because he speaks French in interviews (and speaks it very well, we must add). Also, when he's not touring he spends a lot of time here, and as a result he gives the impression of being genuinely relaxed and happy in France - an impression which to French fans gives the lie to the widespread perception of Rice as being humourless and oversensitive.

French music fans, who tend to value lyrics over melody, generally have a soft spot for sensitive and poetic artists, so Damo's love for France is definitely requited.

The Olympia (around the corner from the equally celebrated Opera) is possibly the most prestigious and iconic contemporary music venue in Paris - it's the spiritual home of Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf, both of whom recorded now-legendary live shows here when at their peak. The cavernous hall is famous for the quality of its acoustics, so an emotive singer-songer like Damo should definitely feel at home here.

Rice's two shows this week follow an earlier French tour in March to promote his second album, '9'. From his Paris concert last March, here's Damo singing 'Cannonball':

 

 


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Nuggets from our archive

2001 - Early career profile of Damien Rice, written by Sinead Ward. This insightful profile was written before Damien broke internationally with the release of his debut album 'O'. This profile continues to attract hundreds of visits every month, it being linked to from Damien Rice's Wikipedia page.