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Best of 2014 · How to Get Your Band on the Radio · Plec Picks 2015 FEATURING:
Hozier · Idlewild · Hail The Ghost · AC/DC · James Vincent McMorrow · Royal Blood Wyvern Lingo · Delorentos · The Minutes · Little Matador · Sissy · Gogol Bordello St. Vincent · Girl Band · Loah · Zaska · Meltybrains? · Red Enemy · The War On Drugs
Issue 01: Spring 2015
MAGAZINE
LIVE STAGES
Let's Get Physical!
W
e’re extremely proud to have arrived in solid form. It’s been a twelve year journey, from a small project website to one of the most used sources of news, reviews, interviews and entertainment on the Irish music scene. This magazine is put together entirely by the team who usually reside over at GoldenPlec.com, from design and concept to writing and photography. A particular nod of thanks is due to Aidan Cuffe for starting this whole adventure, and David Dooley, Stephen Byrne and Ros Madigan for their commitment and enthusiasm in getting the project off the ground. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have. We’ll be starting out quarterly, so let us know what you think of issue one over on GoldenPlec.com, and we’ll see you again in April. James Hendicott, Magazine Editor
Contents Industry Guide: Getting on the Radio Interview: Hail the Ghost Classical: A Metamorphosis of Sound Feature: Kodaline Best of 2014 Interview: Idlewild Live Reviews Album Reviews Plec Picks 2015
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4 7 9 10 14 20 22 25 26
Magazine Editor James Hendicott Deputy Magazine Editor Stephen Byrne Art Director David Dooley Editor-in-Chief Aidan Cuffe Plec Picks Editor Ros Madigan Photo Editor Kieran Frost Contributors Alice Goodwin, Ally Daly, Benard O'Rourke, Cian Walsh, Claire Beck, Clare O’Hanlon, Conor O'Hagan, Danny Kilmartin, Darragh Faughey, David Dooley, Fionnuala Jones, Frank Hughes, Gavin O Leary, Greg Mangan, Greg Synnott, Ian Martin, James Hendicott, Jonathan Klein, Justin McDaid, Maria Buckley, Matt Rafter, Michael Lee, Niall Swan, Orla Conway, Ros Madigan, Sean Noone, Stephen Byrne, Stephen Murphy, Vanessa Monaghan, Yan Bourke Photographers Aaron Corr, Aisling Finn, Alessio Michelini, Colm Kelly, Dave Kelly, Michelle Geraghty, Rory Coomey, Sean Conroy, Sean Smyth, Ste Murray, Tara Thomas, Tom Flynn, Yan Bourke
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Industry Guide - Getting on the Radio
Getting on the Radio
Words: Claire Beck Photos: Tara Thomas
S
o, you’re in an independent band making sincere music that you’re passionate about. Firstly, THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU. Please, keep doing what you’re doing; it’s making the world a more beautiful place. I, the music hungry geek who gave up the chance of a stable, profitable career to share your music - I am your ally, not your enemy. We’re on the same, unstable, sometimes terrifying, largely unprofitable but ultimately, utterly enriching page. 4
Radio station DJs and music directors are sent a huge volume of submissions every day. Most of them won’t be played. I am asked why this is a lot and I sincerely hope this piece will help you get heard by the right people.
poorly recorded demo is not going to do you any favours. Get back to us when you’re showing yourself in the best possible light.
Next, is your record suitable for radio? Does your band specialise in stunningly crafted, experimental opuses that “Bribes like sweets go straight in the bin take your audiences breath away at your live shows? because while you Congratulations, the music might be perfectly world needs creativity like lovely, you might yours. Keep working on those equally be crazy.” great live shows and I’ll look Firstly, is the record ready? Be forward to buying your alhonest. Is your track cut into bum. Radio isn’t the medium a radio edit (usually under for you so don’t waste your five minutes) and profession- time (unless there’s a specialally mastered? Sending a ist show that suits).
Industry Guide - Getting on the Radio
Which brings me onto what I am asked about the most, how to get in touch. Firstly, do your damn research. Radio DJs are inundated with post, emails and contact through social media. If you could contact someone saying "hey can I send you a CD?" or "what’s your email address?". If we even see it, you can see how that looks unprofessional, can’t you? Take 30 seconds out of your day to look at the radio station website and pull the email addresses you need off of it.
over quantity. These are the listeners, who will buy your record and go to your shows if they hear you and like you.
