Cois Fharraige, Day 2 (Kilkee, Co. Clare)

Review Snapshot: Improved weather but fewer highlights.

The Cluas Verdict? 6 out of 10

Full Review:
Having waited two hours from the original gate time yesterday before seeing a band, today we decided to soak up the sun and atmosphere prior to the gig. However, on arriving 50 minutes after gates opening, we found that the second act had just begun their set. The inconsistent start times meant we had missed an anticipated gig by UK band 28 Costumes.

So, the first act of our day became The Broken Family Band. Playing to a handful of people in a near-empty marquee, their lively set may have gone down better in front of a larger audience later in the night. They managed to win over the minor crowd, not with their music, but with chocolates they cast from the stage, claiming they belonged to Travis.

The trad-jam session that was Kila drew the crowds in from the sunshine and treated them to a string of indistinguishable songs. This was punctuated only by brief banter and annoying, gratuitous bongo solos. Nevertheless, their live shows enjoy a baffling popularity with the Irish public, and this was no exception.

Seasick Steve riled up the crowd initially with his novel country-flavoured act, but the novelty soon wore off, and after an hour the whole thing felt a bit over-stretched. The stop/ start pace and generic blues sound did little for an act that was, essentially, warming up for Supergrass. While he wasn’t bad, this weathered character, drinking Jack Daniels straight from the bottle and sporting a grey beard and denim overalls, seemed a little out of place, and a slightly mis-judged attempt at being hip by the organisers.

Despite a series of successful hits to choose from, headliners Supergrass launched into the beginning of their set drawing mainly from their latest album “Diamond Hoo Ha”. Although enjoyable, the tracks by no means match the instant catchiness of early singles “Alright” and “Caught by the Fuzz”, and an unfamiliar two-song encore proved the point.

The best time of all, however, was had by the staff. The on-stage camera-men enjoyed picking out fans and security staff from the crowd to be displayed on the giant screens, turning the cameras on themselves at one point. The video editor had a great time utilising cheesy effects throughout the night, and one of the members of security even managed to perform a rudimentary jig on stage with Kila!

Although the weather improved, this second day did little to outshine the first, in musical terms, at least.

Christine Cooke

• Check out the CLUAS reviews of Day 1 and Day 3 of Cois Fharraige 2008.

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It seems that every second French act is playing folk-tinged acoustic indie-pop. It's something of a fashion here.

So far this year we've featured Syd Matters, Barth, Cocosuma, St Augustine, Poney Express, The Rodeo, The Dø, Roken Is Dodelijk, Da Brasilians and adopted Frenchie Micky Green. All of them are clearly in thrall to the likes of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, which is no bad thing.

Now, lest you think we only have ears for soft-spoken strummers, here's something loud and swaggering.

Pussydelic (right) are a self-styled "girls' rock n'soul band" from Limoges in central France. An all-female six-piece, the group clearly take their lead from Beth Ditto - they make a Gossip-esque punk-funk racket that's high on attitude. Three of the six - Natty, Mayhia and Myriam - are singers, and the band's three-up-front line-up certainly goes for power. But the vocal trio can also harmonise to good effect.

In the often macho world of live gigging, their sense of sisterhood is all the greater - they augment their line-up with Justine the second bass player and Caroline the sound engineer. 

The band's most noticed song to date is called "Dick For A Brain". While it could never reach the dizzyingly high expectations you have of a song called "Dick For A Brain" by an all-female rock band called Pussydelic, it's still enjoyable. They also do a rocked-up version of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang".

You can visit Pussydelic's MySpace page to hear tracks from their recent EP, "Six, Sex And Fun" (a pun on a Serge Gainsbourg hit called "Sea, Sex And Sun"). Here's the band live, playing a song you won't hear on that EP - the raucous "I Don't Need This":

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Lately, during the 29th Olympic Games, animal rights action group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia-Pacific (PETA) went around the city checking out “healthy, humane” restaurant options in china’s capital. Not easy, given that the Chinese brag about eating everything with four legs and its back to the sun, besides tables.” Dog and donkey meat are easily found in Beijing: vast suburban dog markets are often blamed for supplying back street butchers on quieter days. Seeing shivering kittens, puppies and even ducklings for sale on the streetside in Beijing’s commercial areas I know this is not the most animal-friendly country in the world.

