Your blogger is heading along to the Irish Cultural Centre here in Paris this Thursday to catch a visit by Pulitzer prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon.

As well as being a highly-acclaimed and fairly deadly poet (his 2003 Pulitzer winner, 'Moy Sand and Gravel', is great), Muldoon plays guitar in a band called Rackett that make a sound he describes as "3-car garage rock".

Rackett (right, with Muldoon in the centre) toured Ireland last summer and are are currently working on their third album.  

Muldoon writes the band's lyrics, of course, and he's got a neat line in extravagant Magnetic Fields-esque couplets. "As Good As It Gets" begins: "Like Holden Caulfield spotting phonies/Or Stephen Sondheim winning Tonies". As for the music, well... it's a bit of fun. Did we mention the lyrics?  

A bit more impressive than Muldoon's garage band is the fact of his collaboration with the late Warren Zevon. Muldoon wrote the lyrics to 'My Ride's Here', the title track of Zevon's final album.

Shortly after Zevon's death, the song was performed as a live tribute by none other than Bruce Springsteen. The recording featured on 'Enjoy Every Sandwich', a Zevon tribute compilation.

Here's Bruce's version of the track:

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Key Notes is being a little self indulgent today.  Yes, this blog's main function is to discuss the Irish indie music scene but today, Key Notes is going to wear his heart on his sleeve.  Tonight you see brings the final of the Champions League and the battle between the (red) devil(s) and the deep blue scum sea.  Key Notes, as you may know from his semi-final dilemma, is a massive Man United fan and has been waiting for this day since May 26th 1999.  Tonight will see this blog don his 1999 Champions League edition jersey, complete with curry stains that have remained unwashed for 9 years, and watch as pure, artistic and free-flowing United take on those shady, cheating folk from London.

Now, football is nothing without an analogy and one comes to mind immediately when comparing United and Chelsea.  Rocky IV.  It's our hero Rocky - American, old school, pure to his art-form - versus Ivan Drago - Russian, new money, and known for his lack of respect towards referees.  (It also works for Liverpool - they're Apollo Creed, lots of pomp and ceremony, but really should have given up long ago).  We all know what happens at the end of Rocky IV, our hero wins and teaches the evil villain a few lessons in the right way of doing things along the way.  Just like United will hopefully teach Chelsea that it's not just about winning, but playing attractive, free-flowing, football this evening.

Best of all (for the sake of this blog!), Rocky IV contains the greatest ever Rocky song and a pretty good montage, and Key Notes is a firm believer in the theory that if you're going to do it right, do it in a montage!

COME ON UNITED!!!

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Last Saturday Matthew Niederhauser released his "Soundcapital," a collection of images focusing on Beijing's indie/punk scene with an afternoon party at Lost & Found a shop for retro fittings in Beijing’s ever happening Guozijian street near the Lama Temple. Niederhausen, a gregarious American snapper relocated to Beijing, was also selling large-format prints from my urban development project dubbed Visions of Modernity, the genesis of which he was explaining to Cluas over a recent lunch. We didn’t make the launch party but have seen the photos before, since they’re framed and hanging over the stage at D-22, the cramped and colourful nervecentre of Beijing punk and rock, where most of the Soundcapital shots were taken.

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Some protest movements are just too dumb to be real...but they are. Take, for example, the Legalise Cannabis Movement. A case of 'Dude, where's my banner?' methinks.

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10 things I hate about cycling in Dublin

Undulating cycle paths built to accommodate the spotless 4WDs of the homeowners situated along the route. It’s an off road vehicle for Chrissakes!

Pedestrian crossings every 500 metres that pedestrians never use because they are too busy jaywalking across the road and right into your path.

Drivers who think that the correct position of the passenger side of their car is flush with the kerb.

Van drivers (see S.3)

Pedestrians who walk along cycle paths. Do the dumb fuckers not see the big symbols of the cyclist painted on the ground in front of them?

Recumbent cycles; they were banned by the UCI in the 1930s. They should also be banned from Irish thoroughfares and the people who ride them made to learn how to cycle properly.

Cyclists that lag behind you on the road then pull in front of you at traffic lights, obstructing your way as you take off after the lights turn green

Single speed racers. No, I don’t think you are some form of elite cycling purist. I think you are a twat who objects to progress, particularly when these retro-rothars can cost more than a bike with gears and brakes. Why not go the whole hog and re-fit the bloody thing with solid rubber wheels?

Anyone who rides a mountain bike in an urban area or brings the damn thing into the countryside on the back of a 4WD just so they can cycle it around for a couple of hours. What part of ‘Mountain Bike’ do you not understand?

50 something commuting cyclists who think they are competing in the Tour De France, down to the replica team wear. Just because they sell it, does not mean you have to wear it.