*band name*’ or something equally clear. Put the info above into the email with a brief, personalised message and include a download link You’re now armed with your (no giant attachments, please) target list (with email address- to a high quality .wav file es easily gleaned from station and a streaming link. This websites), your properly mas- makes the recipient’s life... so. tered radio edit, and a short, much. easier. We can click on waffle free bio to go with your Soundcloud link while concise information about reading the email. If we like upcoming shows and release it, we download the file and dates for your album, EP or play the track. single you’re trying to push. It really can and should be Choose a subject line like that simple. All you have to ‘new music submission do is a small bit of (continued)
Equally important - target your submissions. ‘If we send every DJ ever a cd, someone’s bound to play us, right?’ Wrong! That’s just wasting your time and money. Ask yourself, who are your band's audience? Or, who would you like that audience to be? Next, make a list of radio stations, or shows and features within radio stations (eg. new Irish band feature on a top 40 station) that share that audience or potential audience. Always pick audience quality Issue 01
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Industry Guide - Getting on the Radio
research and send an email. All we had to do was take 30 seconds to give you a chance. CD singles go in the giant pile on our desks to get through ‘later’. CD albums are fine if we already play you. Didn’t hear back? Don’t take
it personally. If you sincerely believe that your submission might have been overlooked, one polite follow up email is acceptable. Bombarding people with mails or calls is pointless. Music is played based on merit and suitability only. If your track suits the station or show sound and is good enough, we will be as excited as you are about it and champion the shit out of you. It’s what we do. It’s what we love. We are on your side.
spamming our text lines on your band’s behalf. It’s unprofessional and a waste of credit. Bribes like sweets go straight in the bin because while you might be perfectly lovely, you might equally be crazy and trying to poison us. Besides, if your music is sweet enough it won’t need added sugar. Your job is to create great music, ours is to share your art and watch with pride as your fanbase grows organically.
Final notes: we always know when you or your mam are
Good luck, and thank you for the music.
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Interview - Hail the Ghost
Hail The Ghost such comparisons go to his head “It’s so nice that people are even listening to it, that’s the only objective really.”
P
olice officer, Musician, Actor. When you list those three things side by side, they look like a question on the odd one out quiz with a glaringly obvious answer. But when it comes to Kieran O’Reilly, it’s a trick question. O’Reilly - best known for his role as Garda Ciaran Madden in RTE’s little known drama Love/Hate - is a Garda by day and a longstanding member of Dublin’s musical fraternity by night. O’Reilly’s willingness to embrace the darker, brooding theatrical aspects of his Love/Hate character resurfaces in his music, with Hail The Ghost exploring the same dark themes. Indeed the name of the group has a Issue 01
deathly aspect.“The notion of ‘succeeding’ or simply attaining the appropriate platform to have your music heard by lots of people can be very hard got nowadays” says O’Reilly. “I wanted to create music that might have some sort of relevance, however small, to somebody at some stage and in doing so still remain aware that this might not even happen in the bands lifetime but, maybe only in retrospect. Hence acknowledging ‘The Ghost’, ‘The Ghost’ being the band. I’ll have to start lying and make up a cooler story behind the band name.”
The word Headstoned itself conjures violent, fatal imagery. Does this lyrical macabreness permeate Hail The Ghost’s debut album ‘Forsaken’? “I think the record itself has a common lyrical relationship in that the songs are all about emotional experiences or circumstance, a lot of which happen to be heavy in content” says O’Reilly “but I think the record is more a frustrated melancholy than anything else.” Hail The Ghost release their next single Colony Of Ants on February 6th, with debut album Forsaken following on March 6th. You can see Kieran O’Reilly next in the short film ‘Little Bear’ written and directed by Love/Hate alumni Ger Duffy and Daire Glynn.
Hail The Ghost’s debut single Headstoned’s comparisons to The National and Whipping Boy are “a big compliment, I really like both of those bands.” But O’Reilly isn’t letting Words: Stephen Byrne
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Classical - A Metamorphosis of Sound
A Metamorphosis of Sound
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n 2013, GoldenPlec decided to branch out and cover classical music in Ireland. Most of our contemporaries thought we were crazy but our small team of passionate writers soon found an audience and discovered a vibrant scene of young composers battling to be heard. It’s understandable that we struggle to keep pace with the dominant forces of European classical music. Our musical roots trace back to ceilà sessions and we lack the revolutionary compositional prowess of a Bach, Beethoven or Wagner, who gave Europe the rich bedrock they built their cultural history upon.
work prompted GoldenPlec to select Ergodos for its 2015 Plec Picks series. (see pages 26-31 for more details)
Since 2006, Ergodos have offered performances of highly varied music styles both home and abroad. They Ireland is catching up though now regularly release an and it's important to pay eclectic range of recordings. tribute to those powering Actively commissioning ahead in this infertile land. new works from composers One such organisation is across the country, Ergodos record label and performance are involved in all aspects of group Ergodos. Founded new music production - from and run by two composers conception, to recording, to based in Dublin, they are at performance. the forefront of creating a viable new music scene in The good news for Irish Ireland. The strength of their new music is Ergodos are Issue 01
not alone in cultivating this musical revolution in Ireland. In recent years, new Irish operas have emerged, new cultural organisations have formed and huge steps in furthering Ireland's musical reach have been taken. From traditional tonality and orchestras, to electronics and experimental. Why not explore a new side of the Irish music scene and see what classical music has to offer you by checking out GoldenPlec.com/Classical.
