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MTV has launched a new reality show about a group of photogenic surfers in Maui entitled 'Maui Fever', and focusing on the sexy, good times lifestyle of surfers who are also, probably, professional models. The photo to the right says it all. The shows airs on January 20th on Mainstage Sunday, MTV Ireland.

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Halfway down the Champs-Elysées there's a huge statue of Charles de Gaulle. It captures the General in his glorious moment as he strode down the grand old boulevard on 26 August 1945, the symbolic act which confirmed the liberation of Paris from the Nazi forces. On the statue's plinth are engraved his famous words from that day: "Paris! Paris outragée! Paris brisée! Paris martyrisée! Mais Paris libérée!" (Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyrised! But Paris free!). It's an evocative blend of suffering and triumph, of tragic history and glorious destiny - and it's almost impossible to read those words without hearing in your mind's ear the opening bars of 'Je Ne Regrette Rien' as sung by Edith Piaf. Like de Gaulle, Piaf's singing more than symbolises France - it seems to embody it.

No doubt there'll be resurgent interest in Piaf now, thanks to Marion Cotillard's Golden Globe-winning portrayal of her in 'La Vie En Rose'. Strangely, that's not the film's title in France - here it's called 'La Mome', which means anything from 'the kid' to 'the chick' to 'the sweetheart'.

Cynics may sneer that Piaf's melodramatic life makes for lazy cinema; just point the camera at her squalid upbringing, triumphant success, tragic romance with the ill-fated Marcel Cernan (and his own glamorous world of '50s middleweight boxing) and the last years of sad decline, and the story will tell itself. And isn't Hollywood currently obsessed with rewarding biopic roles that are often just glorified impersonations? With beautiful actresses making themselves up as unglamorous, long-suffering heroines? Despite all that, Cotillard is a fine actress and fully deserves international recognition.

Piaf certainly merits lasting worldwide fame - and her singing is matched by her acting. That is to say, few other singers bring such dramatic range and emotional strength to their performances - and (even more rare) Piaf did it in both English and French with nothing lost in translation. Her most famous international songs are 'Je Ne Regrette Rien/No Regrets' and 'La Vie En Rose', but surely her greatest performance is 'Hymne A L'Amour' (sometimes known in English as 'If You Love Me' or 'Hymn To Love'). It begins with the singer reserved and hesitant with emotion, then moves into a middle section of self-questioning and fearful uncertainty, before ending with a powerful declaration of love that's as triumphant as de Gaulle's march down the Champs-Elysées.

Wouldn't it be strange if Cotillard's Piaf were to battle with Cate Blanchett's Dylan for an Oscar? Should Cate's Bob-job beat out Piaf, we can just console ourselves that there are greater prizes than shiny baubles. Here's 'Hymne A L'Amour' - if you're watching in your workplace, now would be a good time to pretend that you've got dust in your eye:

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In the last few years it has been as clear as crystal to me that there were - and continue to be - so many things that CLUAS needed to do better (or, for that matter, just simply start doing). Finding time to do them for me has always been a problem.

Thankfully 2007 saw some essential building blocks finally get put in place - the launch of the CLUAS blogs, rolling out the ability for writers to directly publish reviews to the site themselves and optimisation of the site for search engines (one result of which is that Google now features new CLUAS articles usually within - literally - minutes of them being published). The last 12 months also saw CLUAS secure thousands of valuable new links to the site (of which several hundred links were from authoritative international websites).

Important and all as it was to make these advances - and those that I mention were were only part of the site's 2007 story - there remains a ton of stuff that needs to be done. 2008 should see us make many necessary strides.

Building on the solid foundation we now have following the progress made in 2007, CLUAS' goals in the coming year include getting the following (non-exhaustive) list of things sorted (and many of them are already getting off the ground). Read on...