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I’d seen the name on posters for lots of the gigs happening around Beijing. So I tracked down Zhu Tianchi, man behind www.rockbj.com a useful and very interactive portal tracking what’s happening on Beijing’s music scene. Here’s the transcript of that interview with the fashion-conscious designer who in his spare time organizes rock shows and worships Evanescence.

 

When was rockbj.com set up and by whom?

I started to make preparation for this website in April, 2005 and this website was completely established on October 1st in the same year.

 

Why was the site set up ? What was your plan?

I am fanatic about rock music, the idea of setting up this website was a sudden brainstorm. Before this website, I had a very small personal website with some rock-related staff I liked very much. As I was colleting information, I gradually understood rock music much deeper and I found there were great potentials in China’s rock music field. I thought I should do something to unite those rock Chinese rock music power in order to affect more people and draw more attention on rock music.

 How many people work on the site?

Currently there are eight people in Beijing and there are also many representatives in different regions . And for sure, they all love rock music as I do. Besides, many of my friends are helping me and supporting me now and I extend my thanks to them all.

Which parts of the website are most popular with users?

I feel all parts are warmly welcomed by our users. We have more than 30 sections on the site and each boasts of its own feature. These parts include news, audio files, videos, chatting tools and more.

 What can you offer musicians that other similar websites can't?

We concentrate more on the combination of on-line activities and off-line music events. For example, we often organize events at bars, in the open air and on campus to provide musicians with a broader stage and more performing opportunities.

I've seen your name regularly on posters for rock concerts. Do you run your own shows?

Yes, we often organize shows of different styles. We have organized more than 30 shows since the website established and has cooperated with other media in countless shows.

 

Which artists and events proved most popular recently on your site?

Artists and bands on our website are carefully chosen by us and I think they are all excellent.  As for events, we organized the May 1st Metal Music Festival the other days which lasted 2 days. Each day the venue was full of people including many friends from abroad and from other cities of China for two days. We are now organizing several bands to go to the south to take part in an event called “Rock the Weekend, Cheer for the Olympics”. Also we are organizing a charity show to collect money for our compatriots who are suffering an terrible earthquake disaster. We are trying to call for all people in the rock circle to commit their love and duties to the society.

Is Cui Jian being replaced by bands like Carsick Cars as the most important name in Chinese alternative music?

Mr. Cui Jian is the godfather of Chinese rock music. I believe that nobody is able to take his place. We are just continuing on the rode he used to be on, developing things inherited from him. As true rock fans, each of us plays different roles in everyday life, but we have shouldered the same responsibility, that is, to unite together to make the rock music market better and better.

 What's the reason for the recent bloom in rock music talent and venues inBeijing?

This is closely related to the development of the society, varied cultural life and the needs for rock music in the market. This is a very good phenomenon, a sign of progress. In recent years, rock music has grown very fast and of course this cannot be parted from the push power from the Internet and a deeper understand of rock among people. Another important factor that can’t be ignored is rock music itself has developed a lot. It’s no longer closed but more and more open and free to other music forms and this broadened its audiences. Now rock fans listen to Jay Chou’s songs and Jay Chou’s fans also listen to rock. There should be  no boundaries among music of different styles and only in this way can rock music step onto a bigger stage in China.

What's the best rock concert you saw recently?

Nightwish, Dreamtheater’s concerts in Beijing. Both of them are fantastic! I love John Petrucci’s music very much. Though it’s been a couple of months since  I went to those 2 concerts, I’m still quite impressed by the professional lights, acoustic impact and especially the music. I hope more excellent rock bands could come to Beijing for further communication.

What's the best CD you've listened to?

The Open Door by Evanescence, released in 2006. I’ve been listening to it till now and I love both the music style and the music editing. These songs are soft, beautiful and full of emotions, like epics. Also I have listened a lot good CDs of my friend’s bands in Chinese rock circle. But that’s too many to introduce one after another.

 

 

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There is a debate taking place on the CLUAS discussion board at the moment regarding a review published on this site recently.  It's not a new discussion, indeed Key Notes has lost count of the number of times the topic has come up since he joined CLUAS.  At the core of the argument is that those who don't write reviews for music websites seem to think that a reviewer should know everything there is to know about a musician from the weight of plec used by the lead guitarist while recording the last album right through to how much the drummer paid for his last haircut.  This, you say, is the only way you could possibly give a fair and balanced review. 

Key Notes, as you will gather, disagrees.  You see, the mistake people seem to make is to assume that music critiquing is an objective process.  It's not.  If you've ever sat down to write a review, it's one of the most subjective processes imaginable.  There is, despite what you may have been told, no such thing as good or bad music.  Like any art form, there are only musical performances that you have enjoyed or you have not enjoyed, be they live or recorded.  Sometimes, there can be a very good reason for you not liking a performance.  The production may have been awful or the singer may have been so off his face he'd forgotten the words to his own songs.  These are perfectly valid reasons for not enjoying a gig and therefore giving it a bad review.  But a gig isn't just about the music is it?