Words: Alice Goodwin Photo: Sean Smyth 9
Kodaline: Writin
F
eaturing in Hollywood movie ‘The Fault In Our Stars’; consolidating their debut album with worldwide live appearances, a standout performance at Glastonbury, and gathering radio play like it’s going out
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of fashion: it’s fair to say 2014 saw a continuation of Kodaline’s seemingly unstoppable rise. With album two on the horizon, the Swords quartet sit alongside Hozier as Ireland’s most noted current musical export, and, as guitarist
Mark Prendergast tells us, they are still bedding into the surreal world of their growing global fame. “Occasionally we go on to a small crowd that doesn’t really know us”, Mark explains, “but we’ve had
ng for the Road a lot of gigs in places like Holland, Belgium or Switzerland, where we walk on not knowing what to expect and find 30,000 people singing High Hopes. For us the mass crowd sing-alongs at Glastonbury – where we had a prime
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spot with about 60,000 people singing through the rain – are just sensational. It’s been going really well, and it feeds your hunger.” The year’s culmination came following a fourmonth break from touring,
with Kodaline ringing in the New Year in front of a packed College Green, live on RTÉ. “Everyone who’s been around the band as we grew was there watching”, Mark laughs, “and it was very weird to look to our left (continued)
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“We had enough songs left over from the first album that were as strong but we wanted to get out of our comfort zones” and see Trinity, and to our right and see Dame St; to play in front of Dublin Bus stops with people climbing on lampposts. The scale blew us away. At half one in the morning I went and stood on the stage and soaked up the debris and the cleaners during the aftermath. It’s still the little things.” 12
That televised countdown marks something of a closure for their debut album. Sophomore album ‘Coming Up For Air’ expected in February 2015, will be nudged into the limelight far more swiftly than the its predecessor. “The second album was written on the road, an hour here and there”, Mark explains.
“We just went straight into recording. We didn’t want to finish the first album and take a break. With the first album, there was a year gap between recording and release. It feels right to just get it out immediately.” ‘In A Perfect World’ was inspired by singer Steve Garrigan’s harsh break up, with the singer describing it as “fiercely and painfully autobiographical”. The second album, in
Feature - Kodaline
Prendergast’s view, “Is also about people around us, but it’s very different themes. We could have made the same album twice. We had enough songs left over from the first album that were as strong but we wanted to get out of our comfort zones, to change producers, to get lost and a little less comfortable. We’re a tighter unit now. We’ve been on tour nonstop for three years. Your first album is the best songs you’ve written in your whole life. For the second one, though, we felt like we had our heads together. We think it’s a better album than the first, but then again I think everyone thinks that when they finish writing an album.”
Unlike the first album, bassist Jason Boland – the last member to join Kodaline – was around to make his mark on the Issue 01
songwriting. “Jay was a big asset”, Mark states. “He’s very technical. There’s a song on the new album called Autopilot that we recorded in a hotel room in Texas. We could do that because he really has the technical stuff down, so it’s happened a lot quicker.” For all their success, though, Kodaline’s future is still tinged with nerves. “There’s both fear and excitement”, Mark argues. “We think the second album’s stronger, but we’re nervous. We’d like it to do well enough to allow us to keep touring. We’ve been to America, Japan, Australia and all over Europe. You get addicted
to being on the move. I get itchy feet if I don’t play a gig for a few days, but we’re set to be on tour from February. We hope the new songs give the old songs new life. We just want to be able to keep doing it, to dive back into the craziness. We’re addicted to the frenzy.” The frenzy, we suspect, is here to stay. Kodaline’s muchanticipated second LP ‘Coming Up For Air’ is expected on Irish shelves in February. Words: James Hendicott Photos: David Kelly
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Best of 2014 - Irish Albums
BEST OF 2014 stabs out in an “oh to be alone with you” or an “I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit/everyday with someone new”.
Hozier - Hozier
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t’s been a long road for Hozier, but when you hear the Wicklow man sing, this album would seem as if it was always a question of time, of star-aligned destiny. A voice like this not being utilised for such a purpose would be like George W. Bush using his father’s political dynasty just to get off speeding fines, or Isaac Newton wasting his insanity murdering people. The voice, however, is just one aspect of Hozier’s musical personality. There is also the consistent undertone of soul and blues, which sometimes hums beneath the surface of the electric guitars and the rock ‘n’ roll drums, or 14
From what we know about Hozier this is a parental influence, as much of a “from birth” thing as the voice, which merely adds to the inevitability of the album. What was not prophesied however was the quality and the inventiveness. For that Hozier can claim full responsibility.
