Where is the fighting man...?

...am I he?!

Primordial are Ireland's premier metal band - they're one of a select number of Irish underground acts who have made an impact on any sort of international level.

The release of their most recent album, To The Nameless Dead in November 2007 along with many high profile festival appearances have definitley pushed them into the upper echalons of the international metal scene.

Last month they released their a live recording of their massive January 2009 show filmed in Dublin's Button Factory along with some bonus documentary material. The live show is awesome, with the setlist ignoring none of the bands six studio albums and drawing heavily from TTND.

My only minor gripe is that the DVD is actually from this particular show - their previous gig in the same venue, almost one year to the day before, is one of the best shows I've seen from any band, ever.


Singer A.A. Nementheanga

The below video is actualy from that particular gig in January 2008. Make no mistake though, with all that said, this performace is immaculate and the set is more than comprehensive!

Highlights include, the show opener 'Empire Falls', 'Cast to the Pyre' from 'Storm Before Calm' (one I really wasn't expecting) and particularly 'As Rome Burns'.

Epic is a word that is bandied about almost as much as 'random' is these days, but if there's any song, especially live, that is worthy of this mantle, it's As Rome Burns. It's mid-section is the kind of thing that most bands could only aspire to write.

The documentary is the real gem of this package for, with interviews from the band describing their early origins in the tape trading scene of the late 80s and early 90s around Dublin (and indeed the world), right up to the present day.

For those of us growing up in a more digitalised age, it's a real eye opener to the way that music operated in a pre-MySpace world, with hard graft, word of mouth, a sense of naiveity and above all passion being the driving force of a bands musical arsenal as opposed to how many friends you have on a social networking site.

Anyway, for anyone with half an interest in metal, I advise picking this up, you won't be disappointed!

And by way of introduction if you've not acquainted yourself with Primordial's music:

g'Wan The Town

It seems that I dwell alot on the fact that I'm Dundalk given that this makes 2/3 of my posts being somewhat related to the Wee County's premier town but I came across this and think its accuracy is too good to ignore!

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dundalk

Jim Corr was unavailable for comment as he was preaching on Park Street, ranting to anyone who'd listen about how JFK is not dead, that the sky is really purple and that he was actually responsible for the invention of velcro.

It's no party without people

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke has announced four fairly intimate solo dates across Ireland this May.

He is working on a solo album which is set to be released later this summer.

Kele (he's operating simply under the name Kele, I am not being over familiar with the man) shall be hitting up these locations:

Friday 14th May - Dolan's Warehouse, Limerick

Saturday 15th May - Cyprus Avenue, Cork

Sunday 16th May - The Academy, Dublin

Monday 17th May - Spring & Airbrake, Belfast

The tickets are available now and are only €20 so get movin' if you need to fulfill your Bloc Party quota somehow while they're on hiatus.

Bloodbuzz Ohio - a feast for your ears

As I posted earlier on in the month, The National have been teasing us with some new material from their upcoming album High Violet which is set to be released in May.

Well, as I was cruising around in the snow today, Phantom FM "exclusively" played their latest wooing track, 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'.



It doesn't vary too much from their usual structure of glorious drone on top of crescendoing beauty but, still, it doesn't disappoint.

They're set to play Oxegen this summer alongside Jay-Z, The Cribs, Kasabian, Florence and the Machine, Julian Casablancas, The Black Keys, Laura Marling, Dizzee Rascal and Muse.

Have a listen to 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' and let me know what you think.

"That's what happens when worlds collide." - Horatio Caine

Once you click on this link, you will be walking around just waiting for the opportunity to use a one-liner and put your glasses on.

That or sit alone in your room listening to The Who wearing said sunglasses.

What the hell is caller ID?

I got the early morning text from my mate Sinead to inform me that Blink 182 have announced that they are to play The O2, Dublin on August 31st.

Hurrah!

They haven't played here since 2005 (oh the sweet teenage memories) so there shall be many people gagging to go and relive their youths very well spent.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on April 1.

Let's take a moment to appreciate some Billy Ocean

'Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)'

Look out for the miming saxophonist who, sadly, does not appear in the 'Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car' video.