Increase the number of interviews of Irish bands on the site: It's a bit of an understatement but CLUAS needs to greatly increase the number of interviews of Irish bands that we do. Up to now it has been a bit ad hoc: a writer decides of their own initiative to interview an act and goes and does it. The CLUAS writing team needs to get more systematic about this. First step towards this is to get someone to take on the role of coordinating all our interview efforts. I am not talking about someone who actually does all the interviews but someone who ensures that writers are systematically identifying interesting bands to interview and organising the interviews (with the interviews being done in the main via email considering the amount of time a face to face or telephone interview can take to finalise for publishing). Ken Fallon, who recently interviewed God is an Astronaut for CLUAS, has since agreed to take this coordination role, starting in February. Nice one, Ken.

Ensure we review every Irish album of note released in 2008: We need to be sure we are systematically reviewing all Irish album releases of note. This is something we have - alas - not been doing well enough. Some basic steps towards achieving this are already taking shape behind the scenes.

Get more copies of albums to review: We need to get more albums to review than we did last year from labels and PR companies. A number of initiatives on this front have already been taken in the last week.

Review more gigs: In 2007 CLUAS writers Steven O'Rourke & Daragh Murray set things up so that CLUAS writers can get press passes for CLUAS writers to most of the quality gigs happening around the country. Problem has been that CLUAS writers have not taken full advantage of this. Steven has plans to sort this out in the coming year. Encouraging music nuts to go to quality gigs for free shouldn't be too difficult a task, should it?

A new blog focused on the most interesting corners of the Irish music scene: This is something that has been in the pipeline for a while - a new blog about interesting acts on the Irish music scene that all the CLUAS writers can contribute to (with Anna Murray overseeing it). This will finally happen. Watch this space.

Refresh of the website's look and feel: CLUAS could do with a new wash of virtual paint, a freshening up of its look and feel, however one that does not abandon completely the look and feel that has got us to where we are today. This will be a fairly major project and is one I have already started doing some ground work for. For example you may have noticed a change in the last week to the CLUAS home page. In techie terms I migrated the layout from a "table-based" layout (i.e. what should really be called "web layout for the lazy") to a pure "CSS positioning" layout. I plan to elaborate on this in more detail in a seperate blog entry as what I did brings many, many advantages and improvements to the single most important page of the site. Anyways, this shift to CSS positioning is one I want to (nay, need to) spread over the rest of the site before slapping on a new look and feel. (Aside: an additional consequence of this shift to CSS positioning is that the full CLUAS site will, in due course, be browsable by the iPhone and other cutting edge phone-based browsers as they emerge).

Regularly upgrade the technology the site uses: I'll share a dirty little secret. When over a year ago (at the end of 2006) I migrated the site to the new technology we use (DotNetNuke) I had some doubts if it was the right choice (there were many other Content Management Systems I could have chosen, DotNetNuke was not the perfect fit for us but it seemed to be 'good enough' and I had to stop waiting for perfection and just pick a system). One year on I am now convinced it was not only the right choice but - long term - the best choice for the site. DotNetNuke has really matured since we first started using it in Nov 2006. There is an extremely busy and skilled community of volunteers that are constantly improving the core technology and adding useful new functionality. The following are just a few of the improvements you can expect on CLUAS in 2008 thanks to advances in this technology:

• Improved interface to the CLUAS blogs: a new version of the blog module we use has been released. I have not yet installed it on CLUAS but, as you will see, it makes for a more attractive blog interface (and it also sorts out the issue of carriage returns in any blog comments being ignored).
• Ability for writers to directly publish features & interviews: new functionality scheduled for Spring 2008 will allow us to have writers publish interviews & features direct to the site without any need for my intervention.
• Improvements to the discussion board: A new improved version of the discussion board will be out in the coming 2 months, another update is then foreseen 6 months later.

Securing more links to CLUAS: On the WWW one of the most valuable currencies for a website is links. 2007 was - without doubt - our single most successful year ever in securing links, both in terms of number and quality of links attracted. However a fair chunk of our future success depends on not just continuing this but also increasing the number of links we attract. We're on it.

Increase the use of polls on the Discussion board: Towards the end of 2007 we tested the waters with the poll function of the CLUAS Discussion board. Used properly it can be a nifty little addition to the board and in 2008 we should use it more often (but not over do it). The most recent poll we added to the site is for who you think should win the Choice Music Prize from the shortlisted albums (be sure to vote!) Expect more of those in the coming year.