It’s Hozier’s tendency to transform his influences into something distinctly new, distinctly his own, that makes this debut a formidable album. The opening track, in all its ubiquitousness, is a perfect example of how he manages to successfully mix the rootsy with the pop, the simple with the intelligent. Take Me To Church harnesses the forcefulness of gospel music and turns it into a
piece of arena rock, without conceding too much to either of those rather disparate influences. On Jackie and Wilson, the blending of hard rock and soul is equally effortless. Hozier keeps the soulful roots at the heart of his music but makes it danceable and modern, so The Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene opens up with a hum that places you in a Baptist church, but develops into a rhythm that has you swilling whiskey shots in a Memphis concert hall. If blues music’s original purpose was to entertain around a campfire or on a porch in some desolate part of the American South, then this morphing adaptation is essential to playing those same songs in a Western middle class environment in 2014. It’s Hozier’s tendency to transform his influences into something distinctly new, distinctly his own, that makes this debut a formidable album. Stephen Murphy
Best of 2014 - Irish Albums
IRISH ALBUMS
Delorentos Night Becomes Light
We Cut Corners Think Nothing
Little Matador Little Matador
The hugely likeable Delorentos returned in 2014 with one of the best Irish albums of the year. This is a radio-ready collection of songs, punctuating bright, indie-pop numbers such as Show Me Love and Everybody Else Gets Wet, with slower, smartphones-in-the-air tracks like Home Again and Valley Where the Rivers Run. Full of strong vocal melodies and killer hooks, this album is practically devoid of filler, the only misstep being Forget The Numbers, which sounds like a boy band cast-off. More of the same please, gentlemen. Ian Martin
Dublin duo We Cut Corners returned this year with their sophomore release Think Nothing. A wonderful blend of delicate vocallydriven tracks and full throttle rock; the album has as much charm and bitter wit as we have come to expect from the two teachers. Songs like Blue and Best Friend are among the best Irish tracks this year, furthering We Cut Corner’s aggressively fresh trajectory into the world of alt-rock, fuelled by this exquisitely concise album that hardly hits the half-hour mark. Greg Mangan
Nathan Connolly of Snow Patrol fame introduced one of the most raucous debut albums of the year in the form of Little Matador’s self-titled release. Sounding more like a lovechild of Queens of the Stone Age and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club than Snow Patrol, Connolly and co certainly delivered one of the ballsiest and most unique Irish records this year. Intricate melodies woven with Connolly’s stadium rockesque vocal delivery make Little Matador a band to watch out for in 2015. Ally Daly
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Best of 2014 - Irish Albums & EPs
BEST OF 2014
James Vincent McMorrow Post Tropical
James Vincent McMorrow had a big 2014, with the release of his second album ‘Post Tropical’. The album took a chance, showing a slight move away from his indie-folk roots. With layering of vocals and an array of instruments, comparisons to the likes of Bon Iver are unavoidable, and pretty apt. Shades of hip-hop and soul influences also appear and his voice continues to be incredibly impressive, his falsetto standing out (as always) and managing to be powerful but still soothing. Ultimately a risky, but impressive, second instalment of McMorrow’s work. Orla Conway 16
Zaska Different Light
I Have A Tribe Yellow Raincoats
Voted GP’s No. 1 Irish EP of 2014, Different Light, sees Max Zaska, the troubadour of funk, shaman of soul, purveyor of rap and pupil of jazz return with his sophomore EP. While he may be down one Andrew H. Byrne on vocals (from his debut EP), he has acquired the more vocally suited Keith Fennel, and is once again accompanied by Karen Cowley (Wyvern Lingo). All the music, vocals and harmonies are arranged by Zaska and executed by his exquisite band; made up of Ireland’s best young musicians. It’s playful, it’s daring – it’s simply a delight. Ros Madigan
I Have A Tribe’s ‘Yellow Raincoat’ EP sees Patrick O’Leary – also of Slow Skies – strike out with a series of delicately sublime piano melodies tinged with a desperate and affecting sadness. Monsoon in particular captures the mood of simple desolation, layered with the lightest of backing beats and a simple key-based backdrop. It’s not exactly a mood-lifter, but O’Leary’s minimalist sound and oblique references are so tender and heartfelt the EP as a whole has the vibe of emotional fall out. It’s a glorious soundtrack to darkness. James Hendicott
Best of 2014 - Irish Albums & EPs
IRISH ALBUMS & EPS
Elastic Sleep Leave You
Wyvern Lingo The Widow Knows
Sissy Sissy E.P.