To show there are better dining options than bull’s testicles (available in many Beijing eateries) PETA selected three city vegetarian restaurants and ranked them gold, silver and bronze. Its number one choice was what it says is China's oldest Buddhist vegetarian restaurant: Godly Vegetarian at No. 58 Qianmen Street, which specializes in dishes like King Kong Huo Fang (stewed mock pork), sweet-and-sour mock ribs and fish, lion's head (mock meatballs) and preserved leafy vegetable steamed stuffed bun. Pure Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant took PETA’s silver ranking: run by Tibetan monks who use only natural organic ingredients to make creatively named dishes such as "hot tears fill the eyes glazed noodles" and "countenance of mercy, words of love stir-fry." Third ranked is Still Thoughts, a newer establishment inside the Meijuan Hotel in an old-town laneway. PETA claims an increasing number of world-class athletes are chucking cholesterol-packed meat and dairy products from their diets including former track-and-field star Carl Lewis, winner of nine Olympic and eight World Championship gold medals.

In Beijing to push the organisation’s operations here – it’s not clear if he’s actually managed to open an office - PETA's Jason Baker asks “who needs heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity, which are all linked to meat consumption?”
More interesting than the ranking is PETA’s activism in mainland China, which is sensitive to criticism of its animal (not just human) rights standards lest it effect its ambitions to become a regional champion of the clinical trials and cosmetics testing industries: testing new products against nasty things like toxicity. It’s very hard to get anyone in either government or industry to go on the record on this subject this summer. Partly because a new EU law outlawing sales of animal-tested cosmetics coming into force next year will make it very hard for cosmetics made in China (which makes testing on animals compulsory for cosmetics sold in the country) to be marketed in the EU. PETA, which has for some years had a presence in more liberal Hong Kong, has been trying to engage the Chinese government, to at least make conditions at testing labs better. We wish them well, but they’ve got their work cut out for them in China. I’m also looking forward to trying some of Still Thoughts’ spicy mock-pork intestines dry pot and shredded veggie duck pancakes. 

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Artist (live in Venue Name, City)

Review Snapshot: An excellent start to the Kilkee festival, with an outstanding performance by the Futureheads.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:
“Who gives a f**k about the rain? It's a deadly festival!” So remarked Danny O'Reilly, lead singer of The Coronas on this, the first (and hopefully wettest) day of the Cois Fharraige music festival in Kilkee.

First up were Galway band The Kanyu Tree, performing their first live show as a four-piece. Their unoffensive pop rock was well-received by the gathering crowds, but their music and manner fails to establish them as anything more than a support band.

Next up were The Coronas, hailing from Dublin, but equally at home on the soundtrack of an American teen drama series. Their sound was rockier and their presence more charming than The Kanyu Tree, and it's not surprising that they've built up such a loyal fanbase in Ireland. Radio-friendly songs such as “Grace, Don't Wait” went down well with the ever-increasing crowd. After witnessing a mass chorale to their big hit, “San Diego Song”, you can believe them when they claim never to get sick of playing it live.

After a lengthy gap, The Futureheads kicked off their energetic set with their new single, “Walking Backwards”. It was the first in a series of lively numbers that showcased their enjoyable brand of power-pop rock. The beginning of their set seemed to fall on deaf ears. Many people didn't even appear to know who they were, turning their backs and consuming their beer. But, with their interactive banter and intense likeability, The Futureheads won over this distracted crowd. And, by the time they launched into “The Beginning of the Twist”, everybody seemed to to have caught on. This was followed by two more crowd-pleasing songs; their popular Kate Bush cover, “Hounds of Love”, and the last track from their debut album, “Man Ray”. Their songs transfer well to a live setting and are executed with such confidence and gusto that even the most distracted viewer can't but love them.