Finally.... preparing for CLUAS.com's 10th birthday in 2009: CLUAS will be 10 years old in 2009. The plan is to mark the occasion in an ambitious fashion. There are a number of possible routes we could take but as the year progresses we should have a clearer picture of what we'll be doing. Once again, watch this space.

Would you like to be part of all this? Then all you need to do is submit an article, even a 200 word review of an album or a gig will do the job! You can then expect to receive free albums to review and access to press passes to gigs around the country of your own choosing.

In a nutshell, we're in great shape but - as you excuse the cliché - the best is yet to come.

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The Choice Music Prize is now in its third year and, to date, Key Notes has a 0% record in predicting the winner.  However, the third time's the charm and, to celebrate my confidence of a positive result this time, I'm not only going to predict the winner, but the shortlist also.  Now, clearly, this could blow up in Key Notes face, but along with Nialler and Shane, it's only meant as a bit of fun so Key Notes expects no angry letters or calls to Liveline if he's wrong.

The Shortlist 

Cathy Davey - Tales of Silversleeve 

Future Kings of Spain - Nervousystem 

Mumblin' Deaf Ro - The Herring & the Brine 

The Flaws - Achieving Vagueness

Roisin Murphy - Overpowered  

 Adrian Crowley - Long Distance Swimmer 

A Lazarus Soul - Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars 

God is an Astronaut - Far From Refuge 

Jenny Lindfors - When the Night Time Comes 

Delorentos - In Love With Detail

The Winner

So, here goes nothing, the winner of the Choice Music Prize 2008 will be: *insert drum roll* Adrian Crowley for Long Distance Swimmer.  Remember kids, you read it here first.  Future Kings and Cathy Davey will both be unlucky to miss out.

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The annual Eurosonic festival takes place this weekend (10-12 January) in Groningen in the Netherlands, as part of the Noorderslag music conference. Given the pan-continental vibe of the whole thing, it's appropriate that it kicks off with a concert by that all-inclusive Scandinavian pop collective, I'm From Barcelona.

As well as being a massive industry symposium, Eurosonic features live performances by over 250 new and emerging acts from across the continent, chosen either from applicants or those nominated to perform by the music community of their home country.

For instance, 2FM are sending Cathy Davey and Republic Of Loose on our behalf, and both Si Schroeder and Halves have also been chosen to represent Ireland. So, four fine acts representing us and themselves at Europe's most important and prestigious music showcase. G'wan Oirland!!!!

France will have 12 acts at Eurosonic - and, as you'd expect, France's position as market leader in electronica will be emphasised during the showcase. Irish music fans may know TTC, who played at The Village in Dublin last May. That is, a small number of Irish music fans - as Nialler9 tells it, there were only around 70 or 80 punters on the night, many of whom were falling-around drunk. Anyway, TTC contributors Para One and Orgasmic will DJ at a special night for Teki Latex's label, Institubes, which will also include turns from DJs Bobmo and Surkin.

Readers of this blog (a bit classier and more numerous than those TTC fans, we're glad to say) will recognise the name of electro-disco-poppeuse Yelle, whose colourful and hyperactive 'Pop-Up' featured in our list of Best French Albums of 2007.

Other French electro at Eurosonic '08 includes the Krautrock-influenced Zombie-Zombie, the hardcore techno of DJ and producer Leonard de Leonard, Greek-born singer Olga Kouklaki and the Latino-flavoured P18 project of Tom Darnal, formerly of Manu Chao's old band Mano Negra.

As for the indie kids, Franco-Finnish duo The Dø (pronounced 'doh' like the first note of the musical scale) are currently enjoying massive radio exposure in France with their debut single 'On My Shoulders'.

Singer Olivia Merilahti's blackboard-scraping voice may grate the nerves, but in a post-Blunt world anything goes. Expect to hear them (pictured left) on your Eire-waves during 2008.

