Folie à Deux (with Sarah)

Folie à Deux (With Sarah) *30

Last weeks  Folie à Deux (with Sarah) is now up…!

Tunes from Aphex Twin (roar), Not Squares ( in the Button Factory tonight!!), Battles, Phantogram, We Cut Corners (in Whelanslive Sat night - woop!) The Funeral Suits, Sbtrkt, Sleigh Bells and loads more.

‘No Yammer, None of the Time’

Have a listen!

Hidden Agenda Presents : Selebrities & Slow Magic at The Grand Social – In Review

Hidden Agenda Presents : Selebrities & Slow Magic at The Grand Social – In Review

(support from Tandem Felix who I missed. Chagrin.)

Selebrities

Selebrities - an American three-piece who personify the 80s ‘revival’. They are synthy and noisy, and atmospheric samples hover and billow behind the vocal lines – that are delivered with a deadpan, detached nonchalance – it all sounds very promising. But Friday night’s gig in the Grand Social, though enjoyable, was a tale of many and often converse opinions. Songs such as ‘When I Look at You’ or the recently released ‘Night Heat‘ were winners, with deep bassy synth sounds that verge towards ominous, lovely slow booming drum lines (despite being delivered on an electronic drumkit) and constant breathy, panted vocals. But their set, for me, was littered with all too apparent ‘references’ of 80′s pop gems – including Joey Scarsbury’s ‘Believe It or Not’, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Hungry Heart’ and basically anything New Order ever produced. For me, the points of reference were all too visible, and my constant brain-scanning for the what-song-does-that-song-sound-like distracted and detracted from the set. Forewarned, and if you can set such music-nerd tendencies aside, Selebrities are a good live show – one worth catching alongside their tour partner, Slow Magic.

Walking back into the ‘Loft’ of the Grand Social for the headline act on Friday night – Slow Magic– I was instantly transfixed. Standing onstage behind an Apple Mac and a massive floor tom, face hidden behind a multicolored foxes head mask, the man that is Slow Magic – or our ‘unknown imaginary friend’ – was visually bewitching, and the thick bass sounds reverberating through my entire body, deliciously tangible. Immersed in each dreamy, electronic soundscape were gorgeous keynote melodies, be they piano compositions (Sorry Safari) or delicious synth additions (Feel Flows) or a haunting vocal sample. All accompanied by the thrashing of ever-snapping drumsticks on the sole floor tom, I actually couldn’t take my eyes the man behind the mask (or should that be the mask hiding the man?). Coupled with the stunning visuals provided by Feel Good Lost, the entire set was great, though it made me lament the rather unspectacular turn out in the Grand Social on this particular Friday for such a notable act.

Feel Good Lost (Visuals) 

Admittedly, I have been a fan of Feel Good Lost‘s work for quite a while now – the work they have produced for acts such as Sacred Animals v. Owensie (Cat & Mouse), Mmoths (Summer &Thnx) and most recently, Slow Magic (Corvette Cassette) – but streaming onto and behind a live act, the visuals by Cork team Brendan Canty and Conal Thompson come into their own. There is an otherworldly feel to their work, a concentration on filming natural or seemingly unremarkable things, and through clever and beautiful editing and post-production, elevating these things to something very special. Friday’s show was the perfect accompaniment to both acts, but Slow Magic’s set in particular, the shadowed relief of his masked drumming cutting dark slices through the visual projections. Gorgeous. 

Sarah O’ Neill
@folieadeuxS

The Maccabees / We Cut Corners - In Review

The Maccabees / We Cut Corners - In Review

The Academy

March 3, 2012

Despite the sad-looking refreshment-denying hoods on the taps of the bar in the Academy for this over 14s gig, there was no doubt in my mind that the night was going to be a good one and even with my high expectations, I wasn’t disappointed.

As the Maccabees took to the stage, the temperature rose exponentially with anticipation and the crowd reciprocated their arrival by peeling of the layers of clothes they had put on to, in many cases, run across to the Twisted Pepper next door to grab a quick (alcoholic) drink between bands. ‘Child’ – a track off the Maccabees newly released Given To The Wild album – was the opening gambit for the band, enticing an already game crowd into a bouncing frenzy. Their set constantly fluctuates between singular vocal or guitar lines that rise into blaring, cacophonous soundscapes, pitch-perfect to the recorded versions on the albums. ‘Glimmer’ was a great performance, a gorgeous synth/piano line introduction with nuanced, David Lynch-esque noises balancing sincere and beautiful vocal lines, which were just about heard above the harmonies of the crowd. The band, on what was the first night of a tour that will span thirteen dates around the UK and Ireland, suggested that they felt a touch rusty, though you’d never have guessed it, given the performance of a mix of songs spanning their discography. ‘Grew Up At Midnight’ was the closing track of what turned out to be a three song encore (which I always feel slightly defeats the purpose of an ‘encore’) which initially I thought to be an odd choice, but the sonic intensity at the end of the song proved me damn wrong on that opinion. The whole show was an absolute blinder – the sweaty crowd leaving the building a testament to the great performances by both acts, the only even slightly disgruntled attendee being the bouncer who was often wrestling to get revellers down off the shoulders of others.