There are times, we've all had them, when the band(s) have been okay but it's been something else that's caused you to walk out thinking: 'I didn't really enjoy that.'  It can be little things like the girl beside you not shutting up the whole way through or the singers annoying habit of discussing at length the meaning of each song before playing it.  You might say that isn't really important but when you're actually there such events are hugely significant and can take away from your enjoyment of the performance and therefore have to be reflected in your assessment.  For what it's worth, Key Notes' method is to go into a gig giving it 10/10 and taking points away for things that he finds aren't as good - as in events that take away from the enjoyment of the gig - as they should be.  This, he reasons, allows every band, even ones he isn't so well versed on, the opportunity of scoring well. However, Key Notes is also well aware that each writer has a different writing style and a different way of scoring his/her reviews.

The point this blog is trying to make is that a review can never - despite the accusation being made all to often - be 'wrong.'  A review is a critical assessment of an event, not a promotional exercise for a band or an excuse for a writer to show off how much he/she knows about music.  Every review written on this site by our team of writers is written with honesty, integrity and in the knowledge that while grammar and spelling may be edited, their opinion never will.  That is the main reason Key Notes gives up his free time for CLUAS and one of the reasons why we remain Ireland's leading independent music website. 

If, however, you feel that your opinion differs so much from our review that you cannot fight the urge to put finger to keyboard, CLUAS has always provided you with the opportunity to submit your own via this page. 

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Born in Cannes and raised in Bordeaux, Kim Stanislas Giani makes music under his (not 'her') first name. His new album, 'Don Lee Doo', has just come out. It's a joyous, colourful mish-mash of pop, electro and rock.

Amazingly, 'Don Lee Doo' (right) is Kim's 17th album in 14 years, and he's just 31. Since releasing his debut, 'Our Dolly Lady in MK Land', in 1996, he's built up a cult following with that impressive output of limited-edition releases. High-profile fans include Herman Dune and Beck.

Kim is just as prolific with MySpace pages as he is with albums. His blog lists one  two  three  four  five  SIX pages! (All this work probably explains why his website hasn't been updated in ages.) Take a tour of all his MySpace pages to hear Kim tracks old and new.

Somehow he finds time to play live. His next Paris show is this Wednesday (21 May) - but as that's the same night as the Champions League final, your blogger won't be there - but we hope to see him back in the French capital in the first week of June. No Irish dates on his agenda yet.

There's more! He makes his own videos too! From 'Don Lee Doo', here's Kim's promo for 'When The River Turns Round':

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Email inboxes were overflowing over the weekend with invites to concerts organised to help victims of last week's earthquake. Well done to  the bands like the Verse, Laolang, Wanxiaoli and Chasing Stars who gave their services in one of several seemingly spontaneous gigs put on around the city. Other prescheduled gigs were also giving their share. The excellent folk-jazz band Panjir gave the takings from their RMB30 t-shirt sales at their Stone Boat show to the Red Cross.

Next up is the "MONEY IS NOT NOTHING" show this Wednesday night at bewish venue ROOM101 next to the Andinmen Hotel. Eight bands have signed up for the seven-till-late gig. RMB30 (EUR3) donation at the door. But donate RMB100 and you get a "WenShuan, we will be with you" T-shirt. Donate 200rmb, get one diamond make-up mirror luxury package, whatever that is. There's also a "special cocktail service" with all takings from food and drink on the night also going to the Red Cross.

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Every high-powered and influential player in the information marketplace depends on a crack team of news-gatherers. Even your Paris correspondent, neither high-powered nor influential nor a player in any marketplace, has his own network of spies, moles, informants, tippers-off and so forth. 

For instance, we have an army of shoe-shine boys working Charles de Gaulle Airport, keeping an eye out for any jet-set pop stars trying to slip discreetly into France. The flock of birds outside Notre Dame? Carrier pigeons, ready to take off for Chateau French Letter with the word on the boulevard. Then there's the pop star we got married off to the President of France; that took a lot of work but it's paid off handsomely. (Our copy of the M83 album was delivered to us by nuclear sub up the Seine.) 

And even in Ireland we have our people, our équipe. Dublin-based French blogger and lighting engineer extraordinaire Por La Carretera (a code-name, of course) tells us that The Walls (right) are playing in Paris next week. Stay tuned for more hot Franco-Irish music gossip from the lampie-desk, pop's equivalent of the water-cooler. 

Anyway, Steve and Joe and the other fellas will be at the Entrepôt near Montparnasse on Friday 23 May.

You can check out details of their upcoming Czech dates and third-album progress on their MySpace page. Here they are rocking St John's Church in Dingle with 'Open Road':

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