Elastic Sleep’s ‘Leave You’ EP is shoegaze with a split personality. When Muireann Levis is front and centre she provides a dreamlike fragility to shimmering songs like Deep And Blue and Splish. The psyche is complete when Chris Somers takes the lead to produce snarling twisted songs such as Tzar Bomba (No More Tears) and I Found Love. Despite this duality, it all fits seamlessly together. The entire EP is immaculately produced with swirling waves of guitar reverb over a weighty rhythm section which leaves a lasting impression. Frank Hughes
An EP of perennial lustful harmonies and coated in arcane lyrics, ‘The Widow Knows’ was no doubt one of the finest to blaze 2014. Sonically it’s five tracks of immutable dulcet resonance, a remarkable feat of a debut. Delivered so coherently and cohesively it typifies just why Wyvern Lingo have solidified themselves as ones to watch. Prevailing harmonies are what makes 'The Widow Knows' and their live shows so essential. The inability to pinpoint their genre will only serve the trio well for 2015, with their disparate musings only set to amplify their trajectory. Clare O’Hanlon
Sissy’s debut EP grabbed attention this year, hitting feminist points in four blasts of garage-punk. Sail and Rail ridicules Ireland’s abortion laws; a story about travelling to England with Enya to deal with unwanted pregnancies which appropriates the chorus from Orinocco Flow. No Mickey On The Mouse is a more advanced critique of underlying ‘male-as-default’ assumptions in society, explained with cartoon characters, in a catchy song. Few could pull that off. But true to the serious issues at stake, there’s real anger behind the dry humour (see the chorus of Nothing). Yan Bourke
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Best of 2014 - International Albums
BEST OF 2014 St. Vincent - St. Vincent
St. Vincent couldn’t have called this eponymous release by any other name because it only sounds like St. Vincent. Mischievous wit and razoredged riffs vie with a kitchen sink full of instruments to create perfect indie pop. It’s awfully slick and awfully cool and it solidly cements her art rock credentials. Maria Buckley
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Rock’s not dead, it was having a snooze, and Royal Blood woke it from its slumber. The drum/bass duo of Michael Kerr and Ben Thatcher’s beats, basslines and vocals combined to give us the extremely catchy Figure it Out and the dark melody of Little Monster. Turn it up, annoy your neighbours, they need to hear this! Vanessa Monaghan
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
Lo-fi indie, smoky country and joyous garage rock combined in Angel Olsen’s follow-up to ‘Halfway House’. Rebooting that record’s defiant folk with a band in tow, ‘Burn Your Fire For No Witness’ was a wholly eviscerating exploration of relationships and all the glorious hurt, solitude, and hope that they entail. Justin McDaid
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
‘Hypnotic Eye’ scored a number one for The Heartbreakers for the first time in their long career, and with good reason. The album bubbles with vigorous energy and is packed with deliciously distorted guitar squalls and upbeat rhythms. Fault Lines stands out as a particularly freeing number with some powerful solos. Jonathan Klein
Wye Oak - Shriek
Wye Oak’s fifth album ‘Shriek!’ Sees the Baltimore duo create a soft aural cloud of electro leaning dream-pop. The simplicity of Andy Stack's feet and right hand only drum and left hand only synth parts create tight rhythmical soundscapes for Jenn Wasner’s extraordinary vocal palate and bouncy bass and guitar riffs to thrive. Stephen Byrne
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Best of 2014 - International Albums
INTERNATIONAL ALBUMS Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow
Four albums into their career, Bombay Bicycle Club could be forgiven for making the same album again. Instead, they mix things up by looking east for inspiration. Still an indie quartet at heart though, these new influences add flavour, rather than overpowering the expected. Luna, Carry Me and Overdone are particular highlights. David Dooley
The Delines - Colfax
Willy Vlautin struck gold when he teamed up with singer Amy Boone to form The Delines. Boone’s vulnerability seeped from every note she sung on ‘Colfax’. It was matched the autumnal alt-country tones with nuanced steel guitar prominent on stand out tunes like Colfax Avenue and State Line. Frank Hughes
Iceage - Playing Into the Field of Love
Danish punks Iceage dial down the distortion and call on some cowpunk influences for their third record, and it makes for a more restrained album, without losing any intensity. The Lord’s Favourite sees the band embrace a positive outlook for once, while Forever is a sweeping epic packed with raw emotion. Jonathan Klein
FKA Twigs - LP 1
With her distinctive voice, look and style - FKA Twigs has all the attributes of a pop star. But who wants to be a pop star though? Not FKA Twigs it seems. Her debut shuns convention. It’s one of the most challenging, inventive albums of recent years; avant-garde pop at its finest. Cian Walsh
The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
‘Lost In The Dream’ is certainly not music to sit in traffic to. This is a flowing journey of an album. ETA? We’ll get there when we get there. If you could call their concrete post-rock foundations a slow-rolling locomotive, the swooping guitar lines are the bumper stickers, spray paint and bobble heads that decorate it. Conor O'Hagan
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Interview - Idlewild
Idlewild
The Importance of Not Being Idle
H
aving been on hiatus for the best part of five years, fans of the much-loved Scottish indie band Idlewild were afraid they would never again hear from the group who had released six studio albums, toured with the likes of U2, Pearl Jam and R.E.M. and featured on the soundtrack to the lives of 20
millions of youths on FIFA ’03. Fears were allayed when the band announced their return along with a new album, 'Everything Ever Written', and a tour for 2015. Making a comeback after five years is daunting and carries its own challenges. These issues do not burden
Rod Jones and the band, as they don’t feel that they ever actually left. “We were always aware that we would write together again. We just didn’t know if it was going to be five years, ten years or what. We don’t consider this a real comeback because Idlewild never broke up,” Rod tells us. When the hiatus was
Interview - Idlewild
announced in 2010 Rod and Roddy Woomble, the band’s singer, always knew they would work together again in some way. “We needed a break after the last album,” Rod says. “That whole period was a bit sad. It felt like we weren’t really firing on all cylinders.” What should have been a happy time spent celebrating the tenth anniversary of their debut album '100 Broken Windows' was instead tainted. “We all needed a break. We are all such great friends that we could not speak for months and then pick up exactly where we left off, which made everything infinitely easier.” When Rod and Roddy started to write together again, they never intended to create an Idlewild record. “After a few sessions together it all just felt right, and we wanted to get everyone back and make a new album. When we were all back in a room together it was like a breath of fresh air hit us. Making music as Idlewild felt new and exciting again.” With such a long career to date Rod can look back on previous Idlewild albums fondly, but still finds areas Issue 01
that he would like to change. “There are always things you would like to alter. As you play the songs more you think to yourself ‘I wish I had done this instead’. Any record we released was an image of who we were at the time,” he says. “It’s like a family album in a way. It allowed us to document our lives. It can be slightly embarrassing looking back when you’re older though.”