Lyrics:

She dashed by me in painted on jeans
And all heads turned 'cause she was the dream
In the blink of an eye I knew her number and her name yeah
Ah she said I was the tiger she wanted to tame

CHORUS:
Caribbean queen
Now we're sharing the same dream
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run

I lose my cool when she steps in the room
And I get so excited just from her perfume
Electric eyes that you can't ignore
And passion burns you like never before

I was in search of a good time
Just running my game
Love was the furthest
Furthest from my mind

He told you that he wouldn't be taking calls cos he's kind of busy (eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh)

Gaga shouldn't have wasted all that money on the video for 'Telephone' as this video says more than any video with crafty product placement could.

Here's a pretty little ditty

...with a pretty little video

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

A Stroke of Comic Genius

Do you remember Spice Girls' video for 'Wannabe'?

Five crazy girls crash an ambassador's party. At first the fancy guests are shocked by the antics of the ladies but soon enough, the zig-ah-zig-ah gets to them and they cut it loose.

Well the first verse in The Lonely Island's new song and video 'Boombox' is literally that. Except they have more boiled goose.

Julian Casablancas helps out Saturday Night Live lads Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone which proves that this fellow has quite the sense of humour.

'Boombox' is from The Lonely Island's album Incredibad which is out now.

Getting ready for some new material from The National

Here's 'A Terrible Love', the opening track from The National's forthcoming album High Violet which won't be out until May.

It's been three years since they released Boxer and two since their EP The Virginia.

They only have a selection of gigs happening this side of the Atlantic in London, Paris and Berlin.

Hopefully they will see sense and will add a few Irish dates while they're at it.

They performed this on Jimmy Fallon Live last night.

You Don't Move Me Anymore

Here's the new vidjoe for Yeasayer's song O.N.E., the second single from Odd Blood.

It was directed by Radical Friend who also directed their first single, 'Ambling Alp', from their second album.

It's a cross between Crystal Maze, some coke party from the 80s and what I imagine the vomit of American Apparel to look like.

I like it.

I especially love the girl that looks like Molly Ringwald crying into her cocktail around 02:10.

Yeasayer "ONE" By: Radical Friend from ODDBLOOD on Vimeo.

Whatever happened to Corey...wait, whatever happened The Thrills?

Corey Haim died today aged 38.



December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010




I wonder if they'll get an increase in royalties?

Can I have prawn crackers with that?

My friend Muireann introduced me to the glorious blog that is La Blogotheque.

Just in case the name didn't give it away, La Blogotheque is a French blog that has managed to come up with the wonderful concept that is the Take-Away shows.

The idea of the Take-Away shows is to get bands, normally with some indie flair, to perform an intimate show in people's gafs, warehouses, street corners, impromptu parties and so on.

Since 2008, they've had the likes of The Spinto Band, Yeasayer, Grizzly Bear, The Divine Comedy, Dirty Projectors and Menomena on board.

One of the bands that they roped in was Margot and The Nuclear So and So's. Hailing from Indiana, they are one of those bands that you can play to woo somebody into your lair of feather ticklers or to play to remind yourself how good music can be.

They released two albums in 2008, Animal!, a selection of their favourite songs, and Not Animal, a selection of their record label's favourite songs.

Here's their performance of 'German Motor Car', taken from Animal! at a Take-Away gathering in San Francisco.

Higher and higher baby

Fyfe Dangerfield was one of the founding members of the Guillemots and has now gone on to release some solo stuff.

His material isn't too bad (according to Wikipedia, he has 'absolute pitch' and is right-handed. Facts are fun.) but his single 'She Needs Me', which is doing the rounds on Phantom a lot lately really, reminds me of ELO's 'Livin' Thing'.

Whenever I hear Fyfe's song, I want to go back and listen to ELO instead.

Good for ELO. Bad for Fyfe.

Still, can't resist a good string section.


Fyfe



ELO

Don't stop delivering, Portland.

Glass Candy are my latest find.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon like The Shins, they offer us something so pure it's filthy.

Sort of a mash of Blondie and Hercules and the Love Affair.

Shameless dirty disco.

And he said yes I think it can be easily done

Skimming through new artists and songs has never been easier.

thesixtyone is a scrolling website that lets you check songs from fresh-faced bands out for size.

It's a bit similar to last.fm but the artists get a direct sale to their fans from this site and aren't ripped off by the cats at the record label.

You get the song streamed, a bit of a wiki-bio and a classic indie shot of the group.

On my first visit, I heard some Said The Whale, a decent Au Revoir Simone Remix and Glass Candy (who I shall definitely be checking out some more of).

