I didn't say you were wrong El Duderino, just that I could not see your point. Also if you look at the first post in this discussion and title of this topic, the discussion is best up and coming band, nowhere is the word "rock" used. By stating that the standard of mainstream chart rock has gone down, this is not to stating that the musical output of the US is declining, just that there is a deficiency in one particular area of one specific genre (think blink 182, creed, etc. pretty awful stuff). Yes, a lot of hip hop sucks too, but lets not limit our selves to that genre either. Once you get out of those genres, theres been a lot of other great, relatively successful US acts in recent years. The Electro of Adult., Felix da Housecat, even Fischerspooner has released one or two good tracks. The Disco Punk of The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, in fact almost anything on the DFA label. The garage of The White Stripes (love em or hate em) and a host of similar acts like the Dirtbombs, Von Bondies etc. admittedly of varying quality. The whimsical psychedelia of the The Flaming Lips. These acts aren't dominating the US charts but no-one can deny they aren't successful on their own terms in their home country and abroad. How representative is Pitchforkmedia? well its obviously not Top of the Pops or even TRL, I'd say its about as representative as Cluas is of Ireland. Music fans read it, its a bit pretentious, but they obviously still love music and thats what counts.

hmmm, good points, for the record i love the rep of loose. i stand (well and truly!) corrected on the american thing, fair points, guess I meant the massive influx of the early 90's compared to now as for music not being as popular, well, what i was getting at was that there are more than musicians and cinema going for the same dollar/euro in your pocket nowadays, so my assumption was that the majority of people dont buy as much music as they might have done in the past, i have no stats either, just anecdotal evidence from family and friends. as for its importance, to me it grows as i get older, im a softie, i just dont see it as much in our culture anymore, or maybe its there im just lookin the wrong way. Hope I'm wrong! no doubt we've plenty to sing about on this island anyway!

i'd say the things or mighty stef.

the ravines,the things,the urges best i've seen anyway.bought the repuplic of loose album to support the irish band thing and thought it was total s**te

Id recommed you go see the Republic of Loose live to better understand why they are so popular. Its a combination of their music and their stage presence. I have to admit that i love the album. Give it a good few spins and see what happens

I was trying to think of new bands I like and couldn't think of a huge amount. To be honest, its difficult to hear new stuff these days, the removal of no disco, donal dineen and phantom (temp) has removed the finger from the pulse. The only way I hear new band now is through 2fm and going to the listeneing post in tower records....which is crap. Gone are the days of 120 minutes! However I could tell you my fav punkd/dismissed/pimp my car episode .. how depressing. Is MTV2 good for playing new bands? Anyways a few I would look out for- Autamata, Rep of loose, magrugada, Perry blake.

Eric makes a really good point, its getting harder to seek out and hear new music. The traditional media sucks in this regard, TV and Radio are pretty useless. There is always the internet, which besides the reccomendations of friends, is my main source of hearing new music these days but this requires you to download lots of stuff and then filter through all the crap to find the good stuff, a bit time consuming really, and not really an option for people without a broadband connection.

I think the loss of phantom has a lot to do with the demise of new bands on the irish scene. Where were bands to get airplay other then at phantom fm. I got a phone call from an independent research company the other night at home. The girl was researching Radio music listening habits. As this was a brief interview over the phone, im a bit hazy on the music she played for me but it went something like this. First off, she didnt ask me if i listened to music a lot. A question which would have had a lot of impact in determing the results of her interview with me. Anyway, she asked me which radio stations i listened to most in the morning, evening, night. To be honest, ive given up listening to radio since phantom went off. Whats the point. Im not going to stay up ntil 12 at night just to find a radio station that plays the kind of music i enjoy. So the answers i gave we basically nothing in the morning and newstalk in the evening. Then i was asked to listen to 5/6 different music styles and after each listen i was asked how often i listened to that style and which station catered for it. At least 3 of the styles were relatively similar, as in pop like justin, S club 7, etc...and my answer was that i never listened to them, but that all the radio stations played it, but she kept asking for just one so i kept saying 2fm. I told her that i thought that there was little difference between the 3 styles There was one section for 80s music, i think there was country style, and the last section was what was supposed to be the indie/alternative section. I cant remember what the songs were, but i think they were Jet and nickleback (is that their name). Since this was the only style close to what i might listen to i responded that i listened to this style sometime and that phantom was my station of choice for it. Basically, it appeared that the questionaire was geared towards a particular result. By not asking me at the start whether or not i listened to music much, someone looking at my answers would derive that i dont listen to music and so my answers should be thrown out as a "not counting". However if she had asked if i listen to a lot of music someone might have derived that here is a person that listens to a lot of music but non of the current music stations caters for his music preference. At the end there were some questions on 98FM, so maybe that explains alot. But if your looking to sample peoples listening habits then the music samples should be more diverse.