“We might take another break for a while but I don’t think we will ever not be writing together in some shape or form.” As producer of the new album, Rod was careful not to overhaul the dynamic that the band had become acustomed to. “They were happy for me to take charge sonically. It was a learning curve producing and being in the band. I had to learn when to be a band member and when to be a producer. I was in the middle of every conversation.” Time away has benefited the band, allowing them to
be “less insular and more open to new ideas” on this record. The music scene has also evolved. Social media was emerging just as the hiatus began. “We were there when the boom of the internet changed music, and social media is having that effect now; which is amazing for new emerging acts.” With the 20th anniversary of their first album coming up, Idlewild have no plans to quit for good. Talks of another new album have been bandied about but Rod says Idlewild were “never a band to plan too far into the future. Right now everything is fresh again. We might take another break for a while but I don’t think we will ever not be writing together in some shape or form.” Idlewild make a welcome return to Ireland in March 2015, when the headache of creating a set list from seven disparate albums worth of material will rear its ugly head. After half a decade, some challenges can only be relished. Words: Gavin O’Leary 21
Reviews - Live
Live Reviews
Kodaline, James Vincent McMorrow, Walking on Cars & The Dublin Legends New Year’s Festival Dublin
N
ew Year’s Eve in Dublin. Traditionally - and somewhat bewilderingly - one of the most anticipated nights of the year. Overfilled pubs overcharging for watered down pints. Queues upon queues at the bar, the toilets, Charlie’s and of course, taxi ranks. The city’s New Year Festival’s Countdown Concert is no dif22
ferent, bar a few poppy buzz bands to warm the winter air. Walking On Cars fit the bill perfectly. They write decent songs. They play decent music. However, they’re about as unique as a novelty Christmas jumper. “Hands in the air everyone” prefaces nearly every song. Meh. Their set is book-ended by the only two
songs that rescue what is a bland performance, Always Be With You and Catch Me If You Can. Luckily, it doesn’t take long for The Dublin Legends to pick up spirits again as they fly through a set loaded with classic tunes that find those in attendance in full voice. Whiskey In The Jar and Dirty Auld Town are the distinct highlights.
Reviews - Live
James Vincent McMorrow is undoubtedly one of 2014’s biggest success stories. His sophomore album ‘Post Tropical’ is one of the albums of the year. Cavalier and Gold prove as much but Higher Love was the pinnacle of the night, justifying it’s near 22 million Spotify plays. However, McMorrow’s set never really gets going. Whether that is down to a crowd who are largely in attendance to see Kodaline, or perhaps it’s the weather that is putting a dampener on spirits, what is a glorious
Issue 01
set hardly got a shrug of the shoulders from the increasingly rowdy revellers. There are a number of things that people love to do when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Kiss their significant other, call their loved ones, pop the cork on the champagne or simply link arms with friends and pretend to know the words to Auld Lang Syne. Enduring Kodaline’s new “heavier” sound in the form of latest single Honest is way down the list. It’s all just a bit too gimmicky for what should
be a night of celebration. That said, Kodaline have a wealth of songs that lend themselves to being bellowed at the top of one’s voice. High Hopes is triumphant and Brand New Day is somewhat more in tune with the day’s events. A bit of advice for December 31st 2015. Stay at home and watch Jools’ Hootenanny. We know that’s what we’ll be doing. Words: Niall Swan Photos: Tom Flynn
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Reviews - Live
Live Reviews as Father Christmas playing a harmonica solo, well, you Playing to a frenzied Dublin can’t help but feel entercrowd, this ‘speed blues’ outfit tained. set about things in what’s now Darragh Faughey becoming typical Strypes fashion; make it loud and The Minutes make it fast. Naturally, when The Workman’s Club, big status musicians lay Dublin praise to a young band, their While Kodaline and friends potential is often viewed were just around the corner through a magnifying glass, at College Green, the scene but what’s striking about this was infinitely different in the band is the rhythm pairings’ confines of The Workman’s unique style. Club. The Minutes had an immensely successful 2014, and capped things off with an aural assault of a sleazy rock show filled with high octane material from both albums. Clad in skull face paint and taking breaks to hug their audience, Austin and co. even They play as if held by a improvise a riff or three to see pulley chain, allowing guius into another year. Cherry tarist, Josh McClorey free Bomb and Fleetwood are the reign with solos that could highs, but these lads never fail break the skin. The Strypes’ to deliver the loudest party in overall sound carries that town. hearty teenage garage-band Ally Daly smugness; a loveable brashness. They understand a Gogol Bordello live show is largely about The Academy entertaining an audience, "If we are not here to do what and when bassist, Peter you and I want to do, and go O'Hanlon, reappears dressed forever crazy with it, why the
Photos: Colm Kelly & Yan Bourke
The Strypes The Academy
