The Aftermath live in the Stables, Mullingar

Review Snapshot:
Walking away relatively unscathed from a serious road accident the previous week, Mullingar’s finest The Aftermath return for a triumphant hometown gig in The Stables.

The CLUAS Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full review:
Before tonight’s main act The Aftermath, Pete Courtney seems like the calm before the storm. There is a delicate touch to his music, a subtle sophistication that is most evident in his upcoming new single ‘Instinct’, which gets an airing tonight. It is a beautiful piece of gentle melancholy, so good it even quietens the more talkative elements of the audience. No mean feat. In a country brimming over with soporific acoustic troubadours, Courtney stands out.

The Aftermath know how to put on a show. On limited resources, they endeavour to make this gig both visually and aurally appealing. With their equipment festooned with glowing fairy-lights and a back projection showing old TV footage of French singer/provocateur Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, they’ve injected a shot of glamour into the cosy confines of The Stables. A feeling of goodwill towards the band is palpable too, a goodwill born, perhaps, from relief that they are still in one piece after their recent brush with death. They race through familiar favourites  ‘One Is Fun’, ‘Need’ and ‘There Is A Darkness’, but if there is a sense that the Aftermath are on the cusp of something greater, then it is due in no small part to the rather excellent ‘All I Want Is For You To Be Happy’. Containing a ferociously catchy chorus, some interesting guitar work and quirky time-changes, it is easily their most accomplished song to date and the highlight of tonight’s set. Later ‘Hollywood Remake’ and ‘Are You Not’ sound reinvigorated and imbued with a new sense of purpose.

Having seen them several times over the last few years, The Aftermath, fronted by the likable Johnny Cronin, are a band that is continually improving and tonight is a real breakthrough of sorts. They are polished and confident, their playing tight yet still open to moments of spontaneity. It all bodes well for their long-awaited debut album, due in early 2008.

Ken Fallon

More ...

[Read more...]

When it comes to downloading legal music from the internet two of the biggest names in town - iTunes and eMusic - have built up their business on back of two different pricing regimes. iTunes charge consumers by the download - 99 cents for each DRM-protected track (or EUR 1.29 for a track that is DRM free, but of EMI artists only). On the other hand eMusic have a subscription model where every month you can pay from EUR 12.99 (for 20 downloads, no DRM protection) up to Euro 20.99 (for 75 downloads).

iTunes and eMusic however can expect some potentially considerable competition when Amazon launches their MP3 store later this year but the most disruptive aspect of their launch could be its pricing model. While there has been no announcement yet from Amazon on how they will price their downloads, a strong hint emerged this week when it was revealed that Amazon has invested in a small US based start up company who have a very innovative new pricing model for MP3s.

Amie Street, the small online music retailer who secured the investment from Amazon, are already out there offering a unique pricing structure - every song sold by Amie Street is not just free of any DRM shackles but it is also - initially - totally free to download. But as more people start to download the song the price rises, up to a maximum of 98 US cents (i.e. 31 cents less than the price of a DRM-free track on iTunes).

Will this be the pricing structure of Amazon's future MP3 store? If so - and it is successful - could we see the eMusics and iTunes of the world adopt it? It all remains to be seen but the whole digital download industry - despite the ubiquity of iPods and other portable MP3 players - is really only now getting off the ground. And the major labels are playing catch-up.

Between Amazon's pending (DRM-free) arrival in the market place and Steve Jobs' plea to the music industry earlier this year that they remove copy protection from MP3s (which to date AFAIK has only been embraced, among the  majors, by EMI), I think it is a matter of time before restrictions placed on legal downloads become a thing of the past. Sure, as Prince is showing the world, you can give away your music to your fans - without copy restrictions nor charge - and still make a financial killing (once off payment of £250,000 from the Daily Mail, and God knows how many millions from his 21 day stint in London's O2 arena).

I know it's all very utopian but the day may still come when we will have an even simpler version of the Amie Street pricing model: music available for free, forever.

[Read more...]

[Read more...]

Guinness Surfing Advert by Jonathan Glazer

[Read more...]

'Rock n'Roll 39-59' is a fascinating exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. The show traces the roots of rock n'roll and presents this new music as a revolutionary moment in modern culture. Best of all, it brings to life a sound and attitude long taken for granted by today's music fans.