Following this class act, were questionable headliners, The Zutons. Their gimmickery (a giant neon “Z” against a scenic backdrop, superfluous female saxophone player) only highlighted their shortcomings as serious song-writing talents. The set list included all of their hits. Their most popular song was undoubtedly “Valerie”, which they decidedly played mid-set. A strange choice, considering they themselves remarked afterward “That was our biggest song.” This meant an unfortunate early peak for The Zutons, who paled in comparison to The Futureheads.

Despite the torrential weather, this was a promising start to the last festival of the summer.

Christine Cooke

• Check out the CLUAS reviews of Day 2 and Day 3 of Cois Fharraige 2008.

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Today's feature is on Moth Complex and their recently launched video for Tied Up In Knots.  Key Notes recently caught up with front woman Aoife O'Leary (or 'what's her face from Moth Complex' as the person who introduced us called her) to ask her about the making of the video.

Firstly who directed the video? 

Tied Up In Knots was directed by Gerry Owens (Aoife's Moth CompleX co-writer). He, Ian Kane (video producer) and I began planning and storyboarding the video about 6 weeks before we shot it.

Where was it shot?

The shoot was meant to be in a disused warehouse on the outskirts of Dublin, but a couple of weeks before the shoot date, the roof fell in and everything fell apart… So I started asking everyone I know if they could think of any good locations. No luck. Eventually, in an ironic stroke of luck, my car broke down and I went up to Colm, my mechanic, who is based in Drimnagh, and while he was fixing my car I told him my story, and on the spot, he offered us the use of his garage.

Colm was brilliant - and so trusting as a whole crew of us not-very-normal-looking people arrived and took over his garage and livelihood. We hung lights from everywhere, covered walls, ceilings and floors with red sheets and filled the place with smoke. We had pulled in favours from everyone we knew – lighting pals, film pals, family pals – and were determined to make this video the very best we could…

We worked over a weekend in Colm’s garage, we did all the band performance stuff, my second verse stuff and also additional stuff, which I’ll come back to. It was so much fun, but also freezing cold being filmed in January in Dublin in a garage.

After we finished shooting, I decided to edit the video. I had never intended to. But as I done audio editing and the video was so important to me, I decided I could learn video editing software in order to edit the video. So I did. I knew that if I didn’t, I would have been seeing
someone else’s interpretation of it, and I wanted to see mine.

So after I did an initial edit of the video and I looked back at it, I loved everything but our footage for verse 1, which we originally shot against a white background. It just didn’t suit the rest of the video, to my mind. So rather than let it go, I decided to re-shoot it. So we rented a room, a load of lights, etc, and re-shot. Then I was happy.

So what was the concept behind Tied Up In Knots?

For the performance part, I wanted it to be about our band playing the song and for the verses, I wanted it to be about me singing the song. No concept as such. Just singing and performing a song that means so much to me. Nothing else. And the performance part was so much fun. We played the song over and over from different angles and it was so full-on, but in a different way to a gig or a rehearsal. And so focused. I loved it. Everyone was so “on”. Such intense energy. Gerry, the director, was shouting all the time we kept playing the song over and over 'keep close up in the camera, don’t block your face with your hands' etc. It was all brilliant. I’m sure I sound like such a novice, but I am, this was my first time to do anything like this.

Finally, how does the concept relate to the song?

The video edit that is out so far is just us performing the song, really. There is an additional part coming in a second edit. This came to me in the weeks before I began storyboarding the video with Gerry and Ian. I couldn’t shake the idea of someone being “tied up in knots” in the video. I kept fighting with myself. One part of me said that the idea was ridiculously obvious and unimaginative, so I kept rejecting the idea over and over, but somehow, I couldn’t shake it and it kept coming back to me.