The two lads in AaRON (that's how it must be written) were shortlisted for the 2007 Prix Constantin, France's equivalent of the Choice and Mercury prizes. They scored a sizeable hit with their maudlin piano ballad 'Lili', which will probably be a big hit with the SHUSH!-ers at Groningen and beyond.

Acoustic singer-songer Soko gained a cult following with her song 'I'll Kill Her', which became something of an internet hit in France last year. She can't sing and the song is a half-written shambles... but it seems that a venomous chorus is enough to sway large numbers of French indie fans. 

To pick one of that French contingent for international success in deux mille huit, our preference would be Yelle or the TTC lads... but realism dictates that we go for The Do. Doh! We mean, The Dø. Anyway, here's them live in Bordeaux playing 'On My Shoulders'. It has already featured in a French TV ad for stationery, but we hear it more as the soundtrack to some US series where the happy-go-lucky heroine is having boy trouble:

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In France these days it's nothing but Sarko, Sarko, Sarko. The French president seems to be on the cover of every magazine, usually a flattering portrait with a sycophantic headline like 'The Sarkozy Enigma' or 'Sarkozy: How Does He Do It?' or 'Sarkozy: Behind The Scenes'. Even if you don't read these magazines, their posters are plastered on the kiosks that line the larger Paris boulevards. It's all unavoidable.

All this Sarko-mania stepped up a gear with news of his romance with former model and singer Eva Brauni - sorry, we mean Carla Bruni. It now seems that they will get married on 9 February; will it be a national holiday? The ceremony live on TV? And will Carla's new album, due for release later this year, be played on all state occasions?

But the future French First Lady is not the only pop star in the family - it seems that we've been listening to the Sarkozy clan's musical efforts for quite a while without realising it. French press reports that Pierre Sarkozy, 23, works as a rap producer under the name of Mosey.

Even better, Mosey/Sarko Jr (left, with Timbaland) has produced tracks for French rapper Poison, who happens to write hardcore anti-Sarkozy lyrics such as "anti-Sarko / anti-right / Nicolas don't you hear? / We're anti-you".

France has a piece of legislation on its statute books, the French Press Freedom Law of 1881, which outlaws insults to the President. The last known enforcement of this law was in the mid-60s, when a heckler was arrested for booing General de Gaulle as he drove along the Champs-Elysées in the Bastille Day parade.

While Interior Minister, just until his election as President, Nicolas Sarkozy is believed to have initiated the prosecution of several hardcore French rappers for the violent anti-police nature of their lyrics.

In one high-profile case during 2006 and early 2007, two French MPs of Sarkozy's UMP party brought charges of incitement to hatred and sexism against a rapper called Monsieur R, whose single 'FranSSe' featured a video with topless dancers (female, of course) in front of the national flag, and whose lyrics inferred that France was a 'salope' (slut). The twin capital S in the song's title reflects the track's comparison of France's governing class with the Nazi regime. Monsieur R also raps that he 'pisses on Napoleon and General de Gaulle'.

Both charges were thrown out of court. It remains to be seen if young Sarkozy will face similar court action for helping those who diss his old man, president of France. 

(On a slightly-related point of freedom of expression, we sincerely recommend Aoife McIndieHour's excellent article on an imprisoned Saudi blogger, based on Aoife's own experiences of growing up in Saudi Arabia)

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Firstly, Short Cuts apologises for the length of time between this and the last entry - a situation which will hopefully be remedied by a New Year's Resolution (!).

As is now customary in the 00s (the decade of lists?), Short Cuts has, at last, decided to reveal its releases of 2007 in descending order. But first, let's discuss the disappointments of the past 12 months. There were two that hung over the year like stale smoke.

After a blistering gig in the Enmore theatre as documented by Short Cuts back in April here, Wilco released the MOR Sky Blue Sky. Moving from alt to schmaltz, the record was lazy and confined. Impossible Germany, the only classic song to be added to the Wilco canon, shone like a beacon. What that record could have been... In addition, Short Cuts noted the enmity between 50 Cent and Kanye West prior to their simultaneous album launches. West's Graduation turned out to be the lesser of his "School Triumverate" - it was bloated, lacking in melody and class.