Awesome.

Sarah O’ Neill
@FolieadeuxS

Photos by Gareth Sharkey.

Ghost Estates ‘October’ Single Launch (w. White Collar Boy, Bouts & The North Sea)

Ghost Estates - October Single Launch In Review

Support from White Collar Boy, Bouts & The North Sea.

The Grand Social

White Collar Boy

White Collar Boy had the dubious honor of kicking off the night on friday to a sparse enough, still trying to get home from work and leg it to the pub crowd on Friday night, but they did so in style. Mark Cummins and Gavin White are the twosome that make up White Collar Boy, and they have been a recurring act on bills all around town in the past few months, with their melodious electronic synth noisiness hitting the mark with punters and critics alike.  Tonight was no different, the gathering crowd bounced along to the pairs’ quick fire half hour set,  through their catalogue of layered, electronic songs, which range from shoegazey (damn i hate that term, even if it is accurate), to syncopated house beats, to full on electronic goodness. The final song “Another Way” in particular was great, all noises and cant-help-but-dance-around beats, ending with a massive wave of distorted noise that literally enveloped everyone in the crowd like a wave of smoke. Mmmmm, distortion. Debut E.P., Solar Midnight, is on the White Collar Bandcamp for free download, but a brand new as-yet-untitled E.P. is also due to be released as a 12”  Vinyl on Record Store Day, April 21. The next couple months sees the duo do a few dates around the rest of the country as well, so keep your eyes peeled.

Bouts

Bouts were the second band to hit the stage and i was anxious to catch them, having only recently realized that their self-titled E.P. is, in fact, really fucking great. (I had had a cursory listen a few months ago, and for shame, had not given it its due). Onstage the four piece are just as tight as their recordings, and they have a nice bit of banter on stage too - always a winner. As a point of musical reference, their sound is a sort of distillation of all the best elements of 90s rock, Weezer meets Soundgarden meets Nirvana, if you will. They played all the lyrically oriented songs on their E.P., including my own personal favorite “We Tried”, as well as knocking out a new song, albeit with I’m-not-sure-we’re-gonna-get-this-right half smiles on all their faces, and it was great to see a band who’s live deliverance of their music diverge slightly from the recordings, keeps it interesting and fresh for both the audience and band. The final song of the night, was notable for its awesomely distorted guitars betwixt with jangles from a bell thing, and elicited a few excited classic rock poses from the bassist, and simultaneous guitar swings at the end of the set. Bouts 7” vinyl has just been pressed, and all you folks out there can get your hands on it very soon, if you’re not so impatient that you just go straight to their bandcamp to check them out!

The North Sea

Despite being a fairly longstanding partner of Ghost Estates at previous shows, this was in fact my first time to see The North Sea (how? I have no idea), but it was great to finally catch the quintet in action. Live, it feels like there are loads of them on stage - i counted about 4 times to make sure there was only five (definitely five, final answer) and they make a lot of noise. Guitar driven, vocal heavy narratives are what these boys do, and do well. “I’ve Seen Everything Now” is a little belter of a tune, that starts with a vulnerable-feeling single guitar line, but escalates quickly to incorporate every instrument onstage as a backdrop to singer Eoin Kenny’s vocals, with some lovely harmonies that for some reason brought a comparison to SquareHead to my mind. If you didn’t catch them this time round, you can head down to Sweeny’s Friday March 3rd, where they will be sharing a stage with The Debutantes, Girl Band and Dot. Alternitively, you can jump on the internet, google The North Sea, and find them on “about page 50, after all the stuff about the ACTUAL North Sea” - their words, not mine! The North Sea are releasing their debut E.P. in April which you can buy if you’re “feeling fond” - god, these Dublin collolquiisms get me every time - but for now you can have a sneak peek at the track “Decay” on their Breaking Tunes page, which was recorded with Ghost Estates own Dan Doherty.

Ghost Estates

You know its a seriously special night when a paisley shirt and trousers  come out to play (Dan Doherty), and it was the launch of Ghost Estates third single “October”, so the outfit was bang on to be fair. The hitherto low key crowd practically launched themselves at the stage as the lads bounced on, clearly in cracking form, and energetic as ever throughout their set. Kicking off with “Winter’s Day”, I was immediately reminded of how much i like these guys live. They are all foot-stomping, wild-eyed ferociousness on stage, the sweat pouring off of them being a testament to that fact! They stormed though their set, highlights being, of course, the epic, building explosion of a song that is “October”, the synthy gorgeousness of “Paris” with its great historical vocal sample, alongside what was to be their closer, “Pop Song”, save for the fact that the insistent crowd chanted for one more tune, to which the boys obliged with a second rendition of the song of the night “October”.,  much to the bouncers dismay, seeing as they were hurriedly setting about clearing the place out for Noel Gallagher’s after party - damn you Noel Gallagher. The second go-round of the launches namesake song riled the crowd into a bit of a frenzy, with singer Dan bounding out into the audience, a consummate showman. 

It was a super launch, with a great buzz between all the bands that were playing on the night. And if the amount of Ghost Estates be-decked punters were anything to go by, damn successful.