So I suggested the idea to Gerry Owens, who the idea very much appealed to, and he expanded on it to an idea of having a girl, naked, suspended from a ceiling with rope and “tied up in knots”. Naked. Bare. Restricted. Exactly the emotional base of the song for me.

It looked amazing in storyboard – we threw around various ideas and Gerry, ultimately, came up with this comic book like drawing, and I laughed out loud thinking how cool it looked, but thought “who in hell will do this?” I didn’t want to do it myself. I loved the idea and in another circumstance, I’d be cool about doing it but I wanted to be singer in this video. Singing and performing a song that means so much to me. Nothing else.

So at that stage, we put the literal idea of Tied Up In Knots on hold. As it happens, I was dancing in a show at the time, as was a friend of mine. She was a big Moth CompleX fan and so supportive of me and the band and everything. Then one day, having tea and biscuits, she was talking to me about how she had been photographed naked for a “Suicide Girls” shoot recently. She spoke in such a relaxed and open-minded way and a bell went off in my head! I asked her if she felt like being “tied up in knots” and suspended naked from the ceiling in a garage for my video. She said she’d love that!! I explained the freezing cold (in a mechanic’s garage at the end of January, wearing no clothes, hung from ceiling with ropes meant for big boats, lads on the shoot working staring at her etc…) And she was still on for it!

So that is the footage that ties the concept to the song. Yes, that footage hasn’t appeared in the edit we’ve done to date. Not sure we could see MySpace or TV playing it so we did the first edit with the band first… But the second edit is on it’s way!

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Key Notes is not the type of person to say 'I told you so' and this morning is no different.  The demise of State magazine, though worryingly predictable, is of course a bad thing for the people involved, but not for the music reading public.  While State was in print, Key Notes took the unusual step of buying both it and Hot Press to judge the two side by side.  There is no doubt that Hot Press upped it's game, but in fairness, when an 'Indie music magazine' decides to put ABBA on the cover or run a full length feature on Justin Timberlake, they are essentially gifting market share to their competitors.

In a statement you can read here, State head honcho Phil Udell talks of how 'the music magazine world is heading the same way as the rest of the industry – the audience are able to get their fix wherever and whenever they please and usually for nothing.'  Surely somebody could have told Phil and Co. that this was the case 6 months ago?  Or has the industry changed so much and so quickly in that 6 months that they couldn't have seen this coming.  EVERYONE, even this humble blog, saw it coming.

One suspects that State (or Free State as it probably won't be known) will now rely on advertising to continue it's free existence.  However, Key Notes is sure that the money men, especially in the current economic climate, will push their advertising towards Hot Press as it is the more established publication.  Indeed, and again without saying 'I told you so' Key Notes predicted this in March just as the magazine launched. 

Once again, this blog is sure that the future of music journalism is websites such as CLUAS, freebies such as Analogue and Connected and the Friday supplements in both the Irish Independent and Irish Times.  The most worrying aspect of all of this is that Hot Press will probably slip back into pre-State mode, focusing on 'increasing its quota of fashion, gaming and much more.'  Mind you, if it does, then sooner, rather than later, Key Notes suspects that it will follow State, and those that have gone before, into the dustbin of the 21st century where they'll join VHS, cassettes and Oasis.

In honour of State's new found, er, state, here's a rather old version of The Who's I'm Free:

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Electric Picnic Day Three (live in Stradbally, Co. Laois)

Review Snapshot: In terms of giving Electric Picnic Sunday a mark out of ten overall, I went with a 9….but the festival itself was more than the sum of its parts and as tents got packed away until next year and showers of a near transcendental nature were taken it’s fair to say that Electric Picnic 2008 ranks among the best. 

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:Day three of Electric Picnic began with a rude awakening of sorts, namely 130dBs or so of My Bloody Valentine’s sound check causing much of the Charlie Chaplin campsite (located directly behind the Electric Arena) to shoot bolt upright, from sleep to wake in a time Usain Bolt would be proud of! Still, it was a handy reminder not to forget the earplugs for later in the day.