Just keep clicking to the right if you don't like what you get.

Otherwise, just absorb this wonderful find that finds you something wonderful in return .

The day the Earth stood still...

Lil' Wayne has gone to prison.

All the wee fella did was keep a loaded gun on his tour bus. But if ever there was a man that I would trust to possess a loaded gun, it would have to be Lil' Wayne.

He's a sensible sort.

Here is a homage to him and his ways.

Godspeed Lil' Wayne.

Don't drop your cup in the shower.

I shall refrain from posting about the man himself for every day that he is in prison.

It will be difficult but by God, we've got to get through this together.

At the Great Northern Brewery, we know a thing or two about working up a thirst.....

Being a man from Dundalk, I was raised on cans of Harp in various alleys around the town. It has only recently come to my attention however, that this year actually marks the 50th Anniversary of its original brewing.

Whilst, 50 years isn’t a patch on Guinness 250 year reign as Irelands biggest tourist attraction since the dawn of time, you can be guaranteed that this momentous occasion will pass without any great fanfare or acknowledgement. I don’t believe this is right, and I want to say big cheers to Harp, a good friend who has been with me every step of the way.

A friend once described the four best noises in the world as being the sound of a golf-ball going into a hole, the swoosh of a basketball net, that noise before every HBO show that means brilliance is set to follow, and the crack of an ice cold can of Harp being opened. This is what I like to consider a correct opinion. I can see the soon to be closed Great Northern Brewery out my bedroom window, and I’ll be raising a can in salute every day for the next 9 months or so.

So go on, Have A Real Pint (that spells Harp you see – try doing something that smart with fucking Smithwicks).

I want an iPhone

Firstly, I can’t believe that I’m posting on a blog – this is something I didn’t ever think I’d do. But here we are!

In my work this week, I entered a competition to win a brand spanking new iPhone via an email that was probably sent to thousands of other people. Much like every other competition I’ve entered with loads of entrants and winners selected pretty much all at random (see raffles, Christmas draws, bingo and the lottery) I’m 97.43% sure that I am definitely going to win.

Now, I must admit I’m actually not a fan of Apple products at all – I don’t like Macs and iPods, iTunes and iAmLegend really piss me off.

I actually don’t really like mp3players that much either (unless I’m travelling long distances etc.) – I like making the well thought out decision of what CD to slap in my disk-man to listen to for the whole day. It makes the listening process much more deadly I think. Anyway, that’s beside the point.

The iPhone is pure class. I don’t use touch-screen phones – they disagree with my chubby fingers, but the interface on the iPhone is sexy as fuck. My fingers are like Torvill and/or Dean gliding across its face. Also, I’ve decided that my life would be better with an iPhone, even though my battered Sony Ericson serves my every need at present – texting, calls and games for whilst on the john etc., but I have decided that I need a product that can make fart noises with the download of an app. This is what my life has been missing up to now.

I’ve never felt so drawn to a product like this before. I can’t wait to win it. Below is actually a picture sent back from the future of me holding my new phone.

Some kind of plastic I can wrap around you

Serious amount of collaborations going on on this album.

Bitta Snoop, bitta Mos Def, bitta De La Soul. I'm telling ya, they're getting the rock/rap combination spot on here.

Exactly what Limp Bizkit tried and failed to do.

Damon can do no wrong really.

The album was released on March 3 in some countries but is going global just about now.

I think that that this is love

I appreciate many things in life. Good food, pleasant company, a fine wine and a man in a giant chicken suit playing Haddaway's 'What Is Love'.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Nagan

The price of a pint x20 these days is just a bit too hefty for my liking.

As a result, I bring out my own alcomahol with me in the form of a nagan.

However, the adrenaline I get from my bag being searched by a burly bouncer has started to wear off. I have yet to be caught but my, will I have a red face when I do.

This site here teaches us how to sneak in a nagan but in a slightly classier way than sticking it in your bra.

Some things just write themselves

Whatever they're keeping in their styrofoam cup, I want some.

I truly believe that his great, great grandfather was Irish too.

Don't want to see my little buddy there with a frown

So, tickets went on sale for Flight of the Conchords in the Olympia today.

By half ten, the two dates May 5th and 6th - sold out.

God damn.

Anybody fancy giving me their spare ticket? The Milky Bars will be on me...