Couldn't agree more, Klootfan. I've given up on radio altogether, don't bother with the TV much these days either.

I actually haven't listened to the radio in years. It's a joke that this country hasn't got a proper alternative music station. However it can be argued that for all our moaning and complaining, none of us appears to have even bothered starting up a radio station. We'll just sit back and hope somebody else does it!

Yeah, but theres more to starting up a radio station than having the time and the funds. The Broadcasting comission has not ensured that there is a wide variety of programming out there. For example, Today FM has veered drastically away from the original "Radio Ireland" proposal, yet is allowed to get away with it and is now as mundane and uninteresting as 2FM. Also, there are good radio stations out there, like Phantom FM, but the commission needs to give these guys licenses so that they can broadcast again, legally. One big problem I also see is that the broadcasting commission seems to encourage too many "everyman" radio stations. Stations that appeal to too many bases but really please no-one, by having too much of a mix of news, chat, factual, music etc. I think it would be better if more niche stations were encouraged. What is needed is a national music-only station that covers a variety of genres of popular music without endless repetition of the same music. 2FM and Today FM do not fit the bill. Any station that has dull chat like Gerry Ryan taking up the airwaves is not a music station. Basically, no breakfast shows littered with competitions and traffic reports, no chat shows with idiots giving their small minded opionion on mere trivia, no drive-time shows, just music and DJs whose job is just to spin records and tell you what the last record was. Is that asking too much?

I'm from the south east, currently based in Dublin, there is Beat FM (Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipp, Waterford and Wexford), part owned by Paul MacGuinness. Now I dont know what the station plays, as I cant pick it up here and dont use the net for music, but it was aimed at the section of the "market" that appears to be waiting to be catered for. Anyone from/living in the South East got any info on this station?

I heard an interesting report on newstalk on sat morning regarding the way licences are handed out. I didnt catch the name of the guy speaking because i came in late to the interview, but he was saying that when the BCI look at a request for a licence, the type of music they propose to play has very little to do with them getting awarded the licence. The most important factor is your financial status. How many people are you going to employ. How much revenue do you expect to get in. How much sponsership have you lined up. Apparently they do not like to bet on a station that is not a sure hit. They do no want stations going bust 6 months after setting up, because it makes them look like fools. And so, this means that stations end up playing the same rubbish everyday, because thats where the money is guaranteed. But surely this is not the way to award a licence. You only have to look at music that fills the venues in dublin/ireland every night of the week. Whelans, vicar st, olympia, ambassador etc. Where is the representation on our radio waves for that style of music. None. 12.30 at night till 2 in the morning doesnt count. Thats probably just a pathetic attempt to conform to a requirement in radio stations licence. Its not a realistic attempt to cater to that audience Where does digital radio come into this. One reason for licencing the FM frequency is the limited bandwidth. However, from my understanding of digital radio, no such limitation arises. Is there anyone investing in digital radio in ireland ? In a digital radio world, there would be no need for licencing to be so strict. If a station goes bust, then so what. Another one starts up. Just like a website going bust. There should be no need for concern. I presume though, that this being ireland, were are about 10 years behind the rest of the world. ( digital hub for the world me A*rse)

Digital radio does have a limitation on bandwidth, take the difference between your lowest frequency to the highest broadcast frequency, thats your bandwidth. Its more that the bandwidth is better used, my understanding is that all stations broadcast all across the digital frequency spectrum and the receiver seperates the stations. No real licensing structure exists for DAB yet. anyway, the big problem for radio stations is the cost involved in setting up for DAB combined with the fact a lot of people don't have DAB radios yet and no financial incentive exists to get such stations off the ground.

I'll stand corrected.

I think you've already stood corrected!!

Alison Curtis - Today FM Sundays 9pm-11pm some really good tunes on this programme Donal Dineen - Small Hours - 12am -2pm Tues-Fri, Today FM Haven't listened to this yet..any views??? Jenny Heuston - The Waiting Room - Monday - Thursday 10pm - 12am, 2FM Playlist Tuesday 20 July Vines - ride Beastie Boys - ch-check it out Buzzcocks - ever fallen in love Cathy Davey - clean and neat Franz Ferdinand - michael The Stills - lola stars and stripes Hal - i sat down (Repeat Session) Ian Brown - whispers Simple Kid - truck on The Cardigans - communication David Kitt - you know what i want to know Charlotte Hatherley - kim wilde Graham Coxon - spectacular Pony Club - spain is sunny Fugazi - waiting room Bloc Party - little thoughts Secret Machines - nowhere again Future Kings of Spain - face i know Iron and Wine - naked as we came Lou Reed - sattelite of love Redneck Manifesto - dillon family dancers Charlotte Hatherly - grey will fade Nick Cave - straight to you Saso - type a jitters The Open - just want to live Sunday 18th July 2FM played two studio sessions from the Zutons and the Distillers All the above presenters play and support new Irish bands....you just have to look for them