Feeling every so slightly delicate following the previous evening’s excesses, a seat in the sun with some soul was just what the doctor ordered. Candi Staton was the perfect act for Sunday afternoon on the Main Stage as a sizeable crowd of ramshackle revellers lounged around on the lawn, finding themselves reinvigorated by her incredible warmth, personality and honeyed vocals. ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ brought the crowd to their feet and the good vibes just kept on coming. An extended version of ‘You Got the Love’ was a triumphant end to the set, as every word was belted out across the Main Stage.

Given that the sky above Stradbally was blue as opposed to several shades of grey for the first time in weeks, it seemed a shame to descend into the darkness of yet another marquee and so it was time for some general lolling about in a bid to soak up a selection of what else was on offer at this year’s picnic. Wall of Death at the circus had stomachs churning vicariously, Djembe lessons in the Irish Aid section of the Global Green proved just who was drumming to the rhythm of a different beat while Karl Spain had us running for the exits with his woefully underwhelming stand up which was fortuitous as it led us straight into the Electric Arena and CSS.

Lovefoxx was resplendent in her customary jumpsuit as she bounced and hopped across the stage. This band of Brazilian beatsters were as energetic as ever as they knocked out hit after hit culminating in a closing couplet of ‘Lets Make Love’ and ‘Alala’. Strangely the crowd were more subdued in their appreciation – no doubt festival fatigue was to blame!

Next up was Grinderman.”My face is finished, my body's gone and I can't help but think standin' up here in all this applause and gazin' down at all the young and the beautiful with their questioning eyes that I must above all things love myself”….hearing Nick Cave deliver these lines in a snarly, sinister and dirty version of ‘No More Pussy Blues’ is just confirmation, if it were needed, that the man is one cool bastard. Together these Bad Seed offshoots give the crowd a monumental kick up the arse, Warren Ellis in particular rips his bow through distorted paeans to angry, ageing rock gods. Other highlights included ‘Honey Bee Let’s Fly to Mars’ and ‘I Don’t Need You (To Set Me Free)’.

As the crowd cheered Grinderman from the stage a palpable air of anticipation descended on the Electric Arena. The last band to grace its’ stage this year was without doubt the most eagerly anticipated and as a wall of amps were wheeled on, hundreds of hands reached into hundreds of pockets fumbling for earplugs.

My Bloody Valentine was without doubt the gig of the weekend and possibly the year. ‘I Only Said’ proved the perfect opener and from there it was just sonic bliss throughout. Although there was no new material there was ample representation from both ‘Loveless’ and ‘Isn’t Anything’ LPs and the ‘Tremolo’ and ‘You Made Me Realise’ EPs.

Swirling soundscapes were complimented by one of the better lighting designs of the festival and some mesmeric visuals projected onto the stage backdrop. The crowd were near reverential for large portions of the set not moving beyond an appreciative sway during songs, but tracks such as ‘Soon’ gave rise to much more animated dancing. As for noise levels, let’s just say no internal organs were dislodged but it did get pretty intense during the ‘holocaust’ section of closing track ‘You Made Me Realise’. There was little or no banter aside from a cursory ‘How’s it goin? Thanks for comin’ but yet as the audience erupted in applause, you could tell there was an air of satisfaction in a job well done, particularly among Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig.

Although there were notions of catching some of The Sex Pistols and Conor Oberst, there was little point, seeing another band after that would have simply been an exercise in going through the motions.

Jan Ní Fhlanagáin

• Check out as well CLUAS.com's reviews of Day 1 and Day 2 of Electric Picnic 2008.

