Scene @ Cluas

Scene No.1 (July 26th '99)

First up, Nu Root Rhythm. For my money, this band are the best thing to come out of Dublin in a long time. Mixing soul, funk, hip-hop, rap and a whole lot more, Nu Root Rhythm have an eclectic and exiting sound. Featuring kicking funk guitars, a bongo section, guest rappers and the soulful voice of singer Christine Joyce, the resulting sound gels smoothly and effortlessly. Their brilliance hasn't gone unnoticed. The band are at present in Hamburg for the European final of the Emergenza competition, having won the Irish final in the Olympia back in June. Watch this space for the results. They have also been very active on the live circuit over the last six months, and will continue to gig all over Ireland. There is a gig planned for Eamonn Doran's on Saturday 7th August. Please do make sure you catch them live soon, because if you don't, as a certain song Donal Dineen plays a lot but which I don't know the name of says, 'the revolution will not be televised'. Don't say I didn't warn you.

One artist who has gone the whole Irish Rock route and rejected it is Damien (AKA Dodima), late of Juniper. The man has gone solo, and now wants to be a 'boy with a guitar' once more. This is just what he did at a series of low key dates in veggie restaurant Cornucopia, in June and July. At these he played a few songs from his days with the band, as well as many new songs. The songs have the unbeatable mixture of meaningful lyrics and killer tunes. Damien will continue on his quest to find himself again on his upcoming tour of Europe, so it might be a while before he plays Dublin again. It is possible there will be an EP of home and live recordings released later in the year, keep tuned.

For those who are eagerly awaiting the follow up to Pelvis's 'Who Are You Today' I bring bad news. The band have split with their London based label Setanta after only one album, leaving fans uncertain as to the fate of the brilliant trio. Don't hold your breath for the second album.

Having played a storm at Galway's Big Beat and as support to REM at Lansdowne Road, Dublin singer-songwriter Paddy Casey went on to play for guests at REM's after show party in HQ last weekend. Reports say that Casey 'played for hours' and 'couldn't be got off stage'. Fair play to him I say, maybe he was playing on in the hope that eventually REM might actually show up at their own party.

That's almost all for now, but before I sign off, if there's any Irish rock fans left among you, Neon and the Blew do their guitar-based thing in the Temple Bar Music Centre on the 29th July. According to an avid Neon fan, the band are 'like Oasis or Radiohead only better'. Unfortunately I can't confirm this as I haven't seen them, but if it sounds like your cup of tea go along and check it out. I won't be there.

Niamh Grimes

Check out previous issues of Scene from Aug '99, Oct '99 and Jan '00
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