POST CATEGORY : Rock

Introducing: Malachai

Toward the end of 2010 Domino Records gave away an album sampler of acts from their roster – which included many new discoveries but standing out from the crowd was head Malachai.

The Bristol duo have already been championed by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, 2010’s Ugly Side Of Love carved them an enigmatic position on the musical landscape. Their unique combination of trip hop with ’60s psychedelia and howling garage-soul is a veritable breather from the tide of indie/electro-pop.

Their music is fresh, organic yet vintage but fear not, an apparent fondness for turn-of-the-1970s British music never leaves them sounding like a tribute to an era band. How this album didn’t make a bigger impact last year is a mystery, perhaps like myself, it just slipped under the radar.

Why tell you all this now? Malachai will release new album Return To The Ugly Side on February 22nd – ‘Rainbows’ is a taste of what’s to come, it should be good.

Malachai – Rainbows (feat. Katy Wainwright)

Malachai – Blackbird via musicmule

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British Sea Power – ‘Living Is So Easy’

British Sea Power already gave us the new EP Zues not too long ago, but it seems that was just a warm up. We’ve got a full length album coming our way soon, Valhalla Dancehall is due out in January. ‘Living Is So Easy’ will be the first single to be released from it at the end of November.

It’s early days but it’s quite relaxed and mellow by their standards, take a listen below and see what you think. If you like it those generous guys from BSP have decided to give it away for free (in exchange for an email) from their website. Get on it.

British Sea Power – Living Is So Easy via wilcow

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Videos: FMC Tour ‘Kill’

On Friday night the FMC Tour w/ Fionn Regan, And I Watch You From Afar and Jape was in town, by town I mean The Late Lounge in Kill. As it’s a little closer to my home turf than Limerick it would be frightfully rude not to attend, so for the second time in 6 days I was treated to three Irish acts of the highest caliber.

In short all three were excellent, a beautifully intricate masterclass of an acoustic show from Fionn Regan followed by an electrifying Jape set including some new tunes (see below) and an absolute aural assault as expected from ASIWYFA. Hopefully we can look forward to something similar next year.

There’s some videos including two new Jape tracks after the jump. Kudos to Stevie Moon for the camera assistance once again, enjoy.

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FMC Tour: Limerick

Who could turn down the chance of catching three of the hottest acts in Ireland on one bill?

Following shows in Galway and Cork Jape, And So I Watch You From Afar & Fionn Regan rolled into Limerick on Saturday night. An eclectic mix such as this can raise many challenges but the running order on the night was probably the most suitable.

Their was a really big crowd in Dolan’s as Jape took to the stage. He was his usual energetic and animated self, running through crowd pleasing favorites like ‘Graveyard’ and ‘Strike Me Down’ and some solid new material but it was ‘Floating’ and ‘I Was A Man’ which sent punters into vocal overdrive. An excellent performance which seemed to be over as quick as it began, time flies and all that, looking forward to the next album.

Having seen Fionn Regan nail it at Castlepalooza I was very excited to catch him again but it became obvious my optimism wasn’t going to be met. Regan was without his backing band, swapping the rockier edge for what should have been a warm, intimate acoustic affair. It was not to be. Sections of the crowd were chattering throughout the gig even when the rest made their feelings known. Regan to his credit battled on, understandably disgruntled (as was I), with ample room in the bar and smoking area there’s plenty of places for people to have a ‘chat’. The show was aptly brought to a close with ‘Be Good Or Be Gone’, just hope he gets shown more courtesy elsewhere, this was a real missed opportunity

From the sombre to the raucous, And So I Watch You From Afar must surely be the loudest band in Christendom. Their live show is a something to behold, its explosive and incendiary stuff as the crowd senses are relentlessly battered by a mixture of unbridled energy, volume and riffage of  their massive post-rock sound. They’re probably not going to suit everyone’s pallet but you’d be hard pushed to find bands to rival their live show.

On the whole it was a great night, pity about the ‘chattering classes’ and at €15 it’s certainly value for money. There’s three more nights to go in Dundalk, Kildare & Dublin this week so try not and miss out.

Vids after the jump.

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Video: Manic Street Preachers – Some Kind Of Nothingness

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‘Some Kind of Nothingness’ is the second single taken from The Manics album Postcards From A Young Man. It features the great Ian McCulloch from Echo & The Bunnymen and has become one of my favorites from the record.

Syd Barrett – An Introduction

Syd Barrett was the principal visionary of Pink Floyd, writing most of their early material including 1967 debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

By 1968 however he had been forced out of the band due to ‘increasingly unpredictable’ behaviour partly induced by frequent experimentation with psychedelic drugs such as LSD which coupled with mental health issues forced him into obscurity and later reclusiveness. His short musical career also yielded two great solo albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett which influenced a raft of artists, most notably Blur’s Graham Coxon.