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Electric Picnic, Day Two (Stradbally, Co. Laois)

Review Snapshot: Good weather, good friends and good music all mix together to create almost the perfect festival Saturday.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
As 2007 drew to a close, Cathy Davey’s second album ‘Tales of Silversleeve’ was opening doors and cementing her reputation as one of Ireland’s most talented emerging songwriters. Given that her songs have been played off the radio, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to expect a good crowd for her mid-afternoon slot in the Crawdaddy tent, but having to close it before she even took to the stage must surely have been beyond her wildest expectations – even Guy Garvey and the rest of Elbow couldn’t wangle their way in. ‘The Collector’ and ‘Reuben’ opened the set and got the crowd dancing straight away. On occasion Davey’s aspirate vocal can get lost in a live setting but not today, she was note perfect and the mix was spot on. The set lagged a little in the middle as new material, book-ended by less popular album tracks, left some audience members eyeing up the exits. The opening beats of ‘Moving’ put paid to that though and the crowd were well and truly back on side. A clearly delighted Davey ended proceedings with the spine tingling ‘Sing for your Supper’ and every soul in the house sang along.

The Little Big Tent played host to a decidedly ebullient Ra Ra Riot who treated the modest, but wholly committed crowd, to a sufficiently pop filled forty minutes of material from their forthcoming debut ‘The Rhumb Line’. They were a long way from home in Syracuse, NY but seemed enamoured with their inaugural trip to Ireland and pledged a return later this year.

A hop, skip and jump over to a packed Electric Arena had us arrive just in time for the tail end of The Breeders set. ‘Cannonball’ followed by a cover of The Beatles ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’, performed with Kim Deal’s customary wit, drew rapturous applause from the massive crowd.

Next up in the Electric Arena were the ever affable Elbow. The band took to the stage trumpets in hand and opened with a rousing rendition of ‘Starlings’ followed by ‘The Bones of You’ and ‘Mirrorball’ off their most recent album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’. Guy Garvey’s smoke and whiskey voice soared as he turned himself, and the audience, inside out during both ‘Leaders of the Free World’ and ‘Grounds for Divorce’. Mancunian wit and everyman charm proved the order of the day as we were treated to tracks from across their impressive back catalogue, ‘Newborn’ and ‘Grace Under Pressure’ proving the most beguiling. The euphoric ‘One Day Like This’ was as cathartic as it was electric, with every voice in the place wrapped around the life affirming, smile inducing lyric. In a move reminiscent of their recent Vicar St gig, Mr. Garvey joined the great unwashed down the front where, hoist on a wave of good feeling, he led the crowd through the closing bars, gladdening hearts as he went.

Next it was back to the Little Big Tent where Dan Deacon was holding court and choreographing audience members into what seemed like the human embodiment of organised chaos. Performing from within the crowd for the duration of the set and bedecked in neon, he tore it up from the start, inciting near riotous levels of crowd interaction. There were human gauntlets, frenzied chasing and the instruction for ‘Silence like the Wind’ was to “dance like we’re in Jurassic Park, and hippy the shit out of it”. For sheer levels of mania, hilarity and shit hot beats, this set will be hard to beat over the course of the festival.

A passing glance at Grace Jones confirmed a number of things, 1. she’s mad as a box of frogs and 2. she’s in the kind of shape most nubile 20 something’s would be envious of. With a set drawing largely from her 1981 release ‘Nightclubbing’ she wowed the audience with her many costume changes and near yogic dance moves. A once off in every way.

A short stint with Underworld, essentially comprising of a brief exercise in glow stick cheerleading, was all we could stand before tripping over to the Crawdaddy Tent for a brief dalliance with Stuart Staples and the Tindersticks. Perfectly pitched and utterly decadent though they were, there was a tangible danger that we would end up written off for the night were we to stay in the red wine haze of such sonic treats as ‘Can Our Love…’.

Ferris Wheels, Carousels, Donal Dineen in Body and Soul and an epic 90 minutes of unadulterated fun in the Silent Disco saw the clock strike 4 and nightcaps under the shelter of a gazebo with friends old and new brought us to 6am when the sun came up and heads finally hit the hay.

Jan Ní Fhlanagáin

• Check out as well CLUAS.com's reviews of Day 1 and Day 3 of Electric Picnic 2008.

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