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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Only coming across these now, where have they been hiding!?!?

First Aid Kit Swedish indie/folk duo consisting of the young sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg from Stockholm. The debut EP “Drunken Trees” was released on the 9th of April 2008 in Sweden on the label Rabid Records, owned by the Swedish electronic duo The Knife. The EP was re-released through Wichita Recordings early 2009.

Their debut album The Big Black & The Blue was released on January 25th, 2010.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Field Mouse: Dirt V's Grass

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

"A brilliantly bold, robust work, showcasing real development."

Punk / Rockabilly / Blues

The Shadow of an Empire (2010)iTunes Link

Tracklisting

Protection Racket
Catacombs
Coat Hook
Genocide Matinee
Violent Demeanor
Lines written in Winter
House Detective
Little Nancy
Lord Help My Poor Soul
The Shadow of an Empire

As with most Irish artists. iTunes album link(above) + 2 track download (here).

Fionn Regan, Irish singer-songwriter who hails from Bray, Co Wicklow enjoyed a warm response from the media and general public alike with the release of his ‘Hotel Room’ EP in 2004, which highlighted the captivating rawness of both his songs and his performance in a way that was both refreshing and inspiring. Better still, Regan has repeatedly proved that he can better his records when he plays live.

Citing his musical influences as Leadbelly, Howling Wolf, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, The Pixies and Nirvana, Regan has drawn comparisons to Young, Woody Guthrie and John Lennon. He has supported the likes of American Music Club, John Prine, Turin Brakes and rising newcomers Joanna Newsom and Willy Mason, to name but a few. Turin Brakes’ Olly Knights has said that Regan’s “ability to paint weighty and sublime imagery with words is untouchable and very rare, yet it’s combined with a sweet charm that renders all cynicism impotent.”

Musically adept and with something genuine and affecting to say, Fionn Regan is growing up in public and for that we should all be thankful. At this rate, by the time he’s 30, he’ll be a national treasure.

“A playful authenticity, sparse eloquence, you can’t fault the voice ”
NME

A brilliantly bold, robust work, showcasing real development and the kind of graceful erudition that places Regan squarely ahead of the curve.
BBC Review

After folky troubadour beginnings, his second album keys into the rollicking energy of vintage rock 'n’ roll, while also forging a unique, observational and genuinely beat-poetic lyrical vocabulary. Terrific stuff.
Telegraph****

Likened to a young Bob Dylan by those lost for a better way to describe a talented singer-songwriter-His material certainly stands up to the test
Mail on Sunday****

(Lastfm+Fionnregan blog)

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Some fun for April Fools Day, an unofficial clip by Oblong Pictures for Fight Like Apes' 'Knucklehead'.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Irish Invasion

Wallis Bird – The Academy, Dublin

Review of 24th of March gig by James Hendicott (article from State.ie)

Wallis Bird is one of an increasingly rare breed of singers. The Wexford lass is the type who builds a name for herself through incessant touring, wins support though word of mouth more than online hype and slowly acquires a dedicated fan base who – in some cases at least – seem to trail along after her for city after city. Her slow-building career is perhaps the reason why when Wallis picked up a Meteor Award earlier this year – and with it a jump in national level recognition – she looked so shocked and excited she nearly hit the roof.

Energy is certainly a non-issue for the petite blonde. She might joke about sweating buckets throughout her set (even throwing in a story about a language error that led her to ask a German audience to put on their clothes), but it doesn’t stop Wallis from throwing herself about the stage, sporadically head banging, swapping guitars half way through songs and generally behaving in a way that suggests she prepares for gigs by mainlining Red Bull. As for the crowd, they’re so into tonight’s set that Wallis proclaims “I don’t feel like I’m playing to you, I feel like we’re doing this together”.

It is quite a performance: with a full band behind her, Wallis’ musical range is extraordinary. She starts in hippie territory, turning out an assortment of quirky, love-fixated ballads that take an odd alternative ‘Disney soundtrack’ direction with their bops and yeahs, and ending at all-out moshable rock that heavily resembles Yeah Yeah Yeah’s ‘Phenomena’. Tying together such a diverse selection is an achievement in itself, but Wallis well-practiced renditions of latest album New Boots seem natural and perfectly matched, with an exceptionally boisterous ‘LaLaLand’ and fan’s favorite ‘An Idea About Mary’ summing up the lady’s vivaciousness.

By the time the encore comes around Wallis has built a great camaraderie with the crowd, and rewards us with a sappy tribute song about how she’s recently, “luckily” fallen in love, one of only two tracks tonight she performs as an un-backed acoustic musician. A great thing it is, too. Mix Wallis’ sing-along vocals with the musical steroid injection that is her backing band and her ‘bundle of energy’ ethos, you get a charismatic jukebox of a singer whose finally getting just a small part of the hype she’s earned.

Photos by Sara Devine.