A brand new collection of Syd’s material, An Introduction To Syd Barrett has been released bringing together tracks of Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett for the first time on one compilation. The album features a series of new remasters and remixes, overseen by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour who co-produced The Madcap Laughs and produced Barrett.

It all sounds very well and I’m delighted to get my hands on cleaner sounding versions of ‘Apples & Oranges’, ‘Here I Go’ and ‘Dominoes’ as well as the previously unreleased 20 minute instrumental ‘Rhamadan’.

An excellent introduction to one of music’s greatest lost talents, his life is still one of intrigue, sadness and a case of what could have been more.

Mp3: Syd Barrett – Dominoes

Syd Barrett – Baby Lemonade

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010

HWCH has become a firm and important fixture on the Irish music calendar, showcasing the talents of over 100 emerging bands and artists from across Ireland. This year saw the welcome inclusion of ‘HWCH and the City’, a selection of free gigs in shops like Oxfam & Tower Records and the ‘HWCH Industry Conference 2010’. I wasn’t able to make either and instead concentrated on the nocturnal offerings – here’s a review, excuse the lack of photos but there’s some videos at the end (kudus to Moon for the KK vid).

Thursday was kicked off in Twisted Pepper with a show from Irish/Swedish duo Kill Krinkle Club. Unfortunately something was awry, it failed to transfer the nuances of their debut record to a live setting. The crowd seemed subdued and the stop start nature of the set didn’t help their cause. If they can iron out those live show wrinkles they may be a force to be reckoned with.

A short walk to the Grand Social for Enemies who blasted out some smashing post-rock and it was much the same from Richter label mates Jogging who’s blisteringly set of raw punk rock was hugely impressive. The evening was polished off  by Nouveaunoise‘s slick, lush and infectious electro beats – a nice touch.

Friday night began in Twisted Pepper where Derry native Conor Mason armed only with his guitar, harmonica, distinctive vocals and of course some beautifully, harmonic and uplifting songs. Hopefully the next time he travels from the maiden city to Dublin more people can be treated to his music – we’ve been promised the full band experience next time.

I caught Sacred Animals & Deaf Joe but the heat in The Mercantile detracted from the gigs so it was difficult to get a feel for things. It sounded interesting enough to check them out another time. Meanwhile, The Lost Brothers triumphed in Twisted Pepper as they performed an intimate set of meticulously crafted, plucky acoustic songs with gorgeous vocal harmonies to a hushed and respectful crowd. They aren’t going to break new musical bounds but they’ve perfected what is a timeless sound.

One of the largest crowd of the festival was in the Button Factory for Multi-instrumentalist R.S.A.G. He’s one of the most unique live performers in the country, nestled behind his drum kit, he and his ‘virtual band’ (on the visuals screen) fall somewhere between Talking Heads and Joy Division. He played most new material which I’m unfamiliar with but the highlight was definitely ‘Stick To Your Line’.

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Introducing: Gallops

Hailing from Wrexham in North Wales with a mixture of post-rock instrumental tendencies famed by Battles and PVT, Gallops are set to release their 5-track debut EP.

Having lived in Wrexham for 4 years witnessing many great bands I was intrigued about these guys to say the least. Yes they do sound very close to the aforementioned vanguard of post-rock instrumentalist or math rock scene, don’t let this detract from the music on offer, ‘Miami Spider’ is one of the best songs of the year so far, cracking stuff!

They are playing a host of shows the length and breath of Britain but no sign of an Irish show yet, these guys should be the biggest thing to come from Wrexham since, well, Mark Hughes?

Gallops – Miami Spider

Kudos to Nialler9 for the heads up on this one.

Manic Street Preachers: New Album & Free Download

The Manics seem to have been with us for an eternity. Throughout their illustrious career and extensive back catalogue they’ve often divided opinion, some times brilliant, sometimes not; but always true to themselves. Wales biggest export since the Tories shut the mines are set to release new album Postcards From A Young Man on 20 September.

To celebrate they’ve made a new track ‘I’m Leaving You For Solitude’ available for free download from their website. The album is said to be a return to ‘classic rock roots’ and ‘arena-sized choruses’, take from that what you will but it’s safe to say there will be some suedo leftwing sentiments thrown in for good measure too.

Mp3: Manic Street Preachers – I’m Leaving You For Solitude

Biggus Diccus – ‘Twelve Inches Of Love’

Like old school Rock or Eagles of Death Metal? Then Diggus Diccus ‘Home of the Hot Throbbing Riff’ are the band you’ve been waiting for. I’ve been spinning the album all day and not for the first time I’ve been beaten to it by Nialler9 who’s description; ‘Ireland’s premier providers of hard cock-rocking riffs are waiting for you to climb their flagpole of love’ can’t be bested – says it all really.

Download their album Twelve Inches Of Love for free. They play their debut gig at the free State vs. Popical Island gig in the Mercantile, Dublin tomorrow night.