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hell are we even here?” The opening line to the closing song of Gogol Bordello’s set, Ultimate, is almost the band’s manifesto. Certainly, it’s a fitting description of their outlook when putting on a show. There is no let-up in the energy or enthusiasm, all embraced with a happy, positive attitude. The hits, like Wonderlust King and Start Wearing Purple, get the bigger reactions, but they are the 10s on a night averaging out at about 9.6. An essential live act. Sean Noone
Reviews - Albums
Album Reviews
AC/DC Rock or Bust
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ith the peculiar situation around drummer Phil Rudd and unfortunate condition of Malcolm Young, few would’ve quibbled if AC/ DC had retired. ‘Rock or Bust’ finds them in familiar territory; you could argue they’ve never been anywhere else though. Brian Johnson’s nasally vocals continue over mid-tempo stodgy tunes (Got Some Rock And Roll Thunder) and quicker paced songs (Miss Adventure). Neither default setting is overly engaging though. AC/DC weren’t about to abandon their style but, nowhere is there any semblance of the songs that made them famous such as Back In Black or Thunderstruck. ‘Rock or Bust’ is a familiar failure. Frank Hughes Issue 01
The Smashing Pumpkins
Charlie XCX
Monuments To An Elegy
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receded by the well-received ‘Oceania’, ‘Monuments…’ is third in the four album ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’ cycle. Conventional by Billy Corgan’s usual standards, the songs are wellserved by all involved with the band as a guitar/bass/ drums power trio. Synths hark to eighties new wave, Jeff Schroeder and Colgan are all power riffs and concise melodic turnabouts, and Corgan’s distinctive whine ties things back to Pumpkins of yore. Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee shows muscular restraint behind the kit, more meat’n’potatoes than Jimmy Chamberlain’s deft multi-genre flair. It’s all about the guitars, though, and it’s the most fun this band has been since Homerpalooza. Justin McDaid
Sucker hen it comes to pop music, there are two ways to look at it: sneer and ignore it, or embrace at face value. Artists reclaimed the genre in 2014, thrusting it back into the spotlight. One such artist was Charli XCX – an Avril Lavigne for this decade, with an added bite. Her third album, ‘Sucker’, sees her take an unconvential approach, being particularly brash, with punk inspired vocals and her signature short and snappy delivery. Highlights include London Queen, Gold Coins and the summer smash hit Boom Clap. Fionnuala Jones
For more reviews visit: GoldenPlec.com/Music-Reviews
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Plec PICKS 2015
'Plec Picks 2015' is where we poll the GoldenPlec team of writers and photographers on who they are tipping for a special 2015. Our 'Plec Picks' list isn't about the 'newest' band, nor is it about including bands on hype of hearsay. Instead, we choose our 'Plec Picks' based on merit - regardless of how long an act has been around - all that matters to us is that they are set for something exceptional in 2015. 'Plec Picks 2015' shines a spotlight on a wide range of musical acts: jazz, folk, classical, indie, funk, shoegaze, experimental, heavy-rock, traditional Irish, metal, gypsy-folk, electronic, pop and more. We give you, the 'Plec Picks' of 2015.
GIRL BAND
Following an endless slog of shows in 2014 including an impressive shift at Electric Picnic - they signed to Rough Trade Records after legendary label boss Geoff Travis became enchanted with the band after catching their Great Escape festival slot. Girl Band’s debut album will snap its umbilical cord this autumn. 26
Photo: Ste Murray
Arguably, the most exciting Dublin outfit in recent years, Girl Band are something of a walking contradiction. Their sound is a tamed beast of organised chaos - eschewing the traditional versechorus-verse songwriting format in favour of blasts of scree and fire from overcharged guitars, over fuzzed out scratchy repetitive grooves.
Plec Picks 2015
Photos: Aaron Corr
LOAH Brought up fluttering between Sierra Leone and Maynooth, Sallay Matu Garnett takes her influences from an ambitiously broad array of what she titles her ‘artistic muses’, and calls the result ‘Artsoul’. The sound is a multilingual fusion of which Sallay is rightly proud: “I might be singing an a Capella folk lament tonight and tomorrow it will be a rhythmic, chanted Sierra Leonean stomper but by golly do I mean business in both!”, she explains. The sound is bold, colourful, varied and probably the most unique sound Dublin has to offer in 2015.
Photos: Tara Thomas
MELTYBRAINS? Meltybrains? is by no means your conventional Irish act. Summing them up in words seems like an insult to their mayhem. But for the uninformed, Meltybrains? is a 5-piece, experimental, electronic band whose influences appear too vast to list. Having built up a following of splatteredmask wearing ‘Meltyclones’, the quintet are renowned for their striking visual set-up that coincides with their music. Live, you can expect a passionate mix of structured ambiance and full-on dance beats that you can rock out too. Undefined isn’t a genre but it certainly is accurate, as Meltybrains? carve out a genre in themselves. Technically proficient, engagingly insane, and gloriously beyond description. Issue 01
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Plec Picks 2015
Having honed her substantial vocal skills busking on the streets of Europe’s major cities, Sinéad White - who produces fun-loving jazz-pop songs on guitar and piano – is set to launch her debut album in 2015. Kazoos, a breath-taking tonal range and sharp, witty lyrics help her stand out from the crowd.