For sure, the exhibition is laden with 1950s memorabilia - guitars owned by the stars, vintage Wurlitzers, even a 1953 Cadillac that symbolises the postwar consumerist explosion which gave '50s teenagers the loose change to spend on records.

But it's much more than an exercise in 'Happy Days' nostalgia. Listening posts and displays trace the heritage of rock n'roll. Blues, gospel, jazz and country are presented in family trees and interactive maps where you can listen to the music of a certain city or region. Acts as diverse as Rosetta Tharpe, Bob Wills and Duke Ellington are given their dues for influencing (in their own ways) the new sounds to come. And there are hidden treasures to discover: obscure or forgotten acts like Wanda Jackson and Professor Longhair who deserve to be listened to again.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a 50-minute documentary on the early days of rock n'roll as we know it. For the honour of 'first rock n'roll record' the film suggests Fats Domino's 1949 song 'The Fat Man', with 1954's 'Rock Around The Clock' (sounding amazingly fresh) by Pennsylvania country-rocker Bill Haley and his Comets as being the genre's first commercially-successful single.

But the first cut of rock n'roll modern-style was 'That's All Right' by "a nineteen year old truck driver" who would change the world. Given our knowledge of the Fat Las Vegas caricature he would become, it's both poignant and thrilling to see Elvis Presley as young, fresh and energetic - the definition of rock n'roll. Everything after him feels like an imitation.

The documentary shows how the record companies mass-market this new sound by (take note, Coldplay and Snow Patrol fans) extracting the sex and danger - sterilised crooners like Pat Boone and Paul Anka loosen their ties and sell homogenised rock n'roll-lite to a middle America still unwilling to buy records by black artists. And the film ends bleakly with the two events that mark the end of true rock n'roll - Elvis entering the army in 1958 (thus conforming to The Man) and the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper.

All visitors to the show receive a free four-track CD featuring four defining tracks from 1956, rock n'roll's greatest year - Elvis singing 'Hound Dog', Chuck Berry performing 'Roll Over Beethoven', Little Richard's 'Good Golly Miss Molly' and Carl Perkins version of his own 'Blue Suede Shoes'. These songs are part of rock's subconsciousness and listening to them today you're struck by their continuing vitality and promise of excitement. You know these songs - but have you ever listened to them? Bringing this fantastic music back to indie-kids like me is a measure of the exhibition's success.

The exhibition continues until 28 October: if you're in Paris you must visit it. Mona Lisa can wait - after all, she belongs to Nat King Cole and the crooners.

Are your old people out of the room? Good. Here's the corrupting influence of Elvis Presley, singing 'That's All Right' - gyrations included. Is this the greatest rock star ever or WHAT?:

[Read more...]

[Read more...]

The annual Festival Interceltique takes place this weekend in Lorient, on the west coast of Brittany. Celtic acts from around the world will perform at the event, now in its 37th edition. This year the theme is Scotland, so there's a Highland flavour to the 2007 festival.

The Irish contingent at this year's festival includes Sharon Shannon, The Dubliners (or what's left of them), Donegal fiddle-player Theresa Kavanagh, folk group Coscan, a punk-folk outfit called the Mahones (hmm, wonder which two bands inspired that name?), The Colman Irish Dancers and the New Ross Pipe Band. There will no doubt be plenty of tributes to the mighty Tommy Makem, who passed away earlier this week.

We did a double-take, however, when we thought we saw a certain Californian funk-rock band on the bill - but in fact it was just the Red Hot Chili Pipers, a gang of Glaswegian pipers who are sure to win Best Band Name if there's such a prize.

The biggest genuine star name of the whole festival, though, is Sinead O'Connor, who has just released her trad and reggae influenced album 'Theology', her first collection of new material  since 2002's 'Sean-Nos Nua'.

Your blogger has a soft spot for Sinead ever since hearing her sing 'Peggy Gordon' a capella at a small fundraising concert in Dalkey a few years ago. It was a mindblowing experience - she has a voice made for traditional Irish ballads.

Here's the great lady singing a live trad-rasta version of  'Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile': 

[Read more...]

[Read more...]

To check out Urban Surfing, click on the link below.

http://magicseaweed.com/video/flvplayer.php?id=30

[Read more...]

[Read more...]