Now onto the list. Bubbling under were The Shepherd's Dog by Iron and Wine, Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Radiohead's In Rainbows. As always, Short Cuts welcomes comments, insults and the rest!

10 - Under the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley.

A pure pop confection of the highest quality. As has been noted in the reviews, there is more than a whiff of Fleetwood Mac here but don't let that put you off. The production quality is high, the guitars preen and Jenny Lewis' lovely voice wraps itself deliciously around songs about losing one's virginity (15), sex for cash (Moneymaker) and threesomes (Dejalo). Spot the theme?

9 - Raising Sands by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Plant (whose one night stand with the surviving members of Led Zep was the only serious rival to Radiohead's In Rainbows as Musical Event of the Year) and Krauss cover a collection of folk, country and blues standards under the watchful gaze of T Bone Burnett. The result was, for me, the loveliest record of the year. It just swoons out of the speakers.  

8 - Baby 81 by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Every self-respecting Best Of list needs a turned-up-to-11, air guitar fest and Black Rebel provided it in Black Spades this year. From the off (Took Out a Loan), the record is compulsive rock'n'roll. Snarling lyrics and thumping drums ensure that the Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons still hold water. But... when the tunes are this good, who cares?

7 - Overpowered by Roisin Murphy

The title track was the Single of the Year - a brash, confident pop song that Kylie, Madonna, Gwen and others of that ilk would give up some serious botox time for. I've always had a soft spot for this kind of sugar rush electro pop. Until the next Goldfrapp release, Overpowered will be on rotation when I need my music to put a smile on my face. Roisin Murphy remains undervalued. A shame. 

6 - Moby Grape by Moby Grape

Blending 5 voices and 2 lead guitars, the rerelease of Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 release introduced me to  my new favourite 60s band. Mixing pop, blues, country and whatever the hell else they fancied, Moby Grape is pure West Coast US heaven. There isn't a bad song on here but Omaha and Fall On You are particularly special.

 5 - Cruel Guards by The Panics

Undoubtedly the Australian album of the year, Perth's The Panics made a record that referenced the 80s, hip hop and pure old-fashioned songwriting. This young foursome have a knack for writing uplifting tunes that are completely moreish. A useful skill. Check out the video for their excellent single - Don't Fight It - here.

4 - Time Machine (A Best Of) by Shack

What a band! Shack have released 3 classic albums in my lifetime (Waterpistol, HMS Fable and The Corner of Miles and Gil) yet they are virtually unknown to all you music lovers out there. This timely (geddit?) compilation will convince you all how right I am - their brilliance is taking the humdrum (Cup of Tea) and making it magical. As good as the Stone Roses and Oasis, these Scousers make perfect psychedelic pop. 

 3 - Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem

Are LCD Soundsystem too cool for school? Short Cuts used to think so but this new record proves how utterly wrong that perception is. It is a cool record. But in a good way. Referencing Bowie, disco, Krautrock and dance, James Murphy seems to be able to mesh all this together into something that is addictive, fun yet strangely moving too. North American Scum was a great single too. 

 2 - 23 by Blonde Redhead

This record came out of left field for me. With a male and female lead vocal mix, lush production and gorgeous haunting tunes, 23 has been the record Short Cuts has played most on his MP3 player this year. Ergo it is the new release of the year. Imagine a less obtuse and wilful My Bloody Valentine and you might get close. Dreamy stuff.

 1 - The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark

Now I know that a 28 year old bluegrass rerelease of 2 albums on a single disk (that was not even released in 2007!) may strike you all as an unusual choice for Release of the Year. But but but... it's just bloody fantastic. So warm, mellow, tuneful. Gene Clark, of course, went on to great fame with the Byrds but he never bettered these two records he made with guitarist/banjoist Doug Dillard in the late 60s. The highlight is the first record (what a moniker!). Why Not Your Baby was covered by Velvet Crush on their seminal Teenage Symphonies to God. Mournful and joyous mix on this simply brilliant compilation.

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