Photo: Dave Kelly
SINEAD WHITE
BITCH FALCON Photo: Yan Bourke
With an unforgettable name and a sound so heavy it could cause earthquakes, Bitch Falcon were always bound to make a big impact. Their wildly vibrant, super fuzzy, noiserock captivated Electric Picnic, their monstrous riffs and furious vocals announcing them as heavyweight contenders. Debut single Wolfstooth could make them champions.
Based around the concept of music in which all aspects are of equal importance, Ergodos are part event organizers and part eclectic classical music outlet. Whether curating, performing or promoting they’re a powerful addition to Ireland’s limited classical landscape with ambitious, varied targets for the coming year.
ELASTIC SLEEP Photo: Rory Coomey
Timing is everything in music and Cork’s Elastic Sleep look best placed to capitalise on the shoegaze reawakening. Impressively embracing elements of dream pop and post rock creating an expansive shoegaze sound EP ‘Leave You’ made an indelible mark on best of 2014 music polls, including GoldenPlec’s. 28
Photo: Sean Smyth
Ergodos
Plec Picks 2015
CLOUD CASTLE LAKE Photo: Alessio Michelini
Known for their falsetto vocals and tough to pigeonhole jazz and electronica influences, Cloud Castle Lake finally got around to recording their EP ‘Dandelion’ in 2014, and they nailed it, winning Radiohead comparisons from Pitchfork no less. 2015 excites us, as they’ve promised they’re sat on a whole lot more material.
SPIES Photo: Tara Thomas
In the world of indie rock - the gaping abyss of guitar music – SPIES resist the temptation to resort to gimmicks and tattered formulas. These five talented, down-to-earth Dublin lads make the perfect indie package combining a calculated haze of guitar, feverish drumbeats, controlling baselines and booming artisan lyrics.
RED ENEMY Photo: Tara Thomas
Red Enemy clicked in the States first, touring the US in 2014 having signed to Mediaskare Records. The blunt, naked fury of the Fibbers regulars is captured on record in their 2014 eponymous debut: this is Irish metal set for a battering global impact.
Issue 01
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Plec Picks 2015
In an age when a band is expected to be all-tweeting, all-blogging, it’s difficult to know whether the paucity of information about SAILS is frustrating or a welcome relief. SAILS’ stealth won’t last long though, their indie chamber-pop sound augmented by flourishes of strings and brass is cultivating fans.
Photo: Aisling Finn
SAILS
ENSEMBLE ÉRIU Photo: Aaron Corr
An ensemble of concertina, fiddle, double bass, clarinet, acoustic guitar, drums, and marimba; seven-piece trad band Ensemble Ériu bring modern soundscapes to traditional Irish music in a sophisticated, energetic and thoroughly engaging way. Rich, inventive and haunting, it is not difficult to envisage big things happening for the group in 2015.
It’s a testament to The Altered Hours’ metamorphosis from septet folk outfit to abrasive brain-bending distillers of shoegaze dreamscapes that Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe - a notoriously difficult man released their ‘Sweet Jelly Roll’ EP on his label A Records. Armed with choruses that kill, 2015 should quiver.
PRINCESS Photo: Aisling Finn
Boldly stating that music is "irrelevant at this stage", Dublin two-piece Princess nonetheless produce a compelling soundscape heavily reliant on echo-laden vocals and droning guitar effects. They prefer the studio to live shows, yet ramp up the tension when they do get out. Keep an eye out. 30
Photo: Rory Coomey
THE ALTERED HOURS
Plec Picks 2015
Photo: Ste Murray
MONGOOSE A jazz-folk act with lofty goals of ‘world domination’, furry-themed Dublin four-piece Mongoose are big on harmonies and summer sunshine. They might be influenced by ultimate sap movie Love Actually, but with instrumental quirks and shiny leftfield melodies, you’ll love them anyway.
Photo: Michelle Geraghty
THE ESKIES Where in the world do The Eskies fit? Honestly? They don’t. This band has carved out an aggressively different sound for themselves. Their larger-than-life personalities collide creating rollicking narratives drenched in seasoaked glistening guitars. Call it folk, call it gypsy jazz, call it odd rock – with The Eskies, it’ll probably stick.
Photo: Sean Conroy
ZASKA Zaska’s sound is a strange brew of blues, jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul and rock built on a modus operandi of no fear improvisation. This fearlessness extends itself to the band’s live performances. Expect to find Zaska lighting up the Irish festival season with relentless exciting sounds this summer.
TWIN HEADED WOLF
Issue 01
Photo: Sean Smyth
Lahinch act Twin Headed Wolf may be built around guitars and vocals, but their homemade instruments, ghostly influences and love of folklore gives them a quirky edge. Seven sets at Glastonbury 2014 suggest the duo’s wacky infusion of teapots and skulls into producing their sound has a big future. 31
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